2007-10-23

A PUBLIC INSTITUTION is a non-profit public juridical person with limited civil liability, purpose of which is to serve public interests, by engaging in activities for the advancement of public benefits (trainings, publication activity, and many other activities, which serve public interests).

A public institution can have and acquire only such civil rights and duties, which do not contradict the laws, regulations of the public institution, and purposes of activity.

Although a public institution has a right to be engaged in commercial activity, this activity has to be inseparably linked with purposes of its activity, and, otherwise, has to be not forbidden. List of activities, in which a public institution cannot be engaged, is provided for in the Republic of Lithuania by law.

The founders of the public institution can be state or municipality institutions and other persons, who do not seek personal profit from institution’s activity and have concluded a constituent contract of a public institution.

A number of founders is not limited.

A public institution must have an organ – a general meeting of partners and personal management organ – a manager of the public institution. The Law on Public Institutions of the Republic of Lithuania regulates in greater detail a procedure of founding public institutions (PI).

The procedure of founding public institutions is also similar to the procedures of founding an individual enterprise and a closed joint-stock company, which were mentioned in the preceding articles. However, the difference here is that authenticity of natural persons’ signatures, who sign regulations of public institution, are notarized.

Companies are registered in the Register of Juridical Persons within 5 working days. Nevertheless, having registered a new company, all necessary formalities are not over yet. Law acts of the Republic of Lithuania obligate to register a company in respective institutions or obligate managers of the company to take care of appropriate permits, to take care of producing a company’s seal. Since, frequently, those registrations have to be executed during the period established by the laws, it is imperative to perform those actions as quickly as possible so that the company could carry out its activity without hindrances.