Court orders Vilnius to pay €14,086 over fallen park tree

Vilnius City Municipality must pay an insurance company €14,086 for damage caused when a tree in the Presidential Office park fell onto two cars, LRT reported. The Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania said its September 9 ruling was final and could not be appealed.

The court upheld an appeal by Compensa Vienna Insurance Group, which had paid insurance compensation to the vehicle owners and then sought reimbursement from the municipality.

The dispute arose after the tree fell on two cars in central Vilnius on October 8, 2023. A lower court had rejected the insurer’s complaint, saying the tree’s exact location had not been established clearly enough and that the municipality’s failure to perform its duties had not been proven.

However, the Supreme Administrative Court found that the evidence showed the tree had grown in the state-owned Presidential Office park, beside a fence bordering the Ministry of National Defence’s car park.

Although the land had been transferred for use to the Office of the President, the agreement did not impose exclusive obligations on it to maintain the greenery. The court ruled that Vilnius Municipality was responsible for the maintenance and protection of greenery in the territory.

The court said municipalities must protect and maintain greenery in their areas, assess its condition and monitor it regardless of whether they have received a report about a potentially dangerous tree.

According to the ruling, the municipality had not provided evidence that it had carried out an inventory of the greenery at the location. Photographs showing brown wood indicated that the fallen tree had not been properly assessed, the court said. It concluded that the municipality’s failure to act had caused the damage.

Although strong winds were recorded in Vilnius that day, the wind speed at the time was established at 12 to 18 metres per second. A wind speed of 28 to 32 metres per second would have been required for the conditions to qualify as a severe meteorological event. The weather therefore could not be regarded as the sole cause of the tree breaking or as a force majeure circumstance.

The court also found no grounds to reduce the municipality’s liability because the car owners had parked near the fence bordering the park on a windy day.