Lithuanian courts need to make rulings more understandable and well-reasoned, Supreme Court chief says

Introducing the Supreme Court’s new composition and goals, the head of the court emphasised the necessity to improve the quality of rulings.

“We must not forget our ambitions to align with the quality of reasoning of Western Europe’s courts of cassation. Cassation has to become concrete and effective, not some theoretical and illusive verification. Our aspiration is flawless practice, comprehensive argumentation, clearly written rulings, formulating the issue of the interpretation of legislation and providing a definite solution,” said the president of the Supreme Court.

“We are seeking to become an active participant of the judicial, but not political discourse, explaining to the public our decisions. I completely agree that complex professional language does not contribute to the clarity of the court’s judgments. We will continue to organise various discussions, meetings, to generalise legal practice when systemic problems are identified. It is a complicated work which requires much time but we will continue on this path,” said Norkus.

Talking about topicalities of the whole judicial system, Norkus distinguished the need to improve the public’s trust in courts and restore the prestige of the profession, to reduce case-handling periods and balance judges’ workload.