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Description
Public opinion polls show that the perceived lack of transparency in the courts, prolonged judicial proceedings, and the lack of physical and psychological security for the parties are among the main reasons for the society to distrust the Lithuanian judicial system. Transparency, efficiency and a greater focus on the needs of court staff and clients are among the most commonly identified areas, therefore improving them would enable judiciary to develop competencies and increase public trust in judiciary.
The project aims to contribute to the development of a more efficient and effective justice system in Lithuania.
The project includes:
- A new model for selection and evaluation of judges that would ensure greater efficiency on formation of the judiciary, transparency and the independence of the judiciary.
- Methodological materials and training programmes based on best foreign practice, which would enable to develop the competencies of judiciary, necessary for ensuring the procedural cooperation, conducting the court proceedings in an objective and transparent manner, and assure efficient organization of court activities.
- Training programmes for court volunteers, mentors and delivery of training.
- Public campaigns on legal education purposes.
- Installation of security measures / technological solutions to ensure security in courts.
- Adaptation of public spaces of the courts to meet needs of the parties of the proceedings.
The systemic tools developed within the project will increase the efficiency and transparency of the court process, shorten the duration of the proceedings and ensure effective protection of the violated rights.
Target groups of the project are judiciary (judges, court staff and the staff of National Courts Administration), prosecutors, lawyers, litigants and public.
Donor project partner Norwegian Courts Administration will contribute to project activities through its expertise and exchange of the best practices.
Summary of project results
The most important challenges addressed by the project:
• Prolonged judicial proceedings. Although the length of judicial proceedings at the first instance courts is one of the shortest in Europe, it still faces the timeliness issues in some chains of the judiciary. In 2017, in regional courts of the first instance examination of criminal cases lasted 240 days on average. Taking into account that Lithuanian courts in 2015-2017 examined over 302 000 cases per year on average and only around 5 % of appeals goes to the second instance courts, the major concern here is to shorten examination of cases in the first instance courts, in order to create a better access to justice.
• Deep public distrust in courts and high social emotional dissatisfaction with the judicial system. Different surveys of public opinion polls carried out in 2015-2018 show that only around 30% of the respondents had trust in courts; therefore, the public trust in the judicial system of Lithuania is very low compared with other EU countries. Moreover, after Lithuanian judiciary anti-corruption crackdown in February 2019, the public trust decreased to 15.8%. Complaints from the clients of courts show that confidence in the courts is directly related to the information provided in and by the courts, lengthy examination of cases and issues of transparency. In 2012-2018 complex measures for increasing the trust in courts were taken, and resulted in slight yet steady increase (2-4% a year). However, the trust index is still low.
• Low public awareness about the transparency, objectivity and independence of the judiciary and complex procedures for selection and evaluation of judges (only professional skills are evaluated leaving apart evaluation of social and personal skills). The Lithuanian society and business entities have limited perception of independence of courts and judges, there is a lack of transparent scientifically based criteria, measurement tools and methods used for selection, performance evaluation and promotion of judges. The draft Law on Courts amendments discussed in the Parliament also corresponds the need for complex approach towards before mentioned procedures, as well as GRECO recommendations on transparent and impartial selection procedure of judges.
• The lack of modern, systematic measures, reducing the workload of the courts including a high degree of staff turnover. The number of cases and the workload of judges are very high compared with other European countries. The judiciary mapping reform was implemented in 2018. However, the initiatives undertaken addressed only critical problems related to workload imbalance. There is still a lack of administrative/managerial competences and conceptual solutions that could enable a more efficient management of courts.
• The lack of modern services and physical and psychological security in courts, meeting the needs and expectations of witnesses and victims. In 2014-2016 minimal physical and security measures (security guide, video surveillance cameras, alert buttons, access control systems) were implemented in the courts. Also, following the example of the Norwegian best practice, a Court Volunteers Service was introduced in the Lithuanian courts. However, the infrastructure is not good enough in order to properly provide various services to the court clients: public spaces are not always well separated from administrative premises, the existing facilities are not suitable for persons with special needs, there must be more modern solutions for providing parties with information on court hearings, court services, etc. Court clients feel psychologically unsecure and which determines how they perceive the court proceedings. Moreover, the Court Volunteer Service is in a starting phase, so there is a strong need for further development of sustainable tools to maintain this network and provide support to the witnesses and victims.
• The lack of access to foreign practice. In order to increase public trust and confidence within the judicial system, the quality of court proceedings and services provided in courts must be improved, and international cooperation with other actors of judicial system and relevant institutions as well as for sharing the best practices must be carried out. An active cooperation with the Norwegian Courts Administration will allow developing competences of the judicial system, adapting the best practice in Lithuania and supporting the European judicial culture in general.
Project Implementation Results:
Increasing the Quality of Court Proceedings in Lithuania
- Developed a new model for selecting and evaluating judges, with a focus on social and personal skills.
- Created an IT tool for an effective selection and evaluation process of judges.
- A qualification improvement, training organization, and management IT tool has been developed for the electronic selection and evaluation tool for judges and judicial candidates.
- Conducted a study on court proceedings. The main tasks performed: analysis of the current situation of court proceedings; monitoring of court proceedings; analysis of best practices from foreign countries and international court processes; preparation of draft legal acts.
- Developed a methodology for judges, prosecutors, and lawyers to enhance court proceedings.
- Organized study visits to Norway and Canada: acquaintance with the country''s judicial system, the judiciary management strategy, the specifics of conducting court proceedings, and the sharing of best practices.
- A guide to effective leadership in court proceedings for criminal cases has been prepared.
Training programs have been prepared: Management of Court Proceedings in Criminal Cases; Leadership in Court Hearings for Civil, Administrative, and Administrative Offense Cases; Writing High-Quality Procedural Decisions; The Value-Based Integrity of the Judicial System – A Key Prerequisite for Combating Corruption in the Country.
Provided trainings on Management of Court Proceedings in Criminal Cases and Writing High-Quality Procedural Decisions (1196 trained persons).
- Hosted an international conference "Changes in the Judiciary System: From the Implementation of the Judges'' Competency Model to a More Efficient Court Proceedings Execution" to share best practices.
- Ran public campaigns on legal education: 1) A legal education campaign has been implemented (a virtual court exhibition has been created). The goal of the campaign is to introduce the public to the activities of the courts and to expand the public''s knowledge about what the courts do and have done from a historical perspective; 2) Three directions of the Volunteering Promotion/Encouragement Campaigns have been implemented: Broader dissemination of information about the functions of the Volunteer Service to the public, creation of a visual solution reflecting the core idea; Recruitment of new volunteers (target audience – young people up to the labor market); Recruitment of new volunteers (target audience – individuals over 45 years old and seniors).
Improving Court Service and Infrastructure in Lithuania
A study on strengthening competencies for effective court resource management has been prepared: analysis of the current situation regarding the strengthening of the competencies of court leaders for effective court resource management; analysis of best practices from foreign countries; survey of target groups and stakeholders; development of a competencies model for court leaders; preparation of criteria and methodology for the selection and evaluation of court leaders; creation of a corruption prevention control mechanism.
Trained on Strategic Leadership and Effective Performance in the judiciary (1345 trained persons).
- An international conference was organized on the topic "Challenges in Judge Selection and Volunteering in Courts".
- An international conference was organized on the topic "Changes in the Judicial System: From the Implementation of the Judges'' Competency Model to a More Efficient Court Proceedings Execution".
An international conference was organized on the topic "Judicial Leadership: A Catalyst for Simplifying Court Processes and Promoting Collaboration."
- Developed and delivered a training program for court volunteers and mentors.
Measures for the court volunteers'' institute have been developed: creation of the court volunteers'' service logo and design of court volunteers'' service insignia, acquisition of the initial court volunteers'' package; analysis of the current situation of the volunteer service''s activities and preparation of recommendations; preparation of a methodological publication for court volunteers and etc.
- An international conference was organized on the topic "Challenges in Judge Selection and Volunteering in Courts".
Vilnius District Court and Kaunas District Court reconstruction works have been carried out.
Equipped Vilnius District Court and Kaunas District Court courtrooms, waiting areas, and spaces for people with special needs, volunteers, and media.
- Implemented security measures and technological solutions for court safety in 16 courts.
The project results contribute to more efficient court operations, increase transparency in processes, and improve service quality.
Summary of bilateral results
The project was implemented together with the donor partner Norwegian Court Administration. The representatives of the partner significantly contributed to the organization and implementation of most of the project activities. The experts appointed by the Norwegian Judicial Administration actively participated and provided their insights in the preparation of the Judge Selection and Assessment Model, the Court Managers Selection and Assessment Competency Model, a practical guide to the court process in criminal cases, and provided comments and recommendations in the preparation of the analysis of the activities of the Judicial Volunteer Service, as well as contributed to the organization of court internships in Norway, the Netherlands and Canada, participated and gave presentations at two international conferences. Since the cooperation with the Norwegian judicial administration has already been going on for 12 years, more than one joint project has been successfully implemented, so in the future it is also planned to cooperate in the implementation of bilateral projects.