The Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Sweden (Swedish: Högsta domstolen) is the highest court in Sweden and the final instance for all civil and criminal matters. The Supreme Court is comprised of sixteen Justices, who are appointed by the government. The Court operates as an independent institution from the government. Decisions rendered by the Supreme Court create binding precedent on all lower courts.
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Judgment in the Supreme Court, 14 December 2022. Case No. T 1569-19
Summary: A fund company seated in the EU prevailed against an EU member state in an arbitration under a BIT, whereby the arbitral tribunal found that the EU member state had violated the FET provisions in the BIT. The EU member state was ordered to pay approximately EUR 150m to the fund company....
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Judgment of the Supreme Court, 30 April 2019, Case No. T 796-18
Summary: The Supreme Court upheld a judgment by the Svea Court of Appeal, which had partially set aside an arbitral award based on a procedural error that had likely affected the outcome of the case. Early during the proceedings, the tribunal had issued a procedural order that included a...
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Judgment of the Supreme Court, 20 March 2019. Case No. T 5437-17
Summary: The Supreme Court rejected the challenging party’s application to set aside the challenged arbitral award under Section 34 SAA, finding that the challenging party had not brought such grounds that the arbitral tribunal’s interpretation of the parties’ agreement on dispute resolution...
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Judgment in the Swedish Supreme Court, 4 May 2018. Case No. Ö 3626-17
Summary: The question in the application to the Supreme Court was whether there were grounds for refusing recognition and enforcement of a foreign arbitral award in Sweden on the basis that the Respondent in the arbitration was not given an opportunity to present its case in the arbitration...
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Judgment of the Supreme Court, 21 April 2016, Case No. Ö 1429-15
Summary: A party in an ongoing arbitration initiated court proceedings under section 2 of the Swedish Arbitration Act, which provides that public courts may, on motion of a party, review an arbitral tribunal’s jurisdiction while the arbitration remains open. Here, the party moved the court to...
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Judgment of The Supreme Court, 17 of June 2015, Case No. T 5767-13
Summary: The appellant appealed to the Supreme Court a decision of the Svea Court of Appeal, which had rejected the appellant’s application to declare an arbitral award invalid on the basis that it violated public policy. In the award, the tribunal had found the appellant in breach of EU...
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Judgment of the Supreme Court, 2 June 2015, Case No. Ö 6354-13
Summary:The appellant moved the Supreme Court to grant its application for recognition and enforcement of an arbitration award rendered by the International Centre for Dispute Resolution in New York. The lower court had found that the award could not be enforced because the respondent had not...
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Decision of the Supreme Court of Sweden, 18 March 2014, Case No. Ö 2237-12
Summary: A party sought enforcement in Sweden of an award rendered in Honduras. The party sought enforcement against “NCC AB,” who was not listed as party in the award. The requesting party alleged that by mistake the award listed “NCC AS” as party, yet the tribunal in reality meant “NCC AB” and...
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Judgment of the Supreme Court of Sweden, 14 June 2013, Case No. T 2104-12/NJA 2013 s. 578
Summary: The appellant requested the Supreme Court to revert the judgment of the Svea Court of Appeal, declaring the arbitral award invalid. The appellant maintained that there was no valid arbitration agreement, as one of the parties did not hold the business license required by the applicable...
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Judgment of the Supreme Court of Sweden, 23 November 2012, Case No. T 4982-11
Summary: The appellant appealed to a judgment of the Svea Court of Appeal, alleging that a Swedish arbitral award was invalid, as it resolved non-arbitrable issues breaching Swedish and Russian peremptory laws. The Supreme Court of Sweden rejected the appeal and upheld the judgment of the Svea...
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Decision of the Supreme Court of Sweden, 10 May 2012, Case No. Ö 1590-11/NJA 2012 s. 289
Summary: The appellant requested court assistance in taking evidence from a third party in an on-going arbitration under Section 26 of the Swedish Arbitration Act. The counterparty objected to the request, asserting that the requested material lacked evidentiary value and contained trade...
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Decision of the Supreme Court of Sweden, 5 April 2012, Case No. Ö 5553-09/NJA 2012 s. 183
Summary: The appellant filed an action in the District Court, seeking repayment on a loan. The counterparty requested that the action be dismissed due to the existence of an arbitration agreement contained in a “cooperation agreement”. The appellant countered that its claim was not based on...
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Judgment of the Supreme Court of Sweden, 1 July 2011, Case No. Ö 170-10/NJA 2011 s. 75
Summary: The appellant foreign state challenged the lower court’s judgment that real property owned by the appellant could be used to execute an enforcement order of an arbitral award. The appellant claimed that the property in question was used for official purposes and therefore protected...
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Judgment of the Supreme Court of Sweden, 30 November 2010, Case No. T 3258-09/NJA 2010 s. 600
Summary: The appellant appealed a judgment by the Svea Court of Appeal to uphold an arbitral tribunal’s finding that an arbitration clause applied to a dispute but to amend the tribunal’s decision on compensation for litigation costs and arbitrators’ fees. The Supreme Court of Sweden partially...
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Judgment of the Supreme Court of Sweden, 12 November 2010, Case No. Ö 2301-09/NJA 2010 s. 508
Summary: The respondent challenged Stockholm as the seat of arbitration, alleging an insufficient connection to the Swedish legal system under the Swedish Arbitration Act. The Supreme Court of Sweden affirmed the principle of party autonomy and rejected the challenge. The court explained that...
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Judgment of the Supreme Court of Sweden, 9 June 2010, Case No. T 156-09/NJA 2010 s. 317
Summary: The appellant challenged a Swedish arbitration award under Section 34(5) of the Swedish Arbitration Act, alleging that a party-appointed arbitrator’s prior appointments by the same law firm raised doubts as to the arbitrator’s impartiality. The Supreme Court of Sweden explained that...
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Judgment of the Supreme Court of Sweden, 16 April 2010, Case No. Ö 13-09/NJA 2010 s. 219
Summary: The counterparty resisted enforcement against a Russian arbitral award on the grounds that it was not “duly” notified of the arbitration proceedings, as required by Section 54 of the Swedish Arbitration Act. The Supreme Court of Sweden noted that, although foreign arbitral awards are...
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Decision of the Supreme Court of Sweden, 31 March 2009, Case No. T 4387-07/NJA 2009 s. 128
Summary: The appellant challenged a Swedish arbitral award under Section 34 of the Swedish Arbitration Act, alleging that the arbitral tribunal either exceeded its jurisdiction or committed a procedural error that created a basis for setting the award aside. The appellant claimed that the...
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Judgment of the Supreme Court of Sweden, 3 December 2008, Case No. Ö 4227-06/NJA 2008 s. 1118
Summary: The appellant requested that the arbitrators’ fees be reduced under Section 41 of the Swedish Arbitration Act. The fees had been established by the arbitral institution that administered the arbitration, in accordance with the institution’s rules. The arbitrators asserted that Section...
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Judgment of the Supreme Court of Sweden, 12 May 2008, Case No. Ö 2289-05/NJA 2008 s. 476
Summary: The appellant appealed the dismissal of Swedish court proceedings, alleging that the counterparty waived its right to rely on the arbitration agreement by failing to pay its share of advance on costs as requested by the arbitral tribunal. The Supreme Court of Sweden dismissed the...
