Judicial officers successfully collected and returned 280.3 million euros of debts to creditors in 2023, reflecting a 25 per cent increase compared to the amount recovered in 2022.
The portion of debts returned to the state saw the most significant rise. 53.5 million euros was added to the state budget, marking a 63 per cent surge from the previous year’s recovery. This figure encompasses unpaid taxes and fines related to violations of administrative and civil law, as well as fines imposed in criminal cases.
In 2023, judicial officers also recovered an additional 226.8 million euros for private individuals and legal entities, representing an 18 per cent increase compared to 2022. These recovered debts include unpaid employee wages, child support payments, court-ordered compensation, debts for communication and communal services, and liabilities to credit and payment institutions, among others.
According to data from the Judicial Officers’ Information System, judicial officers successfully enforced 253.8 thousand court and other institutional decisions last year. Most of these (94 per cent) pertained to decisions regarding the recovery of monetary amounts. A noteworthy 57 per cent of claims were fully satisfied, indicating that more than half of the creditors managed to recover the entire requested debts. The remaining 6 per cent of executed decisions were non-monetary, encompassing requirements such as the application of temporary protective measures, compelling the debtor to perform or cease specific actions, property confiscation, ensuring orderly communication with a child, etc.
Statistics on new appeals to judicial officers affirm that forced debt collection processes post-COVID-19 pandemic are returning to normalcy, with fluctuations within a few percentage points that do not suggest a significant increase or decrease in debts transferred to judicial officers.
In 2023, a total of 227 thousand new enforcement proceedings were initiated. Compared to pre-pandemic data from 2019, the number of new executive documents in 2023 was only 3 per cent higher, and when compared to 2018 data, it was 6 per cent lower.
In 2023, creditors sought the assistance of judicial officers for obligations not met on time by 107 thousand debtors, comprising 99.7 thousand natural persons and 7.3 thousand legal entities. The number of such borrowers in 2023 was 2 per cent higher than in 2022 and 6 per cent lower compared to 2019. Statistically, one out of every 29 Lithuanian residents came under the scrutiny of judicial officers last year due to overdue debts.
The trend observed in 2022 persists and even strengthens: there is a notable increase in the new demand to collect maintenance awarded to children, commonly referred to as alimony. In 2023, 3.4 thousand executive documents of this category were submitted to judicial officers, marking a 51 per cent increase compared to the data from 2022.
This is likely related to the increasing inflation in recent years. As a result, periodic maintenance payments must be indexed and increased by double-digit percentages, following the procedure established by the Government (payments in 2022 – 10.6 per cent, payments in 2023 – 21.7 per cent, while the applicable index for 2024 will be announced on February 1). If individuals with a maintenance obligation fail to apply indexation in good faith and pay amounts larger than specified in the court decision, debt collectors have to seek assistance from judicial officers.
Most often, judicial officers find themselves tasked with collecting maintenance payments from fathers of children. However, there has been a recent increase in demands to collect maintenance from mothers of children. Foster homes and foster families are more actively seeking the recovery of child support payments.
The total value of new debts for which creditors sought the assistance of judicial officers in 2023 amounted to 602.1 million euros.
In total, throughout 2023, 1.7 million enforcement processes initiated at various times were conducted in the offices of judicial officers. Among them were 878.5 thousand processes initiated following the requirements of state institutions, and 818.8 thousand processes initiated by natural persons and legal entities.
Currently, 108 judicial officers and approximately 500 hired employees (assistants, lawyers, administrators and others) work in the enforcement system of the Republic of Lithuania, which includes 94 judicial officers’ offices and 7 branches of such offices.
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