the svea court of appeal in the early modern period 126 come for the expenses of the town.352 In 1617, the Court of Appeal obliged the Town Court to present the privileges of Stockholm and explain how they interpreted them. In 1619, the Court of Appeal ordered the burgomasters to finally confirm a property transaction – it appeared that they had for some reason had claims and aspirations towards the same property. In spite of certain interventions in the decisions and interests of the burgomasters and the councillors, it cannot be shown that the Court of Appeal had tried to take the local judicial power directly into its own hands. On the contrary, some cases show that the Court of Appeal obliged the Town Court to hear and resolve disputes that had been discussed at both courts. Perhaps the Court of Appeal felt that a debt dispute with unsatisfactory evidence, for example, was such a mundane problem that it was the responsibility of the burgomasters and the councillors to sort it out.353 The Court of Appeal also used to return to the Town Court cases which dealt with the ownership of landed property within the town – after all, it was a responsibility of the Town Court to keep a record of this.354 Conversely, the Town Court was keen on consulting the Court of Appeal or even referring cases to it as has appeared above in the case dealing with the slain guardsman brought to the Court of Appeal in June 1614. Likewise, if a case had already been heard by the Council of the Realm and if the parties involved continued the dispute by turning to the Town Court, the burgomasters and the councillors felt that they had to consult the Court of Appeal.355 The same went for cases from the military courts (krigsrätt): the Town Court referred the claimant to the Court of Appeal on the grounds that the law and the royal edict required that an appeal had to be directed to the higher court and not a lower.356 If a case originated from the countryside – for instance, if an inheritance dispute dealt with 352 RA, SHA, B II a 2, Dombok 1617-1624, n. 7 (4 June 1617), n. 17 (30 June 1617), n. 146 (14 Sept. 1620), 195 (19 Nov. 1621). 353 RA, SHA, B II a 2, Dombok 1617-1624, no. 9 (19 June 1617); Stb 1622–1623, p. 14 (2 March 1622). 354 RA, SHA, A I a 2:1, Konceptprotokoll 1614-1617, p. 24 (7 June 1615); RA, SHA, A I a 1:1, Renskrivna protokoll 1614, 126r (13 Oct. 1614); Stb 1614–1615, p. 88 (16 June 1615); pp. 151-152 (25 Oct. 1615). 355 Stb 1614–1615, pp. 95-96 (1 July 1615). Common Interests and Balance
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