Lithuania’s court of appeal receives single candidate for chief justice post

The current head of Lithuania’s Court of Appeal, Nerijus Meilutis, is the sole candidate to continue in the role, the BNS news agency reports. The judicial selection commission has endorsed him as the most suitable nominee, with President Gitanas Nausėda to make the final decision on submitting the candidacy to parliament.

Meilutis, a graduate of Mykolas Romeris University’s law programme, previously served as a lecturer and associate professor at Vytauto Didžiojo University’s Faculty of Law. His legal career began at the Special Investigations Service in Kaunas, where he worked as a pre-trial investigator. From 2004 to 2007, he was a judge at Kaunas District Court, later becoming chair of Kaišiadorys District Court (2010–2011). Since 2011, he has held positions at Kaunas Regional Court, first as a judge and later as its president, before his 2021 appointment to the Court of Appeal, where he was named chief justice a month later. He is also a member of the Judicial Council.

Under Lithuania’s constitution, the president appoints the Court of Appeal’s chief justice from among its judges, subject to parliamentary approval.