Types of legal professions

Lithuania

This page provides you with an overview of the legal professions in Lithuania.

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Lithuania

Legal professions – introduction

Legal professions in Lithuania include:

  • Prosecutors (prokurorai)
  • Judges (teisėjai)
  • Advocates (advokatai)
  • Notaries (notarai)
  • Bailiffs (antstoliai)

Prosecutors

Organisation

In Lithuania, there are 56 territorial prosecutors’ offices:

  • 51 Regional
  • 5 District

The Prosecutor General‘s Office (Generalinė prokuratūra) is responsible for the territorial prosecutors’ offices (teritorinės prokuratūros). She or he is appointed for a seven year term by the President of the Lithuanian Republic (Lietuvos Respublikos Prezidentas), with the consent of the Parliament (Seimas).

The prosecutor general is accountable to the Parliament and the President. Types of prosecutors are:

  • Prosecutor general (generalinis prokuroras)
  • Chief territorial (district or regional) prosecutors (vyriausieji (apylinkių arba apygardų) prokurorai)
  • Other prosecutors.

There is no relationship between the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution – of subordination, common jurisdiction or any other specific relationship.

Role and duties

The functions of the prosecutors’ offices are to:

  • Organise and direct pre-trial investigations
  • Uphold charges on behalf of the state in criminal cases
  • Protect the public interest
  • Ensure justice
  • Assist the judiciary in the administration of justice

Prosecutors participate in all criminal cases and in civil or administrative cases, in the order indicated by the claim.

Judges

Organisation

There are no different types of judges in Lithuania; all are professional judges (profesionalūs teisėjai).

The general principles of the judiciary are set out in the Constitution and in the parliamentary act governing the courts. Courts are independent, with the following self-governing bodies:

  • General meeting of judges (Visuotinis teisėjų susirinkimas)
  • The judicial council (Teisėjų taryba)
  • The judicial court of honour (Teisėjų garbės teismas)

Courts are assisted with their activities by the National courts administration (Nacionalinė teismų administracija).

Organisation of the legal profession: Lawyers

Barristers/ Advocates

There are advocates (advokatai) and apprentices of advocates (advokatų padėjėjai) in Lithuania. Apprentices of advocates can represent their clients in civil proceedings and defend them in criminal proceedings – with the permission of the supervising advocate and when allowed by law.

Advocates and apprentices of advocates are not classified by type. Advocates are free to choose the field of law in which they wish to specialise (specialisation of advocate).

Legal databases

You can find more information on the website of the Lithuanian Bar Association (Lietuvos advokatūra).

Is access to this database free of charge?

Yes, access to the website of the Lithuanian Bar Association is free of charge.

Solicitors/ legal advisers

There are no solicitors or legal advisers in Lithuania.

Notaries

Organisation

There is only one type of classification for notaries (notarai) in Lithuania. The number of notaries, their offices and the territory of their jurisdiction are determined by the Minister of Justice (Teisingumo ministerija). Notaries are appointed and dismissed by the Minister.

Notaries fall under the Chamber of Notaries (Notarų rūmai). Each year, the chamber of notaries submits to the Ministry of Justice a detailed annual report about its activities, together with an outlook and guidelines for the activities of notaries in the coming year.

The regulatory acts governing notaries are approved by the Minister of Justice, with regard to the opinion of the Presidium of the Chamber of Notaries (Notarų rūmų prezidiumas).

If the Minister of Justice is of the opinion that a resolution or decision of the Chamber of Notaries contravenes the laws of the Republic of Lithuania, she or he may file an appeal with the Vilnius Regional Court (Vilniaus apygardos teismas) for a reversal of those resolutions or decisions.

You can find more information on the website of Lithuanian chamber of notaries.

Role and duties

The major duties of the Chamber of Notaries are:

  1. Coordination of the activities of notaries
  2. Taking care of the professional advancement of notaries
  3. Protection and representation of the interests of the notaries in the institutions of state governance and administration
  4. Designing draft regulatory acts on issues relating to the notariate, and their submission to the Ministry of Justice
  5. Uniformity of notarial practice
  6. Supervision of how notaries perform their functions and comply with the requirements of professional ethics
  7. Ensuring preservation and use of the instruments drawn up in the practice of the notarial profession
  8. Ensuring notarial traineeship
  9. Carrying out other tasks provided for in the Statute of the Chamber of Notaries (Notarų rūmų statutas).

Other legal professions

Bailiffs

There is only one type of classification for bailiffs (antstoliai) in Lithuania.

You can find Information on bailiffs on the website of the bailiffs’ profession and on the website of the Chamber of bailiffs (Antstolių rūmai).

Last update: 07/04/2023

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