the svea court of appeal in the early modern period 286 importance of contested interpretations of private law doctrine provided the impetus for the decision to initiate the comprehensive law reform that had been discussed over the course of the century. In 1686, Charles XI nominated a major law commission made up of his trusted advisors, charged with the task of codifying Swedish law.817 Legal questions concerning procedural law and the execution of judgments were also regulated, and the procedural ordinance of 1695 was a provisional version of the procedural section of the Code of 1734.818 According to Maria Ågren, the reign of Charles XI brought with it a fundamental change in the execution system, emphasizing the protection of creditor interests.819 Changes in the execution of judgments were not simply technical improvements. Under the new system, noblemen could be imprisoned for debt. Aroyal letter patent issued in 1684 declared that mortgaged property must not be valued higher than the current sale price in execution proceedings. Possible losses ought to be borne by the debtor.820 Such rules obviously favoured people with money. Against the background of reforms in private law and civil procedure, it is understandable that the 1680s and 1690s were a period of important reform in bankruptcy law as well. In the practice of the Svea Court of Appeal, bankruptcy cases related to the indebtedness of the high aristocracy abounded. Obviously, the effectiveness of the transactions protecting their private property from the demands of the crown was ultimately tested when the internal order of various claims was settled in bankruptcy. The codices rationumof 1684 and 1685 include many cases in which Håkan Fägerstierna (1635 – 1693), previously a law professor at Uppsala, pursued the claims of the crown as a Crown Prosecutor (fiskal).821 In September 1685, he was appointed president of the Svea Court of Appeal.822 In comparison with previous decades, the mass of bankruptcy cases grew dramat817 Ylikangas, Heikki 1986 pp. 1338-1340. 818 Olsson, Henrik A. 1968 p. 35. 819 Ågren, Maria 1992 pp. 44-46. 820 KOngl. May:tz Bref / til alla Gouverneurer och Landzhöfdingar/huru medExecutionen öfver Debitorerne skal förfaras. Datum Stockholm den 15 Octobr. 1684, Kongl. stadgar, ed. Schmedeman, pp. 873-874: “Och skulle någon skada ther igenom lida/så är bättre at then lider/som androm bör med reda penningar rätt giöra/än then/som på god Troo sitt utlånt/eller för hvarjehanda andre orsaker genom Domaren sitt återvunnit.” 821 E.g., Fägerstierna / J. C. Stiernskiölds sterbhus, RA, SH, HA A II a 32, Codex rationum 15 Oct. 1684. See Jägerskiöld, Stig 1967b pp. 333-334. 822 On Fägerstierna, see Jägerskiöld, Stig 1964 – 1966 pp. 685-686.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjYyNDk=