Appeal

When a case is decided, the parties are given written instructions for applying for amendment, and the instructions are also available in the offices of the district court.

The appeal instructions show, for example, the court to which the appeal must be lodged. The appeal instructions ap-pended to the decision of the district court must be followed.

Declaration of intent to appeal

The appellant shall first declare his or her intent to appeal the decision of the district court within seven days from the date of the decision. The intent to appeal must be reported either orally or in writing to the district court that decided the matter.

If the declaration of intent to appeal is not delivered by the district court within the time limit, its decision becomes final. There is a form for the declaration of intent to appeal, but the notification can be made without a form. In each of its deci-sions, the district court shall state how an appeal can be lodged.

The opposing party of the appellant may also appeal against the judgment of the district court even if it has not declared intent to appeal (counter-appeal).

Appeal deadline

The time limit for lodging an appeal shall be 30 days from the date on which the decision of the district court is declared or given. An appeal which has not been lodged within the time limit shall not be admissible. In this case, the decision be-comes final.

Appeal document

The appeal shall be submitted to the district court, but it shall be addressed to the court of appeal. The appeal instructions also show what must be stated in the appeal document.

The appeal document shall indicate:

1. the district court decision that is being appealed;
2. which points in the decision of the district court are being appealed;
3. what changes are requested in the decision of the district court;
4. what are the reasons for the changes and how, in the view of the appellant, the statement of the reasons of the district court is erroneous;
   4a. if leave for continued consideration is needed, the grounds for granting leave for continued consideration and the reasons on the basis of which the appellant deems that such grounds exist, if these are not otherwise apparent from the appeal document;
5. the evidence referred to and what the appellant intends to prove with each piece of evidence; and
6. should the appellant wish to do so, a request for the holding of a main hearing in the court of appeal.

In a civil case, the appellant may not refer in the court of appeal to other circumstances or evidence than those presented in the district court, unless he or she establishes a probability that he or she had not been able to refer to the circum-stance or evidence in the district court or that he or she has had a justifiable reason for not doing so.

Counter-appeal

However, after the opposing party has appealed against the decision of the district court, another party may also decide to appeal against the decision of the district court, even if it had originally been prepared to leave the case to the decision of the district court. This possibility of appeal is referred to as a counter-appeal.

The lodging of a counter-appeal does not require a declaration of intent to appeal. A counter-appeal shall be lodged with-in two weeks of the end of the appellant's appeal period. Instructions for lodging a counter-appeal are also included in the appeal instructions by the district court.

The counter-appeal shall lapse if the appeal is withdrawn, lapses or is dismissed without considering its merits or the ap-pellant is not granted leave for continued consideration. However, the counter-appeal does not lapse if the appeal is not withdrawn until during the main hearing.

Response to the appeal

If necessary, the court of appeal shall request a response from the opposing party to the appeal. In connection with the request for a response, the court of appeal shall also send the appeal and the documents relating to it for information.

In the response, the respondent shall indicate:

• identification of the case, such as the case number and the names of the parties,
• whether the respondent admits or contests the requested changes; and
• his or her opinion on the reasons supplied for the request of the appellant and the circumstances to which the respondent wants to refer.
• the evidence of the opposing party and what each evidence is intended to prove.

In a civil case, the appellant may in the court of appeal not refer to circumstances and evidence other than that which had been presented to the district court, unless the appellant can establish a probability that he or she could not have re-ferred to the circumstance or evidence in the district court or that he or she otherwise had justified cause not to do so.

Leave for continued consideration

When an appeal is lodged against a decision of a district court, leave for continued consideration is, as a rule, required in the case. Leave for continued consideration is required in both criminal, civil and petitionary matters.

Notwithstanding the above, a defendant in a criminal case in which a sentence more severe than imprisonment for eight months has been imposed on him or her does not need leave of continued consideration in any respect in the case, if the appeal concerns the offence of which he or she is found guilty or the sentence. In assessing the severity of the sentence, no consideration is given to a fine or other penal sanction imposed in addition to imprisonment (for example, a driving ban and a forfeiture sanction).

The prosecutor or the injured party do not need leave of continued consideration in any respect in a case in which a sen-tence more severe than imprisonment for eight months has been imposed on the defendant, and the appeal concerns the offence of which the defendant has been found guilty or the sentence imposed on the defendant.

Leave for continued consideration shall be granted if:

• there is cause to suspect the correctness of the final result of the decision of the District Court;
• it is not possible to assess the correctness of the final result of the decision of the District Court without granting leave for continued consideration;
• in view of the application of the law in other, similar cases it is important to grant leave for continued considera-tion in the matter; or
• there is another important reason for granting leave.

However, leave for continued consideration need not be granted solely in order to reassess the evidence, if the appeal allegedly raises doubts as to the correctness of the outcome of the district court's decision, unless on the basis of the grounds presented in the appeal, there is justified reason to suspect the correctness of the final result of the decision of the District Court.

The court of appeal decides the question of the granting of leave for continued consideration in written proceedings on the basis of the decision of the district court, the appeal, the possible response from the opposing party and if necessary also on other trial documentation.

If leave for continued consideration is granted in the matter, the appellant and the opposing party of the appellant shall be informed of this.

If leave for continued consideration is not granted, the decision of the district court remains final.