Last week, the Seimas registered a draft law that would allow for the abolition of fines imposed on persons that have acquired foreign citizenship but failed to notify the Lithuanian State. According to Aušrinė Armonaitė, the author of the project, such fines are an excessive measure and do not encourage Lithuania to have a wide…
On 24th August, the biggest summer festival of ideas “Laisvės piknikas” (English: “Freedom picnic”) will take place for the fourth time. The organisers claim that everyone will find something they like: there will be a place for discussions, entertainment and sports zones, game areas, appearances and presentations of businesses and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), as well…
On 25th July, the European Foundation of Human Rights (EFHR) visited the Centre for Civil Education in Vilnius. Two trainees – Aiden Tamasauskas from Canada, and Marta Bednarczyk from Poland – were accompanied and guided through the centre by the EFHR Lawyer and Project Coordinator, Monika Guliakaitė. As a part of its apprentice programme, EFHR…
Aisen was born in the coldest region of Siberia, Russia. He is a journalist and a lawyer. He is currently pursuing a PhD at The University of Gdańsk in Poland. So far, his work has been in media and human rights. From 13 years of age Aisen started to write articles in local newspapers in…
Karolina Antos is a 4th year student at the International Institute of Energy Policy and Diplomacy of Moscow State Institute of International Relations with a specialization in international relations and energy diplomacy. Karolina is originally from Cracow but has spent the last 3 years in Moscow, where she gained an interest in political science, human rights and…
At the initiative of the “Būtent!” (“Makes sense!”) discussion festival we are meeting on July 4 in Kaunas, where the European Foundation of Human Rights (EFHR) is organising a discussion “Polish people in Lithuania: language-ignorant Polacks?”. According to the population census of 2011, there were only 0.36 % of Poles in Kaunas. Nevertheless, they are…
Marta is a Polish-born youth worker, facilitator, and trainer. She moved to Vilnius from Riga, where she initially began to explore life in the Baltic states. Marta has recently graduated from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań obtaining a master’s degree in security studies. Additionally, she holds a bachelor’s degree in Finno-Ugric philology. Combining these two…
On May 31 ended the European Solidarity Corps project, in which a psychology student from Italy, Giulia Girella, took part. She volunteered at Vilnius Šilas School, where she contributed to the promotion of the communication, social skills, independence and integration of children that have various learning and intellectual disabilities. Giulia participated in the after class…
The District Court of Vilnius City has accepted the plaintiff’s Yosef Yizhak Pines’ revised action to the defendant state enterprise Turto bankas regarding the reconstruction of Sports Hall and obliged the defendant to submit a reply. If the reply is not submitted, the court will have a right to adopt a decision in default. The…
Last Thursday Giulia Girella, a volunteer at Vilnius Šilas School, presented the final event of the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) project “What do we know about disability?” at the bookshop “VAGA”. The event was designed to share knowledge about working with children who have special education needs and to discuss the inclusion of such children…
Aiden Tamasauskas is a multi-disciplinary student from Canada. His internship with EFHR will last for just over two months. As a Canadian of Lithuanian descent, he has come to Vilnius to observe, respect and contribute to a socio-cultural region that he has always been interested in. Aiden holds a master’s degree in Legal and Political Philosophy from Queen’s University…
On April 17, 2019, the District Court of Vilnius City announced one more decision in the case of original spelling of personal names. This time, a Lithuanian citizen who married a Polish citizen applied to the court after her new surname “Zaniewicz“ was not included in the documents with its original spelling, with the letter…
May 10, 2019, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has issued its Concluding observations on the combined 9th and 10th periodic reports of Lithuania (concluding observations). The document opens with positive changes in Lithuanian legal and policy frameworks, in particular, the accreditation of the Seimas Ombudsman’s Office, adoption of three action plans (integration…
For the third year in a row, people will gather in the festival of discussions “Būtent!” (“Makes sense!”), which takes place September 6-7, 2019 in Birštonas, to discuss the topics that are important to the society. Same as last year, the organizers have announced an open contest for the discussion topics and out of 80…
On May, 11th 2019, lawyers of European Foundation of Human Rights (EFHR) – Evelina Dobrovolska and Monika Guliakaitė – met with representatives of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) election observation mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). ODIHR carries out election observation in OSCE participating States to…
On April 18, 2019, the Department of National Minorities under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania organized a discussion about the concept of national minorities. Gžegož Sakson, the Chairman of the Union of Polish Lawyers in Lithuania, Imantas Melianas, an ethnoconflictologist, and Evelina Dobrovolska, a representative of the European Foundation of Human Rights (EFHR),…
On April 12, 2019 Panevėžys District Court has decided that the civil status record may contain a surname with the letter “x”. In 2018 the applicant married a Belgian national and chose the spouse’s name. However, when registering a marriage in Lithuania, Panevėžys Registrar’s Office did not satisfy the applicant’s request to enter her surname…
A preventive claim was filed in the District Court of Vilnius City to prevent reconstruction works on the territory of the Concert and Sports Palace that would desecrate the Old Šnipiškės (Piramont) Jewish Cemetery and the human remains surrounding the sports palace in all directions, and mixed into its foundational building material by the Soviets.…
The European Foundation of Human Rights (EFHR) and the Lithuanian Centre for Human Rights (LCHR) have submitted their Alternative Report for the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) was ratified by Lithuania in 1998. This “shadow report” aims to provide alternative…
April 9, 2019, the District Court of Vilnius City issued a judgment in the case, which became a cause célèbre and concerned a hate crime committed against Fabian Sanchez, a citizen of Ecuador. The Court found J.Malinovski and E.Lukasevicius guilty of causing a public nuisance under the rule of Article 284 of the Criminal Code of Republic of Lithuania (Criminal Code) and…