The main rule under Swedish procedural law is that anyone holding a written document that may be assumed to be of importance as evidence is obliged to produce it. There is a general obligation under Swedish procedural law for non-parties in the case to give evidence. At the request of a party in a civil case, the court may thus order the opposing party and/or a third party, under penalty of a fine, to produce documents in their possession that may be of importance to a claim or defense as evidence.

However, there is a restriction to this obligation arising from a corresponding restriction regarding the obligation to testify. There is no obligation for lawyers who are members of the Swedish Bar Association ("Advokats") or their associates to produce a document if it may be assumed that its contents are such that the Advokat may not be heard as a witness in relation to it, i.e., where the document was entrusted in confidence or its content otherwise learned by the Advokat in the exercise of their profession. In addition, the party for whose benefit an obligation of confidentiality is imposed is not obliged to produce the document.