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from well-travelled – marianne vasara-aaltonen 341 The frequent absence of court members due to other matters of the crown – not to mention private business – shows how the organisation of the court was still far from professional.1020 This is reflected in the career paths of the judges. The problem of judges frequently being absent did not go unnoticed. The Government voiced its concern in 1636, pointing out that assessors of the first class were often absent and some had not taken part in any judgements during the whole time the court was in session. Some cases were decided by only five or six assessors, which was not in accordance with the Ordinance and Statute of Procedure. The Crown prosecutor was to prosecute and fine the absentees.1021 While the court had certainly gained in professionalism by the early eighteenth century, similar concerns were again taken up in the 1730s in a report by the justice committee of the estates (justitiedeputation) regarding the activities of the courts of appeal since the last diet. Concerned with the court’s efficiency, the report lists various assessors, how many cases each of them had been assigned, and how many of those they managed to present (referera). It goes on to say that some of the judges have not presented as many cases as they should have, which is caused by their lengthy absences from the court, albeit with the King’s permission. Appeal court councillor Johan Retzius (nob. Rosenstolpe) (1668 – 1758), for instance, had been busy working in the Law Commission, assessor Lars Enerot (nob. Ehrenstam) (1681 – 1744) on the ecclesiastical committee (ecclesiastique deputation), reductions commission and central bank, and the assessors Marten Martens (d. 1736) and Adam Schütz (nob. Fredenstierna) (1685 – 1772) had spent 15 months with a commission in Skåne – just to mention a few. The justice committee goes on to recommend that none of the court’s members should be assigned tasks outside the court unless it was absolutely necessary.1022 der, Rudolf 1993 p. 29. For another comparison one can mention the Reichskammergericht, which also experienced some problems with assessors and especially procu- rators being absent. See e.g., Jahns, Sigrid 2011 pp. 143-145; Gemeine Bescheide, vol. 1: Reichskammergericht 1497–1805, ed. Oestmann pp. 332, 548-549, 691-693, 710. 1020 For the disorganised state of the court in its first year, see Mia Korpiola’s article “A Safe Haven in the Shadow of War?” in this volume. 1021 RA, SHA, Protokoll i mål refererade inför Kungl. Majt, A I c, vol.1. 1022 RA, SHA, Strödda handlingar ang. hovrätten, F I, vol. 1. Similar observations were made by the justice committee at the Diet of 1738-1739 concerning the Justice revision,

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