The courts of appeal in Sweden and in Finland'','' also known as Hovrätt ( fi, 'Hovioikeus',

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: '''Hovrätt''') (literally "Royal Court") deal with appeals against decisions of the district courts. They also are responsible for supervising the operations of the district courts in their judicial district.Courts of appeal
/ref> ''The courts of appeal in Sweden'' was the highest judicial body in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

until King

Gustav III Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what ...

founded the

Supreme Court of Sweden The Supreme Court of Sweden ( sv, Högsta domstolen, abbreviated ''HD'') is the supreme court and the third and final instance in all civil and criminal cases in Sweden. Before a case can be decided by the Supreme Court, leave to appeal mu ...

in 1789. Today, these courts function mostly as

appellate court A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

s. They are the second highest general courts in both Sweden and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, and both countries have six of them. The first hovrätt, Svea Court of Appeal, was founded 1614 in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. In Finland, then a part of Sweden, the court in

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

was founded in 1623 by

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, mainly because it was difficult to travel from Finland to Stockholm. During the

imperial era The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

, additional courts of appeal were introduced in order to relieve the original Svea hovrätt.

Göta Court of Appeal The Göta Court of Appeal ( sv, Göta hovrätt), located in Jönköping, is one of the six appellate courts in the Swedish legal system. The court was established in 1634 during the regency of Queen Christina. It is the second oldest of the Swed ...

was the second such court in

Sweden proper Sweden proper ( sv, Egentliga Sverige) is a term used to distinguish those territories that were fully integrated into the Kingdom of Sweden, as opposed to the dominions and possessions of, or states in union with, Sweden. Only the estates of t ...

, established in

Jönköping Jönköping (, ) is a city in southern Sweden with 112,766 inhabitants (2022). Jönköping is situated on the southern shore of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern, in the province of Småland. The city is the seat of Jönköping Municipali ...

in 1634. It was preceded by the court in Turku (1623) and the court in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

(1630), cities which during this era was part of the

dominions of Sweden The Dominions of Sweden or ''Svenska besittningar'' ("Swedish possessions") were territories that historically came under control of the Swedish The Crown, Crown, but never became fully integrated with Sweden. This generally meant that they were ...

Current appellate courts

These are the current courts of appeal in

and Finnish judiciary:

Sweden

Finland

The courts of appeal in Finland are: Helsingin hovioikeus

* Turun hovioikeus/Åbo hovrätt, founded in 1623 (part of the Swedish judiciary until 1809) *

Vaasa Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas),

n hovioikeus/Vasa hovrätt, founded in 1775 (part of the Swedish judiciary until 1809) * Itä-Suomen hovioikeus/Östra Finlands hovrätt, former Viipurin hovioikeus/Viborgs hovrätt (now in

Kuopio Kuopio (, ) is a Finnish city and municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia. It has a population of , which makes it the most populous municipality in Finland. Along with Joensuu, Kuopio is one of the major urban, economic, and cult ...

), founded in 1839 * Helsingin hovioikeus/Helsingfors hovrätt, founded in 1952 *

Kouvola Kouvola () is a cities of Finland, city and Municipalities of Finland, municipality in southeastern Finland. It is located along the Kymijoki, Kymijoki River in the Regions of Finland, region of Kymenlaakso, kilometers east of Lahti, west of Lapp ...

n hovioikeus/Kouvola hovrätt, founded in 1978 * Rovaniemen hovioikeus/Rovaniemi hovrätt, founded in 1979

References

External links

Swedish National Courts Administration
Courts in Sweden Courts in Finland Judiciary of Finland Judiciary of Sweden 1614 establishments in Sweden {{Finland-stub

Current appellate courts

Sweden

Finland

See also

References

External links