Law In Lithuania Research Articles

Teisės principai Lietuvos teisės sistemoje: lemia ar nukreipia?

The identification and description of the principles of Law and their place in the legal system are discussed in the article. The goal of this paper is to review the changes of perception of the principles of Law in Lithuania during the period of the paradigm change, after the restoration of the independence of Lithuania. The practice formed by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania, with the court applying the principle of the rule of Law, is used for illustration of the present research.

Research on the Development of Public Administration in Lithuania

<div><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="left"><tbody><tr><td align="left" valign="top"><p class="AbstractText">Research conducted on public administration in Lithuania covers various subjects related to different fields and activities within the public sector. However, most research focuses only on challenges associated with the civil service and local self-government in Lithuania. This research aims to define public administration research and improve understanding of the progress and trajectory of contemporary public sector research in Lithuania. The research methods include document analysis, qualitative descriptive approaches, and historical data analysis. Moreover, the triangulation method verifies research results by integrating data and observations from many sources. The research results found that in the development of public law in Lithuania, researchers in the field of Lithuanian public administration focused on the goals of government reform, civil service modernization, creative solutions, and trends and reforms in central and regional administration. They also concentrate on social policy procedures, improving public governance, and intelligent examination of public administration. Lithuanian authors also focus on improving public governance through the use of the concepts of cooperation, participation, and teamwork. The study of Lithuanian public administration is closely related to the evolution of traditional public administration, focusing on evaluating new public management practices and implementing various public management innovations in government sector organizations since the start of state restoration. Future directions of public administration research in Lithuania will focus on addressing the challenges faced by the public sector and society in other countries. These challenges include sustainable development, climate change, gender equality, and other contemporary issues that directly or indirectly impact the public sector.</p></td></tr></tbody></table></div>

The Concept of a Virtual Registered Office in EU Law: Challenges and Opportunities

The advancement of digital technologies leads to more legislative initiatives in this area. The 2018 draft law in Lithuania on the introduction of a virtual registered office was prepared but has not yet been approved and it is not clear whether it will be adopted. This article takes a closer look at the reasons for this, discusses the concept of a virtual registered office and analyses the future perspectives of its introduction. For this purpose, EU law as well as the laws of two jurisdictions, Lithuania and Estonia, are studied to evaluate the proper way in which this concept might be introduced. To this end, the concept of a registered office is assessed in more detail from different angles. The article proceeds with an analysis of the main functions of a virtual registered office and how they can be achieved: connection to applicable law and jurisdiction, and communication with third parties. Based on the above, the authors devise solutions and recommendations for EU law.

Importance of the Concept of Constitutional Identity for Ensuring European Union Law in Lithuania

This paper examines issues related to the significance of the concept of constitutional identity, which has emerged in the jurisprudence of the Lithuanian Constitutional Court, and its impact on ensuring European Union law in Lithuania. This concept, which also unites the principle of geopolitical orientation, of which membership in the European Union is an integral part, should contribute to guarantee a balance between the legal systems, which is also significant for ensuring EU law in Lithuania.

Problematic Aspects of Regulating the Object of the Right to Property in Lithuania

This paper analyzes the regulation of the object of the right to property in Lithuania and related issues. The first part of the article analyzes the concept of the object of civil property law, revealing a different understanding of the object of property law in the doctrines of property law and in the legal systems of foreign countries. The second part of this paper provides a detailed account of the regulation of the object of civil property law in Lithuania, distinguishes and elaborates the criteria according to which an object is recognized as an object in the legal sense, and articulates the features according to which intangible objects should be classified as “other property” and considered as objects of property law.

DIFFERENT LEGAL APPROACHES TO THE REGULATION OF SURROGACY IN UKRAINE AND BALTIC STATES

The paper examines legal approaches to regulating surrogacy in Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. The research was successfully initiated by highlighting empirical data demonstrating an increase in the number of infertile couples and, accordingly, the growth of the surrogacy market, which confirms the relevance of this issue. The authors clarified the content of the concepts of “assisted reproductive technologies” and “surrogate mother”. The historical aspects of the emergence and development of surrogacy globally and the attempts at its legal regulation at the state level have been revealed. The authors reviewed the main provisions of legal acts regulating surrogacy in Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. It was found that the legal regulation of surrogacy was consolidated in Ukraine earlier than in the Baltic countries. In Ukraine, surrogacy is allowed only for spouses for medical reasons, the list of which is enshrined in legislative acts, while foreigners have access to such services. It was found that altruistic and commercial surrogacy is prohibited in Lithuania. The legal provisions make it impossible to enter a surrogate agreement, even if it could be concluded. It has been established that surrogacy is not directly regarded as a crime under the criminal law of Lithuania. It is emphasized that commercial surrogacy is indirectly prohibited in Latvia, but heterosexual couples and infertile single women can seek medical help for procreation. In Latvia, the criminal legislation does not directly provide for the criminal liability for surrogacy arrangements. It is determined that the Estonian legislation provides married and single women with access to medical care if there are medical indications for reproductive treatment but provides for criminal liability for gestational surrogacy. It is concluded that the legislation of Ukraine is favorable for surrogacy. In contrast, in the Baltic countries, the opposite approach is due to such risks as human trafficking, exploitation of women, commercialization of children, etc.

Reliance on International Treaties as a Means of Protecting Minority Rights: An Effective Strategy or Waiting for Nothing? The Case of the Polish Minority in Lithuania

This article focuses on the legal and political impact of international minority rights treaties on the Polish minority in Lithuania. An analysis will be made as to whether and to what degree they have been followed by Lithuania, and, overall, whether they have been effective for the Polish minority in Lithuania. The possibility that they are more of a false promise will also be addressed, and whether or not reliance on international law – perhaps in conjunction with local political action within Lithuania – is a good strategy for Poles in Lithuania. In general, international law norms have not had a direct impact, at least as applied by various international tribunals and other bodies. Cases brought by ethnic Poles before the European Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights, and the U.N. Human Rights Committee have not yielded significant results. The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities does directly address many of the issues raised by the Polish minority, but it is not enforceable absent enabling legislation. Yet, recent positive domestic legislation and case law in Lithuania have mitigated these concerns, suggesting that political mobilization, using international norms as a benchmark to be obtained, is much more effective than relying on international law on its own.

Final Theses of Students of Faculty of Law in Lithuania: 1925-1939

The study examines the final students’ theses of the Faculty of Law of the University of Lithuania (later – Vytautas Magnus University), which was the only one university during the interwar period in Lithuania. Thus, it was the only place where lawyers were prepared. The research is based on the different branches of law, considering structure, literature, legal acts, jurisprudence students used in their theses, and the Lithuanian legal language of that time. The most valuable and interesting quotes of students are presented, the teachers who assessed their works are named, and the fates of the students and teachers are revealed. The research covers over five hundred students’ final theses written between 1925 and 1939. Namely, such a number of final theses are held in the Department of Manuscripts of Vilnius University Library. Noteworthy that around one thousand students graduated in law during the interwar period in Lithuania. Each of this thesis was reviewed in the series of four articles published in the Lithuanian language (Deviatnikovaitė, 2020a, 2020b, 2020c, 2020d). This article summarizes all four articles and presents final conclusions. The theses reveal not only how the Faculty of Law educated lawyers, but also the legal topicalities of Lithuania at that time. Students wrote about various issues of civil, criminal, administrative, constitutional, labour, and international law. Historical, comparative, and analytical methods were used in the research.

DOMESTIC VIOLANCE AGAINST WOMEN: DISCOURSE OF REALITY

The article deals with the problem of domestic violence against women and assesses the expression of this phenomenon in the context of a society approach. The statistical construct of this phenomenon confirms the assumption that the establishment of legal fundamentals for protection against violence is linked to a process of changing the society approach to this issue. The analysis of theoretical and legal discourse of domestic violence reveals that the consistent implementation of the strategy of legal protection of victims against domestic violence has enabled the creation of a specialized comprehensive assistance infrastructure system throughout the country, which provides access to appropriate medical, psychological, legal assistance and at the same time entitles the society to develop prevention programmes that help to establish intolerance towards violence. The Republic of Lithuania Law on Protection against Domestic Violence (2011) has laid strong foundations for the establishment of specialized assistance centres and implies the development of necessary infrastructure. KEYWORDS: , , .

Implementation of the European Union Floods Directive—Requirements and national transposition and practical application: Lithuanian case-study

This work investigates the implementation of the European Union (EU) Floods Directive (FD) in Lithuania. First, it analyzes the requirements set in the EU law for the correct and effective implementation of the directive. Second, it addresses the implementation of the FD in the national law of Lithuania and the practical application of it, particularly in regard to the amendments of the land use regulations. The assessment revealed that Lithuanian authorities comply with the deadlines and requirements set in the FD. However, not all measures are considered to be effective. The distribution of tasks, among particular authorities, especially the potential role of the river basin district council, is not clear, which can lead to an inconsistent decision-making process. The urbanization in the flood hazard territories is still growing, and the usage of hazardous chemicals in agriculture in these areas is allowed. Therefore, the legal limitations of construction and intense agriculture were not sufficiently effective. These drawbacks in the effectiveness of the implementation of the FD can significantly affect the contribution of Lithuania in achieving European and global sustainable development goals.

The internal audit environment and its determinants of economy entities

The internal audit environment and its determinants of economy entities

Analyse Comparative / Comparative Perspectives

The aim of this article is to analyse the reforms of civil procedural law in Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine, which have undergone great changes during recent years. These reforms incorporate many new rules of civil procedure into the codes of these States in order to ensure effective, fair, impartial and timely protection of rights and freedoms before the courts. For Ukraine it is a very important step towards the approximation of Ukrainian law to EU law on the way to its integration into a genuine European Area of Justice. One of the most important reforms, namely the implementation of the small claims procedure, is analysed in depth. This is unusual for East European countries with civil law systems; despite this, the small claims procedure helps ensure access to justice when the regular court fees are higher than the amount of the plaintiff’s claim, as happens in most consumer disputes. Legislative provisions have been developed to fulfil this need. The main conclusions presented herein relate to this concept and its perspectives. Research on legal developments in Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania could help us find the best way to ensure access to justice in small claims in our legal systems.

To whom does art belong? On the origins of copyright law in Lithuania

In Lithuania, the history of copyright started with the abolishment of the Third Lithuanian Statute in 1840 and the establishment of Russia’s legal system. Introduced in 1828 as the rules on literary property, Russian copyright regulations were extended to cover music and visual art in 1845 and 1846, with further revisions following in 1857. The concept of fine art established in the copyright statute of 1857 was based on the image of an artwork as a unique manual product that was different from a mechanical reproduction devoid of any traces of authorship. The development of the art market and the progress of the image-making technologies, however, forced Russian legislators to adjust their legal criteria. The role played by photography was central in the process. The new visual medium overturned old assessments that were grounded in traditional opposition between unique and mass production. Thus, the copyright statute of 1911 was much more focused on artworks as intellectual values rather than tangible things. The Russian copyright rules entrenched the supremacy of inventive personal creativity over the copying and multiplication of art objects. However, in Lithuania, the law for protecting the rights of artists remained unenforced. The principal causes of the law’s ineffectiveness were rooted in the archaic forms of local art market and the conservative features of regional culture. This is why during the nineteenth century the idea of individual rights and the call for personal artistic freedom was manifested only on a theoretical level, while in practice the commitment to the common interests and retrospective ideals prevailed, encouraging Lithuanian painters and sculptors to replicate canonical works. The only known case of protecting personal intellectual property was related not to traditional fine art but to photography. In 1874, a Vilnius-based photographer Józef Czechowicz applied to the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg and received an official confirmation of authorship for twenty-five of his photographic prints. It was an extraordinary event not only in Lithuanian provinces but also throughout the Russian Empire. Not coincidentally, the first attempt to appeal to the copyright law was made by an artist representing new visual media and working in the field closely connected to the sphere of technical reproduction and commerce. The copyright statute of 1911 was a relatively progressive legal act. After 1918, it was translated into Lithuanian and remained in effect until 1940, i.e. during the entire existence of the Republic of Lithuania. The fact that the government of a young independent state didn’t try to draft its own original copyright rules testifies not only to the progressiveness of the imperial document but also to the insignificance of the questions concerning authorship, intellectual property and artistic rights in the interwar period.

РОЗВИТОК АДМІНІСТРАТИВНОГО ПРАВА ТА АДМІНІСТРАТИВНО-ПРАВОВОЇ ДОКТРИНИ В ЛИТВІ

The system of national law and the corresponding system of democratic authorities had to guarantee optimal protection of the individual’s fundamental freedoms and rights, and help to create human welfare. Science of administrative law is constantly evolving, and its insights are strategic in nature, oriented towards the future. There is often a struggle for new ideas, opinions, concepts, paradigms to be embedded or denied. The new, old, inaccurate statements are changed to be more accurate, the new ideas criticize the old ones, and life practices raise new problems that science must answer rationally. The science of administrative law in Lithuania is not static, it is constantly changing as the administrative law itself changes. The concept of administrative law is changing, its regulation is expanding. The science of administrative law is an integral part of Lithuanian law science, where the specialists of administrative law – scientists investigate the essence of this branch of law, its subject matter and separate institutes and in general all actual problems of administrative legal practice and science of the whoel country. This article is the first scientific research in the cycle of articles “Development of Administrative Law and Administrative Legal Doctrine in Lithuania”. The purpose of this article is to present the development of administrative law and administrative law doctrine in Lithuania since 1990 by analysing the works of Lithuanian scientists in this field through the categories defined in the research tasks. In order to achieve the aim of the article, the following tasks are raised: briefly to introduce and discuss the development of Lithuanian administrative law science and administrative law as a category, to define and analyse the goals of administrative law, the subject of regulation and the system of administrative law in Lithuania. In order to achieve the aim and tasks of the research, the analysis of the works of Lithuanian scientists and the main laws implementing the administrative legal regulation of Lithuania was performed. Methods. Historical comparative, documents’ analysis, synthesis and other methods were used for research. Results of research showed that Lithuania has modern administrative law and administrative justice system, that meets nowadays meets and European Union justice standards’ requirements. Conclusions. We can conclude that Lithuanian scientists understand the administrative law in broad sense as law of management and described quite wide range of its regulation subjects. After Lithuania’s accession to the European Union and its commitment to take over its acquis communautaire, the entire Lithuanian legal system, together with administrative law, had to adapt to change. Implementation of the provisions of the European Union legislation in Lithuanian law has become a priority. The abundance of administrative legal regulation at European Union level and the need for its application in the case-law have created challenging tasks for administrative law science. An accurate analysis of the implementation of European Union legislation in the systems of state power and public administration in Lithuania, analysis of administrative legal systems of the Member States of the European Union, search for similarities and differences, effective defence of the rights and legitimate interests of a person when a Member State misapplies (waives) the provisions of European Union legislation, the jurisdiction of national courts to deal with damages where, for example, damage caused by inappropriate application of European Union law is made by a court of final instance in the state, and other issues become the subject of modern administrative law research.

Administrative Law by Vaclovas Biržiška

[only abstract in English; full article, abstract in Lithuanian]
 The article examines Administrative Law course descriptions from 1931/1932 and 1936/1937 academic years and lectures’ notes published in 1935 and 1937. These were the only written sources on the studies of administrative law until 1939. Despite such a miserable literature on the subject of administrative law in the Interwar period in Lithuania, it has not been analysed to date. The object of the research is the studies and the content of administrative law course unit in the Interwar period in Lithuania including getting acquainted with public administration of some areas. Several findings were made in the study. First, administrative law was not given enough attention – the head of Administrative Law Department at the University of Vytautas Magnus, V. Biržiška, was a recognized and well-known book scientist, documentarian, book and press historian, dean of the Faculty, but not a specialist of administrative law. Some young scholars (V. Fridšteinas, K. Račkauskas) were professionally interested in administrative law, although somehow they were not invited to teach at the University. Second, during the course of administrative law V. Biržiška devoted much attention to the history of the formation of various states, to the comparative legal regulation in different countries. That is the reason to call his course as a first course of comparative administrative law in Lithuania. Third, the course of V. Biržiška’s administrative law was right at its initial phase of development: there were no clear terms of administrative law, administrative acts, public service, public administration, and no clear division between administrative law and other branches of public and private law.

Concept and Science of Administrative Law in the Interwar Period in Lithuania

Gian Domenico Romagnosi published the first book about administrative law in 1814. The first administrative case in France was examined by the Tribunal des conflits in 1873. Lawyer Antoni Okolski introduced definition of administrative law in Polish language in 1880. In the interwar period, neither a state nor a higher education institution in Lithuania published at its own expense any administrative law book. However, it was analysed in some scientific articles. Thus, the purpose of this study is to analyse them as it allows to establish the development of administrative law in Lithuania.

Violation of Environmental Law as the Ground for Exclusion of Economic Operators from Public Procurement in Lithuania

The article focuses on the regulatory and implementation problems of exclusion of economic operators frompublic procurement procedures for violation of environmental law in Lithuania. It seeks to reveal the purpose,concept and content of this ground for exclusion, considers legal conditions, circumstances and possibilities for its application, elaborates on the legal scope and limits for implementation.

The evaluation of the use of renewable energy resources

There have been many discussions in Lithuania about a strategy for reducing the impact of climate change. Members of the international community agree that reducing greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere is necessary to avoid dangerous climate change. The main greenhouse gas emissions from human activity are carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is mainly produced by combustion of fossil fuels, which are currently used: natural gas, coal, oil, peat, etc. Fossil fuels are still the main source of energy. The amount of energy produced and consumption from renewable energy sources (RES) is increasing both in Lithuania and in Europe. According to the Directive (2009/28/EU) Lithuania has a legally binding target in the year 2020. The share of renewable energy would account for at least 23% of the total final energy consumption of the country. The share of renewable energy would account for at least 10% of the final energy consumption in the transport sector. Lithuania achieved its target and this indicator was 23.9% in 2014. According to the Eurostat data, the share of RES produced from renewable energy sources in the total energy balance is increasing annually. In 2007 this indicator was only 4.7% and it has grown 4 times in 2016. The production of electricity from renewable energy sources satisfied the country’s energy demand by 18.9% in Lithuania. This is the best index so far. Wind energy is the most popular type of green energy, which has been growing at a rate of 5 times in this period. Promotion of the use of renewable resources is provided in the Republic of Lithuania Law on Renewable Energy and the long-term development of the use of renewable resources is provided for in the National Energy Strategy. At this moment Lithuania is a fuel importing country, but in the future Lithuania should produce about 70% of electricity itself. It is forecasted that in 2020 electricity generation in the country should make up 35% of the demand, in 2030 it should be 70%, and in 2050 it should reach 100%. From renewables we should receive a large, almost 80% share of energy. And gas will be a transitional fuel by 2050. The project of strategy states that energy from renewable sources will become a major component of all sectors: electricity, heat, cooling and transport. The objective is to achieve a 30% share of renewables in the final energy consumption balance in 2020, 45% in 2030, and 80% in 2050. The renewables should produce all heat energy and the share of green energy in transport should reach 50% at the end of 2050. The article focuses on the use of the potential of renewable energy sources from agricultural raw materials and their waste. The surplus of agricultural production makes it necessary to look for opportunities to reduce environmental pollution. The aim of the article is to assess the use of potential of renewable energy sources in Lithuania. The results of the analysis showed that increasing energy production is possible not only using wind, solar, water or geothermal energy, but by processing traditional agricultural and animal products and their waste: straw, grain crops, livestock or bird’s excrement, etc. It is recommended to look at the unconventional potential of raw materials, such as sewage sludge, spirits, molasses, etc. The use of biomass has potentially revealed alternatives to biofuels that underpin the use of different generations of biofuels. The use of biofuels in the long term should contribute to the slowdown in climate change.

Lygtinio paleidimo iš pataisos įstaigų taikymo problemos Lietuvoje

Straipsnyje analizuojama asmenų lygtinio paleidimo iš pataisos įstaigų problematika Lietuvoje. Kokybinio tyrimo metu gilintasi į lygtinio paleidimo iš pataisos įstaigų komisijų darbą, taip pat buvo nagrinėjami teisėjų darbo ir sprendimų priėmimo ypatumai. Tyrimo tikslas: atlikus interviu su teisėjais ir lygtinio paleidimo iš pataisos įstaigų komisijų nariais nustatyti pagrindines priežastis, kodėl lygtinio paleidimo taikymas Lietuvos teismų praktikoje nuo 2003 m. iki 2015 m. nuolat mažėjo ir šiuo metu lygtinai paleidžiama mažiau asmenų, nei atlikusių visą bausmę. Straipsnyje pateikiamos išvados turėtų padėti teoretikams ir praktikams pamatyti lygtinį paleidimą teisėjų ir lygtinio paleidimo iš pataisos įstaigų komisijų narių akimis bei paskatinti dialogą tarp sprendimus priimančių teisėjų, pataisos namų darbuotojų, visuomenės atstovų.

LOBIZMO REGLAMENTAVIMAS LIETUVOJE IR EBPO STANDARTAI

2016 m. birželio 23 d. pristatytas Lietuvos Respublikos lobistinės veiklos įstatymo VIII-1749 pakeitimo įstatymo projektas (nauja redakcija) Nr. XIIP-2731(2), kuriuo bandoma reformuoti Lietuvoje galiojantį neefektyvų lobizmo teisinį reguliavimą. 2015 m. birželio 4 d. Lietuvą oficialiai pakvietus pradėti stojimo į Ekonominio bendradarbiavimo ir plėtros organizaciją procesą, iškilo būtinybė lobizmo reglamentavimą suderinti su Ekonominio bendradarbiavimo ir plėtros organizacijos Tarybos rekomendacija dėl gairių užtikrinant skaidrumą ir sąžiningumą lobistinėje veikloje Nr. C(2010)16. Straipsnyje analizuojama įstatymo projekto (ne)atitiktis šioje rekomendacijoje įtvirtintoms gairėms bei pateikiamos lobizmo teisinio reguliavimo tobulinimo rekomendacijos.