Hovrätt

Courts of appeal in Sweden and Finland

The courts of appeal in Sweden and in Finland, also known as hovrätt in Swedish and hovioikeus in Finnish (literally 'Royal Court'), deal with appeals against decisions of the district courts.^[1]^[2] They also are responsible for supervising the operations of the district courts in their judicial district.^[3]

The courts of appeal in Sweden were the highest judicial body until King Gustav III founded the Supreme Court of Sweden in 1789. Today, these courts function mostly as appellate courts. They are the second highest general courts in both Sweden and Finland. There are six courts of appeal in Sweden, and five in Finland.^[4]^[5]

History

The first hovrätt, Svea Court of Appeal, was founded 1614 in Stockholm. In Finland, then part of Sweden, the court in Turku was founded in 1623 by Gustavus Adolphus, mainly because it was difficult to travel from Finland to Stockholm.

During the 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, established in Jönköping in 1634. It was preceded by the court in Turku (1623) and the court in Tartu (1630), cities which during this era were part of the dominions of Sweden.

Current appellate courts

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

Sweden

Name	Seat
Svea Court of Appeal	Stockholm
Göta Court of Appeal	Jönköping
Scania and Blekinge Court of Appeal	Malmö
Court of Appeal for Western Sweden	Gothenburg
Court of Appeal for Southern Norrland	Sundsvall
Court of Appeal for Northern Norrland	Umeå

Finland

The courts of appeal in Finland are:

Turun hovioikeus/Åbo hovrätt, founded in 1623 (part of the Swedish judiciary until 1809)
Vaasan 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), founded in 1839
Helsingin hovioikeus/Helsingfors hovrätt, founded in 1952
Kouvolan hovioikeus/Kouvola hovrätt, founded in 1978
Rovaniemen hovioikeus/Rovaniemi hovrätt, founded in 1979

References

^ "HCCH | Authority". Hague Conference on Private International Law. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
^ "Appeal to the Court of Appeal". Hovrätten för Västra Sverige. 13 June 2022. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
^ Courts of appeal
^ "European e-Justice Portal - National ordinary courts". e-justice.europa.eu. 2 February 2022. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
^ "Court of Appeal". Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (in Swedish). Retrieved 2023-05-25.