By Lewis Montague, ITNJ TRUSTEE
APRIL, 2016
discussion with the lawyers, following a speech
from Sacha, the questions from the lawyers were
intelligent and piercing into the heart of the ITNJ.
Lewis once again outlined the procedures for both
the ITNJ and the IPS. The consensus of the lawyers
was that a small case should be heard first, rather
than the landmark case concerning high level government corruption. A case of government abuse
against an individual would set a wide-ranging
precedent for all others suffering similar abuse at
the hands of corrupt government officials.
At one point there seemed to be a reluctance to
accept that the ITNJ could help their situation.
Lewis asked them directly whether their current
judiciary system could bring them a satisfactory
result — they answered, NO. Then Lewis asked
them whether their media in all its forms could
bring them a satisfactory result — they answered,
NO. Lewis then asked them, so what have they
got to lose by going down the route with the ITNJ
and IPS. They unanimously agreed that, YES, they
should use the ITNJ and IPS. Lewis finished with
the question, would they all like to join the International Prosecution Service and take part in the
procedure — a resounding YES was received by the
Trustees present.
On 14 April, Lewis and Lina met with two university law professors in a meeting room in Parliament.
The meeting was scheduled for 30 minutes — it
lasted two hours. Lina discussed a number of issues
first and then Lewis was invited to explain more
about the ITNJ and the IPS. After much discussion,
the Law Professors confided that their concern was
F SUBSCRIBE
DONATE HERE F
corruption with government officials and the fact
that no remedy was available through the Judiciary
system. Once they fully understood the remit of the
ITNJ and IPS they became very enthusiastic about
the concept and agreed wholeheartedly that the
only way forward to achieve any form of justice
was by “name and shame in the public domain”.
They believed that the ITNJ would be a perfect
vehicle for achieving that aim and gave their
unequivocal support in pursuing such a claim
using the ITNJ. They also agreed that the larger
government case and the small case should be
heard at the same time, and if there could be a
connection, then so much the better. Their last
words were — how can we help? This was a massive
endorsement for the ITNJ, and rounded off a very
successful visit to Lithuania by three members of
the Board of Trustees.