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Hovrätt (Finnish: Hovioikeus) (literally "Royal Court") was the highest judicial body in Sweden until King Gustav III founded the Supreme Court of Sweden in 1789. The first hovrätt, Svea hovrätt, was founded 1614 in Stockholm. In Finland, then a part of Sweden, the court in Åbo was founded in 1623 by Gustavus Adolphus, mainly due to the distance to Stockholm. Today, these courts mostly function as an appellate court, the second highest judicial body in both Sweden and Finland.
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During the imperial era, additional courts of appeal were introduced in order to relieve the original Svea hovrätt. Göta Court of Appeal was the second such court in Sweden proper, established in Jönköping in 1634. It was preceded by the court in Åbo (1623) and the court in Dorpat (1630), cities which during this era was part of the dominions of Sweden.
Current appellate courts
These are the current courts of appeal in Swedish and Finnish judiciary: