THE SUPREME COURT OF LITHUANIA SUCCESSFULLY HALTED A PRACTICE IN THE LOWER COURTS THAT POSED A THREAT TO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LITHUANIAN CIVIL LAW

The Vilnius District Court and the Court of Appeal of Lithuania have adopted a practice suggesting that lawsuits with the same goal, even if based on different methods of rights protection, are deemed identical and cannot be sequentially filed. This interpretation may result in a flawed judicial practice wherein a claim for unjust enrichment becomes unfeasible if a specific amount was not awarded due to the rejection of another claim pursuing the same goal, e.g., due to vindictive settlements (Article 4.97 of the CC). Since unjust enrichment claims are subsidiary and always share the same objective as primary claims, lower courts’ practice implies that filing them would be inherently impossible if a primary claim had already been submitted. Such a practice would unduly limit the already narrow scope of Article 6.242 of the Civil Code, despite its potential to ensure justice in challenging situations. Additionally, it would preclude various other actions aiming at the same goal but through different means, such as challenging and terminating contracts, demolishing structures under negative actions, and actions for illegal construction.

According to CONFIDENCE Law Office Managing Partner, Lawyer Dr. Laurynos Didžiulis, ‘The entire CONFIDENCE Law Office team is delighted that the Supreme Court of Lithuania, by upholding the cassation appeal, not only protected the client’s individual interests but also safeguarded the effectiveness of the entire Lithuanian civil law. In this way, the cassation court effectively fulfilled both individual and public cassation functions.’ It is important to note that the resolution of civil disputes is a core competence of CONFIDENCE Law Office, executed by professional and experienced dispute resolution specialists through meticulous daily work.