Domain Names as Jurisdiction-Creating Property in Sweden
Domain Names as Jurisdiction-Creating Property in Sweden

Summary/Abstract: In the first sentence of section 3 of Chapter 10 of the Swedish Code of Judicial Procedure there is a rule on the so-called general property forum, which is understood to mean that in cases regarding payment liability it is possible to sue the debtor, who is not domiciled in Sweden, in a Swedish court if he has property located within the country. The property in question need not be connected in any way with the monetary claim behind the claimant’s action, and the plaintiff (the creditor) does not have to be a Swedish national or resident. Such use for jurisdictional purposes of the presence of assets is not unproblematic, which is illustrated by the fact that it is not permitted whenever the defendant is domiciled in an EU member state or a state party to the Lugano Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters. Still the rule on the general property forum is deemed necessary due to the Swedish reluctance to recognize and enforce foreign money judgments rendered outside of the EU/Lugano area; to the extent such foreign judgments are not valid in Sweden it is necessary to allow creditors (both Swedish and foreign) to initiate court proceedings in Sweden in order to obtain a judgment that can be used to levy execution on the Swedish assets of the debtor. In the increasingly global society of today, it is not unusual that persons domiciled abroad own real or movable property in Sweden and it would certainly be unacceptable if that property, due to the Swedish unwillingness to enforce foreign judgments in combination with the lack of Swedish jurisdiction, would stay beyond the reach of bona fide creditors, turning Sweden into a haven where disloyal foreign debtors could hide their assets.

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