the svea court of appeal in the early modern period 288 preferential transfers to particular creditors and concealment of assets. As far as compositions were concerned, the rules of the 1685 decree were upheld (II:1 §). If the debtor had been compelled to cede the assets, he was free from further liability against the bankruptcy creditors (II:3 §). The resolution also included brief provisions about the management of the estate by curatores (II:5 §). A crucial aspect of the 1687 resolution was that the same bankruptcy provisions were to be applied in all Swedish courts. The forum privilegiatumjurisdiction of high courts in the bankruptcy of noble persons was confirmed in a letter to Göta Court of Appeal in 1688.826 Accordingly, Swedish bankruptcy law then developed in a setting where the insolvency of both commercial and land-owning debtors was handled the same principles and rules. The Svea Court of Appeal had acentral role in the process of unifying bankruptcy law practice. According to royal decrees issued in 1689 and 1695, in cases where the Crown was a creditor, the decisions of other courts of appeal did not have an effect on the position of the crown. The case could be settled between the private creditors, but crown claims were to be adjudicated at the Svea Court of Appeal.827 Punishment of fraudulent debtors was regulated by a decree issued by the king in 1699.828 According to the decree, bankruptcy fraud was as serious an offense as aggravated theft, in some circumstances an even greater evil that could not be tolerated in a well-ordered country. Those who committed such an offense were to be declared infamous and subjected to public shaming by the means of the pillory. Thereafter, they were sentenced to prison or forced labour in the Marstrand fortress according to the nature and gravity of their crimes. According to Jägerskiöld, the bankruptcy legislation of 1680s was a compromise as far as the opportunity of debtors to make a fresh start was concerned. The opinion that opposed any infringement of creditor rights 826 Til Göta Hofrätt/huru i dömande förhållas skal/när någon af Adelige Ståndet begiärer cessionem bonorum. Stockholm then 17 Dec. 1688, Kongl. stadgar, ed. Schmedeman, p. 1228. 827 Til Svea Hofrätt at præference tvister /ther Cronan har til at fordra hörer til Hofrätten. Stockholm then 4. Junii. 1689, Kongl. stadgar, ed. Schmedeman, p. 1241; Til Svea HofRätt om Kongl. May:tz Rätt/ther Cessio bonorum sker. Stockholm then 7 Novemb. Anno 1695, Kongl. stadgar, ed. Schmedeman, pp. 1429-1430. 828 Placat och Påbud/angående upsåtelige Fallisementer och theras straf som ther med beträdde warda. Stockholm then 14 Martii 1699, Kongl. stadgar, ed. Schmedeman, pp. 1538-1539.
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