Processing of cases after leave to appeal

If the Supreme Court grants leave to appeal, you and your counter-party are informed of this. Brief details of the grant and the content of the case are also published, anonymised, on the Supreme Court’s website.

After leave to appeal has been granted, the counter-party is sent the appeal documents (if this has not already been done) and is ordered to give an opinion thereon. Sometimes, the parties are then given the opportunity to submit further texts.

Processing in the Supreme Court is most often purely written, i.e. there are no oral hearings. If there are to be no oral hearings, the judge referee in charge of further processing presents the case to (as a rule) five Justices of the Supreme Court.

If there is to be an oral hearing of the case, you, your counter-party and representatives are called to the Supreme Court. Every year, the Supreme Court holds around 20 main hearings. Main hearings are public. Anyone who wishes can attend.

After your hearing, the five Justices of the Supreme Court discuss how the case is to be decided. The parties and any other people in the court room cannot attend this discussion.

When the Supreme Court’s ruling is ready to be given, you and your counter-party are usually informed of the date for this. On that date, copies of the ruling are sent to you and the public authorities that are also to have a copy. In an anonymised form, many rulings are also published on the Supreme Court’s website on the day they are given.

Supreme Court rulings are legally binding as soon as they are given.