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The Supreme Court of Lithuania (SCL) rejected the appeal of the Vilnius University and did not change the decision of the appeals court, which declared that the university must take responsibility for the tragic death of a student.
2015 June 27 A student from the Vilna University Faculty of Natural Sciences was killed while doing a teaching internship in the Hemsedal Mountains in Norway. The girl’s parents filed a lawsuit against the high school, claiming 50,000 euros in non-pecuniary damages, as well as compensation for the funeral expenses incurred.
The Vilnius Regional Court satisfied part of the claim: awarded material damages to the student’s parents and 30,000 euros in non-material damages. The SCL confirmed this verdict.
The Vilnius City District Court dismissed the lawsuit without finding any illegal action by the university or its employees. After examining the plaintiffs’ appeal, the Vilnius Regional Court upheld part of the claim: awarded material damages to the student’s parents and € 30,000 in non-material damages.
The Court of Appeal followed the Comprehensive Occupational Safety Examination Law of the Lithuanian Center of Experts, which provides conclusions on the technical and organizational causes of the accident, noting that the main causes of the accident are related to insufficient safety regulation of the training practice and breach of training practice. The University did not ensure that students’ safety knowledge was verified and did not monitor compliance with safety standards.
In its appeal, the University requested the annulment of the judgment of the Court of Appeal and the appeal be dismissed.
The Supreme Court of Lithuania, rejecting the appeal and confirming the decision of the court of appeal, noted that the security of the studies provided by the university is one of the indicators of quality of these services, therefore, the university has the duty to guarantee the safety of studies and students. and. security of the study process. The higher education institution is responsible not only for the technical organization of the internship, but also for the security of the organized internship. However, in the present case, the University did not guarantee adequate regulation of the security of the internship, adequate supervision of students, including the daughter of the deceased, and control of the application of security regulations. The appeals court found this to be illegal from the defendant’s (university) actions.
The cassation arguments appeal that students deviated from the (mandatory) route established by the internship supervisor were rejected, because a specific and detailed student route by the internship supervisor had not been established.
The panel of judges noted that inadequate compliance with the obligation to provide quality studies under the study program did not meet the diligent standard of conduct and this resulted in the death of the student during the internship and the property suffered non-pecuniary and pecuniary damage. as a result of this accident.
“ The amount of non-pecuniary damage determined by the Court of Appeal, taking into account the general economic and standard of living changes, corresponds to the amounts of non-pecuniary damage awarded to parents for the death of a child, especially since the case is refers to non-pecuniary damages for the loss of an only daughter. The amount of non-pecuniary damages was determined by the appeals court after evaluating the plaintiffs’ situation, taking into account the details of the values violated, the nature of the violation and its circumstances and severity, as well as the circumstances of the damage, i. and. and the cause of the damage and the fault of the accused, and therefore the individual determination of the compensation for non-pecuniary damage according to the criteria for its determination “, – the order establishes.
This decision of the Supreme Court of Lithuania is final and is not subject to appeal.
Sigismund Gedvila / 15min photo / Supreme Court of Lithuania
The Supreme Court of Lithuania is the only court of cassation that reviews the decisions of the courts of general jurisdiction that have entered into force. The main objective of the Court of Cassation is to guarantee the uniform practice of the courts of general jurisdiction in the state. Only the most complex and significant cases for judicial practice are selected for the Supreme Court of Lithuania. In accordance with the laws that regulate the procedure, the Court of Cassation, within the limits of the appeal of cassation, examines the appealed decisions from the point of view of the application of the law.
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