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.

Since ancient times, roads have tied people and cultures together. Roads have been createdwith the aim of facilitating trade and cultural exchange among different regions in the world. After the technologic development in vehicle industry and dramatically increase of motoring in the world during the past century road communication has gained a great importance for transporting people and goods. Thus, good safety and accessibility on roads all year round is now a vital necessity for a healthy economy in all modern societies. In order to keep roads safe, available for use with high transport quality they need to be maintained in real time. One of the most difficult tasks in this context is to keep the roads in good condition and accessible even during winter. The main objective of this doctoral thesis is to attempt to specify the most efficient ways of executing winter road maintenance.  The preliminary issue in this context is whether it is the use of current assistive tools, that is, technical aspects that should be optimized and developed or whether it is the way in which winter maintenance services are procured and outsourced, that is, contractual aspects that should be improved which could give the optimal impact for both clients and contractors and make winter road maintenance more effective, or both issues. In order to define the outline of the research project a comprehensive state of the art survey was initiated with the intention of collecting and gaining insights into the earlier studies in the research area. Three basic areas associated with the performance of winter road maintenance were considered to be most relevant for review due to the anchorage between the areas. The selected areas were climatological, technical and contractual aspects. The literature review was followed by an electronic questionnaire survey. The results of the study in this stage showed that current technical methods almost functioned in a reasonable manner but there was an imprecise dissatisfaction with the current maintenance contract. The second stage of the research consisted of a number of additional empirical investigations in order to identify contractual problematic issues behind the current winter road maintenance in Sweden. Generally, those factors that are rarely considered as potential underlying causes to costly performance of winter road maintenance in Sweden were studied in this research project for example improper use of related technical assistive tools, procurement of improper bundled winter services and inappropriate contract structure. This thesis consists of six papers, five of which are related to each other, and the first one is completely independent but within research area. Findings in the thesis contributes to extend understanding about; how designing appropriate contracts can improve winter road maintenance, how proper use of assistive tools can reduce unnecessary winter road maintenance costs and minimize road traffic disruptions and delays, how a partnering structure in contracts can create confidence and trust between clients and contractors that in turn leads to minimizing or eliminating conflicts and disputes between parties involved, how choice of appropriate procurement methods through proper bundling of winter road services can contribute to shorten the procurement process and create incentives for contractors, and how selection of proper payment mechanisms can contribute to higher service quality of performed winter road measures. Additionally, an adequate knowledge and understanding of climate, proper knowledge of road weather and its impact on winter road traffic is essential for contribution of better planning of how to maintain the road network during winter. Since understanding about winter issues and its effect on winter road traffic is far from complete and winter road maintenance in the cold regions is a similar challenge, broad and complex, the results of this research may even contribute to improving winter maintenance problems in the countries with severe winters like Sweden. / <p>QC 20140227</p>