Stockholm university

New dissertation about arbitral jurisdiction in multi-contract relations

In a new dissertation from the Departement of Law, Stockholm University, Dr Monica Seifert investigates and compares how the legal systems of three distinguished international arbitration jurisdictions have addressed the problem of arbitral jurisdiction in multi-contract relations.

open encyclopedia with the word jurisdiction in focus
The meaning of jurisdiction is "the official power to make legal decisions and judgements". In an arbitration context, jurisdiction refers to the authority of an arbitral tribunal to make a decision affecting the merits of the case. Photo: GeorgeM Photography/Mostphotos

Questions concerning arbitral jurisdiction often arise. One such question is whether an arbitration agreement contained in one contract applies to disputes concerning other contracts. This thesis, titled "Arbitral jurisdiction in multi-contract relations: a comparative study of Swedish, Swiss and English Law", investigates and compares how the legal systems of  three distinguished international arbitration jurisdictions have addressed the problem of arbitral jurisdiction in multi-contract relations. 

The thesis analyses three arbitral jurisdiction factors and places the multi-contract problem in its proper procedural law context. It also examines certain normative implications, such as the right of access to court, party autonomy, legal certainty, procedural economy as well as the advantages of arbitration. 

Cover of the thesis

The comparison uncovers several important differences between the legal systems under analysis. At a macro level, the thesis finds that the three legal systems do show a liberal arbitration-friendly approach to the question of arbitral jurisdiction, towards which Swiss law and English law seem to have developed gradually, while Swedish law appears less consistent.

Bio

Monica Seifert is a researcher and teacher in procedural law at the Departement of Law, Stockholm University, and senior legal counsel at Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. She has a Master of Laws degree from Stockholm University and from Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany. Monica has previously worked at law firms in Sweden and Switzerland.

Read about the thesis in DiVA

Monica Seifert's profile page
 

About the Public defence

Opponent was Professor Giuditta Cordero-Moss, University of Oslo, Norway.

The examining committee consisted of Professor emeritus Michael Bogdan, Lund University, Professor emeritus Rolf Dotevall, University of Gothenburg and Associate professor Crina Baltag, Stockholm University. Suppleant was Jur. dr., Lecturer Henrik Bellander, Uppsala University. 

The supervisor and chair of the dissertation was Professor Antonia Bakardjieva Engelbrekt, Stockholm University. Co-supervisor was Dr. Daria Kozlowska Rautiainen, Stockholm University. 

Text: Departement of Law