Верховный суд Литвы
8 декабря 2009 года
Facts
The case concerned a dispute over inheritance, in which church marriage records and the provisions governing them were of importance.
Complaint
The applicant requested that the regional court's ruling be overturned and that the district court's ruling be upheld, arguing that the lower court had deviated from the practice of the Supreme Court of Lithuania.
Court‘s ruling
Deviation from the interpretation and application of law established by the Supreme Court of Lithuania is one of the grounds for cassation. The established practice of interpreting and applying the law may be set out in one or more cassation court rulings. If it is set out in several rulings, this may give rise to contradictions or inconsistencies in court practice. Whether this is actually the case is verified, inter alia, by examining whether:
- different rulings have addressed the same legal provisions
- the same provisions apply in cases where the legal regulation of the legal relationship in dispute is identical
- all valid and legally relevant legal provisions have been analysed and applied in adopting the court decision or ruling
- such provisions are analysed in detail in the court's reasoning
- such provisions are duly substantiated by arguments based on legal norms, legal doctrine and court practice
- the legal provisions are applied in the same factual circumstances
- the statements in court decisions or rulings are essential conclusions that determine the outcome of the case based on those factual circumstances, or are they merely grounds, arguments or other additional circumstances used for justification
Based on these and other criteria, only those court rulings should be selected that are primarily comparable in terms of legal and factual circumstances. Once the examples have been properly selected, conclusions can be drawn as to what the court practice is, how clearly it is formulated, whether it is clear and dominant, and whether a deviation from it would be grounds for overturning or amending the court decision (ruling) in cassation proceedings.
After reviewing the circumstances of the case, the Court decided to leave the ruling unchanged.