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The presidency maintains that the former Minister of the Interior and the Vice Minister of National Defense cannot be reinstated as judges because they do not comply with the “principle of political neutrality.”
BNS E. Misiūnas stated that it had requested the reinstatement of the judges to the Presidency a month and a half ago, but had not received a formal written response so far.
According to E. Misiūnas, Jūratė Šovienė, the head of the President’s Legal Group, informed him by phone that the status of judge would not be restored due to the criterion of political neutrality.
“First of all, I will definitely demand a written response, because we have grown from the telephone law as a state and the Presidency as an institution. Then I will see how the arguments are articulated, because those concepts of legal neutrality are not enshrined in our law, nor in the Constitution, nor in the Law of Public Function or Courts, nor in the statutes, ”he said.
“I will have the right to decide whether to appeal against such an approach, such an opinion of the Presidency. Because the Law of Courts makes it clear that a judge is not appointed only if he is not suitable for reasons of reputation. And my reputation is of the highest level, I have not had the slightest shadow of being a minister and vice minister (…) If a precedent is set, let the courts establish a precedent. I really do not rule out the possibility of going to court, “said E. Misiūnas.
He stresses that he has never been a member of any political party, he participated in the Seimas elections not with “peasants” who had previously been appointed to political office, but independently.
In addition, he seeks to return to the Vilnius District Court, and in the district courts, according to him, “90 percent. The cases are robberies, violence, robberies ”, that is, they have nothing to do with possible political interests, and the judge always has the opportunity to withdraw or be dismissed.
“By that legal order, if the Supreme Court of Lithuania is formed, or perhaps even the Constitutional Court in this case, we will see,” he added.
The presidency informed the SNB that it could not comment on a “private appeal”, but pointed out that former judges who turned to politics and later wanted to return to their work as judges did not comply with the “principle of political neutrality.”
“People who have interrupted the career of a judge due to their political participation or appointment to political office and seek to reinstate them have lost their political office do not meet the above criteria,” the SNB said in a presidential response.
E. Misiūnas headed the Ministry of the Interior in the government of Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis from December 2016 to the summer of 2019, but after the renewal of the ruling coalition, Rita Tamašunienė, representative of the Polish electoral campaign of Lithuania – Union of Christian Families, took over.
In October 2019, E. Misiūnas became Deputy Minister of National Defense, before that month he worked as an advisor to Minister Raimundas Karoblis.
Before becoming a minister, E. Misiūnas worked as a judge at the Vilnius District Court for a year.
Before becoming a judge, E. Misiūnas worked in the Special Investigation Service and taught at the then Police Academy.
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