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.

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.

The specialist of the Division of International Relations of the National Courts Administration, Vytautas Dvareckas participated at the meeting of the working group “Public Confidence” of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ) on 15 th February, 2010 in Warsaw (Poland).

During the meeting public confidence to the judiciary and increasing of it were discussed, experiences in ensuring public confidence internationally were analyzed, all proposals as well as other suggestions concerning the content of questionnaire were also disputed in order to compose the Eurobarometer survey about the public confidence. Other issues related to the activities of the working group were decided.

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 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 Smirnovienė 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 18–19 January, 2010 in Lisbon (Portugal).

During the meeting the report of working group “Quality and Access to Justice”, its methodology and the presentation of results shall be revised and improved. The final report, register and proposals shall be presented at this year General Assembly. 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.

The Senior Specialist of the Division of Informatics and Statistics of the National Courts Administration, Donatas Kiauzaris shall participate at the meeting of the expert group "E-Justice" of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ) on 18 January, 2010 in Madrid (Spain).

During the meeting the representatives' competence needed to provide information for the European e-Justice portal shall be discussed. The numbering unification of the European countries case law, creation of Thesaurus and metadata strategy and the other issues related to the European case law database transfer shall be considered 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: "E-Justice", "Criminal Law in the EU".

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 14–16th January, 2010 in Roma (Italy).

During the meeting, the regulation of the Judicial Career in European countries and questions related to it shall be presented in detail. States different experiences and news about it shall be shared. The other issues related to the activities of the ENCJ working group "The Status of Judges" shall be decided 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. 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 judge of the Supreme Court of Lithuania Algis Norkūnas and the chairman of the Division of Civil Cases of the Court of Appeal of Lithuania Artūras Driukas shall participate at the meeting of the members of the European Judicial Network in Civil and Commercial Matters (further on - Network) on 14-15th December, 2009 in Hague (Netherlands).

During the meeting the experience of states and the application problems of Regulation (EC) No 1896/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 creating a European order for payment procedure, Regulation (EC) No 805/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 creating a European Enforcement Order for uncontested claims shall be presented. Issues related to the taking of evidence in mutual legal assistance shall also be discussed. Future perspectives of the Network shall be presented and other important questions shall also be analyzed.

The Network is responsible for facilitating the judicial cooperation between the Member States in civil and commercial matters, including designing, progressively establishing and updating the information system for the members of the Network, also designing, progressively establishing and updating the information system accessible to the public.

The Network was established by the decision of the Council of the European Union on 28th May 2001 No. 2001/470/EC. Additional information about the Network you can find on http://ec.europa.eu/civiljustice/ .

The specialist of the Division of International Relations of the National Courts Administration, Vytautas Dvareckas shall participate at the meeting of the working group “Public Confidence” of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ) on 30 th November, 2009 in Warsaw (Poland).

During the meeting public confidence to the judiciary and increasing of it shall be discussed, experience in ensuring public confidence in the single countries shall also be analyzed. The future work of the ENCJ working group “Public Confidence” shall be disputed and other issues related to the activities of the working group shall be decided.

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”.