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 tribunal failed to give sufficient reasons for the award, as required by the SCC Rules agreed to by the parties.  The Supreme Court of Sweden disagreed that the tribunal’s reasons were so deficient as to warrant setting the award and rejected the challenge.  The court cautioned that challenge proceedings cannot create a forum to retry the merits of the case and concluded that only a total lack of reasons could constitute a procedural error that justifies setting an award aside.