ABSTRACT
I will begin this chapter by describing a scene from the Swedish court of appeal that, while it is typical of the recently reformed Swedish trial procedure, is also in some respects untypical of the same procedure. The scene is taken from a case tried in the Stockholm appellate court (Svea hovrätt) on 26 November 2010. 2 The person who has appealed the decision from the first instance is a young man sentenced for having physically abused and verbally threatened his parents. In the courtroom, the claimants in the first instance (i.e. the parents) are not present, but are represented both by a public prosecutor and legal counsel (both women). 3 The appellant is present and is represented by legal counsel (a man). The first part of the scene described below exemplifies the reformed procedure in the court of appeal and the second part constitutes an exception.
