Judicial officers in the Netherlands and Lithuania: differences suggest new ideas

From left to right: expert-consultant of the Chamber of Judicial officers of Lithuania V.Murajvova, direcctor the Chamber of Judicial officers of Lithuania D. Šnirpūnė, judicial officer R. Vasiliauskas, board member of the the Royal Professional Organization of Judicial Officers in the Netherlands P. Plate and president of the Royal Professional Organization of Judicial Officers in the Netherlands C. Bakhuis

On 6-8 March, representatives of the Royal Professional Organization of Judicial Officers in The Netherlands (Koninklijke Beroepsorganisatie van Gerechtsdeurwaarders, KBvG), president Chris Bakhuis and board member Patrick Plate, visited Vilnius with a practical visit. The main purpose of the visit was to get acquainted with the use of information technologies in the Lithuanian enforcement process. And the face-to-face meetings turned into an exchange of mutually beneficial experiences.

„The Dutch and Lithuanian enforcement systems are very different, as are our countries. Putting all the differences and similarities of the Judicial Officer profession on one table, we see an excellent field for new ideas for improving our professional activities,“– says Irmantas Gaidelis, the Chairman of the Presidium of the Chamber of Judicial Officers of Lithuania.

Unlike in Lithuania, a Dutch resident with an enforceable debt cannot do without the help of judicial officer even if he or she pays the creditor in good faith: only a judicial officer can serve the civil litigant with the court documents notifying him or her of the debt recovery proceedings, at a cost that debtors have to pay for. Every year, judicial officers in the Netherlands serve around 1.5 million court documents.

Also unlike in Lithuania, where debtors‘ funds are seized and debited online, in the Netherlands these procedures are still carried out „on paper“: judicial officer send seizure and debit orders to banks and information to account holders by post. These procedures take much longer and cost more.

According to the President of the Royal Professional Organization of Judicial Officers in The Netherlands C. Bakhuis, the country is currently exploring ways to help people with debts to meet their obligations as cheaply as possible. One of these ways is to transfer procedures to the electronic space, which is why the experience of Lithuanian colleagues is of great value to the Dutch bailiffs. The guests were introduced to the specialised information systems implemented in Lithuania – the Judicial Officers‘ Information System and the Information System for Limitation of Monetary Funds – at the State Enterprise Centre of Registers.

During the visit to the office of the judicial officer Robertas Vasiliauskas, looking at the desks not loaded with papers, C. Bakhuis smiled as she replicated: „A clean desk is a clean head“. Judicial officer R. Vasiliauskas told the guests that in recent years his office has been trying to go paperless whenever possible. The Dutch colleagues were interested to see how the Judicial Officers‘ Information System works in practice, how real-time data is obtained from official registers and what information the judicial officer has about the debtor.

According to Mr Plate, a Dutch judicial officer, internet chatbots are widely used in Dutch judicial officers offices. This tool helps to provide applicants with background information and answers to frequently asked questions. According to Dovilė Šnirpūnė, the director of the Chamber of Judicial Officers of Lithuania, a chatbot is also currently being tested at the Lithuanian Chamber. It generates answers to applicants‘ queries about electronic enforcement proceedings and legislation. If this technology proves successful, the possibility of offering it to judicial offcers offices will be considered.

The Dutch judicial offcers also got acquainted with the practical working environment of judicial officer at the office of Virginija Meškauskienė and Irmantas Gaidelis. Judicialo officer I. Gaidelis also shared his experience in the field of fact-finding. This is the most popular judicial officers service in Lithuania: every year, judicial officers establish about 3,000 different facts on behalf of clients. And for the 22 years of the service, the statement of facts drawn up by the judicial officer has been considered official written evidence. In the Netherlands, at the same time, the status of official written evidence was only granted to the statement of facts on 1 January 2025.

The Netherlands currently has 601 judicial officer and 120 judicial officers offices with 2.8 thousand employees. On average, one Dutch judicial officer serves a population of 29,800. In Lithuania, there are 107 judicial officers, each serving an average population of 26,800.

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