Vilnius judge D.Grizickas, who tried to defend himself in a secret meeting, was not convinced: a disciplinary case was opened

The Ethics and Disciplinary Commission of Judges made a decision to file a disciplinary case against the judge of the District Court of Vilnius City.

The chief prosecutor of the Vilnius District Prosecutor’s Office appealed to the TEDK, and in his submissions, information was provided about Mr. Grizick’s possibly negligent performance of his duties as a judge.

About a judge who was notorious in the past wrote new troubles recently 15min, it is true, the information was laconic, because D.Grizickas himself secured the consideration of his question in a secret meeting. The motive – the servant of Themis was going to explain himself, justifying his unproductiveness with non-public data related to health matters.

It is clear from the decision to file a disciplinary case against D.Grizickas that he incurred the displeasure of both prosecutors and judges’ ethics watchdogs.

TEDK, after examining the materials of the chief prosecutor’s submissions and evaluating the judge’s explanations, established the following factual circumstances:

• 8 criminal cases were not referred to the court hearing within the terms stipulated in the Code of Criminal Procedure, no procedural steps were taken in them;
• In 2 criminal cases, court hearings were not scheduled for a long time;
• In 10 criminal cases, the final procedural decisions of the court and other procedural decisions specified by the judge in the LITEKO system were not uploaded to the LITEKO system on the acceptance dates specified in them or immediately after their acceptance, they were not sent to the prosecutors supporting the state prosecution in these cases;
• In another 8 criminal cases, the procedural decisions of the court were not uploaded or were uploaded retroactively.

He did not fulfill his duties as a judge many times while examining criminal cases.

TEDK, having assessed the established circumstances, concluded that Judge D. Grizickas, while examining criminal cases, did not fulfill the specific duty of a judge set out in the Code of Criminal Procedure, did not ensure proper organization of his work – he did not follow the procedure and deadlines for examining criminal cases.

Delayed the hearing of cases

The judge, by not performing procedural actions that initiate the examination of criminal cases at the court session, did not schedule court hearings for a long time, with these actions he delayed the examination of cases, violated the procedure for recording and publishing procedural decisions of the court and thus violated the right of the participants in the court hearing to an operative court process, complicated the opportunities to exercise the right to appeal the court’s verdict.

Žygimantos Gedvilas/BNS photo/Dainius Grizickas

TEDK evaluated these actions of judge D. Grizickas as obvious shortcomings of the judge’s work, violating the requirements of the principles of duty, respect for the person, and exemplary principles established in the Code of Ethics of Judges, which oblige the judge to respect the person and his rights, set an example in his professional activities with his behavior and discipline, in accordance with universally recognized morals and ethical norms, not to belittle the name of the judge, to protect the honor and prestige of his profession.

It has already been considered: after receiving a reprimand

TEDK, while making its decision, noted that the shortcomings of Judge D. Grizick’s work of the same nature in other criminal cases (repeated non-handover of criminal cases for consideration at a court session, court hearings not scheduled for an unjustifiably long time, final court procedural decisions not adopted and published) have already been considered, and the Court of Honor of Judges in the past year he was reprimanded.

TEDK evaluated the actions of D. Grizickos from the point of view of the ethics of judges and concluded that the repeated non-fulfilment of the duty of a judge established by law, which creates a situation that may complicate the implementation of the procedural rights of the participants in the trial in the court established by the Code of Criminal Procedure, is a violation of the principles of duty, respect for people and exemplary behavior, which humiliates the name of the judge and undermines the authority of the court. Judge D. Grizicka’s behavior contains signs of misconduct provided for in the Law on Courts, so there is a reason to file a disciplinary case against him, the NTA report notes.

The disciplinary case was transferred to the Honorable Court of Judges.

This Thursday, NTA also reported on another disciplinary case brought against another judge: against the Court of Honor of Judges LAT employee Alvydas Pikelis will join, after it was scandalously revealed that he was revising at a lower instance of his working brother-in-law examined cases.