SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Simon Arvmyren, Christopher Stridh and Mikaela Tysk, Delphi
plaintiff at that point or if a new request for relief is based essentially on the same set of opera- tive facts. During an appeal, a plaintiff may only amend its cause of action due to circumstances that occurred during the proceedings or if there is a justifiable excuse for other reasons. 10.5 Court-Imposed Conditions on Granting an Appeal The court is not able to impose any conditions on granting an appeal, but in certain cases (such as cases concerning certain intellectual property rights, challenge of arbitral awards and competi- tion law cases), the court of appeal must allow the judgment to be appealed to the Supreme Court by way of a special declaration. 10.6 Powers of the Appellate Court After an Appeal Hearing After a main hearing, the appellate court has a few options. The court is only allowed to rule on the matters that were appealed by the parties and not on other matters. The court can decide the case based on the merits and either affirm, amend or reverse the appealed judgment, as well as remand a case to a lower court for a retrial. The appealed ruling may also be set aside if a substantial procedural error occurred during the trial in the lower court. 11. Costs 11.1 Responsibility for Paying the Costs of Litigation According to Swedish law, the general rule is that the litigation costs are to be paid by the losing party (see Chapter 18, Section 1 of the Procedural Code). The responsibility to cover the litigation costs includes all expenses such as court and attorney’s fees, cost for preparation
and for participating at hearings (see Chapter 18, Section 8 of the Procedural Code). If neither party can be considered to have won the case, each party will normally bear its own costs, and the court may also award a part of the costs if a party only prevails in part. If the claim of the litigation does not exceed half of the so-called price base amount (currently approximately EUR2,200), each party is respon- sible for its own litigation costs (see Chapter 18, Section 8 a of the Procedural Code). 11.2 Factors Considered When Awarding Costs Aside from the main rule mentioned in 11.1 Responsibility for Paying the Costs of Litiga- tion , there are several factors to consider when awarding costs, and the court may deviate from the main rule due to the behaviour of the pre- vailing party. If a party has initiated proceedings without the other party giving reason to do so, or if the prevailing party otherwise has intentionally or through negligence caused an unnecessary litigation, it shall reimburse the other party for its legal costs, or if the circumstances give rise to it, each party shall bear its own costs. Furthermore, in order to be awarded compen- sation, the requested cost must be reasonable given the amount in dispute, the complexity of the case, etc. 11.3 Interest Awarded on Costs Interest, in accordance with Section 6 of the Swedish Interest Act, is awarded from the day of the judgment until full recovery of the costs is made (see Chapter 18, Section 8, paragraph 2 of the Procedural Code).
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