Sweden: Dirland Télécom S.A. (France) v. Viking Telecom AB (Sweden) - International Arbitration Court Decisions - 3rd Edition
Originally from International Arbitration Court Decisions - 3rd Edition
DECISION BY THE COURT OF APPEAL FOR WESTERN SWEDEN RENDERED ON 29 DECEMBER 2003 IN CASE T 4366-02
Subject-Matter
Non-compliance with mandatory European telecommunications law – does it constitute a violation of Swedish ordre public?
Finding:
European Council Directive 98/13/EC and European Council Decision 98/482/EC do not have direct effect against private entities, and may therefore not constitute grounds for declaring an award invalid for reasons of ordre public.
Parties:
Claimant: Dirland Télécom S.A. (France)
Respondents: Viking Telecom AB (Sweden)
Place of Court Proceedings:
Gothenburg, Sweden
Applicable Law:
Swedish Arbitration Act
Excerpts below are an unofficial translation of the proceedings in the Court of
Appeal for Western Sweden.
Summary
The dispute in the case arose as a result of the sale of call routers; a type of telephone equipment. The call router is a device installed by telephone subscribers to route the call through a certain operator’s network in order to achieve lower costs.
Viking Telecom AB (“Viking”) is a Swedish corporation with its principal place of business in Gothenburg, Sweden. Viking develops and markets products for access to telecommunication networks, including call routers.
Dirland Télécom S.A. (“Dirland”) is a French corporation with its principal place of business in St Dizier, France. It carries out wholesale business of GSM telephones and supplies a number of different communications services.
SWEDEN
Dirland Télécom S.A. (France) v. Viking Telecom AB (Sweden), Decision by the Court of Appeal for Western Sweden rendered on 29 December 2003 in case T 4366-02
SUBJECT-MATTER:
Non-compliance with mandatory European telecommunications Law - does it constitute a violation of Swedish ordre public ?
Observations by Diederik de Groot