Vytautas Vaicekauskas

Institution: Vilnius University

Period of stay: 28 September - 11 December 2026

Contact: vytautas.vaicekauskas@tf.vu.lt

https://www.tf.vu.lt/about_us/phd-students/vaicekauskas-vytautas-phd-st…

Profile: 

Vytautas Vaicekauskas is a PhD Candidate and Teaching Assistant at Vilnius University Faculty of Law, where he teaches Roman Private Law and Civil Law (General Part) and coached the Vilnius University team at the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot. His doctoral research, supervised by Prof. (HP) Dr. Vytautas Nekrošius, concerns access to evidence in European Union civil procedure. He has been a visiting researcher at the Luxembourg Centre for European Law and the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg. He has also attended the Summer Course and Directed Studies in Private International Law at the Hague Academy of International Law and the International Academy for Arbitration Law in Paris. He is co-author of the first Lithuanian textbook on international and EU civil procedure (2026), in which he wrote the chapter on service of documents and taking of evidence. He is Co-Editor of Arbitražas: Teorija ir praktika and Reporter for Lithuania on the ITA Board of Reporters. He holds a Master of Laws (magna cum laude, ranked first) from Vilnius University. He is also an Associate in the Dispute Resolution team of MOTIEKA law firm, practising cross-border litigation and international arbitration.

Research Area:

Dispute Settlement (International and European Union Civil Procedure)

Research Title:

Access to Evidence in European Union Civil Procedure

Research Outline:

The project critically evaluates the de lege lata rules on access to evidence in European Union civil procedure and develops de lege ferenda proposals. It draws on functionally equivalent and transferable hard and soft law of cross-border civil procedure.

Such access is essential for a party deciding whether to commence, continue or terminate proceedings. Yet parties often face evidentiary asymmetry: essential information is controlled by the opponent or a third party, or is unattainable by either. In cross-border cases, the territorial limits of court powers compound the problem, and courts must cooperate under the EU Evidence Regulation, which builds on the Hague Evidence Convention. However, the Regulation leaves untouched the core question of who must select, present and assess evidence, and when. Diverging national approaches thus remain unharmonised, to the detriment of access to justice and equal treatment.

Harmonisation is nonetheless emerging in specific fields, such as product liability, intellectual property and damages. Beyond binding law, the ELI-UNIDROIT Model European Rules of Civil Procedure offer a point of reference.

The thesis therefore asks whether the current EU rules on access to evidence are justified and, if not, whether an alternative framework can be built on functionally equivalent and transferable rules.

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