Dependent guarantees (e.g., suretyship), has been sparsely commented on in Swedish legal literature and questions regarding certain main characteristics of the obligation have not been examined in detail. Despite this, the security is of practical importance and a considerable number of cases regarding guarantees have been handled in the courts. A typical situation is that a guarantor argues that his obligation should be reduced due to circumstances pertaining to the secured obligation or the relationship between the parties of the secured obligation. When judging such cases – and when interpreting judgments of such cases – the guarantee’s character as dependent to the secured obligation could be of im-portance. If the guarantee is dependent to the main obligation, changes or flaws in the main obligation or the relationship between the parties to that obligation could be used as an argument for reducing the guarantor’s obligation. However, the meaning of this dependency is quite unclear. In essence: the legal effects (if any) of the dependent character are debated and have not been examined thoroughly. Especially according to a certain “practical” perspective, the dependency is simply a definition and an abstraction that cannot be used to adjudicate specific cases; instead, practical considerations should prevail. This perspective is a reaction against an older “theoretical” perspective, in which the dependency of the obligation was seen as a valid reason for deciding cases and defining and organizing obligations. This conflict is familiar in Scandinavian legal literature; critique of the use of definitions, abstractions and legal concepts in legal reasoning has in many ways shaped the legal discourse of the 20th century. In this thesis, the meaning of – and different perspectives on – the concept of dependency is examined with the purpose of providing both knowledge and dis-cussion of it. In chapter 2, the definitions of dependent guarantees are examined with focus on their dependent character. The discussion is continued in chapter 3, where the abovementioned practical and theoretical perspectives are investigated. In chapter 4, the influence of the concept of dependency in practice is assessed, mainly by analyzing cases from the Swedish Supreme Court. Finally, in chapter 5, the results are summarized and an idea that the different perspectives could be seen as an expression of the difference between interpretation and argumenta-tion, is repeated and elaborated. The inquiry shows that the examined types of guarantees are dependent in an economic sense, in that the purpose is to secure another obligation, but that the legal implication of that circumstance is debated. Relevant precedents form the Swedish Supreme Court could be interpreted differently and does notconclusively show whether the concept of dependency was applied as an argu-ment or not. The main accomplishment is that the thesis offers a thorough anal-ysis of the concept of dependency and different perspectives on its feasibility as a legal argument. Other texts on the subject are not as detailed, especially regard-ing the underlying theoretical or ethical reasons for ascribing the concept of de-pendency importance or not. Hopefully, the results can be of interest for further studies of dependent guarantees and used as a basis for deciding whether to use the concept of dependency as a legal argument or not.

I uppsatsen utreds Adjudication Bond, vilket i Sverige är en ny typ av bankgaranti. För att bedöma denna görs en jämförelse med hur bankgarantier som rättsligt institut förhåller sig till svensk rätt. Bankgarantier används både i Sverige och internationellt. De utgör säkerhet för ett underliggande avtals riktiga fullgörelse. Den ena parten (uppdragsgivaren) till det underliggande avtalet ger banken i uppdrag att ställa ut bankgarantin till förmån för dennes motpart (beneficienten) för det fall att uppdragsgivaren inte uppfyller sitt åtagande enligt det underliggande avtalet. Bankgarantier kan varieras på olika sätt och ställas ut för alla typer av underliggande avtal. Bankgarantier är antingen självständiga eller accessoriska. Vid den självständiga bankgarantin ska beneficientens rätt till ersättning endast bedömas enligt bankgarantins villkor, emedan vid accessoriska bankgarantier denna rätt ska bedömas också enligt det underliggande avtalet. I garantins s.k. betalningsmekanism uppställs de krav som beneficientens begäran måste uppfylla för att ersättning ska utbetalas. Således kan det endast krävas en begäran från beneficienten (on demand), men därutöver kan det krävas att beneficienten till sin begäran presenterar ytterligare dokument, bestående av ett expertintyg eller ett domslut, som bekräftar beneficientens rätt till ersättning. Adjudication är ett speciellt tvistelösningsförfarande där en tvist ska avgöras med tillämplig lag men där avgörandet inte är slutligt. Således faller Adjudication Bond mellan expertintyget och domslutet. I uppsatsen framgår det att Adjudication Bond ska presumeras vara en självständig bankgaranti, med mindre det tydligt framgår i garantivillkoren att den är accessorisk. Vidare fastslås att Adjudication Bond är en bankgaranti som kan bedömas både enligt remburs- och borgensreglerna. / The thesis examines Adjudication Bond, which is a new kind of bank guarantee in Sweden. The examination is conducted by a comparison of how bank guarantees, as legal institutes, relate to Swedish law. Bank guarantees are used in Sweden and in international trade. They guarantee the due performance of an underlying contract. A party (principal) to the underlying contract instructs the bank to issue the guarantee on behalf of the principal in favour of the other party to the underlying contract (beneficiary) for the due performance of the underlying contract. Bank guarantees can be altered in various ways and be issued for all kind of underlying contracts. Bank guarantees are either independent or accessory. Under the independent guarantee the beneficiary’s call on the guarantee shall be assessed only pursuant to the conditions in the guarantee, whereas under the accessory guarantee the call shall be assessed also pursuant to the underlying contract. The guarantee’s payment mechanism specifies what requirements the call must fulfil in order to trigger the payment. Thus, the call may be honoured on the beneficiary’s demand (on demand), or the beneficiary may have to submit any additional document, such as expert certificate or a court decision, that confirms the beneficiary’s right to payment. Adjudication is a special sort of dispute resolution; the dispute is settled in accordance with applicable law but the decision is not final. Hence, the Adjudication Bond encompasses partly the expert certificate and partly the court decision. In the thesis I argue that the Adjudication Bond shall be perceived as an independent bank guarantee, unless it is clear from the guarantee’s conditions that it is accessory. Further, I hold that Adjudication Bond is a bank guarantee on which the rules of letter of credit and suretyship can be applied.