Originally from International Arbitration Court Decisions - 3rd Edition

DECISION OF THE SUPREME COURT OF SWEDEN RENDERED IN 2000 IN CASE T 12-99: THE IFA CASE

Subject-Matter:
The right to introduce set-off claims in an arbitration.

Findings:
The Arbitral Tribunal’s dismissal of the set off claim that concerned another issue than the one stipulated by Claimant in its request for arbitration, does not constitute an error that may lead to the setting aside of the award.

Parties:
Skandinaviska Färginstitutet (“SFI”) (Sweden)
Birgitte Hartmann and her company Institut für Farbe (“IFA”) (Germany)

Place of Arbitration:
Sweden

Place of Court Procedure:
Sweden

Applicable Statute:
The 1929 Swedish Arbitration Act
Excerpts below follow in an unofficial translation.

Summary
IFA and SFI entered into an agreement on 4 January 1986 (the “Distribution Agreement”) concerning distribution of SFI’s products in Germany. Clause 34 of the agreement contains an arbitration clause with the following wording:

All disputes or disagreements which may arise between the parties concerning the making, interpretation or application of this Agreement, and which cannot be settled amicably between the parties, shall finally be settled by arbitration in Sweden according to the Swedish Arbitration 75 Act. Swedish law shall be applied. English shall be the language used during proceedings

When a dispute arose between the parties, SFI submitted a request for arbitration on 9 March 1995.

During the arbitration proceedings, the Arbitral Tribunal delivered two especially drawn up decisions.