Lithuania
II. Objectives and Measures
Objective 1: ensuring State’s duty to protect, defend and respect human rights
I. Legislative measures [page 1]
1.Improvement of the legislative The aim is to review legal acts regulating law making, including also, if necessary, drafting of required new legal acts, as well as to ensure dissemination of best practice as regards application of the principles of transparency and openness in law-making. Law on Legislative Framework of the Republic of Lithuania was adopted on 18 September 2012, and carne into force on 1 January Following the principles of openness and transparency, it provides for law-making to be made public, as general interest-related legislative decisions cannot be made without public awareness and without the possibilities to participate; the public must have access to information related to the national policy objectives, the need for legal regulation and participating bodies; the civil society and interest groups must be provided with a possibility to submit proposals for legal regulation at all the stages of law-making. It also provides for the right to know the bodies that were involved in submitting, drafting and assessing regulatory impact of a respective legislative proposal, and the bodies monitoring legal regulation
2. Reforming legal regulation regarding administrative The aim is to regulate individual administrative liability in the Republic of Lithuania, to separate it from criminal liability, ensuring the main features of the administrative liability: simple fast-track process, preference to non-repressive impact measures, and their adequacy to the committed offence, thus increasing effectiveness of these measures. The measure is carried out with a view to improving the Draft Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Lithuania, submitted for deliberation to the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania on 7 Jw1e 2012.
A. lmplemented measures [page 9]
2. lmprovement of civil proceedings. Continuous analyses and evaluations of the civil procedure aim at creating conditions for an easier and more effective process of settling disputes and implementing EU legal acts. The provision of the Code of Civil Procedure (hereinafter referred to as the CCP) of the Republic of Lithuania regulating the practice of videoconferencing and teleconferencing in the civil procedure (Article 1752 of the CCP) carne into force on l March 2013. Provisions of the CCP allowing persons to submit procedura! documents to court using electronic means of communication (Article 1751 of the CCP) carne into force on I July 2013
4. Introduction of class action institution in civil The aim is to create conditions to bring and hear class actions in Lithuania thus enforcing the right to judicial protection, providing protection for the weaker party, shortening procedures of civil cases, reducing the costs of civil procedures and ensuring uniform case law with respect to identical or similar cases. It would increase public trust in the judicial system, enhance legal certainty and legitimate expectations.
On 13 March 2014, relevant amendments of the CCP provisions were adopted; following their entry into force, starting from 1 January 2015, the possibility of bringing class actions in civil cases shall be ensured.
5. Improvement of collective dispute The aims is to held discussions with social partners to determine the need for revision of provisions regulating collective bargaining and to encourage parties to establish a mechanism for settling disputes at company level .
An amendment to the Labour Code of the Republic of Lithuania was adopted on 15 May 2014 and came into force on I July 2014. Labour Code provisions were set in accordance with conclusions provided by the International Labour Organisation’s (hereinafter referred to as ILO) Committee on Freedom of Association on strike regulation witl1 regard to practical problems of dispute settlement. Labour Code provisions regulating suspension of strike action were revised, rules of interpretation of collective agreements were foreseen and strike legitimacy issues were clearly regulated in cases with a collective agreement in action.
Objective 3: ensuring access to effective remedy
A. lmplemented measures [page 8]
3. Promotion of mediation system development and effectiveness. The aim is to develop the mediation process and promote peaceful settlement of disputes. An order No. 1 R- 263 on Mediation System Development was adopted by the Minister of Justice on 12 November, 2013. Working Groups were created to prepare the concept of mediation system development and to improve the mediation system in civil, administrative and criminal procedures.
B. Planned measures [page 11]
5. Introduction of the jury institute in courts. The aim is to restore public trust in the legal system. On June 2012, the Government in principle agreed on the objective to establish on a constitutional level the participation of the jury in the proceedings. Before relevant laws are drawn or amended, the concept of the jury institute in courts is going to be prepared and presented for the public assessment; the concept shall, inter alia, include the basic principles of the legal status of the jury members, the guarantees they would be provided with. responsibilities, procedural rights of the members of jury, their duties. etc.