Competence Areas
Main activities of the NCA
• PROVISION OF SERVICES TO INSTITUTIONS OF SELF-GOVERNANACE OF COURTS AND THE COMMISSIONS FORMED BY THEM
The employees of the Legal and Administrative Department of the NCA collect and prepare material for the institutions of self-governance of courts (the Judicial Council, the Judicial Court of Honour, the General Meeting of Judges), the Judicial Ethics and Discipline Commission, the Judicial Examination Commission of Candidates to Judicial Office, the Selection Commission of Candidates to Judicial Office and the Permanent Commission for the Assessment of Activities of Judges for the issues analysed in their meetings, draw up the protocols of meetings, draft decisions and orders.
When providing services to the institutions of self-governance of courts and commissions, the Department of the NCA perform analysis and surveys required for the accomplishment of tasks of working groups formed by the Judicial Council, provide conclusions and proposals, analyse the legal instruments of foreign states concerning analogical issues, assess them, collect material for meetings of working groups and draw up the meeting protocols of working groups.
• PARTICIPATION IN THE FORMATION OF THE JUDICIARY
The Administrative Division of Legal and Administrative Department of the NCA takes part in the formation of the judiciary, the employees thereof provide material to the Judicial Council on the appointment of judges, their promotion, transfer and removal from office, manage the personal files of the candidates to judges and judges themselves, handle special databases:
• A list of candidates for vacancies of judges of district courts;
• A registry of persons pursuing a judicial career;
• A database of judges willing to be transferred to another court of the same level or to another court of the same level of different jurisdiction;
• A database of judges pursuing their career in courts of the same level;
• The registry of judges.
The Administrative Division of Legal and Administrative Department performs the initial assessment of candidates to judges and judges themselves – it determines whether they meet the set requirements, whether all the documents are submitted, makes inquiries about the reputation of individuals, their personal and professional characteristics, general abilities and strengths. The systemised data is presented to the President of the Republic of Lithuania, the Judicial Council and the Selection Commission of Candidates to Judicial Office. Then an examination of candidates to judicial office is organised: applications and other documents of persons pursuing judicial careers are accepted; these are checked to see whether they meet the requirements set.
The Administrative Division of Legal and Administration Department provides services to the Permanent Commission for the Assessment of Activities of Judges performing an extraordinary and periodic assessment of the activities of judges, the opinion of which is needed for the Judicial Council when deciding on the issues of the promotion of judges and the appointment of court chairmen, vice-chairmen, division chairmen for a new term of office.
• TRAININGS OF JUDGES AND OTHER COURT EMPLOYEES
The Trainings Division of the NCA organises the trainings and refresher courses of judges not only in Lithuania, but also in foreign countries and international organisations, prepares the programmes for the training and refresher courses of judges, annual plans, collects statistical data.
The employees of the Trainings Division analyse and systemise information about the needs for training and refresher courses of judges, experience of foreign countries in the areas of training and refresher courses of judges. Upon the order of the Judicial Council, training programmes for court employees are organised. The employees of this division are also responsible for the training programmes and refresher courses of the employees and the NCA.
• STATISTICAL DATA AND ANALYSIS OF THE COURT ACTIVITIES
The Legal Regulation and Representation Division and Courts Activities Division of Legal and Administrative Department perform the analysis of the court administrational and organisational activities, except for the implementation of justice, prepares conclusions and proposals, and presents them to the committees of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, the Judicial Council and the Ministry of Justice.
Both divisions perform an average of about 30 analyses in a year and presents the appropriate conclusions and proposals on how to improve the activities of courts. Every six months an analysis of reasons for the prolonged hearing of cases lasting for over a year and the analysis of the workload of courts, once a year –an analysis of the rulings of regional courts decisive for quashing or varying of district court decisions.
Every six months or as needed, statistical data from courts is collected, verified and summarised. Data is provided to the Judicial Council, Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania, courts, and different working groups.
Statistical data is the essential indicator necessary to evaluate the performance of judges and courts. The statistics of courts may be divided into two kinds: statistics of the court hearings and statistics of the performance of judges and courts.
• IMPLEMENTATION AND MAINTENANCE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES AND SYSTEMS
In Lithuania all the information about each case heard in courts (procedural documents of parties to the proceedings, parties to the proceedings and other participants in the proceedings, the course of proceedings, procedural documents of court) is stored in the judicial information system called LITEKO. Since 2004 this system has been serviced and maintained by the Informatics Division of the NCA.
Statistical reports on the activities of judges and courts are automatically generated in LITEKO. By using this system, it is possible to perform a search for documents or data necessary for judicial proceedings. Media representative also use one of the modules of LITEKO free of charge for reviewing schedules of court hearings listing the names of participants in the proceedings.
The Informatics Division of the NCA is constantly expanding and improving the functionality of LITEKO, thus seeking to improve the quality of work of the court system and the administration thereof, increase the publicity of court activities and accessibility to information. The Division ensures the continuous operations of the information system of courts, manages the central database and archives of LITEKO, ensures the secure transmission of data of the central database via networks, performs other functions.
LITEKO is made up of the following modules:
• the module of case registration and record;
• the module of public announcement of court decisions on the internet;
• the module of the generation of court statistics of and its placement on the internet;
• the module of exchange of case information among institutions;
• the module of search of similar cases and information in courts;
• the module of court document templates;
• the module of preparation of court schedules;
• the module of distribution of cases to judges.
• IMPLEMENTATION AND MAINTENANCE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES AND SYSTEMS
The NCA is the manager of investments related to information systems, which implements the projects of these investments, organises the development and implementation of information systems in courts, and also performs administration and improvement of information systems.
In Lithuania all the information about each case heard in courts (procedural documents of parties to the proceedings, parties to the proceedings and other participants in the proceedings, the course of proceedings, procedural documents of court, etc.) is stored in the judicial information system called LITEKO.
LITEKO was developed for courts of the Republic of Lithuania in order to automate the collection, storage, systemisation and provision of data related to the documents and data obtained by courts and necessary for the implementation of the function of justice, court rulings, statistics of court activities, exchange data with state and departmental registries as well as information systems it also ensures a high-quality information system, convenient for the users of LITEKO, saving time and other resources of service recipients and courts and enabling service recipients to receive public services electronically.
Statistical reports on the activities of judges and courts are automatically generated in LITEKO. By using this system, it is possible to search for the documents or data necessary for judicial proceedings. Media representatives also use one of the modules of LITEKO free of charge to review schedules of court hearings listing the names of participants in the proceedings.
The Informatics Division of the NCA is constantly expanding and improving the functionality of LITEKO, thus seeking to improve the quality of work of the court system and the administration thereof, increase the publicity of court activities and accessibility to information.
LITEKO is made up of the following modules:
• the subsystem of case registration and accounting, which includes the modules of civil, criminal and administrative cases of all levels
• the subsystem of preparation and accounting of court procedural documents
• the subsystem of search and processing of information outside the courts
• the subsystem of automation of the work of courts and statistics
• the subsystem of public electronic services
• the formation of procedural documents of the participants in the proceedings and their submission to court
• management of information on stamp duties
• management of information on penalties assigned by courts and litigation costs adjudged to the state
• access to case material and sending of court documents
• presentation of audio recordings of court hearings to the recipients of services
• FORMATION OF PROJECTS OF COURT BUDGET
The Strategic Planning Division of the NCA collects and analyses the judicial proposals for budget projects of courts and provides the Judicial Council with projects for budget allocations to courts, analyses the financial state of courts during the year, participates in solving issues on centralised funding of courts from the budget of the NCA. The General Affairs Division of the NCA analyses the needs for state investments in court buildings, provides proposals to the Judicial Council on the formation of investment projects of courts and their inclusion in the programme of state investments.
• CENTRAL SERVICES OF COURTS
The General Affairs Division of the NCA ensures the centralised provision of courts with goods and services. Courts are centrally provided with gowns, signs, official certificates, document templates and other goods and services; international cooperation and events of institutions of self-governance of courts are also centrally financed.
The General Affairs Division collects information about the premises of courts and their condition, and it also organises repair works of court buildings, facilities and engineering systems centrally.
• COURT AUDIT
Each year, an average of 10-12 internal audits are carried out in courts. All of these are conducted by the Internal Audit Division. After the performance of internal audit recommendations on court activities, the state of the internal control, strategic and other activity plans, the implementation of programmes, possible or established risks are presented. Each year, the generalisations of recommendations presented to courts are performed. On the basis of these generalisations, heads of courts are provided with information about the most typical and systematic incompatibilities.
• INFORMING THE PUBLIC
The main task of the Communications Division of the NCA is to properly and in a timely manner inform the public, media, state and municipal institutions and bodies about the activities of courts, institutions of self-governance of courts and the NCA. This division formulates and implements the communication strategy of courts and institutions of self-governance of courts, prepares and publicises information about the court system in different forms, provides methodological assistance to representatives of courts and institutions of self-governance of courts in the area of communications, organises judicial education events and other social events to increase the openness of courts.
Upon the initiative of the Communications Division, in the area of internal communications of the judicial system new measures for the encouragement of internal communications are developed and implemented - a newsletter “Teismai.lt” dedicated to judges, court employees and all those interested in the judicial system, is published each quarter, and informaation is, constantly updated on the intranet (internal networks of courts).
• INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
The Division of the International Relation of the NCA organises and coordinates the cooperation of the NCA and institutions of self-governance of courts with institutions and bodies of other countries as well as international organisations on the issues of the self-governance of courts, administration and other issues related to the activities of courts. This division ensures the smooth participation of judges and representatives of the Judicial Council in various organisations related to the activities of courts, activities of the European Network of Judicial Councils. The Division collects and systemises information about the practice of other states on the issues of courts and self-governance of courts, translates documents necessary for proper implementation of the functions of the NCA and institutions of self-governance of courts.
