To take a deposition from a witness in Sweden for a foreign case, you choose one of two practical routes: a voluntary deposition, if the witness will cooperate, or a formal Letter of Request under the 1970 Hague Evidence Convention, if the witness must be compelled. Sweden ratified the Convention in 1975, and it governs foreign depositions in Sweden alongside the Swedish Code of Judicial Procedure and the Act on the Taking of Evidence for a Foreign Court of Law.1Hague Conference on Private International Law. HCCH #20 – Status Table Two other constraints shape everything you do: Sweden refuses to execute broad pre-trial document discovery requests, and any transcript you carry home is subject to EU data protection law.
Choosing Between a Voluntary Deposition and a Letter of Request
The witness’s willingness is the deciding factor. On Swedish soil, a foreign court has no coercive power at all. The Swedish government has stated that direct taking of evidence may only take place on a voluntary basis, without coercive measures.2Government Offices of Sweden. Judicial Cooperation in Civil and Commercial Matters That means a subpoena from your home court cannot be enforced in Sweden, and a witness who walks out of a voluntary deposition faces no consequence from the foreign proceeding.
Compulsion exists only through the Swedish courts. When you send a Letter of Request through Sweden’s Central Authority at the Ministry of Justice, it routes the request to the appropriate district court (Tingsrätt), which then applies Swedish procedural rules and, if needed, Swedish coercive measures.3Hague Conference on Private International Law. Sweden – Central Authority (Art. 2) and Practical Information
The tradeoff is speed and control. A voluntary deposition can be arranged in weeks and can follow the questioning style of the requesting court. A Letter of Request takes several months and puts a Swedish judge in charge of the room. Most foreign litigants try the voluntary route first when the witness is cooperative, and the Convention expressly preserves the fallback to a formal request if the voluntary attempt fails.4U.S. Department of Justice. Hague Evidence Convention – Article 22
Running a Voluntary Deposition
Voluntary depositions of willing witnesses in civil and commercial matters are permitted in Sweden regardless of the witness’s nationality, but prior permission from the Swedish Foreign Ministry is required. For U.S. litigants, that permission is obtained by contacting the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm, which coordinates with Swedish authorities on your behalf.5U.S. Department of State. Sweden Judicial Assistance Information Start that request several weeks before the planned date.
Depositions may be conducted by private attorneys or by U.S. consular officers, and they typically take place at the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm, a hotel conference room, or a law office.5U.S. Department of State. Sweden Judicial Assistance Information Swedish courthouses are not an option, because the proceeding sits outside Swedish judicial authority.
Oath
The oath must be administered by someone authorized under the requesting jurisdiction’s law. A consular officer at the U.S. Embassy can administer it if arrangements are made in advance.5U.S. Department of State. Sweden Judicial Assistance Information Parties frequently stipulate that the court reporter or deposition officer will administer the oath instead, which avoids the embassy scheduling entirely. Either way, lock the method down before the deposition date.
Interpretation
If the witness does not speak the language of the proceeding, use a professional interpreter. Sweden’s Kammarkollegiet authorizes interpreters in roughly 50 languages under a two-tier system: authorized interpreters and authorized interpreters with special expertise as legal interpreters.6Kammarkollegiet. Authorisation of Interpreters and Translators in Sweden The legal specialization reduces the risk of an admissibility challenge based on translation quality.
The Convention also requires that any request for a person to appear or give evidence be drawn up in Swedish or accompanied by a Swedish translation, unless the witness is a national of the requesting state.7U.S. Department of Justice. Hague Evidence Convention – Article 21 Notice in the wrong language gives the witness grounds to refuse.
Court Reporter or Video
Sweden does not have a domestic tradition of verbatim stenographic reporting. U.S.-certified reporters based in Europe are available through international deposition service providers, but Stockholm availability is limited and early booking helps. Video recording is a workable alternative if the requesting court will accept it as the record. Confirm the accepted format before the date.
What Voluntary Really Means
A witness who agrees to sit for a voluntary deposition can change their mind at any point and stop answering. There is no in-room remedy. The only recourse is to restart the process as a formal Letter of Request.
Using a Letter of Request to Compel Testimony
When the witness will not cooperate, the Letter of Request is the only route. The requesting court sends the document to Sweden’s Central Authority at the Ministry of Justice, which forwards it to the appropriate Tingsrätt for execution under the Swedish Code of Judicial Procedure.2Government Offices of Sweden. Judicial Cooperation in Civil and Commercial Matters
A Swedish judge runs the examination. The judge decides which questions are permissible, the order, and the scope. Foreign counsel may attend and submit proposed questions if Sweden grants prior authorization under Article 8 of the Convention, but they do not conduct direct or cross-examination the way they would at home.8U.S. Department of Justice. Hague Evidence Convention – Article 8
Under Article 10, the Swedish court applies the same compulsory measures it uses in a domestic proceeding.9U.S. Department of Justice. Hague Evidence Convention – Article 10 A witness who ignores a summons can be fined or brought to court in custody. A witness who appears but refuses to answer can be fined, and continued refusal can lead to detention for up to three months, with a review at least every two weeks.10Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe. Swedish Code of Judicial Procedure – Chapter 36, Sections 20-21 These sanctions are rarely used in international cases, but their availability is what makes the Letter of Request meaningful.
Plan for several months from submission to hearing. The Ministry has to review the request, identify the right district court, and the Tingsrätt has to schedule. Incomplete or improperly formatted requests add more delay.
The Pre-Trial Document Discovery Trap
Sweden has invoked Article 23 of the Hague Evidence Convention, declaring that it will not execute Letters of Request issued for the purpose of pre-trial discovery of documents.11Hague Conference on Private International Law. Declaration/Reservation/Notification – Sweden Sweden has clarified that this covers any request requiring a person to identify what relevant documents they possess or to produce documents beyond specifically named items.
You cannot send a request asking a Swedish witness to turn over “all documents relating to” a transaction. Every document must be identified individually, by name or specific description. Anything broader will be rejected. This catches U.S. litigators off guard more than any other feature of the Swedish process, because it makes the American style of document discovery impossible here. Draft narrowly, list each document, or the Swedish court will decline to act.
Getting the Transcript Home Under GDPR
A deposition transcript, its exhibits, and any recordings almost certainly contain personal data protected by the EU General Data Protection Regulation. Moving that data from Sweden to a country outside the European Economic Area needs a legal basis under GDPR.
For transfers to the United States, the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework is one path. The European Commission adopted an adequacy decision for the framework effective July 10, 2023, allowing transfers of EU personal data to participating U.S. organizations.12Data Privacy Framework. EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework Program Overview If the receiving entity participates, the transfer can proceed on that basis.
Where the framework does not apply, GDPR Article 49 provides fallback derogations. The one that fits litigation is the transfer necessary for establishing, exercising, or defending legal claims.13GDPR-Info.eu. Art. 49 GDPR – Derogations for Specific Situations Explicit informed consent from the witness is another option. Article 49 derogations are meant for case-by-case use rather than blanket authorization, so build the data transfer analysis into your preparation rather than leaving it for after the deposition.
Privileges and the Witness’s Right to Refuse
Article 11 of the Convention lets a witness refuse to give evidence based on a privilege or duty under either Swedish law or the law of the state where the proceedings originated.14Hague Conference on Private International Law. Convention of 18 March 1970 on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters The Swedish Code of Judicial Procedure exempts certain categories of witnesses from compelled testimony, and the court will not force testimony if the party who called the witness withdraws the request.15Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe. Swedish Code of Judicial Procedure – Chapter 36, Section 22
In a voluntary deposition, the witness can walk at any time. If that happens, the Convention preserves your right to pursue a formal Letter of Request instead.4U.S. Department of Justice. Hague Evidence Convention – Article 22 Knowing the fallback exists is part of why the voluntary route is worth trying first.