Lithuania

ENLITEKO and ESP (electronic service portal which is a component of LITEKO system) are electronic systems of the court. Both natural and legal persons, where relevant, may use the services of those systems by obtaining access through E-Government Gateway. LITEKO system is managed and maintained by the National Courts Administration. Electronic signature is not required to log into E-Government Gateway. One may log in through e-banking or by means of mobile signature. In other words, the current system ensures quite an easy access to the system. The LR Law on Commercial Arbitration provides for a fragmented regulation of the use of electronic means in the process of arbitration; basically, the competence to decide on the use of electronic means is handed over to the arbitral institutions themselves. As for the legislative governance, Article 10(1)(3) may be singled out as it provides for that an arbitration agreement may be concluded by using electronic communications terminals provided that the integrity and authenticity of information so transmitted is ensured and the content of the transmission is made available for later access; Article 34(1) stipulates that an arbitral tribunal shall decide on the form of arbitral proceedings, unless agreed by the parties. Arbitral proceedings may be conducted in the form of oral hearings or a written or any other procedure. Where it comes to the activities of arbitral institutions, it may be stated that the main Lithuanian arbitral institution, Vilnius Court of Commercial Arbitration, uses ARBIS (arbitration information system) as the principal platform which is employed to ensure the existence of an electronic arbitration case. It must be noted that Article 31(1) of the Arbitration Rules of the VCCA establishes the general rule that all disputes falling within the scope of these Arbitration Rules shall be administered and dealt with [...].