SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Jerker Kjellander, Matilda Kronqvist and Selma Beganovic, Vinge
3. Foreign Judgments 3.1 Legal Issues Concerning Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Only judgments from foreign courts in areas that are covered by relevant international conventions to which Sweden has acceded – or by agreements that Swe - den has entered into with other countries – or judg - ments from foreign courts in areas that are covered by certain EU regulations can be enforced in Sweden. In special situations, a foreign judgment may also be enforced and recognised based on case law. Although there are also judgments that can be enforced in Sweden according to bilateral treaties that Sweden has entered into with other countries (eg, Nordic conventions), the most important treaties are: • Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (recast) (the Brussels I Regulation); • the Convention of 30 October 2007 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (the Lugano Con - vention 2007); • Council Regulation (EC) No 4/2009 of 18 Decem - ber 2008 on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and co-operation in matters relating to maintenance obligations (the Maintenance Regulation); • the Hague Convention of 30 June 2005 on Choice of Court Agreements (the 2005 Hague Convention); • Convention of 2 July 2019 on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Com - mercial Matters (the 2019 Hague Convention); and • Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 of 27 November 2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matri - monial matters and the matters of parental respon - sibility, repealing Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000 (the Brussels II Regulation). 3.2 Variations in Approach to Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Some judgments from other EU member states or other Nordic countries are directly enforceable. For
other judgments, it might be necessary to apply to a specific district court to have the judgment declared enforceable, which is called exequatur. 3.3 Categories of Foreign Judgments Not Enforced Normally all judgments can be enforced, such as default judgments, interim judgments, and summary judgments. Judgments that do not conform with the basic principles of the Swedish legal system might be declared unenforceable with reference to ordre public, but this is not common. 3.4 Process of Enforcing Foreign Judgments In the case of directly enforceable foreign judgments, the process is the same as for domestic court judg - ments. In the event an exequatur is needed, an application must be made to a Swedish district court. Anyone who can demand that a judgment is enforced in the country of origin may also make an application for exequatur in Sweden. Which documents must be submitted in connection thereto depends on which regulation or convention the application is based. As a general rule, the following documents need to be submitted: • a certified copy of the judgment and, in some cases, documents proving that the judgment is enforceable in the state in which it was given, such as proof of legality; • an address or information about a representative in Sweden or within the European Economic Area for service of process; • authorisation documents in their original for a pos - sible representative; and • a certificate pursuant to a regulation or convention from the court that delivered the judgment. The court may request the applicant to submit an authorised translation of the documents. If the appli - cation is not complete, the district court will order the applicant to complete the application. The district court does not reconsider the substantive aspect of the foreign judgment, although it does per - form formal checks and thereafter declares the judg -
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