In 2011 almost all courts of the Republic of Lithuania organized the European Day of Justice and introduced their casual work to the society during the open-days in courts. This practice was appreciated by the President of the Republic and evaluated by the acknowledgements. After the successful local practice Lithuania decided to present a proposal for organization of the main event to CEPEJ. Consequently, the European Day of Justice this year will take place in Lithuanian on 25^th October. The organisers of the event will be the Judicial Council of Lithuania and the National Courts Administration, the tutor - Minister of Justice, R. Šimašius.  Mediation will be in the centre of attention as the main theme of the whole event, which consists of three parts.

Within the first part, the conference during which known lecturers from abroad and Lithuania will present actual information on mediation in Europe will be organised. As a part of information campaign we intend to organise a competition of the best student theses on mediation related topic.

Within the second part, the review of short films on mediation will take place. Film directors and well-known lawyers will be invited to the jury of this competition and best authors of short films will be awarded.

The awarding ceremony of the “Crystal Scales of Justice” will be opened by the video-message of Ms. Viviane Reding. Afterwards, there will be a presentation of the four shortlisted projects.

More information regarding the European Day of Justice and Crystal Scales of Justice Award you can find following this link:

http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/cooperation/cepej/events/edcj/default_EN.asp

One of the most important events in the European judicial system - the General Assembly of the European Network of Councils (ENCJ) for the Judiciary (ENCJ) – this summer was held in Vilnius (Lithuania). This forum brought together over 100 representatives of the self-governance institutions of courts from 30 European countries. Participants were welcomed by the President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė, presentations were made by the representatives of the European Commission and Ministry of Justice of Lithuania.

At the General Assembly which took place on the 9-10 June, the highest-ranking judges discussed the theme "Challenges and opportunities for the judiciary during the current economic climate". According to this theme was published the "Vilnius Declaration" - a guidance document for courts of European countries regarding the improvement and reform of their performance at the current economic situation.

"In preparing this paper we analyzed the current situation and discussed what should be changed in the judicial system in order to improve efficiency judicial performance. The judicial system is one of the economic recovery tools, as well as warranty of citizens rights, so it should work smoothly and efficiently", – presenting the paper said President of the ENCJ.

In order to improve the efficiency of the judiciary performance, the Declaration identifies key reforms necessary for the judicial system, promotes alternative dispute resolution method, the enhanced co-operation with the public, application of information technologies and innovations in the field of justice and other measures.

Representatives of the European self-governance institutions of courts not only looked for ways how courts can deal with the challenges in the current economic situations, but also worked in specialized working groups. There were discussions on how provide timely and qualitatively justice services to citizens, were consulted on the minimum standards of selection and appointment procedures of the judiciary and on the improvement of qualification.

President of the ENCJ Miguel Carmona Rouen pointed out that this year s General Assembly was held in Vilnius because of the initiative and activity of the Judicial Council of Lithuania as well as having in mind a good evaluation of the Lithuanian court system. ENCJ General Assembly of 2012 will be held in Ireland.

Mrs. Zita Smirnovienė, the member of the Judicial Council and the chairwoman of the Vilnius Regional Administrative Court, Mrs. Diana Labokaitė, the member of the Judicial Council and the judge of the District Court of Kaunas City and Mrs. Monika Vyšniauskienė, the Head of International Relations division of the National Courts Administration shall participate at the meeting of the project working groups on the implementation of the Strategic plan 2010-2011^th of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ) on11–12^th October, 2010 in Leuven (Belgium).

The member of the Judicial Council and the chairwoman of the Vilnius Regional Administrative Court Mrs. Zita Smirnovienė shall participate at the meeting of the working group "Timeliness" of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary. The main goal of the working group "Timeliness" is to identify the areas in the justice sector in which the best practice should be promoted and to define the ways of doing it.

The member of the Judicial Council and the judge of the District Court of Kaunas City Mrs. Diana Labokaitė shall participate at the meeting of the working group “Public and mutual confidence”, which will discuss issues related to the public confidence in the justice system of the European Union.

The Head of International Relations division of the National Courts Administration Monika Vyšniauskienė shall participate at the meeting of the working group “Standards for appointments and training etc”. The aim of the working group is the development of representational standards of the justice sector (the judges training, the competence, ethics of judges, etc.)

Mr. Artūras Driukas, the chairman of Civil Division of the Court of Appeals of Lithuania, Mr. Kazys Kailiūnas, the judge of the Court of Appeals of Lithuania, Mrs. Sigita Rudėnaitė, the judge of the Supreme Court of Lithuania and Mrs. Asta Virbickienė, the Head of Division of Appeals of the State Patent Bureu of the Republic of Lithuania shall participate at the 15^th Symposium of the European Patent Judges on 14-18^th September 2010 in Lisbon (Portugal). The topics in discussion will focus in particular on the recent developments in case law regarding the European patents as well as the European Patent Court.

During the Symposium, in which, among the European Union countries the representatives from the United States of America, Switzerland, Turkey, Iceland, etc. will participate, themes of patentability with special focus in the medical field, patentability of Computer Implemented Inventions will also be discussed.

The event is organized by the European Patent Organisation in conjunction with the Portuguese Institute of Industrial property (INPI), the Centre for Judiciary Studies (CEJ) and the European Patent Office (EPO).

The European Patent Organisation is an intergovernmental organisation that was set up on 7 October 1977 on the basis of the European Patent Convention (EPC) signed in Munich in 1973. It has two bodies, the European Patent Office and the Administrative Council, which supervises the Office's activities. The Organisation currently has 37 member states.

Since 1982 judges from Member States of the European Patent Organisation have gathered every two years for a symposium to exchange view and experiences in the field of European ant national patent laws.

Mrs. Zita Smirnovienė, the member of the Judicial Council and the chairwoman of the Vilnius Regional Administrative Court shall participate at the meeting of the working group "Timeliness" of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ) on 9–10th September, 2010 in Copenhagen (Denmark).

This is the first meeting of this working group, which is organized to implement the ENCJ Strategic Plan for 2010-2011. During the meeting the working group will discuss the transfer of best practice and dissemination of quality management, transparency, justice and other areas.

The main goal of the working group "Timeliness" - to identify the areas in the justice sector in which the best practice should be promoted and to define the ways of doing it.

ENCJ is an organisation uniting the institutions of the EU member states independent from the executive and legislative authorities that are responsible for the support provided to courts for the implementation of independent justice.

In Lithuania, court hearings are going to be recorded as of July 2010. This will make it possible to have more public access to the court hearings and ensure the prevention of possible violation of the court process and to assure the precision of the minutes.

For the moment, the court process is drawn up in records written by the secretaries of the hearings. However, written protocols can not assure publicity and transparency of the court hearings so disputes regarding the precision of the protocol occur very often. These problems could be avoided by audio recording of the court hearing.

On July 1^st amendment of the Law on Courts will come into force and duty to record court hearings will be obliged. According to the Minister of Justice Remigijus Šimašius, records will allow precisely keep the court process under record and will be good help for the implementation of the administrative control of the court hearings. Audio recording will increase transparency of court hearings, facilitate the settlement of disputes over uncertainties and, control courts’ work and ensure better quality. Records will be used as an additional protocol measure until next year. If Seimas approves, audio records will replace written protocols beginning from January in the courts which will have been ready for the implementation and after one year this going to be implemented in every court. It will allow more effective organization of the work of courts and will guarantee maximum accuracy by perpetuating the court process“ – says R. Šimašius.

Instead of 2 million litas planned at the begging of the year, just a bit more than 700 thousand litas will be allocated for the implementation of the requirements of the legislation.

Work group which was looking for the optimum decision ascertained that first two alternatives could be implemented not sooner than two years term and investment would be approximately 15 thousand litas for one court hall and it means 10 million litas for all courts. In addition, stationary equipment cannot be installed in every court(about 30 % of courts do not fulfil practical requirements), also it would not be possible to guarantee recording of those hearings which do not take place in court halls.

Mrs. Laima Garnelienė, the chairwoman of the Judicial Council, Mr. Boleslovas Kalainis, the member of the Judicial Council, Mr. Kęstutis Vaškevičius, the Director of the National Courts Administration and Mrs. Monika Vyšniauskienė, the Head of International Relations division of the National Courts Administration shall participate at the meeting of the General Assembly of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary on 2-4^th June, 2010 in London.

During the Assembly the President and the Steering Committee members of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary shall be elected. This year The Judicial Council of Lithuania runs for member of the Steering Committee.

On purpose to present Lithuania, as the organizer of the General Assembly of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary of 2011, the representative film shall be shown on the Lithuanian judicial system. The General Assembly of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary will be held in Vilnius in summer of 2011.

Also a new website of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary's and Strategic Plan for the year 2010-2011^th will be introduced and presentation and discussion of the results of the working groups shall be held in London.

The member of the Judicial Council, President of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Lithuania, Gintaras Kryževičius, Judges of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Lithuania, Zigmas Levickis and Viktoras Aidukas, also Judge of the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania, Audrius Bakaveckas shall participate at the Seminar of Judges "The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and the consequent effects on the court system of the European Union" organized by the European Court of Justice on 22–23 March, 2010 in Luxembourg (The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg).

During the Seminar this themes "Organisation and jurisdiction of the Court of Justice", "Organisation and jurisdiction of the General Court", "Organisation and jurisdiction of the Civil Service Tribunal", "Relations between the Court of Justice and national courts and tribunals in the context of preliminary rulings and first experiences of the urgent preliminary ruling procedure" shall be discussed. These themes shall be presented by the Judges of the European Court of Justice. The theme "The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty" shall also be analyzed. The Judges shall participate at the Hearing before the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice in Case C-119/09 (Freedom of establishment – Freedom to supply services – Proscription, in respect of the regulated professions, of any general prohibition, whatever the form of commercial practice concerned, or option for the Member States of maintaining general prohibitions in respect of certain commercial practices).

Lisbon Treaty entered into force on 1 December 2009. It enables the European Union to have modern institutions and improve the working methods of the European Union to effectively and efficiently deal with today's world. The Lisbon Treaty gives the European Union more democratic legitimacy and opportunity to defend citizens' rights.

Mr. Vytas Milius, the member of the Judicial Council and the chairman of the Court of Appeal ant Mr. Artūras Drigotas the secretary of the Judicial Council and the judge of the Supreme Administrative Court shall participate at the meeting of the working group "The Status of Judges" of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ) on 4–5th March, 2010 in Roma (Italy).

During the meeting the topicality of the guaranties of internal and external autonomy of magistrates, the immunity and social welfare also freedom of association of judges shall be presented in detail. States different experiences and news about the economic conditions for members of the judiciary, the financial autonomy and sufficient resources shall be shared, themes related to the disciplinary, suspension and removal shall also be analized.

ENCJ is an organisation uniting the institutions of the EU member states independent from the executive and legislative authorities that are responsible for the support provided to courts for the implementation of independent justice.

In 2009 at the General assembly of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary confirmed the following working groups for 2009 – 2010: "Mutual Confidence", "Judicial Ethics", "Quality and Access to Justice", "Public Confidence" and "Status of Judges" and two expert groups: "E-Justice", "Criminal Law in the EU".

The member of the Judicial Council, Judge of the Court of Appeal of the Republic of Lithuania, Vigintas Visinskis and the member of the Judicial Council, the chairwoman of the Vilnius Regional Administrative Court, Zita Smirnoviene shall participate at the meeting of the working group “Quality and Access to Justice” of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ) on 25–26 February, 2010 in Roma (Italy).

This meeting of working group “Quality and Access to Justice” shall be the last, therefore the final project of the report and the register shall be arranged, its methodology and the presentation of results shall also be revised and improved. The final report, the register and proposals shall be presented at this year General Assembly in London. The other issues related to the activities of ENCJ working group “Quality and Access to Justice” shall be decided and the future work of this working group shall be discussed as well.

ENCJ is an organisation uniting the institutions of the EU member states independent from the executive and legislative authorities that are responsible for the support provided to courts for the implementation of independent justice. The General assembly of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary confirmed the following working groups for 2009 – 2010: “Mutual Confidence”, “Judicial Ethics”, “Quality and Access to Justice”, “Public Confidence” and “Status of Judges” and two expert groups.