Decision of the Göta Court of Appeal, 8 September 2014, Case No. Ö 775-14
Summary:The Göta Court of Appeal reversed a decision of the Kalmar District Court in
which the District Court had found that the parties were bound by valid arbitration clause.
The District Court decided that the claimant failed to prove that the document called
“Agreement for delivery (…)” was a mere certification and not in fact an agreement, and
ruled that irrespective of whether the agreement was signed by both parties, the parties had
attested discussing its entry into force, showing that the parties agreed on when the
agreement should enter into force; finally, the agreement provided that it replaced previous
agreements between the parties and through this wording the arbitration clause also
covered disputes arising from prior dealings between the parties. The Göta Court of Appeal
also deemed the document as an agreement, as it dealt with more issues than just the
certification. Yet, for its entry into force, the agreement required both parties to sign it. The
Court of Appeal considered that no copy of the agreement with both signatures had been
presented, the oral evidence did not establish that the document had been signed by both
parties, nor that the parties -despite the provision on the agreement having to be signedwould
have applied the agreement in such a manner so as to render it binding between the
parties. For this reason, the Court of Appeal found that the respondent had failed to
establish the existence of a binding arbitration clause and remanded the case to the District
Court.