Court order, documentary procedure or claim in Lithuania: which to choose

You can recover a money debt in a Lithuanian court in three ways: an application for a court order (teismo įsakymas), a statement of claim (ieškinys) under the documentary procedure (dokumentinis procesas), or an ordinary statement of claim. The creditor chooses: claims that qualify for a court order may also be heard under the ordinary rules of contentious proceedings or under the documentary procedure (Article 431(4) of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPK)). A court order suits a debtor who does not dispute the debt but simply does not pay. The documentary procedure suits a debt that written documents prove in full. An ordinary claim remains when the law closes the simplified routes, for example when the debtor lives abroad or has its registered office abroad.

Limitation periods and the documents you need before going to court are covered in How long do you have to recover a debt in court, and what documents do you need?. Here we compare the routes themselves.

Simplified procedure or claim: how the three routes differ

Court order

The court order procedure covers a creditor’s application for money claims arising from a contract, a tort, employment, maintenance and other grounds (CPK Article 431(1)). These cases are heard by the district courts (apylinkės teismai) (CPK Article 431(6)).

  • What the court checks. The court does not check whether the claim is well founded (CPK Article 435(3)). However, the court refuses an application that is clearly unfounded or does not meet the admissibility requirements of CPK Article 431(1) and (2) (CPK Article 435(2)). No evidence is attached to the application (CPK Article 433(3)). In the application you state the claim, its factual basis and the evidence that can support it (CPK Article 433(1)(6)).
  • When it is not available. CPK Article 431(2) lists the cases in which an application is not heard under this procedure. Among them: the debtor lives abroad or has its registered office abroad (CPK Article 431(2)(3)), the debtor’s place of residence and place of work are unknown (CPK Article 431(2)(4)), or, at the time the application is filed, the creditor has not performed its own obligation, or part of it, for which it demands payment, and the debtor demands that it be performed (CPK Article 431(2)(1)). An application is also not heard under this procedure where the late-payment penalties (late-payment interest) claimed exceed the late-payment interest rate set in the Law on the Prevention of Late Payments in Commercial Transactions (CPK Article 431(2)(6)).
  • Appeal. A court order cannot be appealed or challenged in cassation (CPK Article 436(7)).

Documentary procedure

A claim for money may, at the claimant’s request, be decided under the documentary procedure if all the claims are supported by admissible written evidence (CPK Article 424(1)). The written evidence supporting the claim is attached to the statement of claim (CPK Article 425(2)).

  • What the court checks. The court issues a preliminary judgment (preliminarus sprendimas) if the evidence submitted gives grounds to grant the claim (CPK Article 428(1)). If the claim cannot be granted in full on the evidence, the court rules that the case is to be heard under the ordinary rules and sets a time limit to pay the remaining stamp duty (žyminis mokestis) (CPK Article 428(7)).
  • When it is not available. Claims are not heard under this procedure if the defendant lives abroad or has its registered office abroad (CPK Article 424(4)).
  • Appeal. A preliminary judgment cannot be appealed or challenged in cassation (CPK Article 428(8)). The final judgment, given after the objections are heard, can be appealed in the ordinary way (CPK Article 430(8)).

Ordinary claim

In the statement of claim you state the amount claimed, the factual basis, the evidence and the claim itself (CPK Article 135(1)). The evidence and proof that the stamp duty has been paid are attached (CPK Article 135(2)). The parties must prove the circumstances on which they base their claims and defences (CPK Article 178). The court sets the debtor a time limit for a statement of defence (atsiliepimas) of “not less than fourteen and not more than thirty days” (CPK Article 142(1)). In exceptional cases, at the request of the defendant or a third party and having regard to the complexity of the case, the court may extend this time limit to sixty days (CPK Article 142(1)).

Small amounts. Cases for sums of money not exceeding the amount set in CPK Article 441(1) are heard under the ordinary rules of contentious proceedings, with the exceptions set out in CPK Article 441 (CPK Article 441(1)). This is not a separate route but special rules for hearing a claim. The case is heard in written proceedings unless at least one party asks for an oral hearing or the court finds one necessary (CPK Article 441(2)). The judgment states its reasons briefly (CPK Article 441(3)).

Stamp duty on each route

The law sets a separate rule for each route:

  • Ordinary claim. In property disputes the stamp duty is calculated on the amount claimed (CPK Article 80(1)(1)).
  • Court order. You pay “a quarter of the amount payable for a claim”, but not less than CPK Article 80(1)(7) sets (CPK Article 80(1)(7); CPK Article 434(1)).
  • Documentary procedure. You pay “half of the amount payable for a claim”, but not less than CPK Article 80(1)(8) sets (CPK Article 80(1)(8); CPK Article 425(3)).

CPK Article 80(7) also applies to all three routes. If you file the procedural document and its annexes with the court only by electronic means and state that you wish to receive procedural documents only by those means, you pay “75 per cent of the stamp duty payable for the relevant procedural document”, but not less than the same part sets. Both conditions must be met.

What happens when the debtor objects

This is where the routes differ most.

Court order. The debtor files objections “within twenty days from the day the notice of the issue of the court order is served on the debtor”. The objections need not state their grounds. If the debtor missed the time limit for important reasons, the court may renew it at the debtor’s request (CPK Article 439(2)). Once it receives the debtor’s objections, the court notifies you that, within fourteen days of service of its notice, you may bring a claim that meets the requirements of CPK Article 135 and pay the missing part of the stamp duty (CPK Article 439(3)). The duty paid for the order is credited against the duty for the claim (CPK Article 434(2)). If you do not file a properly formed claim in time, the application is treated as not filed, and the court order and the interim measures (laikinosios apsaugos priemonės) are lifted (CPK Article 439(6)). The stamp duty paid is then not refunded (CPK Article 434(3)). This does not stop you from bringing a claim under the ordinary rules later (CPK Article 439(6)). If the debtor accepts part of the claim and objects only to the rest, the court issues a new order for the undisputed part (CPK Article 439(4)). How to handle this stage is covered in more detail in Court order, court fee and bailiff in Lithuania: what happens next.

Documentary procedure. The defendant’s objections are filed in writing “within twenty days from the day the preliminary judgment is served”. They must be reasoned and supported by means of proof. Once the objections are accepted, the claimant does not pay any further stamp duty (CPK Article 430(1)). No new claim is needed: within fourteen days of service of the court’s notice you may file a response to the objections and new evidence (CPK Article 430(2)). The court refuses to accept objections that are late or do not meet the requirements of CPK Article 430(1). If the defendant missed the time limit for important reasons, the court may renew it at the defendant’s request (CPK Article 430(5)).

Ordinary claim. The debtor replies with a statement of defence giving the reasons for disagreeing and the evidence supporting them (CPK Article 142(2)). The case is heard on the merits.

What CPK Article 434(4) means

The choice has consequences for costs. If you could have used the court order procedure but brought a claim under the ordinary rules of contentious proceedings, the stamp duty and other litigation costs are awarded to you only on the part of the claim the defendant disputed. The exception: when the defendant’s conduct gave you grounds to believe the claim would be disputed (CPK Article 434(4)). So before you file a claim, keep the debtor’s replies in which it disputes the debt. This part refers to a claim under the ordinary rules of contentious proceedings. The law does not say expressly whether it applies to a claim under the documentary procedure.

How to choose

  • The debtor lives abroad or has its registered office abroad. The court order and the documentary procedure are not available (CPK Article 431(2)(3); CPK Article 424(4)). Of these three routes, an ordinary claim remains. If the debtor is domiciled or habitually resident in another EU Member State other than Denmark, the European order for payment procedure is also available. It is set by Regulation (EC) No 1896/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 creating a European order for payment procedure (Regulation No 1896/2006, Article 2(3); Article 3(1)).
  • The debtor does not dispute the debt, it just does not pay. A court order fits: the lowest stamp duty, and the court does not check whether the claim is well founded, unless the application is clearly unfounded (CPK Article 434(1); CPK Article 435(2) and (3)).
  • Documents prove the debt, but the debtor may object. The documentary procedure fits: objections must be reasoned and backed by evidence, and you do not need to file a new claim (CPK Article 430(1) and (2)).
  • The debtor already disputes all or part of the debt in writing, or you need witnesses and other evidence. An ordinary claim fits. The documents showing the debtor’s dispute matter because of CPK Article 434(4).

More on debt recovery

How to start

Send us the contract, invoices, payment statements and your latest correspondence with the debtor, and tell us where the debtor lives or is established. On that basis we will tell you which route the law allows and which one to choose.

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

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