Ascom Group SA - Anatolie STATI - Gabriel STATI - Terra Raf Trans Traiding Ltd v The Republic of Kazakhstan - Legal Opinion Patrik Scholdstrom - 23 August 2020
Country
Year
2020
Summary
A. INTRODUCTION
1. The Republic of Kazakhstan ("RoK") has asked me to provide an opinion on certain issues in the above-referenced matter.
2. I have been asked to address in this Opinion the following questions under Swedish law:
- Is there a duty of candour and duty to tell the truth of parties and counsel in civil proceedings in Sweden?
- Have the Stati Parties breached those duties in civil proceedings in Sweden?
- Have the Swedish courts found that the Stati Parties did not commit fraud, money laundering and/or bribery of public officials?
- Does the relevant arbitral award or its enforcement in Sweden violate Swedish public policy?
3. Translations are my own except where otherwise stated.
B. DOCUMENTS
4. RoK has provided me with the following documents:
- Decision of the Svea Court of Appeal, refusing to set aside the arbitral award, dated 9 December 2016;
- Judgment of Mr Justice Knowles of the High Court of England and Wales finding "prima facie evidence" of fraud dated 6 June 2017;
- Decision of the Swedish Supreme Court to refuse Kazakhstan's application for grave procedural error dated 24 October 2017;
- Witness Declaration of Alexander Foerster of Mannheimer Swartling, the Swedish counsel of Kazakhstan, dated 10 May 2019;
- Witness Declaration of Matthew Kirtland of Norton Rose Fulbright, the US counsel for Kazakhstan, dated 9 May 2019;
- Kazakhstan's second invalidation claim based on new evidence and new claims dated 25 November 2019;
- Legal Opinion of Professor Christoph Schreuer dated 21 January 2020;
- Legal Opinion of Professor George Bermann dated 21 January 2020;
- Expert Opinion of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP dated 21 January 2020;
- Decision of the Svea Court of Appeal dismissing Kazakhstan's second invalidation claim on the basis of res judicata dated 9 March 2020;
- Kazakhstan's petition to re-open the Swedish set-aside proceedings on the basis of new evidence dated 3 April 2020;
- Decision of the Swedish Supreme Court refusing to re-open the Swedish set-aside proceedings dated 18 May 2020;
- Decision of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal in the exequatur proceedings dated 14 July 2020;
- Second Witness Declaration of Alexander Foerster of Mannheimer Swartling, the Swedish counsel of Kazakhstan dated 20 July 2020;
- Expert Opinion of Alexander Layton QC on the outcome of the English enforcement proceedings dated 27 July 2020.
5. I should add the following. Since late 2016, I have at irregular intervals assisted counsel to the RoK in this matter, notably with an expert report to the English High Court dated 13 January 2017. I have been provided with many other documents in so doing.
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