| Abstract [eng] |
Laws of the Republic of Lithuania and acts of international law guarantee the participants of the process the right to appeal against the decision of the court of the primary instance to the court of the higher instance in accordance to the appeal order in case the participants disagree with the decision. Only in case of the appeal against the decision of the court of the primary instance the investigation of the case is transferred to the court of the higher instance. From the point of view of the traditions of Lithuanian law, appeal is perceived as the appeal of the privy to the court of the higher instance with the request to reconsider the unenforced decision of the primary instance and to abolish or modify it due to factual or legal errors. However, the court of appeal instance investigating the case can not violate the determined limits of the case investigation. The limits of case investigation at appeal court in both penal and civil process codes refer to certain legal limits which must be obeyed by the court investigating the case. Determination of the limits define the scope of the case investigation at appeal court. There is no unified approach to the limits of appeal process in law theory. Arguments arise if appeal process might mean the case investigation anew or if it should be perceived as the examination of the decree or verdict. After the restitution of Independence in Lithuania a number of reforms have been accomplished in the sphere of appeal process. The model of entire appeal in civil process has been modified into the model of partial appeal. A number of law norms regulating the case investigation in the court of appeal instance have changed in the law of penal process. Consequently, putting these norms into practice evokes uncertainties and problems of implementation as well as determines the limits of case investigation at the appeal court. This work analyses the law norms regulating the limits of case investigation in the court of appeal process based on the law acts, law literature and court practice in Lithuania and neighbouring states: Russia, Belarus and Germany. The factors characterizing the certain limits of case investigation at appeal court are investigated. The influence of an appellant and his / her competence as well as the impact of the elements of the appeal complaint and its contents to the limits of case investigation at appeal court are explored in this research. Practical problems and the possible ways of their solution are discussed. The cases of expansion of the determined limits of criminal case investigation at appeal court are similarly investigated. The notion of fundamental violations of criminal code, the possibilities of verdict remission in criminal process and their influence for the expansion of the limits of case investigation are discussed. |
