föreliggande

föreliggande is a Swedish adjective meaning present, existing, or before this body. It is used to refer to documents, evidence, or matters that are currently before a decision-making body, such as a court, committee, or administration. In legal and bureaucratic Swedish, it signals that the item is part of the current matter and accessible to the readers or participants.

The term derives from the verb föreligga, from före (before) and ligga (to lie), literally “to lie before.” The participial form föreliggande is used to modify nouns and typically appears before the noun it describes, e.g., föreliggande promemoria or föreliggande dokument. It contrasts with föregående (previous) or dåvarande (at that time).

In English, it is commonly translated as present, current, or herein, depending on context, for example: föreliggande dokument = the present or current documents or the documents before us. The term is standard in formal Swedish writing, especially in legal, administrative, and academic texts, and is not typically used in everyday conversation.