Commentary to Part VI of the Code of Civil Procedure – A Tool for More Effective Enforcement of Court Decisions

The release of Scientific Practical Commentary to Part VI of the Code of Civil Procedure addressing the enforcement process is particularly timely, even though the Code has been in force for 22 years, and private judicial officers have been working for 20 years now. It is considered to be timely due to the fact that the practice of applying theoretical legal standards has formed, and the role of the judicial officer in the enforcement of court decisions has strengthened over the past two decades. And this was the basis for adding not only theoretical, but also particularly useful practical content to the commentary.

This leitmotif was prevalent in the presentation of the new publication held on June 13 at the Chamber of Judicial Officers of Lithuania, which was attended by authors, judicial officers, judges, lawyers, as well as representatives of the Seimas, the Ministry of Justice and other institutions.

"We can rejoice that we finally have a book to guide us all", said Chair of the Presidium of Chamber of Judicial Officers of Lithuania, judicial officer Irmantas Gaidelis. He recalled recently reading a court ruling which already quoted this commentary. According to I. Gaidelis, this is a serious publication which should be on the desk of both every judicial officer, as well as every judge.

As emphasized by one of the authors of the book, Partnership Prof. Dr. Egidija Tamošiūnienė, the commentary reflects the increased trust of courts in judicial officers.

The previously tight control of courts has become more relaxed, since judicial officers now make a large number of decisions independently, without court sanction. In her words, the commentary reviewed 197 articles of the Code of Civil Procedure, thus forming guidelines for the application of the sixth part of the Code of Civil Procedure, the scope of which is the largest. 

According to the author of the idea of the publication, Prof. Dr. Vigintas Višinskis, this commentary will help us all feel more legally secure. After all, without an effective court decision enforcement process, court proceedings would not be able to defend the violated rights of people. By helping to apply legal standards more effectively, the new commentary will also help improve the effectiveness of enforcement of court decisions. In addition, any person will now be able to read the commentary and know what to expect in one case or another.

Partnership Prof. Dr. Egidija Tamošiūnienė and Prof. Dr. V. Višinskis

Up until now, there was a significant lack of legal literature on the topic of enforcement of court decisions in Lithuania, therefore, Mykolas Kirkutis, one of the authors of the new commentary, singled out the significance of the publication in the study process. "Finally, there is a resource for students to learn the enforcement process," said M. Kirkutis.

According to Partnership Prof. Dr. E. Tamošiūnienė, the commentary to the Code of Civil Procedure is a "living organism", which should be continuously updated. Especially since there are still unanswered questions in the commentary of the first edition. For example, the continuous connection between civil claims, court proceedings and the enforcement process remained undisclosed, however this systemic connection should be discussed in much more detail. E. Tamošiūnienė noted that it would be good to take a closer look at the enforcement of non-pecuniary court decisions, and discuss in more detail the imposition of fines for non-fulfilment of court orders: which cases of such non-fulfilment should be subject to fines, and who should receive the funds from fines.

The publication is unique in that it was prepared not only by legal scholars (Partnership Prof. Dr. E. Tamošiūnienė, Prof. Dr. V. Višinskis, Dr. Remigijus Jokubauskas and R. Kirkutis), but also by practitioners of enforcement of court decisions: judicial officers I. Karalienė, S. Kastanauskienė, V. Milevičius, L. Lukšys, S. Vaicekauskienė, and Head of the Chamber of Judicial Officers of Lithuania D. Satkauskienė.

Many issues were discussed at length. As summarized by Partnership Prof. Dr. E. Tamošiūnienė, a balance was maintained in the publication between the parties to civil proceedings – active debtor, creditor – and the interests of judicial officers enforcing court decisions.

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