KAUNAS COLLEGE
THE FACULTY OF ECONOMICS AND LAW
LAW DEPARTMENT
PROJECT WORK
CIVIL AND CRIMINAL PENALTIES IN Lithuania
KAUNAS 2003
CONTENT
Introduction 3
1. CRIME 4
2. CRIMINAL PENALTIES 4
2.1 Recommendations and suggestions how to solve the problem 5
2.2 Court – place were judge impose the penalties 7
2.3 Lithuania crime 8
3. MEANS OF PENAL AND CIVIL INFLUENCE WHILE CONTROLLING THE CRIME 10
3.1 Imprisonment penalty putting into practice in Lithuania in 1991-1994
11
4. DEATH PENAL IN LITHUANIA 13
4.1 EVOLUTION OF THE DEATH PENALTY IN LITHUANIA 13
4.2 LITHUANIAN POPULATION ABOUT THE DEATH PENALTY 14
4.3 THE SENTENCE TO DEATH 16
4.4 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN LITHUANIA 16
5. CRIMINAL LAW 17
5.1 ELEMENTS OF PROOF 18
5.2 DEFENSES 196. CRIMINAL LIABILITY PROVIDED FOR MINORS IN THE DRAFT PENAL CODE OF THE
REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA 20
6.1 FROM THE CRIMINAL CODE 21
7. THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE PRESIDENT 22
OF OUR STATE ON THE DEATH PENALTY 22
7.1 ON DEATH PENALTY IN THE REPUBLIC DF LITHUANIA 23
CONCLUSIONS 24
REFERENCES 25
Introduction
The Aim of project – to analyze tendencies and causes of crime in
Lithuania; to investigate the effectiveness of ciminalistics and penal and
civil effect measures on criminality in Lithuania.
The Main goal: crime, criminal justice activities, penal and civil
effect measures for crime control in Lithuania.
The Main Tasks of the project – to prepare the concept of the
analysis of criminal tendencies and causes and to prepare the proposals for
the improvement of the Lithuanian penal policy; to investigate an effective
crime control system of rational punishments and civil legal effect
measures; to analyze the practice of the application of the criminal code
and criminalities in crime investigation in Lithuania and to prepare the
concept of crime investigation in Lithuania and, on the basis of this
concept, to prepare concrete proposals for the effectuation of crime
investigation in the Republic.
1. CRIME
Crimes against foreigners, while usually non-violent, are becoming
more common. Pick pocketing and theft are problems, so personal belongings
should be well protected at all times. Car thefts, carjacking, and theft
from cars are increasingly commonplace. Drivers should be wary of persons
indicating they should pull over or that something is wrong with their car.
Often, a second car or person is following, and when the driver of the
targeted car gets out seeing if there is a problem, the person who has been
following will either steal the driver’s belongings from the vehicle or get
in and drive off with the car. Drivers should never get out of the car to
check for damage without first turning off the ignition and taking the
keys. Valuables also should not be left in plain sight in parked vehicles,
as there have been increasing reports of car windows smashed and items
stolen. Burglary of foreigners’ homes is also prevalent; home alarm systems
should be used whenever possible. American citizens should avoid walking
alone or in small groups after dark. There have been cases of American
citizens being drugged in bars and then taken elsewhere to be robbed. In
any public area, one should always be alert to being surrounded by two or
more people at once. Racially motivated verbal, and sometimes physical,
harassment of American citizens of non-Caucasian ethnicity has been
reported in major cities. Incidents of racially motivated attacks against
foreigners have been reported in Klaipėda in particular.
2. CRIMINAL PENALTIES
While in a foreign country, a U.S. citizen is subject to that
country’s laws and regulations, which sometimes differ significantly from
those in the United States and may not afford the protections available to
the individual under U.S. law. Penalties for breaking the law in Lithuania
can be more severe than in the United States for similar offenses. Persons
violating Lithuanian laws, even unknowingly, may be expelled, arrested, or
imprisoned. Penalties for possession, use, or trafficking in illegal drugs
in Lithuania are strict and convicted offenders can expect jail sentences
and heavy fines.
2.1 Recommendations and suggestions how to solve the problem
Taking into consideration long lasting complicated crime
situation, the conclusions of its statistic analysis and prognoses, it is
suggested to concentrate joint efforts of researchers and practical persons
to solve these urgent problems of crime control and prevention:
1. The priority should be given to the control and prevention of these
forms and types of crimes: crimes against persons life, health,
inviolability of person and property; organized, economic and other
crimes connected with corruption; control of socially dissipated
persons inclined to crime, the creation of their resocialization
system; early prevention of under-aged and juvenile violence of law
(as the potential reserve and resource for the increase of general
crime rate); prevention of crime relapse.
In order to solve the mentioned problems special programs
should be created, and already prepared special programs are to be put
into life.
2. It is very important to create a complex national program for crime
control and prevention. It should cover the system of legal,
organizational, political, scientific, informational, analytical and
other means:
• The strategy – creation of preventive system, complex elimination of
crime causes and conditions (especially juvenile delinquency), their
neutralization.
• It is necessary to improve the detection of crimes of organized
criminal groups and the facts of corruption, to ensure the
inevitability of responsibility.
• Creating and developing the law system it is necessary to take into
consideration not only penal laws, but first of all the development of
legal regulation (elimination of gaps and collisions) in the economic,
commercial, financial, management, educational, cultural, family,
protection of children’s rights, social care and other spheres of
social activities and life.
• Solving the problem of the creation of structural system it is
suggested not only to strengthen the law enforcement institutions
(structures of „force“), but preventive structures as well (such as
revision, audit, control, etc.).
• It is necessary to create and strengthen informational analytical and
scientific methodical preventive system (accumulation of social,
economic, legal, political and other information, systematizing and
analyzing of it; detection of shadow economy and other criminal
phenomena, their prognosis, organization of special research,
preparation of methodic aids, specialists teaching and training).
• Crime prevention, especially organized one, and control system is
effective if it foresees not only national but regional (Baltic and
other countries) and international means of cooperation.
• In order to create the system and put it into life, its sufficient
financing and material technical maintenance is obligatory.
3. Our country is integrating into the political, economic and legal
structures of Europe, therefore, it is urgent to prepare scientific
theoretical preconditions for the creation of crime control and
prevention national system. Creating and implementing the system it is
necessary to take into consideration the prognoses and perspectives of
the legal system of Lithuania, social, economic and political
development, as well as crime situation.
• It is necessary to continue and make more active fundamental and
applied, urgent for Lithuania, research into the problems of crime
prevention and criminal justice.
• In order to make criminal research more effective it is expedient to
carry out complex research programs with participation of lawyers.
• criminologists of research and educational institutions, sociologists,
economists, demographers, philosophers, educators, etc. from different
countries; to develop regional and international cooperation in
preparing and carrying out such programs.
• It is necessary to ensure substantial financing (forming and
fulfilling the state budget) of special criminological research
programmes, preparation of scientific methodic aids and their
publications.
Carrying out the research the statistic records of persons, who
did crimes according to the law and social demographic features in 1990-
1995 were accumulated and methodized.
The interaction between the criminal’s personality and
environmental factors, which are expressed in the statistic data is
analyzed (1988-1995). Methodized data characterizing the „statistic“
inhabitant of Lithuania and crime and criminal personality were prepared
for the deeper analysis according to the mathematics methods. The initial
concept of the criminological data bank was looked through adapting it to
the bank requirements. There was detailed:• victim logical data;
• data on presented applications;
• data on actions brought;
• data on cases where a person was accused;
• data on cases brought into the court, on cases where the judgment for
the accused was implemented and etc.
2.2 Court – place were judge impose the penalties
Under the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania of
1992 the following court system is established: the Supreme Court, the
Court of Appeal, district courts, and county courts. There are 54 district
courts in Lithuania. District courts that are located within the territory
of its activities, are
the first instance for civil and criminal cases.
Cases brought before a district court are heard by a single district court
judge.
County courts (there are 5 county courts) are the first instance
for civil and criminal cases which fall under its jurisdiction in
accordance with law. County courts are also the instance of appeal for the
decisions of district courts. The Court of Appeal of Lithuania is an
appellate instance for cases, which have been heard by county courts as the
courts of first instance. The Supreme Court of Lithuania is the only
cassation instance for criminal and civil cases. From 1 May 1999
Administrative Tribunals started their activities. Tribunals consider
complaints against administrative misdemeanours. The system of county
administrative tribunals and the Higher Administrative Tribunal is
established under the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania.County administrative tribunals are the first instance for cases. The
Higher Administrative Tribunal is an appellate instance for cases, which
have been investigated by county administrative tribunals. The Higher
Administrative Tribunal also investigates appeal cases of district courts
concerning administering of administrative penalties. The Higher
Administrative Tribunal is the only and the final instance for cases
concerning administrative acts, which have been accepted by the subjects of
central state administration. The functioning of the court system is
regulated by the Law on Courts.
Criminal Justice System- Law
Lithuania is a parliamentary democracy. The people directly elect
the president. The judiciary is separate from the other branches. No person
may be arbitrarily arrested or detained. Police may detain suspects for up
to 48 hours based on reliable evidence and with approval by an investigator
or prosecutor. A district judge may prolong that period of detainment from
6 to 18 months. The accused has the right to counsel. Bail is available.
Criminal Justice System- Practices
Though, the accused has the right to counsel, there is a shortage
of trained advocates. The detention periods have been criticized as being
excessive. This has been blamed on the slow trial system. The government is
trying to remedy this by finding additional qualified judges. Bail is not
widely used. Prison conditions are overcrowded and dangerous. The
government is attempting to remedy the situation with assistance from other
nations, but this has been a slow process.
2.3 Lithuania crime
View this page with sources or definitions listed for each
statistic.|Acquitted: |599 (2000) [35th of 49] |per capita: |
| | |0.17 per 1000 |
|Burglaries: |9,203 (2000) [36th of 54] |per capita: |
| | |2.56 per 1000 |
|Car thefts: |5,185 (2000) [32nd of 55] |per capita: |
| | |1.44 per 1000 |
|Convicted: |20,680 (2000) [36th of 56] | |
|Death penalty – |1998 [6th of 63] | |
|abolition date: | | |
|Death penalty – last|1995 [1st of 46] | |
|executed: | | |
|Embezzlements: |703 (2000) [28th of 44] |per capita: |
| | |0.2 per 1000 |
|Frauds: |1533 (2000) [39th of 61] |per capita: |
| | |0.43 per 1000 |
|Illicit drugs: |transshipment point for | |
| |opiates and other illicit | |
| |drugs from Southwest Asia, | |
| |Latin America, and Western | |
| |Europe to Western Europe and | |
| |Scandinavia; limited | |
| |production of methamphetamine | |
| |and ecstasy; susceptible to | |
| |money laundering | |
|Jails: |14 (2000) [48th of 62] |per capita: |
| | |0 per 1000 |
|Judges and |631 (2000) [24th of 45] |per capita: |
|Magistrates: | |0.18 per 1000 |
|Manslaughters: |38 (2000) [27th of 43] |per capita: |
| | |0.01 per 1000 |
|Murders: |370 (2000) [29th of 62] |0.1 per 1000 |
|Murders with |83 (2000) [18th of 32] |per capita: |
|firearms: | |0.02 per 1000 |
|Police: |12,731 (2000) [32nd of 48] |per capita: |
| | |3.54 per 1000 |
|Prisoners:
|9,516 (2000) [37th of 61] |per capita: |
| | |2.64 per 1000 |
|Rapes: |183 (2000) [46th of 65] |per capita: |
| | |0.05 per 1000 |
|Robberies: |4,374 (2000) [30th of 64] |per capita: |
| | |1.21 per 1000 |
|Sentence Length: |25 (2000) [19th of 34] | |
|Total crimes: |82,370 (2000) [38th of 60] |per capita: |
| | |22.87 per 1000 |
Lithuania is a signatory to the Council of Europe Criminal
Convention on Corruption. In September 2000, the Lithuanian Parliament
adopted a new Criminal Code, which establishes criminal liability for
trading in influence and extends the concept of civil servants to those