Bar Council closes case over Matjošaitytė’s uncontracted party advice

Lithuania’s Bar Council found that Central Electoral Commission member Laura Matjošaitytė provided legal services to the Nemuno aušra party without a written contract, but ended its inquiry because the deadline for disciplinary action had expired, LRT reported Wednesday.

The council recommended that Matjošaitytė follow professional and ethical requirements and avoid raising doubts about lawyers’ professionalism and responsibility. She may appeal the decision.

The Lithuanian Bar Association gathered information indicating that Matjošaitytė provided legal services to the party in August 2024 without signing a written legal services agreement. Bar Council chairman Mindaugas Kukaitis previously told BNS that providing services without such an agreement breaches the Law on the Bar.

Under the rules for disciplinary proceedings, the limitation period is one year from the date of the alleged professional ethics breach. Once that period has passed, a lawyer cannot be disciplined for the breach, Bar Association representative Rūta Andriušaitė told BNS.

The Bar Association said it has no authority to supervise or control the work of the Central Electoral Commission, so it cannot rule on Matjošaitytė’s failure to recuse herself, her votes or other actions as a commission member in matters involving the party.

Several institutions began inquiries after it emerged that a 2024 legal document sent by Nemuno aušra to the commission on the party’s sources of financing had been prepared by Matjošaitytė. Neither the party nor Matjošaitytė had declared their former cooperation. She later said she had not been paid and has declined to discuss details, citing lawyer-client confidentiality.

The Central Electoral Commission has opened its own inquiry into the cooperation, while the Chief Official Ethics Commission is examining a possible conflict of interest. Matjošaitytė chaired the electoral commission from 2017 to 2021 and returned as a member in 2025 after being nominated by then Justice Minister Rimantas Mockus, who had been delegated by Nemuno aušra.