SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Simon Arvmyren, Christopher Stridh and Mikaela Tysk, Delphi
Delphi Mäster Samuelsgatan 17 PO Box 1432 SE-111 84 Stockholm Sweden Tel: +46 8 677 54 00 Email: sverker.bonde@delphi.se Web: www.delphi.se
1. General 1.1 General Characteristics of the Legal System The Swedish legal system is based on a civil law tradition where the main sources of law are statutes. In addition to statutes, other sources of law are the official preparatory works to stat- utes, case law and legal doctrine. Sweden is a member of the EU, and thus bound by the EU’s entire regulatory framework (primarily treaties, regulations and directives) as well as case law from the CJEU. Furthermore, case law from the ECHR is increasingly important, also in a com- mercial context. Civil litigation in Swedish courts is governed by the Swedish Code of Judicial Procedure (the “Procedural Code”). Swedish civil litigation is primarily adversarial and decisions and judgments will be based on the claims and evidence made and presented by the parties. In line with this, witness examina- tion, which is oral, is conducted by the parties and not by the court. However, the court has the opportunity to, at its own initiative, appoint experts, but this opportunity is very rarely used.
Proceedings in Swedish courts involve a com- bination of written submissions and oral argu- ments. Significant weight is placed on the final hearing where, in principle, all evidence is to be presented (documentary evidence as well as witnesses of fact and experts) and the judg- ment may only be based on what was presented during the final hearing. These principles have, however, softened in recent years, and in prac- tice all documentary evidence is not presented in extenso during the final hearing, instead refer- ence is made to it, and key parts of the evidence is presented in more detail. Written witness statements are still very rare, and a full exami- nation in chief and cross-examination is made of witnesses. 1.2 Court System There are three types of courts in Sweden: gen- eral courts, administrative courts (administrative courts, administrative courts of appeal and the Supreme Administrative Court) and some spe- cialised courts (for instance the Labour Court, which hears employment cases only). Civil liti- gation is conducted in the general courts, and hence the focus of this article will be on the gen- eral courts.
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