or more of the country's 98 municipalities, except that Copenhagen Municipality is divided between two district because of its size. Before 2007, when the number of municipalities was reduced from 271 to 98, there were 82 district courts. The two high courts (the Eastern and Western) serve as courts of appeal. Finland See also Judicial system of Finland Finland has 27 district courts, which deal with criminal cases, civil cases and petitionary matters. Since December 1, 1993 these have been called käräjäoikeus in Finnish and tingsrätt in Swedish. Each court is headed by the Chief Judge and other District Judges. In certain cases, the district court may also have lay judges. The cases are handled and resolved either in a session or in chambers. In simple cases decisions can be made by notaries. Germany Germany has 115 regional courts (Landgerichte), which are superior to the local courts (Amtsgerichte) and below the higher regional courts (Oberlandesgerichte). Iceland The district courts are the lowest judicial level in Iceland. There are eight courts operating in separate districts, the District Court of Reykjavík, the District Court of Reykjanes, the District Court of Western Iceland, the District Court of the Westfjords, the District Court of Northwest Iceland, the District Court of Northeast Iceland, the District Court of East Iceland and the District Court of South Iceland. The courts handle all cases in their first instance. Subject to conditions, cases can be appealed to a higher court, ultimately the Supreme Court of Iceland whose conclusions are final. Ireland The District Court in Ireland was established in 1924. The court handles civil claims of up to €15,000 and summary criminal trials (minor offences tried by a judge alone where the maximum penalty is 12 months on indictment in the Circuit Court and the granting of licences for the sale of alcohol. Norway The Norwegian tingrett deals with criminal and civil cases. The term tingrett was introduced in 2002, and replaced the previous terms byrett and herredsrett as designations for district courts. Poland Sweden In Sweden, there are 48 district courts (); Tingsrätt is also used to describe such courts in Finland and Norway. While relatively recent creations in their current form, the term tingsrätt refers to the ting ("thing"), the ancient term for governing assemblies in these and other Nordic and Germanic countries, where disputes would be brought up to be settled. The specific term tingsrätt was