Judgment of the Svea Court of Appeal, 5 September 2013, Case No. T 10060-10

Summary: The appellant challenged the arbitral award alleging that the award was based on an arbitration agreement whose scope did not cover the dispute. The challenged award was based on an arbitration agreement that the Stockholm District Court had found, by way of a default judgment, not granting jurisdiction to the tribunal to settle whether the claimant had undertaken expropriatory measures against the appellee. In parallel arbitral proceedings, the tribunal ruled on its own jurisdiction finding that it had jurisdiction to settle the issues on expropriation. The Svea Court explained that in its default judgment the District Court had finally determined that the arbitration agreement between the parties did not grant the tribunal jurisdiction to settle the issues on expropriation. The Svea Court ruled that as a result of the District Court’s default judgment, the arbitral award was not covered by a valid arbitration agreement and according to section 34(1) of the Swedish Arbitration Act the Court granted appellant’s request and annulled the award.