Jonatan Schytzer

• Research project (funded by Torsten Söderbergs stiftelse) 2022-2024
  • The Environment in Bankruptcy
• Senior lecturer, private law 2022-
• Lecturer, Law Programme (property law, insolvency law), Autumn 2020 - Spring 2022
  • Teacher of the year 2021
• Doctor of Law (D.J.S.) 2021
  • The Rise of the Claim in Insolvency Law (award-winning, Insolvensrättsligt forum 2022)
• Degree of Master of Laws 2015
• Lecturer, Law Programme, Term Course 2 (torts, contract law, debtor-creditor law, labour law), Spring 2015

The Environment in Bankruptcy

In April 2022, I formally started my research project – The Environment in Bankruptcy – at Uppsala University Sweden. The project is funded by Torsten Söderbergs stiftelse.

The project is based on the fact that we have recently had several instances where persons and companies have profited by the expense of the environment. The actors have committed to take care of waste, but instead of complying with current regulations, black mass from ground batteries has been buried in fields, toxic waste has been dumped in the vicinity of water sources. Waste has been handled so carelessly that fires have broken out at waste facilities.

Some of these persons have received lengthy prison sentences and had to pay damages. However, the problem is that there is a lack of money from both the criminals and the companies they have run to clean up the environment. The companies have been declared bankrupt, which short-circuits the environmental law system since it is based on the polluter pays principle. In these cases, there are no funds to clean up the environment. It can be said that the environment goes bankrupt.

The purpose of the project is to investigate the legal conditions under which the environment can be said to go bankrupt and how the law can be changed to avoid this situation arising. The following research questions are raised to achieve the purpose:

1. Under what legal conditions are environmental claims enforced in a bankruptcy?
2. Under what legal conditions should environmental claims be enforced in bankruptcy, and how can bankruptcy law be changed to reduce the risk of situations arising when polluters cannot pay?
3. What changes can be implemented at the level of principle into the legal system to reduce the risk that polluters can not pay?

I have presented the project at INSOL Europe Academic Conference in Dublin and a Younger Academics Network of insolvency Law (YANIL) workshop (both march 2022). I have also presented my research at Stockholms university (Stockholm Centre for Commercial Law) and Uppsala University (spring 2022). During autumn 2022 I have also presented the project at Fastighetsrättens dag (Real estate law-day), which Institutet för fastighetsrättslig forskning arranges.

The Rise of the Claim in Insolvency Law

I defended my thesis – The Rise of the Claim in Insolvency Law – for the doctorate in February 2021 at Uppsala university. The main question of the thesis was when a claim arises, which is quintessential in Swedish insolvency law. The claim must have arisen before a certain critical time point to be included in insolvency proceedings, a composition (in a reorganisation) or a debt relief. The question of whether the claim has arisen before a critical time point is also used concerning recovery to the insolvency estate, set-off and to determine whether a post-commencement claim exists.

In recent years, there have been numerous cases from the Supreme Court of Sweden
concerning the question of the rise of the claim. The Court has, in several of these cases,
stated that the question of the rise of the claim mainly depends on the purpose of the specific
provision. This way of reasoning is called functionalism in the thesis. Functionalism
creates an openness towards arguments and principles which are relevant for the specific
provision. Accordingly, principles and arguments of insolvency law become important to
determine if a claim has arisen as regards to a provision within insolvency law. However,
there are other ways of approaching the issue. For example, the doctrine of conditions
and the principle of the substantial ground of the claim have also been used in the case
law from the Supreme Court of Sweden. To determine whether a claim has arisen, the
doctrine of conditions opens the door for an assessment based on the rules on the formation
of contracts, while the principle of the substantial ground mainly relies upon the
law of obligations. Insolvency law and the law of obligations are thus intertwined in the
question of when a claim has arisen.

The different ways of reasoning are studied in detail in the thesis. A comparison is also
made between their respective structure, as well as of the different normative assessments
they rely on. How the Supreme Court of Sweden superordinated functionalism in NJA
2009 s 291 is also studied. The study of the different ways of reasoning forms the basis for
the main part of the thesis and its topic, which is: The rise of the claim as regards the
critical time points within insolvency law.

I have presented the thesis just about 20 times, among others, at seminars and conferences in Aarhus, Oslo, Helsinki, Stockholm and at law firms in Sweden.

After the thesis, I have had a position as a lecturer at Uppsala University, teaching property law and insolvency law at the law program. I have also published five articles, mainly concerning Insolvency law. Inter alia, on the Swedish implementation of the reconstructive directive and on VAT-claims status in insolvency proceedings.

See also under Biography.

Doctoral Thesis - The Rise of the Claim in Insolvency Law (defended successfully 5/2-2021)

The question of when a claim arises is quintessential in Swedish insolvency law. The
claim has to have arisen before a certain critical time point to be included in insolvency
proceedings, a composition (in a reorganisation) or a debt relief. The question if the claim
has arisen before a critical time point is also used concerning recovery to the insolvency
estate, set-off and to determine whether a post-commencement claim exists. The thesis
delves into the question of the rise of the claim in Swedish insolvency law.

In recent years, there have been numerous cases from the Supreme Court of Sweden
concerning the question of the rise of the claim. The Court has, in several of these cases,
stated that the question of the rise of the claim mainly depends on the purpose of the specific
provision. This way of reasoning is called functionalism in the thesis. Functionalism
creates an openness towards arguments and principles which are relevant for the specific
provision. Accordingly, principles and arguments of insolvency law become important to
determine if a claim has arisen as regards to a provision within insolvency law. However,
there are other ways of approaching the issue. For example, the doctrine of conditions
and the principle of the substantial ground of the claim have also been used in the case
law from the Supreme Court of Sweden. To determine whether a claim has arisen, the
doctrine of conditions opens the door for an assessment based on the rules on the formation
of contracts, while the principle of the substantial ground mainly relies upon the
law of obligations. Insolvency law and the law of obligations are thus intertwined in the
question of when a claim has arisen.

The different ways of reasoning are studied in detail in the thesis. A comparison is also
made between their respective structure, as well as of the different normative assessments
they rely on. How the Supreme Court of Sweden superordinated functionalism in NJA
2009 s 291 is also studied. The study of the different ways of reasoning forms the basis for
the main part of the thesis and its topic, which is: The rise of the claim as regards to the
critical time points within insolvency law.

Research presentations

• The Environment in Bankruptcy - Bob Wessels Insolvency Law Collection 2nd Lecture, Leiden, The Netherlands, 19/4-23
• Företagsrekonstruktion ("Restructuring") - Bostadsrättens dag, Uppsala, 14/3-23
• Miljön i konkurs ("The Environment in Bankruptcy") - Wistrand advokatbyrå, Stockholm, 25/1-23
• Konkursboets förpliktelser - Ex Libro, advokatkurs, Stockholm, 17/1-23
• Fordrans uppkomst inom insolvensrätten - Affärsrättsligt centrum, Lunds university, 27/10-22
• Miljön i konkurs ("The Environment in Bankruptcy") - Fastighetsrättens dag (The real estate law-day), Institutet för fastighetsrättslig forskning, 11/10-22
• Miljön i konkurs ("The Environment in Bankruptcy") - The Law Faculty, Uppsala university, Higher Seminar in Private Law, 8/6-22
• Miljön i konkurs ("The Environment in Bankruptcy") - Stockholm Centre for Commercial Law, Stefan Lindskog commentator, 3/6-22
• Fordrans uppkomst inom insolvensrätten - Insolvensrättsligt forum, 5/5-22
• Presentation and analysis of insolvency law related cases from the Supreme Court of Sweden 2019–2021, together with Torgny Håstad och Marek Keller, Insolvensrättsligt forum, 5/5-22
• Fordrans uppkomst inom insolvensrätten - Cirio advokatbyrå, Stockholm, 5/4-22
• Fordrans uppkomst inom insolvensrätten - Stiftelsen Affärsjuridik, Handelshögskolan, Göteborgs universitet, 25/3-22
• Fordrans uppkomst inom insolvensrätten - Seminar for the legal scholars, Handelshögskolan, Göteborgs universitet, 25/3-22
• The Environment in Bankruptcy - INSOL Europe Academic Conference, Dublin, 3/3-22
• The Environment in Bankruptcy - YANIL workshop, Dublin, 1/3-22
• Fordrans uppkomst inom insolvensrätten - advokatfirman Carlér, Stockholm, 20/1-22
• The Rise of the Claim in Insolvency Law - YANIL, Zoom, 8/12-21
• Företag i ekonomisk kris: Ett nytt perspektiv på företagsrekonstruktion - CIRCUS workshop, Uppsala, 3/12-21
• Fordrans uppkomst inom insolvensrätten - Wistrands advokatbyrå, Stockholm, 1/12-21
• Mervärdesskattefordrans status i konkurs och ackord, together with jur. dr Mikael Ek and with prof. Annina H Persson as discussionpartner - Handelsrättsliga seminariet, Uppsala, 23/11-21
• Fordrans uppkomst inom insolvensrätten - Lindahls advokatbyrå (obeståndsgrupperna Göteborg, Örebro och Uppsala), Uppsala, 18/11-21
• Fordrans uppkomst inom insolvensrätten, with prof. emirita Ingrid Arnesdotter as discussionpartner - Akademien för Insolvensrätt, Handelshögskolan, Karlstads universitet, Zoom, 10/11-21
• Mervärdesskattefordrans status i konkurs och ackord, together with jur. dr Mikael Ek and with jur. dr Jesper Öberg as discussionpartner - Skatterättsligt forums lunchseminarium, Svenskt näringsliv, Stockholm, 27/10-21
• Fordrans uppkomst inom insolvensrätten - Uppsalas yngre obeståndsjurister, Nordströms advokatbyrå, Uppsala, 29/9-21
• Fordrans uppkomst inom insolvensrätten, with justice Svante O. Johansson as discussionpartner - SCCL, Stockholm, 20/5-21
• Konkursgäldenärens avtal utifrån ett företagsekonomiskt perspektiv, together with Olof Wadell and advokat Erik Danhard as discussionpartner, Handelsrättsliga seminariet, Uppsala, 5/10-20
• Fordrans uppkomst inom insolvensrätten - Final seminar, with docent Johan Sandstedt, Stockholms universitet, SCCL, Hans Ödén, jurist, insolvency practitioner e.g., Ackordscentralen, professor emeritus Torgny Håstad, professor emerita Ingrid Arnesdotter, Linköpings universitet and advokat Hans Renman, Schjødt as discussionpartners, Uppsala, 2/6-20
• Konkursgäldenärens avtal utifrån ett företagsekonomiskt perspektiv, together with Olof Wadell - Marketing Breakfast Seminar, Företagsekonomiska institutionen, Uppsala, 12/2-20
• The Rise of the Claim, Symposium, Voices on Law and Activism, Adressing the Work of Adam Gearey, Uppsala universitet, Uppsala, 24/8-19
• Fordrans uppkomst - Nordiska förmögenhetsrättsdagarna, Helsingfors, 8/5-19
• Fordringers stiftelsestidspunkt - Lunchseminarium Aarhus universitet, Aarhus, 14/3-19
• Fordrans uppkomst, Workshop with Swedish and Norweigan phD-students, Oslo, 14/9-17
• Fordrans uppkomst, Seminar Linköpings universitet, Linköping, 19/5-17
• Fordrans uppkomst, Seminar Uppsala universitet, Uppsala, 8/12-16
• Fordrans uppkomst, Civilrättslunch Uppsala universitet, Uppsala, 9/2-16
• Presentation of case, Seminar, Uppsala universitet, Uppsala, HT14