During the XXII Meeting of Judicial Officers, which took place in the 19th of April, 2021, the activity report of the Chamber of Judicial Officers of Lithuania was approved. The guidelines for further activities of the association were also defined. Just like many other events during the quarantine period, this meeting was organized remotely.
Despite quarantine constraints, 2020 was a favorable year for creditors. 139.9 thousand, or 63 percent the judicial officers fulfilled the claims submitted in full by repaying all the funds belonging to the creditors or ensuring the enforcement of non-monetary claims.
For the Member States of the European Union (EU) – it is a unified platform, which publishes relevant information regarding institutions, which are responsible for the enforcement of decisions. For all of the citizens of EU – it is a possibility to easily find a judicial officer in any Member State of the EU.
The 2005 institutional reform of judicial officers, implemented in Bulgaria, took the country away from an era of deficit of justice, back when decisions were not enforced, and created an effective debt recovery system. Currently, Bulgaria’s judicial officers recover 150 mil. Bulgarian Lev every year.
(76,5 mil. Euros) of late wages, alimony, overdue loans, fines for violations of traffic and driving rules and other types of debt.
In 2020, Lithuania rose to 11th place in Doing Business – business community's most important ranking, published annually by the World Bank. This is the highest position achieved by Lithuania since the announcement of the said ranking.
68.9 thousand new claims for forced debt recovery were submitted to judicial officers during the first six months in 2020. This is 39 percent less than during the same period last year.
Amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure will enter into force on 1 July, which will speed up and reduce the cost of informing participants in the forced debt recovery process.
During the past five weeks of quarantine, the possibilities of actual debt recovery in Lithuania have decreased by half. Judging by the statistics of judicial officers, approximately 4.3 million euros of debts will not be paid to creditors in April, i.e. the amount of returned debts will be 4.3 million euros less than the usual amount repaid within a month prior to the declaration of an emergency. In March, the amount of actually recovered debts decreased by about 15 percent which is approximately 645 thousand euros.
Despite the quarantine restrictions, the 20th meeting of Lithuanian judicial officers took place. The members of the association could not meet in one hall, but all important issues were resolved by electronic voting on April 17.
After transitioning to working remotely as of March 16, judicial officers are continuing to provide most of their regular services to creditors and debtors during the quarantine period. They are aware of the fact that this temporary emergency and quarantine do not eliminate their professional duty to perform functions assigned by the state and help parties to civil proceedings ensure their interests.