2.If the Chairman of a division is unavailable, a judge of this division appointed by the Chairman of the court, or a judge of this division with the longest period of judicial service in this court shall act in his place unless the Chairman of the court has appointed a person to act in his place.
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3.If the Chairman of a regional administrative court or the Supreme Administrative Court is unavailable, the Deputy Chairman of the relevant court shall act in place of the Chairman. If the Chairman of a regional administrative court where there are two or more Deputy Chairmen has no Chairman is unavailable a Deputy Chairman appointed by the Chairman of the court or the Deputy Chairman with a longer period of judicial service in this court shall act in his place unless the Chairman of the court has appointed a person to act for him. If the Chairman of a regional administrative court where there is no position of a Deputy Chairman is unavailable, the Chairman of the Supreme Administrative Court shall appoint one of the judges of the court to act in place of the Chairman temporarily.
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4.If the Chairman of a district court is unavailable the Deputy Chairman of the court shall act in place of the Chairman. If the Chairman of a district court where there are two or more Deputy Chairmen is unavailable the Deputy Chairman appointed by Chairman of the court or the Deputy Chairman with a longer period of judicial service in the court shall act in place of the Chairman unless the Chairman of the court has appointed a person to act in his place. If the Chairman of a district court where there is no Deputy Chairman is unavailable one of the judges of the district court appointed by the Chairman of the appropriate regional court shall act in place of the Chairman temporarily.
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SECTION TWO STRUCTURE OF THE COURT
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Article 106Administration of the Court
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1.The Court Chairman shall be the head of the court as the state authority and budget authority.
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2.The Court Chancellor shall be career civil servant subordinate to the Chairman of the court. The Court Chancellor shall direct the court administration.
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3.The Court Chancellor shall:
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1)coordinate and control the activities of the administrative units of the court, ensure the optimal management and use of financial, material, intellectual and information resources in implementing the strategic action plans of the court;
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2)organise and coordinate the drafting and implementation of strategic action plans of the court;
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3)approve the regulations of administrative units of the court, the list of posts and description of posts of civil servants and employees employed under employment contracts and receiving remuneration from the state budget (hereafter referred to as employees), according to the model lists and descriptions of posts approved by the Judicial Council ;
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4)appoint to office or dismiss from office according to the procedure established by laws civil servants and employees of administrative units of the court, also promote them, impose on them official or disciplinary penalties, award benefits;
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5)perform other functions assigned to him by laws, other legal acts and the Chairman of the Court.
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4.In the absence of the Court Chancellor the Chairman of the Court shall instruct one of the heads of the administrative units of the court to perform all or part of his functions, except for the functions related to the management and use of appropriations.
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5.The description of the post of the Court Chancellor shall be approved by the Chairman of the Court according to the model description of the post of the Court Chancellor approved by the Judicial Council.
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Article 107Structure of the Court Administration
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1.The structure of administration of each court shall comprise an office, the records office, the accounting department (the financier), and the maintenance division (the house administrator). A court may have separate offices of the court divisions, the unit of analysis of court practice and/or unit of summing up, the court reception, library, divisions of information, codification as well as other structural units. Each court shall have a person responsible for public relations, a Lithuanian language specialist and secretaries of the court meetings.
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2.Where the court has no court reception, the procedure of reception of residents, their complaints, appeals, applications not related to the specific cases investigated at the time, the procedure of informing the people by telephone shall be established. The administrative procedures for investigating complaints and appeals shall be established by the Law on Public Administration and Government resolutions.
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3.The structure of the court administration shall be approved by the Court Chancellor according to model descriptions of court structure approved by , the list of positions of the staff and their job descriptions shall be approved by the Chairman of the court in accordance with the model descriptions of the structure of courts approved by the Judicial Council.
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Article 108Civil Servants and Employees of the Court
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1.Civil servants of the court shall comprise:
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1)persons directly assisting judges in performing the assigned duties, analysing and summing up court practice;
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2)other civil servants.
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2.The status of civil servants of the court shall be defined by the Law on Civil Service and of the court employees – by the Labour Code.
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Article 109Repeal of the Article
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Article 110Repeal of the Article
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Article 111Repeal of the Article
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Article 112Repeal of the Article
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CHAPTER XIII
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SELF-GOVERNANCE OF COURTS SECTION ONE GENERAL PROVISIONS
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Article 113The Concept of Court Self-governance
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Self-governance of courts shall be, in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and other statutes, the right and real power exercised by the judges and courts in deciding freely and independently, on their own responsibility, the issues pertaining to the activities of courts.
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Article 114The System of Court Self-governance
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1.The system of court self-governance shall be composed of:
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1)the general meeting of judges;
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2)the Judicial Council;
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3)the Judicial Court of Honour.
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2)The Judicial Council and the Judicial Court of Honour shall be accountable for their activities to the General Meeting of Judges.
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3.The National Courts Administration shall assist the institutions of the self-governance of courts to exercise their functions.
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4.For the purpose of preparing and reviewing or making decisions on certain issues the Judicial Council may form permanent or ad hoc commissions.
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Article 115Voluntary Organisations of Judges
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The judges may freely form and join into associations of judges or any other non-political organisations representing the interests of the judiciary.
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SECTION TWO GENERAL MEETING OF JUDGES
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Article 116General Meeting of Judges
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1.The general meeting of judges shall be the highest institution of the self-governance of courts.
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2.All the judges of Lithuania shall participate in the general meeting of judges.
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Article 117Competence of the General Meeting of Judges
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1.The General Meeting of Judges shall:
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1)approve the Regulation of the General Meeting of Judges;
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2)approve the Code of Judicial Ethics;
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3)elect and recall members of the Judicial Council who are members of the Judicial Council not by virtue of their office;
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4)hear a report about the activities of the Judicial Council;
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5)hear a report of the Judicial Court of Honour;
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6)consider and take decisions on other issues related to the activities of courts.
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Article 118Preparation, Agenda of and Decision Making by General Meeting of Judges
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1.An ordinary session of the General Meeting of Judges shall be held, as a rule, on the first Friday of March at least once every two years.
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2.When necessary, an extraordinary session of the General Meeting of Judges may be convened at the initiative of the Judicial Council or of one-third of all the judges of Lithuania.
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3.A draft agenda of the General Meeting of Judges shall be mailed to the judges and the date of the extraordinary session of the General Meeting of Judges shall be communicated to the judges not later than one month before the session.
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4.The General Meeting of Judges shall have legal force provided more than one half of all judges of Lithuania take part in it.
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5.The General Meeting of Judges shall be opened by the Chairman of the Judicial Council. He then shall hand over the powers of presiding at the meeting to the Chairman of the session elected by the Meeting.
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6.Decisions of the General Meeting of Judges shall be adopted by a simple majority of the judges present. Decisions may be adopted by secret ballot subject to the decision of the Meeting. The decisions of the General Meeting of Judges shall be signed by the Chairman and Secretary of the session.
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7.The decisions of the General Meeting of Judges shall be executed by the institutions of the self-governance of courts, the judges and the National Courts Administration.
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SECTION THREE THE JUDICIAL COUNCIL
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Article 119The Judicial Council and its Composition
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1.The Judicial Council shall be an executive body of the self-governance of courts ensuring independence of courts and judges.
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2.The Judicial Council shall be composed of 21 members:
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1)by virtue of their office - the Chairman of the Supreme Court, the Chairman of the Court of Appeals, the Chairman of the Supreme Administrative Court;
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2)Judges elected by the General Meeting of Judges: three from the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Administrative Court each, three from all regional courts, three from all regional administrative courts and three from all district courts. The candidates shall be nominated and elected during the General Meeting of Judges by the representatives of the relevant courts.
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3.A judge whose period of service in judicial office is less than five years or on whom disciplinary penalty has been imposed may not be elected a member of the Judicial Council.
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4.The term in office for the member of the Judicial Council shall be four years.
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5.The Chairman of the Judicial Council, the Deputy Chairman and secretary shall be elected by secret ballot for two years from the Judicial Council members . The first session of the new Judicial Council shall be opened by the judge serving the longest term as the judge. The judge shall organise the election of the Chairman of the Judicial Council.
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6.The term of office of the judge shall expire when:
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1)his term of office as the judge expires;
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2)the term of office to which he was appointed member of Judicial Council expires;
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3)he voluntarily resigns from the Judicial Council;
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4)the decision of the Judicial Court of Honour to impose on him a disciplinary penalty becomes effective (except for the Chairmen of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Administrative Court; they are ex officio members of the Judicial Council);
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5)he is withdrawn from his post as Judicial Council member (except for the Chairmen of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Administrative Court; they are ex officio members of the Judicial Council).
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7.A Judicial Council member shall be withdrawn from the Judicial Council when the General Meeting of Judges makes a reasoned decision that the judge fails to perform the functions of the Judicial Council member assigned to him.
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Article 120Competence of the Judicial Council
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The Judicial Council shall:
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1)elect by secret ballot the Chairman, Deputy Chairman and the Secretary of the Judicial Council;
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2)approve the Rules of Procedure of the Judicial Council;
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3)give an informed advice to the President of the Republic in respect of the appointment of judges, their promotion, transfer and removal from office;
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4)give an informed advice to the President of the Republic in respect of the appointment and removal from office of Chairmen, Deputy Chairmen, Chairman of divisions of courts;
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5)give an informed advice to the President of the Republic in respect of determining or changing of the number of judges in courts;
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6)form the examination commission for the candidates to judges; approve the regulations of the examination commission for the candidates to judges, the programme of the examination;
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7)approve the procedure of entering the candidates in the list of judicial vacancies at the district court and the procedure of entering the candidates in the register of persons seeking judicial office;
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8)form permanent and ad hoc commissions and approve their regulations;
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9)elect and appoint by secret ballot members of the Judicial Ethics and Discipline Commission, elect the Chairman of the Commission from all the Commission members and withdraw them on the grounds laid down by this Law; approve the regulations of the Judicial Ethics and Discipline Commission;
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10)appoint by secret ballot members of the Judicial Court of Honour and withdraw them on the grounds laid down by this Law;
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11)approve the regulations of the Judicial Court of Honour;i2
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12)hear reports of the Judicial Ethics and Discipline Commission, reports on the activities of the Judicial Court of Honour;
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13)be entitled to propose instituting a disciplinary action against a judge;
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14)approve the description of assessment of the judges’ activities and the regulations of the Permanent commission of assessment of the judges’ activities, consider complaints regarding the results of assessment of the judges’ activities;
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15)form the Permanent Commission for the Assessment of the Judges’ Activities;
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16)set the procedure and grounds for establishing the judges’ specialisation, approve the regulations of the distribution of cases to judges and the regulations for forming the judicial panels;
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17)approve the regulations of administration in courts, resolve other issues of administration in courts;
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18)approve the regulations of organising the training of judges, the training programmes, the annual plans for improving the qualifications and qualification requirements to the lecturers;
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19)approve model structures of district, regional and regional administrative courts, model lists of positions and job descriptions;
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20)consider and approve proposals on draft investment programmes for courts and proposals for the budgets of courts and submit them to the Government;
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21)hear the reports of the National Courts Administration on its activities;
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22)every year not later than by 31 March publish in the internet web site of the National Court Administration a review of the court activities in the previous year;
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23)convene the regular and, when necessary, extraordinary General Meetings of Judges;
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24)co-operate with other institutions and organisations of Lithuania on the issues of court self-governance, administration and other issues relevant for the activities of courts;
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25)co-operate with institutions of other countries and international bodies on the issues of court self-governance, administration and other issues relevant for the activities of courts;
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26)have the right to receive from state institutions information required for performing the functions of judges;
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27)decide other issues relating to court activities and relevant legislation.
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Article 121Meetings of the Judicial Council
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1.A meeting of the Judicial Council shall be the main form of the activity of the Council. The meetings of the Council shall usually be held in the building of the Supreme Court 2. Meetings of the Judicial Council shall be convened, as a rule, once a month. When necessary, meetings may be convened on the initiative of the Chairman of the Council or of one-third of the members of the Council.
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3.The materials relating to the issues to be considered during the Council meetings shall be circulated to all the members of the Council at least three days before the meeting of the Judicial Council.
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4.Decisions of the Judicial Council shall be adopted by open ballot. The Council may, on its own motion, adopt decisions by secret ballot.
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5.A decision of the Judicial Council shall be adopted upon getting the approval of more than a half of all the members of the Judicial Council.
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6.The decisions of the Judicial Council shall be signed by the Chairman and the Secretary of the Council.
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7.The procedure of the work of the Judicial Council shall be established by its Rules of Procedure.
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8.The meetings of Judicial Council shall be public.
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SECTION FOUR JUDICIAL COURT OF HONOUR
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Article 122Judicial Court of Honour
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1.The Judicial Court of Honour shall be the body of judicial self-governance hearing disciplinary cases of judges and petitions of judges against defamation.
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2.The Judicial Court of Honour shall be formed for four years and shall consist of nine members. The Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Administrative Court shall each appoint two members to the Judicial Court of Honour. Three members shall be elected by the Judicial Council to the Judicial Court of Honour from all regional administrative courts, regional courts and district courts. Usually at least two candidates shall be nominated to a vacancy of a member of the Judicial Court of Honour. A member of the Judicial Council or an entity having the right of initiative to institute a disciplinary action, a member of the Judicial Ethics and Discipline Commission as well as the judge on whom disciplinary penalty has been imposed may not be elected a member of the Judicial Court of Honour. Members of the Judicial Court of Honour shall elect the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Judicial Court of Honour.
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3.A meeting of the Judicial Court of Honour shall be valid if attended by not less than seven members of the Judicial Court of Honour. The decisions of the Judicial Court of Honour shall be taken by a simple majority vote of the members of Judicial Court of Honour attending the meeting. If there is a tie, the decision voted in favour of by the Chairman of the Judicial Court of Honour shall be deemed adopted.
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4.The Judicial Court of Honour shall hear the cases publicly except where this would prejudice state, official, commercial secret or the protection of the person’s private life. The operative parts of the decisions adopted by the Judicial Court of Honour after a not public hearing of the case shall be in all cases publicised.
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5 The information about the issues to be considered at the sessions of the Judicial Court of Honour shall be published in the internet web site of the National Court Administration not later than 3 working days before the session. Information about the decisions adopted by the Judicial Court of Honour shall be published in the internet web site of the National Court Administration within 10 days after the session.
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6.The term of office of the member of the Judicial Court of Honour shall expire when:
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1)his term of office as the judge expires;
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2)the term of office to which he was appointed member of the Judicial Court of Honour expires;
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3)he voluntarily resigns from the Judicial Court of Honour;
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4)the decision of the Judicial Court of Honour to impose on him a disciplinary penalty becomes effective;
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5)he is withdrawn from his post as Judicial Court of Honour member.
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7.The Judicial Court of Honour member shall be withdrawn from his post as Judicial Court of Honour member if the Judicial Council adopts a well-reasoned decision that the judge fails to perform the duties of the Judicial Court of Honour member assigned to him.
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Article 123Sessions of the Judicial Court of Honour
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The Judicial Court of Honour shall hear disciplinary cases of judges and petitions of judges against defamation in accordance with the provisions of this Law and the Statute of the Judicial Court of Honour. The Statute of the Judicial Court of Honour shall be approved by the Judicial Council.
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SECTION FIVE NATIONAL COURTS ADMINISTRATION
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Article 124National Courts Administration
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1.The National Courts Administration shall be an institution funded from the budget, operating according to this Law, the Law on National Courts Administration and other legal acts.
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2.The National Courts Administration shall implement the following tasks:
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1)help ensure the independence of courts and judges, the organisational autonomy of courts;
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2)ensure according to its competence close and reciprocal liaison of courts and the institutions of court self-governance;
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3)help the institutions of judicial self-governance implement the functions assigned to them;
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4)ensure, according to its competence, smooth formation of the corps of judges;
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5)organise and ensure a centralised material support of courts;
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6)ensure the provision of pensions for the judges;
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7)seeking to ensure effective and rational management and use of state funds, organise the drawing up of draft estimates of state budgetary programmes implemented by courts and drafting of estimates of programmes and carrying out of investment projects (investment programmes) for courts;
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8)develop and implement the strategy of the common information system ;
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9)seek the effective functioning of the court system of the Republic of Lithuania.
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3.The National Courts Administration implementing its tasks shall perform the functions established in the Law on the National Courts Administration, other legal acts.
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Article 125Repeal of the Article
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PART V
\n
FUNDING AND MATERIAL SUPPORT
\n
Article 126Funding of the Court System
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Courts shall be funded from the State budget. Each court shall have its own expenditure estimate. In cases provided by law, the court system may be funded from other financial sources of the State.
\n
Article 127Drawing up and Consideration of the Budget
\n
1.Budgets and investment programmes shall be drawn up by the appropriations managers - the courts.
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2.Appropriation managers - the courts shall submit their proposals in respect of their budget drafts to the Judicial Council for consideration. The Judicial Council, following its approval of the proposals in respect of the submitted draft budgets, shall put them before the Government.
\n
3.Paragraph 3 of Article 127 shall be repealed.
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Article 128Material Support for the Courts
\n
1.Material support for the courts shall be organised and ensured, in accordance with the approved expenditure estimates, by the Court Chancellor. The National Courts Administration shall organise and ensure a centralised provision of the courts with the supplies and service needed.
\n
2.The appropriations manager of the State investment projects intended for courts, except the investment specified in paragraph 5 of this Article, shall be the Ministry of Justice.
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3.The Ministry of Justice in accordance with the description of the procedure approved by the Judicial Council and by the Minister of Justice shall prepare investment projects for courts, submit them to the Judicial Council for agreement and suggest to include them into the State Investment Programme.
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4.The investment projects for courts, except for the projects specified in paragraph 5 of this Article, shall be implemented by the Ministry of Justice.
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5.The National Courts Administration shall be the manager of investments related to information systems. The National Courts Administration shall implement the projects of investment, organise the development and uptake in courts of information systems, carry out the administration and improvement of these information systems.
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6.Buildings and other property used by the courts and the National Courts Administration shall be owned by the State. The courts and the National Courts Administration shall manage, use and hold this property on trust. The property transferred to the courts and the National Courts Administration may not be taken without a prior consent of the Judicial Council.
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7.In individual cases, the courts may rent premises for performance of their functions.
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Article 129Inspection of Economic and Financial Activities of Courts
\n
1.Financial and performance audit shall be performed in courts according to the procedure established by laws and according to its remit by the State Control.
\n
2.The internal audit shall be performed in courts according to the established procedure by the National Courts Administration.
\n
PART VI
\n
SECURITY OF COURTS
\n
Article 130Ensuring Peace and Order in Courts. Security of Courts
\n
1.Peace and order in courts shall be ensured by the police.
\n
2.The number of the police officers appointed to ensure security of courts shall be established by the General Commissar of the Police taking into account the proposals of the Judicial Council.
\n
3.The police which ensures security of courts shall be financed from the state budget allocations for the police.
\n
4.The powers of the police officers who ensure security of the courts shall be established by law.
\n
PART VII
\n
FINAL PROVISIONS
\n
Article 131Entry into Force
\n
This Law shall enter into force on 1 September 2008.
\n
I promulgate this Law passed by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC ALGIRDAS BRAZAUSKAS