SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Simon Arvmyren, Christopher Stridh and Mikaela Tysk, Delphi
Enforcement in the country where the assets are located is of course dependant on the country in question recognising the decision. 6.6 Third Parties and Injunctive Relief Injunctive relief may only be obtained against a person or entity that is a party to the proceed- ings, and thus not against a third party. 6.7 Consequences of a Respondent’s Non-compliance If a judgment for injunctive relief has been ren- dered, the successful applicant must notify the Swedish Enforcement Authority and apply for enforcement if the applicant wishes to have the judgment enforced (see Chapter 15, Section 10 of the Procedural Code). If the injunctive relief was awarded under the penalty of a fine, a non- complying defendant may risk having to pay the fine. In addition to the above, a non-compliant party will, of course, also always increase the risk of the court drawing negative inferences. There are, however, no rules regarding contempt of court that would apply. Once an application of summons has been served on the defendant (see 3.4 Initial Com- plaint ), the procedure provides for an initial exchange of written pleadings commencing with a written answer or statement of defence. This is part of the so-called preparatory phase of the trial. The preparatory phase also includes an oral preparatory hearing with the main pur- pose of clarifying the parties’ respective posi- tions in relation to the request for relief and factual allegations. At the preparatory hearing the court will normally also proceed with other 7. Trials and Hearings 7.1 Trial Proceedings Initial Proceedings
issues such as document production and plan- ning of the remaining part of the trial. The court also has an obligation to investigate if the parties are interested in finding an amicable settlement of the dispute. Following the preparatory hearing, there is often another round of exchange of written pleadings together with submission of final statements of evidence. For larger and more complex cases, there may of course be additional rounds of writ- ten pleadings, as well as additional oral prepara- tory hearings. The case must be decided after an oral main hearing, except regarding disputes concerning very low amounts or if it is otherwise appropri- ate to decide the case without a hearing. Rules regarding the main hearing can be found in Chapter 43 of the Procedural Code. All main hearings, with some exceptions, are open to the public, in both civil and criminal cases. See 1.3 Court Filings and Proceedings . The Trial Proceedings First, the court will make sure that there are no procedural impediments such as a party or a witness not presenting themselves, or the more unusual situation that a party has submitted new factual allegations or evidence shortly before the start of the hearing or even at the beginning of the hearing. If that is the case, the other party will be allowed reasonable time to answer or the new material may be ruled inadmissible. If the court determines that there are no impediments, the hearing will proceed. The hearing starts with opening statements, which shall be oral according to the principle of oral proceedings. The parties may only submit written memorandums of their opening state-
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