Kyrkoplikt

Kyrkoplikt (literary: 'Church duty') was an historical form of punishment, practiced in Sweden-Finland. It was a form of Public humiliation in which the condemned was made to confess and repent their crime before being rehabilitated and spared further punishments. It could be sentenced by the church or by a secular court, and performed by the church.

The Kyrkoplikt originated from the Confession and repentance within the Catholic church during the middle ages: after having committed a graver crime, the criminal was cast out of their parish congregation, and was only rehabilitated after having repented their sin.

In the Swedish Church Ordinance 1571, the Kyrkoplikt consisted of the corporal punishments meted out within the sphere of Public humiliation, such as pillorying, the , Corporal Punishment and similar punishments, or fines. Finally, the condemned were made to stand upon the Pliktpallen (Duty Stool) also called Skampallen (Shame Stool) during church sermon, when their crime were described, after which they repented and were rehabilitated. The punishment could be meted out by both the church as well as by a secular court, who both had the right to handle criminals.

By the Swedish Church Law 1686, the church was no longer allowed to handle court cases and judge criminals and the right to sentence criminals to Kyrkoplikt was reserved for the legal courts of the state.

In 1741, a legal reform created two forms of Kyrkoplikt: Uppenbar kyrkoplikt and Enskild kyrkoplikt.

On 4 May 1855, Kyrkoplikt and all forms of Public humiliation was abolished in Sweden. In Finland, the same reform was introduced in 1864.

The Uppenbar kyrkoplikt (literary: 'Obvious Church Duty') was the original form of kyrkoplikt. As stated above, it consisted of the condemned being exposed on the Pliktpallen (Duty Stool) also called Skampallen (Shame Stool) during church sermon, when their crime were described, after which they repented and were rehabilitated, in many cases after having been subjected to other form of punishments before.

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