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Stockholm Arbitration Report (SAR)

Preview Page SAR 2001 - 1  

On 18 March 2001 Nils Mangård, one of Sweden's most prominent international arbitrators ever, passed away. Nils Mangård had a notable career as judge and held several important positions in this capacity. He had his most remarkable career, however, in the field of international arbitration. He was the perfect international arbitrator. He had deep knowledge of law, Swedish as well as international, and was fluent in several languages. He was agreeable and friendly in a way that softened hostilities and bridged cultural and legal gaps. At the same time he was decisive. It is no wonder that he was appointed arbitrator, mostly chairman of arbitral tribunals, in numerous international disputes.

In 1981 Nils Mangård was appointed one of the three neutral arbitrators in the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, which was established in The Hague the same year. More than 4,000 cases have been filed with the Tribunal, which has still not concluded its activities. Nils Mangård was arbitrator and head of one of the three chambers during the first several years.

For many years Nils Mangård served as advisor to the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce where he significantly contributed to the development of the Institute to a leading international arbitration centre. Among other tasks in this connection he chaired in the early 1970's the committee that advised the American Arbitration Association and the then USSR Chamber and Commerce and Industry on Swedish arbitration law and practice, an endeavour that eventually resulted in the so-called US-USSR Optional clause agreement of 1977 by virtue of which the American Arbitration Association and the USSR Chamber of Commerce and Industry agreed on a model arbitration clause, providing for arbitration in Stockholm in co-operation with the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, to be inserted in contracts between Soviet foreign trade organisations and US corporations.