Lithuania - Attachment of Assets
Jurate Kugyte and Egle Zemlyte, Jurevicius, Balciunas & Bartkus Professional Law Partnership
Originally from Attachment of Assets
1. What is the general nature and effect of judicial measures available for plaintiffs to obtain provisional relief affecting property of debtors to obtain security for judgments to be obtained (“attachments”)? Freezing property in place? Placing it in the custody of a third party, such as a court official, sheriff or marshall?
In order to obtain provisional relief affecting property legal requirements concerning application of so-called provisional measures of protection must be followed. Legal rules on application of provisional measures of protection are established in the main legal source regulating the civil procedure in Lithuania – the Code of Civil Procedure of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the CCP), namely, Art. 144-152, CCP. The court orders regarding attachment are enforced according to provisions set out in Art. 675-690 of the CCP.
Article 144 of the CCP provides that the provisional measures of protection can be applied when the person requesting the application of the provisional measures credibly justifies the claim and there is a risk that in case of absence of particular measures the enforcement of a court judgment can be impeded or become impossible. The aforementioned requirement for the claim to be likely justified was introduces to the CCP by the substantial amendments to the CCP of 20 June 2011 and came into force on 1 October 2011. However, in some former cases the courts have been requiring for the claim to be likely justified (in other words, prima facie justified) as the additional condition for the application of the interim measures (in addition to the other condition which requires to prove that there is a risk that in case of absence of particular measures the enforcement of a court judgment can be impeded or become impossible). Article 145 provides for the list of types of provisional measures of protection that can have an effect of immobilizing property of the debtor, including, attachment of an immovable property of the debtor, entry in the Public Register on prohibition to transfer the title, seizure of movable property, money or property rights owned by the debtor and possessed by the debtor or third persons; etc.