The Judicial Council approved these candidates chosen by President Gitanas Nausėda on Friday.
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In early July, the selection commission for judicial candidates recognized two candidates – S. Meškauskienė and Vaida Motiejūnienė – as the most suitable to lead the Kaunas Chamber of the Kaunas District Court. This was the second selection for these positions; President Gitanas Nausėda did not approve the results of the selection held at the end of June.
According to Andrius Kabišaitis, the President’s chief advisor on legal matters, the Permanent Commission for the Evaluation of Judges’ Activities, having conducted an extraordinary evaluation of Judge S. Meškauskienė’s professional activity, recognized her professional activity and the quality of her legal work as excellent and stated that her personal and professional qualities meet the requirements set out in legal acts.
“From an anonymous employee survey conducted at the Kaunas District Court, in which 151 respondents participated, it is evident that a large part of the court employees who participated in the survey support Sigita Meškauskienė and believe that she could hold the position of court president due to her diligence, organizational skills, and communicativeness,” the advisor stated.
The candidate herself noted that if appointed court president, she would be the first woman in this position since 1878, when the Kaunas District Court building was constructed.
“(Women – BNS) temporarily holding the position existed, but there was no officially appointed female president,” said S. Meškauskienė.
Among her most important work priorities, she listed uninterrupted administration of justice, cushioning disruptions to judges’ work, balancing workloads, greater involvement of employees and judges in decision-making, and ensuring respectful, clear communication understandable to everyone.
“I believe that the court needs to be stabilized and we need to talk about a certain package of internal administration, that is, clearer work organization related to substitutions, systematic workload management, as well as strengthening internal communication and employee involvement in decision-making for both court staff and judges,” the candidate said.
“It is important for me to listen to people, understand their real problems, and together make reasoned, firm, and impartial administrative decisions, finding a balance in between. Yes, I admit that I lack administrative experience, and that is my shortcoming, but I believe that this risk can be managed. It is managed through a team, meaning the experience of deputies, through consultations with the presidents of other district courts, as well as the assistance of the regional court president, delegation of tasks and control of results, and value-driven decisions based on data,” S. Meškauskienė asserted.
According to her, the Kaunas City District Court is the second largest in Lithuania, with its divisions located in several cities, so the candidate emphasized the importance of internal communication. She cited improving the psychological climate as one of the challenges she would face.
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She also noted that the situation is complicated by a debt of about 600 thousand euros accumulated in the court.
Since 2012, S. Meškauskienė has been a judge at the Kaunas District Court, handling criminal cases, and is a member of the Judicial Council. Before becoming a judge, she worked as an assistant judge at the Kaunas Regional Court and in other state institutions.
Until April 2025, Arūnas Purvainis headed the Kaunas District Court. Last October, the Court of Judicial Ethics issued him a reprimand for an ethics violation at work when communicating with other judges and employees.
It was then established that the court head was incorrect, impolite, disrespectful to others, insulted them, and belittled the work of colleagues in the work environment. Due to disrespectful and insulting communication, several court employees left their jobs.
“I would truly like to wish that neither in the near future nor in the distant future would the Judicial Council have to consider a single complaint regarding this court. I believe that it will be possible to unite the team, all judges, and raise the image of the court itself,” said Danguolė Bublienė, Chairwoman of the Judicial Council, on Friday.
The Judicial Council also approved the appointment of Loreta Bajorinienė as the president of the Tauragė Chamber of the Tauragė District Court. She has worked at this court since 2005 and headed it from 2013 to 2018.
Before becoming a judge, L. Bajorinienė worked in the prosecutor’s office, municipality, and other institutions and companies. The judge currently handles civil cases.
This court has not had a permanent president for almost three years, since Egidijus Mockaitis’s term ended in December 2023.
District court presidents are appointed and dismissed by the president, upon receiving advice from the Judicial Council.
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