An investigation into the proposals of the Presidency in submitting candidates for judges has been launched

The chairman of the council, Sigita Rudėnaitė, announced this at the meeting of the Council of Judges on Friday.

“The investigation has been initiated in accordance with the Prevention of Corruption Law by the central officer of our judicial system responsible for the prevention of corruption,” said S. Rudėnaitė.

She insisted that no authority should interfere in this investigation.

“I think that the investigation has not yet been completed, neither the Council of Judges nor any other entity has the right to interfere, because it would be understood as an attempt to influence that official, exerting influence,” asserted S. Rudėnaitė.

At the meeting of the Council of Judges, Justinas Bagdžius, the adviser to the director of the NTA, confirmed that the investigation into the appointment of specific persons to the positions of judges of the Vilnius City District Court has been launched.

“Yes, I can confirm that I, as the central entity responsible for the creation of a corruption-resistant environment, informed the Director of the National Judicial Administration and the Chairperson of the Council of Judges on March 4 that I, on my own initiative, began an assessment of certain public circumstances related to the latter selections for the district court of the city of Vilnius”, said J. Bagdžius.

According to him, during the investigation, the circumstances of the persons proposed and appointed by President G. Nausėda as judges of the district court of the city of Vilnius are analyzed, and it is clarified whether the provisions of the Law on Courts were possibly violated when presenting these candidates.

“This investigation is not an investigation of some violation or an explanation of responsibility, holding someone accountable. The circumstances are clarified, whether there were any possible violations of the provisions of the Law on Courts, which do not stipulate that applicants for the position of district court judge are to express the opinions of the president of the court or the court team.

That law was recently adopted at the initiative of the President of the Republic of Lithuania. And the investigation was initiated taking into account the last two submissions to the district court of the city of Vilnius, when out of the three submitted candidates and already appointed judges, two were directly subordinate to the president of that court,” said the adviser to the director of the NTA.