The courts of appeal in Sweden and in Finland, also known as in Swedish and in Finnish (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. The courts of appeal in Sweden were the highest judicial body 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 King Adolf Frederick and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Sweden. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what he saw ...

founded the

Supreme Court of Sweden The Supreme Court of Sweden (, HD) is the supreme court and the third and final instance in all civil and criminal cases in the Kingdom of Sweden. Before a case can be decided by the Supreme Court, leave to appeal must be obtained, and wit ...

in 1789. Today, these courts function mostly as

appellate court An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appel ...

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

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. There are six courts of appeal in Sweden, and five in Finland.

History

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, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

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

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

was founded in 1623 by

Gustavus Adolphus Gustavus Adolphus (9 December N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December15946 November Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 16 November] 1632), also known in English as ...

, mainly because it was difficult to travel from Finland to Stockholm. During the Swedish empire, imperial era, additional courts of appeal were introduced in order to relieve the original Svea hovrätt. Göta Court of Appeal was the second such court in

Sweden proper Sweden proper (, literally ''Actual Sweden'') 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 est ...

, established in

Jönköping Jönköping (, ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, 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 o ...

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 Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

(1630), cities which during this era were 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 Crown, but never became fully integrated with Sweden. This generally meant that they were ruled by G ...

Current appellate courts

These are the current courts of appeal in Swedish and Finnish judiciary:

Sweden

Finland

The courts of appeal in Finland are:

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

Vaasa Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),Viipurin hovioikeus/Viborgs hovrätt (now in

Kuopio Kuopio ( , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Savo. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Kuopio is approximately , while the Kuopio sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mos ...

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