Hans Danelius. Sergei Lebedev: In Memoriam

Professor Sergei Nikolaevich Lebedev, born in 1934, was for a long time a well-known personality in the Swedish arbitration community. He had actively participated in the preparations of the Agreement of 1977 between the USSR Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the American Arbitration Association which recommended that disputes between Soviet and US companies should be referred for arbitration under the aegis of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC). This agreement gradually and significantly contributed to making the SCC a frequently used forum not only for arbitrations in Soviet-US commercial disputes but also for East-West arbitrations in general. Sergei’s involvement in the work on the 1977 Agreement achieved wide recognition and appreciation. It was therefore not surprising that he was frequently asked to serve as an arbitrator in cases regarding business transactions between Russian and Western companies.

I first met Sergei in 1995 when we both served as arbitrators in a case involving one Swedish company and two Russian companies. The case was dealt with by the SCC. Sergei had been appointed arbitrator by the Russian parties and a Swedish lawyer had been appointed by the Swedish party. On the basis of the SCC Arbitration Rules, the Governing Board of the SCC had appointed me as chairman of the arbitral tribunal. During the following years Sergei and I repeatedly sat together as arbitrators in various cases regarding disputes between Russian and Western parties, the last time in a case in which the proceedings lasted for several years and ended in 2011.

Since the cases in which Sergei was involved as arbitrator often concerned business transactions involving Russian companies, it was a clear advantage for the non-Russian members of the tribunals to have through Sergei easy access to reliable information about Russian commercial law and business practices. But it was no less important for the smooth running of the proceedings that Sergei’s personal qualities and, not least, his subtle sense of humour facilitated the deliberations and mostly made it possible to reach a unanimous opinion on the legal issues and on the elements on which the awards should be based.

At the personal level, I came to regard Sergei as a good friend. I was invited by him and his wife Asya to their dacha south of Moscow, and my wife and I also enjoyed having them both as dinner guests at our home in Stockholm.

The services that Sergei rendered to the Swedish arbitration community received a well-deserved recognition when in 2003 King Carl XVI Gustaf bestowed on him the insignia as Commander of the Royal Order of the Polar Star, a distinction of which he was rightly proud.

On 19 and 20 January 2017, the Arbitration Institute of the SCC celebrated in solemn forms its 100th anniversary. Although Sergei was no longer alive, his work as an arbitrator, often under the aegis of the SCC, had not been forgotten during the celebrations. A film entitled “Quiet Triumph: How Arbitration Changed the World” and depicting the SCC and its growing activities since its creation had been prepared and had its premiere on 19 January 2017 at a well-known cinema in central Stockholm. Several persons who had made important contributions to the activities of the SCC appeared on the screen and told the public of their experiences. One of them was Sergei. His role as one of the originators of the 1977 Agreement was emphasized in the film as well as the recognition he received in 2003 by being appointed Commander of the Order of the Polar Star.

Sergei was a true gentleman and there are many lawyers in Sweden and in other countries who will remember him as a good friend and a pleasant companion in pursuit of a fair outcome of complex commercial disputes. There can be no doubt that his death is a heavy loss for the international arbitration community.

Justice Hans Danelius, Former Justice of the Supreme Court of Sweden

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