Asserting One's Rights: Swedish Property Law in the Transition from Community Law to State Law

Abstract

In 1685, the Swedish nobleman Per Sparre instituted legal proceedings against the printer Niclas Wankyf. The dispute had been triggered by Sparre having let his tenants erect houses for themselves on what Wankyf regarded as his private property. Wankyf had consequently torn down the buildings, causing Sparre to bring the case to court. However, Wankyf clearly saw himself as the aggrieved party and regarded Sparre as a trespasser. Arguing his case before the court, Wankyf emphasized that Sparre had never been able to prove that he held the contested area by virtue of urminnes hävd (“immemorial prescription”). To this Sparre retorted—with some irritation—that Wankyf argued as if “there are no other means of defending one's legal property than to invoke immemorial prescription.”