Summary

Almost eight years ago, on 1 January 2003, the new Code of Civil Procedure of Lithuania entered into force. It is clear that the functioning of a new piece of legislation, particularly if it concerns judicial proceedings, depends to a large extent on the position held by the judge who, by applying its norms, can accept, modify, or even in fact ignore the original will of the legislator. In this article, the author points to several important areas that were, in her opinion, strongly modified, or even newly introduced in Lithuanian civil proceedings by the mere judicial practice, not always following the original intentions of the legislator. Those are the limits of procedural activity of a judge, including, inter alia, the power to refuse to accept belated evidence, and the obligation of the court to follow judicial precedents. The author notes that despite numerous practical difficulties related to the application of the doctrine of judicial precedent developed by the Constitutional Court in Lithuania, the doctrine may in general be regarded positively, as it helps ensure legal certainty and the predictability of judicial practice. As regards the tendency of court practice to overestimate the rule of a judge in establishing the material truth in civil cases, the author arrives at an exactly opposite conclusion. According to the author, this tendency distorts the proper balance between the procedural rights and duties of the court and the parties, overburdens the courts while creating a risk that cases are not heard within reasonable time and inducing the misuse of procedural rights and even leading to the destruction of certain procedural institutions.