Lithuania

Legal policy starting point

Cooperation with Lithuania in the bilateral field is only being continued to a very restricted degree after EU accession.

Cooperation to date - Strategy

In 1993 the IRZ took on consultation within the framework of the Federal Government’s TRANSFORM programme, including in the areas of civil and civil procedure law, as well as criminal and criminal procedure law. Furthermore, it offered seminars for judges on the topic of European Community law.

Colloquia have also been held since 1996 in cooperation with the Lithuanian Chamber of Notaries and the Koblenz Chamber of Notaries on topics concerned with the preventive administration of justice. The IRZ Foundation implemented the PHARE project on the approximation of national law to European Community law in 1997 and 1998. This was followed in 2000 by the PHARE twinning project on the further training of judges in European Community law. The IRZ implemented the PHARE twinning project entitled “Strengthening the national capacities of the Lithuanian prosecution” from May 2004 to January 2006.

As was already the case in recent years, two participants of the series of lectures on German law with European connections at the University of Vilnius were also provided the opportunity to take up a four-week internship in Germany in 2011. It appears expedient to continue these internships, which have been implemented for several years, since the students receive, in addition to the series of lectures, an insight into the modus operandi of German courts and law offices and moreover obtain an additional qualification.

Major partners

• Law Faculty of the University of Vilnius
• Supreme Administrative Court.

Foci of activity in 2011

• Internship in Germany for two Lithuanian students of the series of lectures on German law at the University of Vilnius
• International conference on “People, the rule of law and the administrative court system”
• International conference on “Administrative courts in the European administrative law area” on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Supreme Administrative Court

Outlook

The IRZ Foundation will continue its activities in Lithuania by offering internships for young Lithuanian lawyers in Germany, and it will also continue its cooperation with the Lithuanian Administrative Courts as well as with the Office of the Public Prosecutor General and the Public Prosecution Office in Klaipeda.