Svea Court of Appeal

The Svea Court of Appeal, in Swedish Svea hovrätt, is one of the six courts of appeal in the Swedish legal system and the oldest Swedish court still in use. It was founded in 1614 and served as the highest court in Sweden until the Supreme Court of Sweden was established in 1789, more than a century and a half later. The court sits in Stockholm, with its main building in the Wrangel Palace on the Riddarholmen islet in the old town, and with divisions in other nearby palaces, among them the Hessenstein, Stenbock and Schering-Rosenhane palaces. Its head is the president of the court, a post held since 1614 by a long line of noblemen and jurists beginning with Magnus Brahe and held since 2008 by Fredrik Wersäll. In its early centuries it passed capital sentences in notable cases, including that of Jacob Johan Anckarström, convicted of the assassination of Gustaf III of Sweden.