SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Jerker Kjellander, Matilda Kronqvist and Selma Beganovic, Vinge
• declaratory judgment ( fastställelsedom ); • judgment for specific performance ( fullgörelse- dom ); • intermediate judgment ( mellandom ); • default judgment ( tredskodom ); • interim judgment ( interimistiskt beslut ); • decision ( beslut ); and • confirmed settlement ( stadfäst förlikning ). 2.2 Enforcement of Domestic Judgments A dispute over money can be resolved in two ways within the framework of the state, either with the assis- tance of the Swedish Enforcement Authority ( Krono- fogden ) or through a court of law. If someone undisputedly owes money, the creditor may turn to the Swedish Enforcement Authority and apply for a payment order ( betalningsföreläggande ). The Swedish Enforcement Authority then contacts the person whom the applicant believes owes them mon - ey. If the debtor does not object, the Swedish Enforce - ment Authority issues a decision which is enforceable in the same manner as a court judgment. If the debtor raises objections, the Swedish Enforcement Authority must forward the case to the district court. Should the creditor be aware from the outset that the opposing party has objections to their claim, the creditor must not take the matter to the Enforcement Authority but rather directly approach the district court with a summons application. If the domestic judgment holds that an individual or a company is in debt or finds that the claimant is entitled to a specific asset, it is possible to apply for enforce - ment at the Enforcement Authority ( ansökan om verk- ställighet ). The authority can then compulsorily seize any funds the debtor may have in a Swedish bank, seize and sell the debtor’s other assets and property or seize the specific asset in question and give pos - session or, where the counterparty is a natural per - son, force the judgment debtor’s employer to deduct money from the regular salary payments (the same applies for pensions and social benefits). The money obtained goes towards paying the debt. As a second option where the enforcement from the Enforcement Authority did not result in payment of
the debt, an application for compulsory insolvent liquidation of the counterparty could be filed at the district court. An administrator will then handle the bankruptcy estate and decide in what order all the creditors get paid, according to Swedish law. It is commonly the case that other, known or unknown, creditors have claims on the debtor. This means that, even with a domestic judgment, another creditor may get paid before the creditor that filed for bankruptcy. The order of priority depends on several factors, such as the origin and size of the claim, and when the claim first arose. An advantage of applying for insolvent liquidation is that an administrator has significantly greater oppor - tunities to investigate and locate hidden assets. More - over, the administrator has the opportunity to apply for recovery to the estate of funds or other assets which have been transferred by the company during a certain period of time before the liquidation order. The party petitioning for compulsory liquidation must show that the other party is insolvent. An application for bankruptcy is therefore often the second alterna - tive to an application for enforcement at the Swedish Enforcement Authority. A victim of crime, on the other hand, will always be entitled to the damages awarded by the court. If the perpetrator is not able to pay the full damages and the incident is not covered by insurance, it is possible for the victim to receive criminal injuries compensation for the remaining part from the Swedish state. An applica - tion can be sent to the Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority ( Brottsoffermyndigheten ). The perpetrator will then be in debt to the authority, and not the victim. 2.3 Costs and Time Taken to Enforce Domestic Judgments An application for enforcement at the Swedish Enforcement Authority costs SEK600 (approximately EUR53) per year. It is the debtor’s duty to pay this fee, but the creditor will receive the invoice instead if the debtor cannot pay. If the enforcement is successful, the creditor will be reimbursed.
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