299 lower courts on the administration of justice. Being supervised by the high courts, the lower courts were obliged to follow the letter of the law; if there were to be any deviations fromthis, then centralized justice, in the form of the high court, was to assume responsibility. In cases of serious crime, judging according to what was “right and proper” was the concern of the high court; in practice, however, even after the coming of the high court, the local community could still make its influence felt by informing the high court about whether they thought that an offender should be eliminated or could be reintegrated. In this respect, the process of judicial change moved slowly. The administration of justice was centralized, the local courts were incorporated in a uniform system, supervised and controlled by the central government in the formof the high court. But they had a right to speak, and they were listened to. Both these rights still applied. In view of the administrative measures that were introduced, we can nevertheless say that the judicial revolution was in full swing in seventeenth-century Sweden. The high courts had taken over the right to decide cases of serious crime and the interpretation of the law. The central government, in the form of the King in Council, set up departments for judicial matters, lawcommissions worked on the modernization of legislation, and important judicial posts such as members of the high court, hundred governors, and mayors were appointed by the King in Council. The central government tightened its grip on the administration of justice. When the eighteenth century began, Sweden was well on the way to centralized, professionally administered justice. The establishment of Svea High Court has been described as a stroke of luck. It meant a valuable instrument for the administration and development of justice, and it gave the lower courts new and better guidance than before. The law was applied uniformly and there was greater security in the face of the law.*^ This assessment is not contradicted by the present study of the work of Göta High Court as a court for criminal cases and as a supervisor of the lower courts in the seventeenth century. Sweden had come a good bit on the way to the ambitious goal of the reform, »to bring lawand justice to the common man». Translated by Alan Crozier ’ StigJägerskiöld 1964, p. 121; Lars-Olof Larsson 1982, p. 20; Göran Inger 1983, p. 70 f.
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