Supreme Tribunal of Lithuania

The Supreme Tribunal of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Vyriausiasis Tribunolas) was the highest court in interwar Lithuania. Officially established in December 1918, the court held its first proceedings in August 1919. Initially, it served as an appeals court for cases first decided by the district courts. Its competency was steadily expanded to encompass cases referred from the Army Court in July 1919, cassation cases from the justices of the peace in June 1921, cases from the Klaipėda Region (Memelland) in 1923, and certain functions of an administrative court. The judicial reform in 1933 created a new appeals court leaving the Supreme Tribunal with functions of a court of cassation and an administrative court. Its main task was to interpret and consistently apply the laws. The tribunal handled some controversial high-profile cases, including the case of Prime Minister Augustinas Voldemaras and corruption cases of Prime Minister Vytautas Petrulis and Minister of Foreign Affairs Juozas Purickis. The court was abolished and replaced by the Supreme Court of the Lithuanian SSR in September 1940. The tribunal was briefly resurrected during the German occupation of Lithuania.

Generally, the court proceedings were presided by a panel of three judges. The judges were nominated by the Minister of Justice and confirmed by the President of Lithuania. As the membership of the court grew very slowly (a third judge was added only in June 1921 and the fourth in July 1923) while the number of cases grew significantly, the court frequently invited district judges and even sworn attorneys to the bench. The practice was abolished by the reform in 1933 which set the number of tribunal judges at 15. The court was chaired by Antanas Kriščiukaitis (1918–1933) and Liudas Ciplijauskas (1934–1940). Other notable members included Michał Pius Römer and Silvestras Leonas.