Judgment of the Supreme Court, 2 June 2015, Case No. Ö 6354-13

Summary:The appellant moved the Supreme Court to grant its application for recognition and enforcement of an arbitration award rendered by the International Centre for Dispute Resolution in New York. The lower court had found that the award could not be enforced because the respondent had not participated in the proceedings and because it was not clear that the respondent had received notice of the arbitration. In the proceedings before the Supreme Court, the claimant submitted new evidence showing that the notice and other information regarding the arbitration had been sent to an email address that contained the respondent’s name, and which the respondent had used at a later date. The Court noted that Section 54 of the Swedish Arbitration Act provides that a foreign arbitration award cannot be enforced against a party who has not been given proper notice of the arbitration or for other reasons was unable to present its case. In this case, however, the Supreme Court concluded that the new evidence established that the respondent had received proper notice. The respondent’s assertion that he does not use e-mail and has not received any e-mails concerning the arbitration were insufficient to prevent recognition and enforcement of the arbitration award. The Supreme Court thus declared that the arbitration award may be enforced in Sweden as a final and binding judgment.