Lithuanian judicial ethics commission declines to discipline Vilnius judge over delayed rulings

The Lithuanian Judges’ Ethics and Discipline Commission (TEDK) has decided not to bring disciplinary proceedings against Laura Matusevičiūtė, a judge at the Vilnius City District Court, who took four months to issue a ruling in a civil case, LRT reports.

A complainant had requested disciplinary action, arguing that the delay forced them to pay nearly €1,000 in interest to the other party, calculated from the case filing date until enforcement.

An internal review of Matusevičiūtė’s caseload between January 2024 and April 2026 found that out of 77 cases, 40 had their rulings postponed multiple times—between 3 and 13 occasions. In one instance, a case heard on 20 February 2024 saw its ruling delayed 13 times, finally issued on 9 September, 202 days later. Another ruling, heard on 2 April 2024, was delayed 11 times and issued on 20 September, 65 days after the hearing.

On 8 June, the commission acknowledged that Matusevičiūtė had violated the duty of diligence under the Judges’ Ethics Code, with her actions showing signs of negligent performance. However, it noted her full admission of the violations, self-criticism, and commitment to preventive measures. The commission concluded that disciplinary proceedings were unnecessary, as the discussion itself served as sufficient reprimand.

Matusevičiūtė attributed the delays to a lack of skills in organising and planning her workload. She explained that she prioritised scheduling hearings quickly to examine cases thoroughly, but this left insufficient time to draft rulings, especially as new cases continued to be assigned. The resulting workload created significant stress, and by autumn 2024, she had met with court administration to address the backlog. As of now, she has no outstanding delayed rulings.

Matusevičiūtė has handled high-profile civil cases, including a defamation claim by activist Andrius Tapinas against OpTV, with journalist Rūta Janutienė and former defence minister Audrius Butkevičius among the defendants. Her professional performance was rated highly in a 2022 evaluation, scoring 91 out of 100 for the quality of her legal work.