the court of appeal as legal transfer – heikki pihlajamäki 251 Lay juries (nämnd) were an essential element in both kinds of court. Both patrimonial courts and regular crown courts based their decisions on the same legal sources. Importantly, not only regular crown courts but also patrimonial courts were created as part of the same judicial hierarchy after the courts of appeal were founded. It was thus possible to appeal from the decisions of the patrimonial court to a court of appeal.690 Patrimonial courts, like royal lower courts, only investigated serious criminal cases, the final decisions being made in the upper instances.691 Importantly, the lord was also in charge of executing the decisions of his courts.692 By analogy withlagman’s courts (lagmansrätt), the patrimonial lord also acted as an appeals instance for his own court in civil cases. His decision could then be referred to a court of appeal. As was the case for royal lawmen, the patrimonial lord in this capacity was entitled to a “lagman’s tax.” Patrimonial lords regularly delegated the judgeship to paid officials, called “lower lawmen” (underlagman),693 who were to hold court in the barony or county every three years.694 Again, little is known about how this faculty was enforced, although the underlagman was usually appointed.695 At least in Axel Oxenstierna’s barony of Kimito in southern Finland, the institution of patrimonial appeal had almost fallen into desuetude in the 1660s. There had been no cases, and when one appeared, the count’s judge and other personnel of the county had to contact the Åbo Court of Appeal in order to have a lower lawman appointed for the case. On the other hand, the proceedings were not extremely formal, and difficult cases could sometimes be referred to the lord himself, the local governor, or the court of appeal even without the parties specifically asking for it or expressly consenting to the referral.696 All patrimonial courts judged according to the same general law of the Swedish realm as crown courts. The use of the gårdsrätt in the sense of stricter disciplinary law was not permitted on private estates, although they continued in use in royal castles and new ones were issued up to 1655. 690 I thank Dr. Mia Korpiola for stressing this point in our discussions. 691 At least one exception is known: Per Brahe, who got the right to decide serious cases as well in his courts at Visingsö in 1654, Jokipii Mauno 1960 p. 32. 692 Swedlund, Robert 1936 pp. 197-198; Jokipii 1960 pp. 59-60. 693 Swedlund, Robert 1936 p. 196; Jokipii, Mauno 1960 p. 32. 694 Jokipii, Mauno 1956 p. 58. 695 Jokipii, Mauno 1960 pp. 52-53. 696 Gardberg, John 1935 pp. 260–261.
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