Applying for a court order for payment: which court and what to state

An application for a court order for payment (pareiškimas dėl teismo įsakymo išdavimo) is heard by a district court (apylinkės teismas) (Article 431(6) of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Republic of Lithuania (CPK)). The main rule: the application is filed where the debtor lives or, for a legal entity, where its registered office is, as entered in the Register of Legal Entities (Juridinių asmenų registras) (CPK Articles 432 and 29); CPK Articles 30, 32 and 33 allow other courts too. The application must contain all the details listed in CPK Article 433(1), but no evidence is attached to it (CPK Article 433(3)). The court refuses to accept the application if it does not meet the form and content requirements or if at least one of the grounds listed in CPK Article 431(2) applies. That ruling cannot be appealed by a separate appeal (CPK Article 435(2)).

What happens after the court order is issued (objections, topping up the court fee, the bailiff) is covered in Court order, court fee, interest and bailiff. This article covers what decides whether the application is accepted.

When a court order for payment is available

The court order procedure covers only a creditor’s money claims arising from a contract, a tort, employment, maintenance and other grounds (CPK Article 431(1)). An application is not heard under this procedure if (CPK Article 431(2)):

  1. at the time the application is filed, the creditor has not performed its own obligation, or part of it, for which payment is claimed, and the debtor demands that it be performed (point 1);
  2. the obligation cannot be performed in parts, and the creditor claims performance of a part (point 2);
  3. the debtor lives abroad or has its registered office abroad (point 3);
  4. the debtor’s place of residence and place of work are unknown (point 4);
  5. the claim arises from a consumer credit agreement and the annual percentage rate of charge does not meet the requirements of the Law on Consumer Credit (point 5);
  6. the default interest claimed exceeds the late payment interest rate set in the Law on the Prevention of Late Payment in Commercial Transactions (point 6).

If, after the case has been opened and the court order issued, it turns out that the debtor’s place of residence and place of work are unknown, the court may revoke the order and leave the application unexamined only after setting you a deadline to clarify the debtor’s address or to take steps so that documents can be served in another way. That ruling cannot be appealed by a separate appeal (CPK Article 431(3)). So use the deadline you are given.

The court order procedure is not compulsory. You may choose to have the same claims heard under the ordinary contentious procedure or the documentary procedure (CPK Article 431(4)). However, if you could have used the court order procedure but brought a claim under the general rules, the court fee and other costs are awarded to you only on the part of the claim the debtor disputed, unless the debtor’s conduct gave you reason to expect a dispute (CPK Article 434(4)).

Which court to file with

Subject-matter jurisdiction. Cases on applications for a court order for payment are heard by district courts (CPK Article 431(6)). That provision sets no exception based on the amount claimed.

Territorial jurisdiction. CPK Chapter XXIII, which governs court order cases, contains no general rule on territorial jurisdiction (there is only the CPK Article 432¹(2) exception for electronic applications, described below). Where the chapter does not regulate a procedural step, the rules of contentious proceedings apply (CPK Article 432). So you choose the court as follows:

  • Main rule. The application is filed where the debtor lives or, for a legal entity, where its registered office is, as entered in the Register of Legal Entities (CPK Article 29). Check the registered office in the register before filing.
  • Branch. If the claim relates to the activities of a branch of a legal entity, you may also file where the branch is registered (CPK Article 30(3)).
  • Place of performance. If the contract names a place of performance, you may also file there (CPK Article 30(9)).
  • Damage to property. If you claim compensation for damage to property, you may also file where you live or are registered, or where the damage occurred (CPK Article 30(6)).
  • Several debtors in different places. You may choose the court of the residence or registered office of any one of them (CPK Article 33(1)).
  • Agreement on the court. The parties may change territorial jurisdiction by written agreement (CPK Article 32(1)), but not subject-matter jurisdiction (CPK Article 32(2)). So under such a clause, choose the district court of the agreed place.

Where several courts are competent, the choice belongs to the claimant (CPK Article 30(12)), which in this procedure is the creditor.

Electronic applications. The Minister of Justice, in agreement with the Judicial Council, may decide that applications filed by electronic means are heard by one or more specific district courts (CPK Article 432¹(2)). Before filing, check whether such a decision is currently in force.

If you choose the wrong court. The court refuses to accept the application if any of the circumstances listed in CPK Article 137(2) apply (CPK Article 435(2)). One of them is that the case does not fall within that court’s jurisdiction (CPK Article 137(2)(2)).

What the application must state

The application must meet the general requirements for procedural documents (CPK Article 111(2)): the name of the court, the participants’ details, the method of service and the postal address if it differs from the residence or registered office, the nature and subject matter of the document, the facts and the evidence supporting them, your view on hearing the case using information and electronic communication technologies, the annexes, a signature and a date. In addition, CPK Article 433(1) requires:

  1. the creditor’s details: for an individual, name, surname, personal code and address; for a legal entity, full name, registered office, code, bank account number and bank details; the name and address of the representative, if a representative files the application (point 1);
  2. the debtor’s details: name, surname, personal code (if known), address, workplace (if known); for a legal entity, full name, registered office, code, and the bank account number and bank details if known (point 2);
  3. the amount claimed (point 3);
  4. if interest or default interest is claimed, its rate, amount and calculation period (point 4);
  5. whether the claim arises from a consumer credit agreement and, if so, the annual percentage rate of charge (point 5);
  6. the claim, its factual basis and the evidence that can support it (point 6);
  7. a reasoned request for interim measures against the debtor, if there are grounds for it, and information on the debtor’s assets (point 7);
  8. a confirmation that none of the grounds in CPK Article 431(2) applies (point 8);
  9. a list of the documents attached (point 9).

You do not attach evidence. You name the evidence in the application (point 6), but none is attached to it (CPK Article 433(3)). So describe it precisely: the contract date and number, the invoice numbers and dates, the payment deadlines. This does not apply to the representative’s authority: if a representative files the application, the document proving the representative’s authority is attached (CPK Article 111(5)).

Form. These cases are heard using standard-form procedural documents (CPK Article 431(5)), and the forms are approved by the Minister of Justice (CPK Article 433(4)). To file electronically, you log in to the court information system account on the portal www.e.teismas.lt (point 4 of the Description of the Procedure for Submitting Procedural Documents to Courts and Serving Them by Electronic Means (the Description)). There, documents can be filed by filling in the forms (templates) or by uploading documents already prepared (point 13 of the Description).

Electronic filing binds you. If you file the application by electronic means, you undertake to receive procedural documents by the same means and must provide the details needed for that (CPK Article 432¹(3)).

Court fee. A court fee (stamp duty, žyminis mokestis) is payable for an application for a court order, equal to one quarter of the amount that would be payable for a claim heard under the general rules of contentious proceedings, but not less than the amount set in the same paragraph, except where the person is exempted or payment is deferred (CPK Article 434(1)). Pay it before you file. Chapter XXIII does not set the consequences of non-payment, so the general rule applies (CPK Article 432): the court sets a period of not less than seven days to cure the defect (CPK Article 115(2)), and if it is not cured the application is treated as not filed and returned (CPK Article 115(3)).

What the court checks and when it refuses

The court decides whether to accept the application no later than the next working day after it is filed. If the application meets the requirements, the court order is issued without a separate ruling on acceptance (CPK Article 435(1)). At this stage the court does not examine whether the claim is well founded (CPK Article 435(3)).

The court, by a ruling, refuses to accept the application if (CPK Article 435(2)):

  • it does not meet the general requirements for procedural documents or the requirements of CPK Article 433;
  • any of the circumstances listed in CPK Article 137(2) apply;
  • it does not meet the admissibility requirements of CPK Article 431(1) and (2);
  • it is manifestly unfounded.

That ruling cannot be appealed by a separate appeal (CPK Article 435(2)). For the defects listed in CPK Article 435(2), the law sets only one consequence: refusal to accept the application. So it pays to check the application before filing. A refusal does not prevent you from applying again once the obstacles have been removed or have ceased to exist (CPK Article 137(4), applied through CPK Article 432).

If a person in bad faith makes a manifestly unfounded claim, the court may fine them, and they may be ordered to compensate the losses others suffered as a result (CPK Article 440).

If the same circumstances come to light after the application has been accepted, the court, depending on the nature of the defects, leaves the application unexamined or terminates the case, and revokes the court order if one has been issued. These rulings can be appealed by separate appeals (CPK Article 435(5)).

If you withdraw the application before the debtor’s objections reach the court or before the deadline for objections ends, the court leaves it unexamined. This does not prevent you from bringing the claim again. If you waive the claim after the court order has been issued, the court decides under the rules on abandoning a claim (CPK Article 435(6)).

More on debt recovery

How to start

Send us the contract or other basis of the debt, the invoices, a payment statement and the debtor’s details (name and code, or name, surname and address). We will check that none of the CPK Article 431(2) obstacles applies, which court to file with, and prepare the application.

Phone +370 5 212 1506, email info@linden.lt

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