President Dalia Grybauskaite says that "It is the lack of confidence which hinders the establishment of a transparent, open judicial system which would ensure equal opportunities" within the country. In her opinion, the best solution to this problem is an improvement in the evaluation system of judges, reports news agency ELTA. The president says that "It is necessary to stress not only professionalism and skills of judges in their assessment, but to pay attention to moral aspects such as honesty, dignity and decency as well." Her spokesman, Linas Balsys, said that the president "is worried that the conclusions of court chairmen about the work of judges applying for a position in higher courts are frequently superficial and, consequently, such are the conclusions drawn up by the assessment commissions."
Tens of thousands of Lithuanian nationals were exiled, tortured or murdered during the years of Soviet occupation, and only tens of cases have been initiated against the perpetrators of these repressions, and even fewer of these oppressors have been submitted to the courts, says chairman of the Lithuanian Sajudis (Movement) board, MP Rytas Kupcinskas, reports news agency ELTA. According to the MP, the investigations of the cases on January 13, the Medininkai massacre, colonel Vytautas Pociunas's death and other resonant cases are progressing very slowly. The March 11 Act signatory, Algirdas Endriukaitis, who supported the MP's view, noted that "certain intolerable principles of the activities of the prosecutor's office and courts, in the cases on resistance members and collaborators, have appeared. These cases purportedly are being prolonged, and legal procedures are being manipulated," he says.
