Lithuania’s judicial council says progress is being made on fixing the Liteko system, with a contingency plan in place

Lithuania’s Judicial Council has said that work is underway to restore proper functioning of the country’s troubled court information system, Liteko II, and that a contingency plan exists if the issues are not resolved, though the details are not yet public.

Speaking at a council meeting on Friday, deputy chair Ramūnas Gadliauskas said no fixed deadline could be set for resolving the problems. “There is no set date, and it’s impossible to set one. Maybe it will be August 1, maybe July 2, maybe September 15. Any technological system can collapse entirely at any moment, or it can start working properly at any moment,” he said.

Gadliauskas acknowledged that the council and the National Courts Administration (NTA) are advancing step by step but cannot provide a timeline. “We are moving step by step so that the system works. But neither I nor anyone from the council or the NTA can specify any dates right now,” he said.

Earlier this week, Justice Minister Rita Tamašunienė told parliament that the malfunctioning Liteko II should be fixed by September, warning that a return to the previous system, Liteko I, would cost an additional €1 million.

Gadliauskas confirmed that a contingency plan exists but remains undisclosed due to potential disputes between the vendor, the NTA, and other parties. He added that reverting to Liteko I would require new public procurement procedures, likely delaying any switch until October–November. The council, however, does not support this option.

“The Judicial Council’s position is that while it may be technically possible to return to Liteko I, we would first need to carry out public procurement for its support and restoration, among other things. That could only happen no earlier than October–November. That means we would have to work with paper files until then,” he said.

He also noted that the company that originally implemented, maintained, and improved Liteko I has refused to do so again, and finding alternative providers or individual programmers is difficult. There would also be no guarantee that Liteko I would function smoothly if reactivated.

Jurgita Greičienė, director of the NTA, said that from next week, meetings with district court representatives will be intensified to identify and eliminate disruptions. She acknowledged that the most severe and varied issues are occurring in first-instance courts.

Laura Spalvienė, chair of the District Courts Judges’ Association and a civil case judge at Klaipėda District Court, said the system’s problems remain unresolved. “Four judges have been unable to manage the Liteko database under their own name, surname, or index for almost a month. Nothing has changed. Users of the Electronic Services Portal (EPP) also cannot use the EPP system. This morning, I tried to log in as an EPP user—it still shows errors,” she said.

Diana Jasaitienė, a board member of the District Courts Judges’ Association and a civil case judge at Kaunas District Court, described the prospects of working with Liteko II as “hazy.” She noted that the system does not meet the needs of district courts, where judges receive around 200 procedural documents per month, not counting new cases.