Judicial Authorities of Lithuania
The judicial authorities of Lithuania include the courts and the prosecutor's office.
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The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania provides that the administration of justice is exclusively the responsibility of the courts. Judges and courts are independent in the administration of justice. When negotiating legal cases, judges are exclusively bound by the law. Judges are not allowed to apply laws that conflict with the constitution.
The National Courts Administration started its work on May 1, 2002 after the new version of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Courts and the Law on the National Courts Administration came into force.
The main task of this authority is to support institutions in the field of judicial self-administration in the fulfillment of their tasks.
Judiciary
The Lithuanian Constitutional Court monitors compliance with the constitution . The Supreme Courts of Justice of Lithuania are the Supreme Court :
- Lietuvos Aukščiausiasis Teismas (ordinary jurisdiction),
- the Supreme Administrative Court in Vilnius Vyriausiasis Administracinis Teismas (Administrative Jurisdiction).
Most of the jurisprudence is the responsibility of the national courts.
The highest courts are always only a revision instance ( cassation instance ) and review the decisions of the national courts ( district courts and local courts ) for formal legality .
The court of appeal and district courts examine the decisions for formal and substantive legality (as a factual instance ).
Judicial self-government
The general assembly of judges is the highest body of judicial self-government. All Lithuanian judges are members of the General Assembly.
The judicial council is an executive body of judicial self-government and consists of 24 members.
The judicial court of honor is an institution of judicial self-administration. It negotiates disciplinary proceedings against judges and charges brought by judges for defamation.
Civil jurisdiction
Generally competent courts:
- Local courts are primarily responsible for criminal and civil matters and for violations of the law by the administration (which according to the law fall under the jurisdiction of the local court); also for cases that fall within the jurisdiction of the judges for mortgages and for cases that relate to the enforcement of decisions and criminal judgments. The judges at the district court also act as judges in preliminary proceedings and as enforcement judges. In addition, they perform all other tasks assigned to the district court by law.
- District courts are the courts of first instance for criminal and civil matters which, according to the law, fall within the jurisdiction of the district courts. It is also an appellate instance for judgments, decisions, orders and resolutions of the district court.
The President of the District Court organizes the administration of the district courts and oversees the district courts and district judges who fall within his jurisdiction in accordance with the procedure prescribed by law.
- The appellate court is the appellate authority for the cases before the district courts in the first instance. Applications for recognition of decisions of foreign and international courts or applications for recognition of foreign and international arbitral awards and their enforcement within the Republic of Lithuania are also heard before the Court of Appeal. The appellate court also fulfills other tasks assigned to it by law.
The President of the Court of Appeal organizes the administration of the district courts and supervises the district courts and district judges in accordance with the procedure prescribed by law.
- The Supreme Court of Lithuania is the only body of cassation. The Supreme Court is responsible for reviewing final judgments, decisions, orders and resolutions of the generally competent courts. The Supreme Court is responsible for developing uniform case law in the interpretation and application of laws and other legal acts.
see General Jurisdiction in Lithuania .
Administrative Jurisdiction
District administrative courts
District administrative courts(in Kaunas , Klaipėda , Vilnius , Panevėžys and Šiauliai ) are courts with special jurisdiction. They negotiate complaints (submissions) relating to administrative acts as well as actions and omissions (non-performance of obligations) by administrative bodies in the public and internal areas. District administrative courts negotiate public administration disputes, issues related to the legality of administrative regulations, tax disputes, etc.
Before referring to an administrative court, individual legal acts or actions taken by administrative bodies in the cases provided for by law can be challenged in preliminary proceedings . In this case, the disputes are examined by a municipal commission for administrative disputes, a district commission for administrative disputes or the main commission for administrative disputes.
Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania
The Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania is the first and last instance of administrative matters that fall under the jurisdiction of this court under the law. The court is also responsible as an appeal instance for the following matters: For cases that result from the decisions, orders and resolutions of the district administrative courts as well as for cases relating to violations of the law by the administration that result from the decisions of the local courts.
The Supreme Administrative Court is also responsible for negotiating an application for the resumption of a closed administrative matter, including cases of administrative law violations, in cases stipulated by law.
In the area of administrative courts, the Supreme Administrative Court is responsible for developing uniform case law for the interpretation and application of laws and other legal acts.
Public prosecutor
At the head of the Lithuanian Public Prosecutor's Office is the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Lithuania (headed by the General Prosecutor of the Republic of Lithuania).
There are territorial prosecutors in large cities ( district prosecutor , lit. apygardos prokuratūra ) and in rajons ( Rajonsstaatsanwaltschaft , lit. rajono prokuratūra ). These individual public prosecutors and the departments and sub-departments of the General Public Prosecutor's Office are headed by senior public prosecutors ( vyriausiasis prokuroras ). The deputy public prosecutor ( vyriausiojo prokuroro pavaduotojas ) and public prosecutors ( prokuroras ) are assigned to this.
literature
- Juozas Galginaitis, Antje Himmelreich, Rūta Vrubliauskaitė (eds.): Introduction to Lithuanian law . Berlin 2010 ( online ).
- Laura Šlepaitė: Lithuania . In: Jan M. Smits (Ed.): Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law . Edward Elgar, Cheltenham / Northampton, MA 2006, ISBN 978-1-84542-013-0 , pp. 438-441 .
Web links
- Court organization - Lithuania ec.europa.eu
