On 30 June 2026 at 9:30 AM, the public defence of the doctoral dissertation by Sebastjan Okinčic (doctoral student of the Department of Private Law) will take place at the Faculty of Law of Vilnius University, in the Kazimieras Leonas Sapiega Auditorium (Room 302).
Title of the dissertation: “Problems of International Commercial Litigation with the United Kingdom after Brexit”
ANNOTATION:
This thesis analyses the legal consequences of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union for international commercial litigation. The research problem is the regulatory gap created after Brexit by the inapplicability of the Brussels regime and the absence of a comprehensive replacement framework for jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of judgments, and litigation-related remedies between the EU and the UK. The aim is to identify and systematically evaluate the catalogue of post Brexit difficulties and to assess realistic solutions at the levels of EU law, UK law, international conventions and Lithuanian civil procedure. Using qualitative methods (doctrinal, historical, comparative, linguistic, document and systemic analysis), the thesis examines: (1) Brexit’s evolution and the interests shaping dispute resolution choices; (2) the functioning of private international law instruments after Brexit (including the 2005 Hague Choice of Court Convention and the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention, and the implications of the UK’s non accession to the Lugano Convention); (3) practical litigation issues in disputes involving the UK, including the interaction with arbitration (e.g., anti suit injunctions) and dispute mechanisms in the Withdrawal Agreement and the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement; and (4) the continuing role of EU law and the Court of Justice of the European Union in the post Brexit legal landscape. The study concludes that the UK’s “former Member State” status produces a hybrid setting in which outcomes depend not only on legal technique but also on political trust and institutional autonomy..
The dissertation was prepared at Vilnius University from 2017 to 2025.
Academic supervisor: Prof. Dr. Vigita Vėbraitė (Vilnius University)
DEFENCE BOARD:
Chairman – Prof. Habil. Dr. Vytautas Nekrošius (Vilnius University)
Members:
– Prof. Habil. Dr. Kinga Flaga-Gieruszynska (University of Szczecin, Republic of Poland)
– Assoc. Prof. Dr. Indrė Isokaitė (Vilnius University)
– Prof. Dr. Vytautas Mizaras (Vilnius University)
– Prof. Habil. Dr. Gintaras Švedas (Vilnius University)
Venue:
Vilnius University, Faculty of Law, Kazimieras Leonas Sapiega Auditorium (Room 302), Saulėtekio av. 9, 1st block, Vilnius, Lithuania.
The dissertation is available for review at the Library of Vilnius University and here.
The defence of dissertation can also be viewed remotely through this link.