News

Rimvydas Norkus, President of the Supreme Court of Lithuania, was re-elected as Member of the Board and Vice-President of the Network of the Presidents of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the Member States of the European Union in the Colloquium of the Network held in Madrid (Spain) on 20–21 October 2016.

Besides organisational issues, the Presidents of the Supreme Courts of the European Union discussed ways to promote development of alternative dispute resolution, including mediation. According to Mr. Norkus, mediation is successfully applied in Lithuania yet efforts must be made to promote this mechanism.

“Society has to be constantly reminded of other no less effective ways of dispute resolution besides court. Mediation, being a peaceful settlement of disputes, is highly appreciated in foreign countries; moreover, its financial and moral cost is significantly lower,” noted the President of the Supreme Court of Lithuania.

Lithuanian courts examine approx. 200 000 civil cases each year. This curve of the number of cases is rising at an alarming rate; therefore, judges constantly remind society of the possibilities to choose alternative dispute resolution.

“Although we manage to cope with the significant load and lead in Europe according to the pace of case examination, we encourage people not to be afraid of the mediation mechanism,” Rimvydas Norkus stated. According to the Head of the Court of Cassation, the success of mediation depends not only on the flexibility of legal acts, but also on the mentality of people, in particular lawyers who provide legal services. “We have to expand the spread of publicity of this way to settle legal disputes both among young and elderly people,” added Mr. Norkus.

In 2013, Lithuanian courts decided 37 disputes by way of mediation. In 2015, this number reached 123 yet it is still vanishingly small, compared to the number of examined cases.