If you believe that a state institution has issued an unlawful decision or it refused to do what is assigned to its competence, you have a right to appeal it in the Administrative court. There may be certain requirements for your access to the court, but they cannot be so excessive that you are unable to fulfil them.
You have the right to bring a claim against a state institution and have it examined in the Administrative court. However, this right has certain conditions:
Type of claim
You have to choose the right court for your claim. Administrative courts only deal with disputes between private persons and state institutions (government agencies) where these institutions have exercised state power.
example If a municipality refused to issue a certificate to you to organize a gathering in the town square, you can appeal this decision in the Administrative court.
Decisions taken by law enforcement agencies (such asthe police or a prosecutor) about matters of a specific criminal case will not be examined by the Administrative court.
example If the prosecutor has taken a decision to declare you a suspect in a criminal case, you cannot appeal this decision in the Administrative court.
Appeal
In some cases, to access the Administrative court, you first have to appeal the decision from a state institution or agent you disagree with to a higher official or department in that same institution or a higher institution. For some cases first you will have to appeal the decision in the Administrative Disputes Commission. Also, there are many cases where pre-trial stage is optional. In other words, you can choose either to appeal to the pre-trial institution, for example, Administrative Disputes Commission, or you can appeal directly to the administrative court.
example Before you can appeal decisions of the County State Tax Inspectorate in the court, you have to address the State Tax Inspectorate under the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania.
Requirements
In bringing your claim to the Administrative court, you may also be asked to fulfil other requirements such as time limits or to pay fees. These requirements cannot be demanding to the degree that you are unable to fulfil them, preventing you from bringing your claim to court.
Fees
You will be required to pay a fixed court fee to file a claim in the Administrative court. If you are unable to pay this fee because of your financial situation, you can ask the court to relieve you from paying it or to reduce it. There are some cases listed in the Law of Administrative Proceedings, which do not require filing fee.
Time limits
If your case was examined by the pre-trial institution, for example, Administrative Disputes Commission, the time limit for appealing it, is 20 days after you received the decision. But if your appeal can be examined directly by the administrative court the time limit is 1 month.
You must be careful in observing these time limits. However, if you have missed a deadline due to no fault of your own or there are important circumstances for missing the time limit, you may ask the court to reinstate this time limit. You must ask for a renewal at the same court to which the limit was applied and send your request together with the documents necessary for filing your claim.