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 affirmed the decision of the lower court, finding that the arbitration clause was applicable to the dispute, as the party who was under the impression that the clause had ceased to apply failed to establish that the other party was aware of such impression. The Supreme Court, however, reversed the Svea Court’s decision in regards to the litigation costs and fees, finding that when an arbitration clause is still applicable, a public court, knowing of challenge proceedings under Article 36 of the Swedish Arbitration Act, cannot decide on the allocation of fees in the arbitration proceedings, which lies within the exclusive jurisdiction of the arbitrators.