Carl Axel ("Acke") Henrik Petri (12 August 1929 – 3 December 2017) was a Swedish politician and judge. Petri studied law and assumed the chief judgeship in the Administrative Court of Appeal in Jönköping in 1976, then stepped down to become chief justice on the

Göta Court of Appeal The Göta Court of Appeal (), located in Jönköping, is one of the six appellate courts in the Swedish legal system. The court was established in 1634 during the regency of Queen Christina. It is the second oldest of the Swedish courts of appe ...

in 1987, on which he served until 1996. Petri was a cabinet member under prime minister

Thorbjörn Fälldin Nils Olof Thorbjörn Fälldin (24 April 1926 – 23 July 2016) was a Swedish politician and farmer who served as the prime minister of Sweden from 1976 to 1978 and again from 1979 to 1982, heading three non-consecutive cabinets. He was the ...

from 1979 to 1982, leading the

Ministry of Energy A ministry of energy or department of energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-rela ...

until 1981, when he was named

Minister for Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

Early life

Petri was born on 12 August 1929 at Djupadals House in

Ronneby Municipality Ronneby Municipality () is a municipality in Blekinge County in South Sweden in southern Sweden. It borders to Tingsryd Municipality, Emmaboda Municipality, Karlskrona Municipality and Karlshamn Municipality. The town of Ronneby is the seat ...

, Sweden, the son of consul Carl Petri and his wife Maud (née Wrede). Petri grew up in

Växjö Växjö () is a city and the seat of Växjö Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden. It had 71,282 inhabitants (2020) out of a Municipalities of Sweden, municipal population of 97,349 (2024). It is the administrative, cultural, and industrial ce ...

where he also passed ''

studentexamen Studentexamen (Swedish for "students' examination" or "students' degree"), earlier also ''mogenhetsexamen'' ("maturity examination") was the name of the university entrance examination in Sweden from the 17th century to 1968. From 1862 to 1968, ...

''. He received a Candidate of Law degree from

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

in 1953.>

Career

Petri did his clerkship from 1953 to 1955 and worked as an extra legal clerk (''fiskal'') in the

Scania and Blekinge Court of Appeal The Scania and Blekinge Court of Appeal () is one of the six appellate courts An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered ...

in 1956. He then served in different

parliamentary committees in the Riksdag There are fifteen parliamentary committees in the Riksdag, Sweden's parliament. Each committee is made up of seventeen elected MPs, with at least one member from each political party. Additionally, the committee on EU Affairs, while not one of t ...

from 1958 to 1961 and worked as an assessor in the Scania and Blekinge Court of Appeal in 1963 and as an insurance judge (''försäkringsdomare'') in 1964. Petri was

lawspeaker A lawspeaker or lawman ( Swedish: ''lagman'', Old Swedish: ''laghmaþer'' or ''laghman'', Danish: ''lovsigemand'', Norwegian: ''lagmann'', Icelandic: , Faroese: '' løgmaður'', Finnish: ''laamanni'', ) is a unique Scandinavian legal offic ...

in the Administrative Court of Stockholm from 1972 to 1976, president of the Administrative Court of Appeal in Jönköping from 1976 to 1987 and

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

with responsibility for energy issues, among other things from 1979 to 1981. He then served as cabinet minister and

and head of the

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

from 1981 to 1982 and president of

from 1987 to 1996. Petri was secretary and member of various government inquiries. He was chairman of the ''Utlänningslagkommittén'' ("Aliens Law Committee"), ''Miljöskyddsutredningen'' ("Environmental Protection Inquiry"), ''Allmänna advokatbyråkommittén'' ("General Law Firm Committee"), ''Sjömanspensionsutredningen'' ("Seamen's Pension Inquiry"), ''Kyrkoförfattningsutredningen'' ("Church Constitution Inquiry"), ''Data- och offentlighetskommittén'' ("Data and Publicity Committee"), ''Skeppslegoutredningen'' ("Ship Lease Inquiry"), ''Utredningen om ekonomisk och rätt i kyrkan'' ("Inquiry into Economic and Legal Rights in the Church"), ''Fri- och rättighetsutredningen'' ("Freedom and Rights Inquiry"), ''Kyrkoberedningen'' and ''Miljöbalksutredningen'' ("Environmental Code Inquiry"). He was a board member of the National Swedish Environment Protection Board (''Statens Naturvårdsverk'') from 1971 to 1976, chairman of the Stockholm County Council Legal Aid Board (''Rättshjälpsnämnden i Stockholm'') from 1974 to 1976, first vice chairman of the Swedish Society of Jurists and Sociologists (''Jurist- och Samhällsvetareförbundet'') from 1975 to 1977, chairman of Board of Appeal for Legal Assistance (''Besvärsnämnden för rättshjälp'') from 1988 to 1990, of ''Stamnätsnämnden'' from 1987, vice chairman of the board of

Svenska kraftnät Svenska kraftnät is an electricity transmission system operator in Sweden. It is current led by director-general Per Eckemark since 2025. It is a state-owned public utility, which was created in 1992 by splitting the former government agency Va ...

from 1992, board member of Sparbanken Alfa from 1987 to 1991, chairman of the Alfa Savings Bank Foundation (''Sparbanksstiftelsen Alfa'') from 1991, and chairman of the Sparbanksstiftelsernas Förvaltnings AB from 1994.

Personal life

In 1953, Petri married Brita Thulin (born 1931), the daughter of Walther Thulin and Margareta (née Pettersson).

Death

Petri died on 3 December 2017 in

Jönköping Jönköping (, ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in southern Sweden with 112,766 inhabitants (2022). Jönköping is situated on the southern shore of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern, in the province of Småland. The city is the seat o ...

. The funeral service took place in Sofia Church in Jönköping on 18 December 2017.

Honours

*Honorary doctor of

Jönköping University Jönköping University (JU), formerly Högskolan i Jönköping, is a private Swedish university college located in Jönköping, Sweden. The college has approximately 832 employees and 10,992 students. Jönköping University is a young profession ...

(2002)

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petri, Carl Axel 1929 births 2017 deaths Ministers for justice of Sweden People from Ronneby Municipality 20th-century Swedish judges Lund University alumni