Court rejects former judge's lawsuit against Lithuanian president

The Vilnius Regional Court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by former judge Eimutis Misiūnas against Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda. The court announced its decision on Friday, stating that Misiūnas's claim was rejected. The ruling can be appealed to the Lithuanian Court of Appeal within 30 days.

Misiūnas had sued the president, seeking recognition that Nausėda had unjustly refused to appoint him as a judge. He also requested the president be compelled to make the appointment and sought compensation for material and non-pecuniary damages. This legal action followed a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on October 7, 2025.

The ECtHR found that Lithuania had violated the European Convention on Human Rights in the case of Misiūnas v. Lithuania. The court ordered Lithuania to pay Misiūnas €10,000 for non-pecuniary damages, concluding that courts had denied him the right to an effective review of the president's discretionary powers by refusing to accept his lawsuit.

Based on the ECtHR's decision, Misiūnas requested a reopening of the civil case. The Lithuanian Court of Appeal acknowledged that the violation identified by the ECtHR occurred within the context of a civil case where a reopening was sought. The court determined that the violation could only be rectified by reopening the civil proceedings and reconsidering the acceptance of Misiūnas's claim.

Eimutis Misiūnas was initially appointed a judge at the Vilnius District Court in 2015 but later transitioned to politics, serving as Minister of the Interior and later Deputy Minister of National Defence. After an unsuccessful bid for parliament in 2020, he applied to be reappointed as a district court judge. The President's Office cited a need for a "political cooling-off period" for individuals returning to the judiciary after political involvement, leading to the refusal of his request. Misiūnas's subsequent attempts to have his case heard by various courts were unsuccessful, prompting his appeal to the ECtHR.