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 the cooperation agreement.  The Supreme Court of Sweden affirmed the District Court’s refusal to dismiss the case and reversed the Court of Appeal’s dismissal.  The Supreme Court applied the doctrine of assertion to explain that the decision on jurisdiction is to be made based on what the claiming party claims with respect to its rights.  Because the appellant claimed that its claim was based on a legal relationship other than the one in the cooperation agreement, the cooperation agreement could not be invoked to deprive the court of jurisdiction.