Facts: Mr Aleksa applied to the European Court of Human Rights against the Republic of Lithuania under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention and Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention. On 17 November 1992 the Kaunas City Board restored Mr Aleksa’s property rights to part of a building in Kaunas. In a decision given of…
Facts: Mr Reimundas Meilus applied to the European Court of Human Rights against the Republic of Lithuania under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention (trial within a reasonable time). In November 1994 Mr Meilus became a suspect in a criminal (fraud) case. On 14 August 1996 Mr Meilus was charged on five counts, including cheating and…
Facts: Mr Pocius applied to the European Court of Human Rights alleging that the Lithuanian courts made a judgment in his case on the basis of classified evidence presented by the police and never disclosed it to him. Kaunas City Police informed Mr Pocius that his permits to keep and carry a firearm for defense…
In the Chamber’s judgment in the case of ESERTAS v. LITHUANIA (2012) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been: a violation of Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair hearing) of the Convention; Principal facts The applicant, Tomas Esertas, is a Lithuanian national who lives in Kaunas. In May…
Facts: The applicant, Marytė Venskutė, is a Lithuanian national. The case concerns her complaint that the State Border Guard Service investigators arrived at the restaurant where she was working on 25 May 2005, at about 10.30 a.m., to question her in an insurance fraud case and that she was then taken to their headquarters for…
The European Foundation of Human Rights brought another action before the Vilnius City Administrative Court concerning the right to privacy protection and respect for family life. The famous poet Adam Mickiewicz’s great-great-grandson, Roman Gorecki-Mickiewicz, asked EFHR for legal assistance in order to protect the rights of his daughter. The client’s daughter was born in Lithuania…
These days, the internet is not only a source of information. It is also a space for work or making friends and keeping in touch with friends, family and contacts. However, besides all of these benefits, the dangers the Internet brings should also be mentioned. Using the Internet one may feel anonymous, which very often…
In all countries, the days leading up to elections are filled with exceptional tension and stress, as all of the candidates who have made it to the last leg are determined to make it to the final hurdle and win the race. In the second part of February the Lithuanian media reported information, following the controversial changes to the constituency…
The Council of Europe has published the updated text of the European Court of Human Rights’ “Practical Guide on Admissibility Criteria“. We have written about the changes implemented on the 1st February 2014 in the Rules of the Court which tightened the conditions for filing a complaint. The updated version of the guide contains amendments…
In accordance with the changes in Lithuanian passport law on January 1st 2015 there is a possibility to record one’s nationality in a passport. We have already written about this issue before – here and here. The media have recently been reporting on difficulties related to the procedure of entry itself. Therefore we have decided to…
On 13th November 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union (EU) issued a preliminary ruling on the case of Vital Pérez v Ayuntamiento de Oviedo (municipality of Oviedo, Spain). The court found that the law of Asturias, which determines a maximum age of 30 years when recruiting for the position of local police officer,…
When celebrating Global Elections Day on the 5th of February, the Committee On State Administration And Local Authorities (Seimo Valstybės valdymo ir savivaldybių komitetas) and the Central Electoral Commission (CEC, Vyriausioji rinkimų komisija) organized a conference entitled “Electoral geography: from the analysis of voting behaviour to planning the next elections.” During the conference, the participants could…
In recent years, Poland has introduced many changes in legislation concerning the spelling of names and surnames and also in the rules for changing them. It seems that Poland may be a good example of how to adjust the national law when it comes to delicate issues like names and surnames by taking into consideration the needs of…
On January 29, EFHR was searching the internet and found a page, “People’s Republic of Vilnius – Виленская Народная Республика”, created on a social networking site, Facebook. Its description contained the phrase: “We demand to bring in Polish “green people” to Vilnius and carry out a referendum among the indigenous people there.” EFHR believes that such…
The Third Opinion of the Advisory Committee of the Council of Europe on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) in Lithuania was adopted on 28 November 2013 and published on the website of the Council of Europe on 10 October 2014. The document, which was not disclosed to the…
The Citizenship Act has recently been discussed publicly at great length, especially due to amendments on its content which were introduced by the President of Lithuania. However, from the point of view of many experts, the currently proposed amendments might be inconsistent with provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and with the…
On 10th November the Strategic Planning Committee of the Government of Lithuania discussed the idea of creating a Department of National Minorities. They have decided that this government department will begin working from July 2015. The European Foundation of Human Rights (EFHR) supports this idea, especially as it is compatible with what the Council of Europe has already suggested. The Council criticized Lithuania for…
“Twelve things everyone should know about the European Court of Justice” is a new book written by British author Hugo Brady. The book, published thanks to the Centre for European Reform think-tank, deals with the functions of the one of the most important, but often underestimated institution of the European Union – the European Court of…
On 3rd September the District Court of the Šalčininkai Region Council (Šalčininkų rajono apylinkės teismas) imposed a penalty on the Administration Director of the Šalčininkai Region Council for failing to enforce a ruling concerning the removal of bilingual street signs from private houses. A penalty of 1880 litas was imposed on the Administration Director, J. Rybak, who…
On the 21st July 2014, the amendments for changes to the Law regarding employment support, social and health insurance premiums, aimed at encouraging young people between the age of 16 and 29 to find jobs in their home country, were signed. The main aim of these changes is to provide help to find a traineeship offer, since until…