COBALT successfully defended the client’s interests in a criminal case concerning a workplace accident in which employees of a contractor performing works on the client’s premises were injured. In this criminal case, the client had been joined as a civil defendant, allegedly being materially liable for the damage suffered by the contractor’s employees as a result of the workplace accident.
COBALT showed both the first-instance court and the Court of Appeal that the client is not, and cannot be considered, financially liable for the damage and therefore was wrongly involved in the case as a civil defendant. In addition, although the Code of Criminal Procedure does not explicitly provide for the reimbursement of legal costs incurred by a civil defendant, both courts accepted COBALT’s arguments and ordered that the State must reimburse the client for all costs incurred in this criminal case. The Court of Appeal confirmed that all of the client’s costs were reasonable and therefore should be fully recovered.
The Court of Appeal’s decision took effect on the day it was adopted.
The client’s interests were represented, and the procedural documents were prepared by COBALT Partner, Attorney Mindaugas Bliuvas, and COBALT Senior Associate Simona Šlerpaitė-Martinaitienė.
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