LITHUANIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Gintautas Šulija and Eduard Plešak, Šulija & Partners
2.6.6 Domestic Courts’ Recognition of Foreign Judgments/Awards Lithuanian courts are precluded from re-examining the case on its merits and will generally recognise and enforce a final judgment of a foreign court or an arbi - tral award, provided the dispute does not fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of Lithuanian courts and other respective conditions prescribed in the Conven - tion on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958 (the “New York Convention”), EU law, national law and bilateral treaties (as applicable) for recognising and enforcing a foreign court or an arbitral award are met. 2.6.7 Judgments in Foreign Currencies A lessor under an aircraft lease may obtain a judgment in a foreign currency. 2.6.8 Limitations on Lessors’ Actions Following Termination There is no statutory limitation on the default inter - est rate and parties are free to agree on the default interest rate. However, a Lithuanian court is entitled to exercise some policing over default interest rates and can reduce clearly excessive interest rates (even if they were contractually agreed). 2.6.9 Lessor’s Requirement to Pay Taxes/Fees The court fees and bailiff fees are generally appli - cable for the purposes of enforcement of the lease. The amount of court and bailiff fees depends on the nature and the amount of claim, but should gener - ally not exceed EUR30,000 in total. The legal fees are subject to an agreement between the lessor and the local law firm. 2.6.10 Mandatory Notice Periods The notice periods shall be established by the lease contracts and the governing law. If Lithuanian law is chosen as the governing law and there are no provi - sions on notice periods agreed in the lease, manda - tory notice periods prescribed in the Civil Code 2001 will apply, requiring a 30-days’ notice to be submitted prior to termination due to a material breach of the contract.
An injunction can be issued by the court pending final resolution of proceedings if the lessor manages to plausibly substantiate its claim and proves that, with - out the injunction, the execution of the court decision may become difficult or impossible. The estimated timeframe for obtaining an injunction is three busi - ness days from the moment the respective motion is brought before the court. 2.6.5 Domestic Courts’ Approach to Foreign Laws and Judgments Aircraft lease, finance and security transactions where one party is based in a foreign jurisdiction are custom - arily governed under the English or New York laws. Such choice of law (as well as the choice of any other foreign law) should normally be recognised in Lithu - ania, respecting the freedom of contract – provided that the choice is expressly demonstrated in the con - tract and there are no contradictory overriding Lithu - anian rules. However, by reason of the Civil Code 2001, an aircraft bearing a Lithuanian registration will be deemed as immovable property in Lithuania and transactions on the transfer of ownership rights and other rights in rem to immovable property (aircraft) will be subject to notarial certification in Lithuania. For this reason, transfer of interests in or creation of security inter - est (eg, mortgage) over an aircraft bearing Lithuanian registration must be carried out in accordance with Lithuanian law requirements. Relevant agreements must be governed by the laws of Lithuania. If an aircraft is registered in Lithuania, Lithuanian courts should have exclusive jurisdiction to hear any type of dispute regarding rights in rem to an aircraft or the cancellation of a lien on an aircraft. There is a lack of relevant case law to determine whether any relevant foreign court judgment falling within the scope of the exclusive jurisdiction of Lithuanian courts would be recognised and enforced in Lithuania. Lithuanian courts should generally uphold a waiver of immunity by the parties to the lease.
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