Procedural stages of the case at the court of appeal

The court of appeal may exhort the appellant to supplement the deficient appeal within a time limit. An appeal shall always be dismissed if the exhortation is not complied with and the appeal is so deficient that it is not a valid basis for the pro-ceedings.

If leave for continued consideration is not required in an appellate matter or if leave is granted, the consideration of the matter continues at the court of appeal.

The opposing party of the appellant is requested to hand in a response. The court of appeal may also request statements from the parties concerned. A hearing may also be held during the preparation at which the parties are invited and in which the questions relating to the matter are explained orally for the main hearing. A decision on the submission of the main hearing will be made in the preparation. A decision will also be made on the acquisition of an expert opinion, the production of written evidence, the submission of a review and the witnesses to be heard.

The preparation also includes practical measures for organising the main hearing, such as agreeing on the time of the main hearing and inviting the parties and witnesses to this event.

Mediation in accordance with the Act on Arbitration in Civil Matters is also possible in the court of appeal.

Cases may be decided in the court of appeal either by written procedure or in the main hearing.

Written proceedings

In the absence of a main hearing, the matter shall be decided on the basis of written evidence in a written procedure.

In written proceedings, the assistant judge of the court of appeal shall submit to the judges participating in the decision the decision of the district court, the appeal, the response and any other material gathered in the court of appeal, his or her proposal for a decision and any memorandum he or she may have drawn up on the matter.

The decision composition will then meet for a presentation in which the assistant judge will present the matter orally. The judges will discuss the matter and, at the end of the day, give their opinions. If necessary, a vote shall be taken.

The parties and the public may not be present at the presentation of the court of appeal.

The court of appeal shall send a copy of its decision to the appellant and the respondent. A copy will also be sent to the defendant of the criminal case if the decision of the district court has been amended on his or her behalf.

The main hearing

If an oral preparatory hearing or a main hearing is held, the appellant shall be summoned by the court of appeal. The summons shall indicate the consequences of absence. The appellant is summoned to the main hearing under the threat that the hearing of the appeal in the event of his or her exclusion will be terminated in respect of the matter to which the main hearing relates and the decision of the district court will remain in force in that respect. A party may also be sum-moned to the main hearing at the risk of a fine if his or her hearing is necessary to clarify the matter. If he or she does not arrive despite the threat of a fine, he or she may be ordered to be brought to the hearing.

The parties may be summoned to the main hearing by the process server, by letter or by telephone.

The main hearing of the court of appeal is largely similar to that of the district court. Even in the court of appeal, the public can usually follow the proceedings.

At the outset, one of the judges will briefly explain the decision of the district court and what has been decided in the preparation of the matter. He or she then asks whether the statements made by the appellant and the opposing party in the preparation still correspond to their views, after which the appellant and his or her opponent will in turn justify their position and state their opinion of each other’s reasons.

In the main hearing, all the points on which you wish to invoke must be presented orally, as they are the only points to be taken into account in the decision. The material presented in the district court is therefore not automatically taken into account. However, in exceptional circumstances, the case may be decided regardless of the absence of the opposing party and in the form of trial material, taking into account the trial material presented by him or her earlier.

The parties shall present their written evidence and witnesses shall be heard. This will enable the judges of the court of appeal to make their own observations on the reliability of the witnesses' reports.

Testimony at the main hearing of the court of appeal is similar to that of the district court. If the witness has already taken a witness oath in the district court, there is no need for the witness to give it again in the court of appeal. The same oath still obliges him or her to stick to the truth. The witness is also entitled to compensation in the Court of Appeal.

A witness, expert and a party heard in the district court may be heard without him or her being present by telephone or via video connection if the credibility of the testimony can be reliably assessed in this way. The court of appeal shall de-cide on the method of hearing. However, the parties must be given an opportunity to ask questions to the person who is being heard. In some cases, witness testimonies may also be heard from the recordings of the district court at the main hearing of the court of appeal.

The main hearing ends with closing statements. The parties shall assess the evidence presented and give their views on whether the decision of the district court needs to be amended and how it should be amended. The claim for reimburse-ment of the costs shall be made before the end of the proceedings. The claim shall specify the amount of trial costs and the grounds for them.

Decision

In the case before the court of appeal, in spite of the decision of the district court, a settlement may be made under the same conditions as in the district court.

If the parties do not reach a settlement, in the simplest main hearings the decision may be declared immediately after the hearing. Otherwise, it is issued in the office of the court of appeal. The decision shall normally be given within 30 days of the end of the main hearing.

The decisions of the court of appeal are immediately enforceable. For example, a debt ordered to be paid may be trans-ferred immediately to the enforcement officer for recovery. If a party has appealed against the decision of the court of appeal to the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court may, either on request or on its own initiative, order that the decision of the court of appeal shall not be enforced until further notice or that enforcement may not continue.

Appeals against a decision of the court of appeal

A decision given by the court of appeal shall be appealed to the the Supreme Court, which shall, however, first be requested leave to appeal.

An appeal document addressed to the Supreme Court, including an application for leave to appeal and the appeal, shall be submitted to the registry of the court of appeal within 60 days of the decision of the court of appeal.

The court of appeal sends the appeal document to the Supreme Court and attaches to it a copy of the decision of the court of appeal and the documents that have been presented to the court of appeal.