Source: https://www.mruni.eu/en/mokslo_darbai/jurisprudencija/archyvas/?l=204141
Timestamp: 2019-11-14 06:06:01
Document Index: 168812054

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 1', 'art 2', 'art 3', 'art 4', 'art 2', 'art 1', 'art 2', 'art 2']

Jurisprudence, 2013, No. 20(4)
Arndt Künnecke. Der Europäische Minderheitenbegriff Entwicklung und Wirkung. Teil 1
Abstract. In Europe, more than 330 ethnic groups with altogether more than 100 million members exist. Almost all European countries host minorities on their national territory. But until now, the term “minority” has not been clearly and unambiguously defined in international law. However, there is mutual consent that a single state is not entitled to decide upon the existence of minorities on its national territory on its own. Otherwise, the state could simply deny the existence of a minority and withdraw itself from all internationally binding legal obligations in that area. Therefore, since the times of World War I, various efforts have been made to define the term “minority”.
In international law, a universally recognized and binding concept of minorities does not exist. However, in order to determine which minorities are supposed to be protected, after World War II some regularly applied characteristics have been developed in international documents. Even without giving a clear definition of the term “minority”, documents of the UN, the UNESCO or the CSCE/OSCE provide a special protection of different kinds of minorities, such as ethnic, national, religious and linguistic minorities. First and foremost, they are protected by the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) of 1966, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) of 1989, the Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities (UN Minorities Declaration) of 1992, various declarations by the UNESCO as well as several documents by the CSCE and later OSCE. However, the only international document within the frame of the UN, the UNESCO and the CSCE/OSCE, offering a (non-binding) definition of the term “minority”, is a UN study conducted by Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, Francesco Capotorti. According to that study, which was published in 1979, the term “minority” denotes a group numerically inferior to the rest of a state’s population, in a non-dominant position, whose members are nationals of the state of residence and possess ethnic, religious or linguistic characteristics differing from the rest of the population and showing a certain sense of solidarity towards the group itself.
In the second part of the essay, it will be shown that the European states took these documents as basis to create their own concept of minorities, which can be deduced from documents of the Council of Europe and the EC/EU.
Koen Lenaerts. The Best Interests of the Child Always Come First: The Brussels Ii Bis Regulation and the European Court of Justice
Abstract. The purpose of the present contribution is to explore how the European Court of Justice (the ECJ) – in dialogue with national courts – has interpreted the Brussels II bis Regulation concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility. The present paper is divided into four parts. Part 1 looks at the concept of ‘habitual residence’ of the child concerned which is the conflict-of-jurisdiction principle on which the Brussels II bis Regulation is based. In this regard, it is argued that that principle has been construed by the ECJ in such a way as to take account of the best interests of the child. In Part 2, the case law relating to the provisions of the Brussels II bis Regulation on child abduction is studied in great detail. That study shows that the ECJ seeks to interpret the Brussels II bis Regulation in light of the best interests of the child. Part 3 is devoted to examining the way in which the ECJ has interpreted the concept of ‘provisional measures’ which enables national courts to derogate from the conflict-of-jurisdiction principle set out in the Brussels II bis Regulation. In Part 4, the fact that that Regulation calls upon national authorities to cooperate with each other is illustrated by a judgment of the ECJ relating to the cross-border placement of a child. Finally, a brief conclusion supports the contention that the ECJ does not give absolute priority to the mobility of judgments over the protection of fundamental rights. On the contrary, as the case law clearly reveals, the ECJ will never interpret the Brussels II bis Regulation against ‘the best interests of the child’.
Rytis Krasauskas. Application of Courts to the Constitutional Court as a Precondition for the Constitutionalisation of Labour Law
Abstract. The article analyses the relationship between the constitutional right (duty) of courts to apply to the Constitutional Court and the constitutionalisation of labour law. Attention is drawn to the fact that the official constitutional doctrine incorporates the unfolding of the aspects that are significant to both collective and individual labour law. It is showed that the application of legal acts comprising labour law exposes certain conflicts of the established legal regulation with the values consolidated in the Constitution and with legal reality, and makes it evident that the regulation of labour relations lacks legal certainty. The said facts induce the situation, where the evolution of constitutional values exerting direct influence on labour law is not sufficient, and where courts of general jurisdiction and specialised courts fail in the course of considering cases related to the protection of labour rights to make use, in an adequately effective manner, of their constitutional right to apply to the Constitutional Court.
Applications filed with the Constitutional Court by courts of general jurisdiction and specialised courts, as well as the subsequently adopted final acts of the Constitutional Court, are showed to embody the dialogue taking place within the boundaries of the national law system among courts and judges. Among other things, it is argued that the courts’ position, due to whatever reasons (inter alia, prolonged time limits of case consideration) not to apply to the Constitutional Court, when doubts arise with regard to the constitutionality of a legal act applied in the case being considered by them, has balanced on the verge of lawfulness, and that the judges adopting such a position face the risk of administering formal justice.
Taking a look at the practice of courts, the article examines the application of some explicitly consolidated norms of labour law, including the jurisprudential legal regulation of non-compete agreements and employment contracts concluded with heads of administration, which has become a classical part of the theory of labour law. The assumption is made that the jurisprudential legal regulation of non-compete agreements and employment contracts concluded with heads of administration, as legitimised in the case law of the Supreme Court of Lithuania, indicates that, in individual cases, in the practice of courts, a gap in a legal regulation is not only filled in in an ad hoc manner, but that the practice of courts may also produce a rather authentic system of rules of legal regulation, which, while taking account of the scope of such jurisprudential legal regulation, the duration of its validity, and its links with the limitation of certain constitutional labour rights, is hardly compatible with the constitutional requirement of legal certainty. It is noted that in the latter situations courts are made law-making subjects, first of all, through the inaction (insufficient action) of lawmaking subjects themselves.
Māris Onževs. The Restrictions of Retroactive Legislation: Conception and Legal Challenges
Abstract. The article analyses understanding of establishing restrictions on legislators’ discretion to pass retroactive legal norms, thereby protecting subjects of the legal norms from too intense impact in the past dimension. Evaluation of retroactivity as a restriction on legislators’ actions is related to the fact that nowadays increasingly often there are appearing cases, when legislator implements amendments, impacting events that have been commenced in the past or that are fully completed. At the same time, neither legislator oneself, nor subjects of legal norms are aware of the cases, when legislator might have been exceeded legislator’s rights to interfere with the past dimension. Therefore, to comprehend restrictions established on passing retroactive legal norms, the article views historical development, as well as actual understanding of conception of retroactive effect.
The article looks at several complex aspects, which until nowadays have been unclearly and superficially researched and, therefore, have influenced understanding of retroactivity. For example, the article justifies why a legislator, outside the penal law, does not have to comply with the absolute prohibition of retroactivity that exists mainly in the criminal law, on prohibition to punish without a law “nulla poena sine lege”. Namely, although the principle stipulates an absolute prohibition to pass retroactive legal norms and is considered an independent general principle of law, the principle applies only to amendments implemented in the penal law.
In addition, the article reveals methodological problems related to both recognition of retroactivity and identification of its legitimacy. As regards the abovementioned, the article concludes that existence of retroactivity shall be mainly identified in cases, when a legislator has not included it in the content of a legal norm, and, therefore, for purposes of identifying retroactivity, comparatively complex legal methods have to be applied. However, methods implemented in the legal doctrine are discrepant and often cannot ensure a precise opinion on existence of the retroactivity.
Even if retroactivity is identified correctly, there is no consistent understanding of cases, when retroactivity could be considered legitimate. Namely, exceptions to prohibition of retroactivity implemented in various legal systems are so wide and comprehensive that only a close supervision of the aims, of which the regulation was passed with a retroactive effect, it is possible to avoid groundless using of public interest to justify retroactivity.
Saulius Arlauskas, Remigijus Jokubauskas. The Principle of Good Faith in the Law of Obligations
Abstract. The authors pay attention to the principle of good faith, which has an exclusive place in the private law in foreign states and Lithuania. This principle takes its beginning in the Roman law and has paramount value in contemporaneous civil law. Obviously, asignificant role in defining the content of this principle is played by legal philosophy. Therefore, the article reveals the most important philosophic theories for an appropriate determination of the content of good faith. The abundance of foreign doctrinal practice and a long-termed usage give the evidence of importance and significance of its application. The principle of good faith is explicitly mentioned in a number of civil codes and is being used in judicial decisions. Although, this principle plays a crucial role in the legal practice in Lithuania: it is expessis verbis entrenched in the Civil Code of Lithuania and is frequently used by the courts. However, this common civil law principle has not been studied with an appropriate attention. The comprehension of good faith was analyzed by Rolandas Balčikonis in his dissertation “Fundamental breach on contract according to Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania” and in the Commentary of the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania. The principle has not been compared with the application of this principle in the foreign states. The contemporaneous problems of this subject show the fact that the content of this principle changes, according to the alterations of social relations. Moreover, the content of this principle has not been comprehensively defined and the analyses of the judicial practice always have a great importance.
Justinas Usonis, Asta Filimonenkova. Features of Functioning of the New Model of Labour Disputes in Lithuania
Abstract. The new model of hearing of individual labour disputes and implementation of its operation in practice is discussed in the paper. After reform, which came into effect on January 1st, 2013, hearings of individual labour disputes have been delegated to the specialised quasi-judicial institutions, which are set up under the territorial divisions of the State Labour Inspectorate of the Republic of Lithuania. The article examines problems arising in practice after the changes of the Labour Code. The analysis is supported with practices of State Labour Inspectorate and the Courts of the Republic of Lithuania in employment cases since January 1st, 2013. The most relevant questions, such as competences of commissions of labour disputes, problems of process of appeal and further prospects, are discussed.
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Egidija Puzinskaitė. Tax Calculation Using the Principle of Substance over Form
Abstract. With the help of systemic and legal analysis, historical, linguistic, logical document analysis and comparative methods and relying on national law, the works of Lithuanian scientists and legal professionals and tax dispute case analysis, this article, by applying the principle of substance over form, solves problems arising within the context of calculating tax. Using case law analysis as its basis, the article explores the taxpayer’s duty to calculate tax, provides recommendations for the application of a period of limitation for calculating taxes and identifies cases, where the burden of proof of correctness of tax calculation lies within the tax administrator and within the taxpayer. The article provides taxpayers guidelines about how to avoid tax violations. The jurisdiction of the High Administrative Court in the area of tax disputes, specifically in applying the principle of substance over form, is examined in detail.
The article consists of an introduction, three chapters (which are subsequently subdivided into subchapters) and conclusions. Chapter One explores the substance of the taxpayer’s duty to calculate taxes and it also includes one subchapter that analyses the application of a period of limitation for calculating and recalculating taxes. Chapter Two identifies which specific participants in tax and legal relations bear the burden of proof, namely when the burden of proof lies within the taxpayer and when it lies within the tax administrator. Chapter Three analyses the principle of substance over form. Chapter Four analyses the application of the principle of substance over form. The article ends with conclusions. The article has been prepared on the basis of the case law of the Lithuanian Supreme Administrative Court concerning the application of tax legislation. The aim of the study is to conclude that the principle of substance over form can be applied after assessing the subjective aim of the transaction, the economic content of the transaction, the selected legal form of the transaction and its adequacy for specific conditions, the justification or motive behind the transaction, and tax benefits. The most favourable explanation of the principle of substance over form for a taxpayer is provided in Belgium, where it is prohibited to use tax measures to interfere with the civil legal assessment of a transaction. When there is insufficient evidence to confirm the circumstances specified by either the taxpayer or the tax administrator, a resolution is adopted against the party that failed to provide proof of the circumstances. The following could be the basis for the application of substance over form in tax calculation: failed transactions based on issued accounting documents; intermediate or sham (optional) transactions; a short time interval between transactions in the common chain of transactions or plurality of transactions over a short period of time, when after the final transaction the original property owner continues to hold that property; a great difference between the actual value of the property (services) and the value of the transaction. Abuse of tax laws can be established only when a tax advantage was the main objective pursued by the underlying transactions and the taxpayer’s activities that cause the tax advantage cannot be justified either by economic logic, which is demonstrated by the pursuit of maximum profit at minimum cost, or by other circumstances. On the basis of the analysis of the tax-related cases of law of the European Court of Justice, it can be stated that in deciding the need of the application of substance over form, it is important to evaluate whether there is abuse of the law or fraud (participation in the fraud) in the existing taxation and legal relations and whether there is a concept of fairness. The taxable person can be refused a right of tax exemption if according to objective evidence can be established that transactions, from which that right derives, constitute an abuse of rights, the taxable person commits a fraud or if it can be proved that the taxable person (buyer) knew or should have known that by making his purchase he is participating in the transaction relating to a fraud made by a supplier or other party participating in this chain of transaction even if this transaction corresponds to the objective criteria, which form the concepts of the supply of goods or economic performed by the taxable person.
Eglė Kybartienė. Can the Communications Regulatory Authority of the Republic of Lithuania Be Recognized as a Court under Article 267 of the TFEU?
Abstract. The Republic of Lithuania counts the nine years of membership in the European Union. It is clear that Lithuanian courts, which are part of EU judicial system, and other institutions are facing the need to apply for a preliminary ruling.
The European Court of Justice gives a preliminary ruling only if the requesting authority can be recognized as a “court or tribunal” under Article 267 of the TFEU. Which Lithuanian authorities may seek for a preliminary ruling? To answer this question, it is necessary to look at the jurisprudence of the Court, because the Treaty does not provide any clear definition.
The first decision, in which the Court issued an opinion what is the national court and what criteria it must meet, was decision in the Vaassen – Goebbels case (in 1966).
The Court has defined five criteria, which may have been used to determine whether a body can be considered a “court”. These criteria are the following: whether the authority was established according to the law, is it permanent, whether it applies rules of law, is the jurisdiction of authority compulsory and using the procedure of inter partes. On the subsequent cases, the Court improved these criteria and added the others. On the judgment of Dorsch Consult case (in 1997), the Court decided the folowing: “to determine whether the institution applying for a preliminary ruling is corresponding “the court” status under Article 234 (now Article 267 – author’s note), one must be guided by the following criteria: institution must be established by legislation, has regular activities, the process of the dispute, similar legislation and must be independent”.
Each EU Member State, as well as Lithuania, has various state institutions dealing with legal disputes, one of these is the Lithuanian Communications Regulatory Authority. This institution meets the criteria provided by the Court, so it can be assumed that the institution can be treated as a “court” under Article 267. The author believes that the preliminary ruling procedure should be flexible, not only because of the increasing number of Member States, but also because of the growing need to ensure the uniform application and interpretation of EU law. National authorities should seek guidance from the Court, and more institutions should be able to apply to the Court for the preliminary ruling.
Mindaugas Kiškis. Novel Remedies for Intellectual Property Rights Infringement Online
Abstract. The paper explores the failure of traditional civil remedies, as well as newer “three strikes” and Internet filtering remedies, to tackle intellectual property rights infringement on the Internet. Although the “three strikes” and Internet filtering/blocking measures were introduced in response to inadequacy of traditional remedies, over the decade of practical applications they have not achieved significant success, as well.
Principal socio-legal reasons for such failures are reviewed and analyzed. Main reasons are found to be that traditional remedies and first generation new remedies are tailored to “offline” environment. Existing remedies are more suited to traditional legal interactions, where the parties are clearly identifiable and jurisdictional collisions are well defined. The way of action of existing remedies is inherently offline. They are ill adapted to the requirements of the online environment, such as difficulty to identify anonymous parties in multiplejurisdictions, and hence, high enforcement costs, as well as legal and technological complexity. It should be noted that online environment requires swift enforcement in view of the dynamic technological change. Based on this analysis, key features of the efficient online remedy design are identified.
In the second part of the paper, a case study of successful enforcement of trademark rights online is presented. Example of rare success in enforcing legal liability for infringement of intellectual property rights is the special remedy of domain name seizure and takeover, implemented through the alternative and online dispute resolution procedure – the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). Domain seizure/takeover remedy implemented through the existing UDRP system works at the supranational level and successfully operates as an online instrument dealing with trademark rights infringement in the domain names. The author considers expansion of this special remedy and the domain seizure through the UDRP to cover copyright and related rights infringement as a viable addition to the existing remedies for the rights holders to deal with the online infringements. The former (that is a special sanction of domain seizure and take-over) may be relatively easily adopted by the judiciary both as an interim measure and as a final remedy; however, this would address only part of the challenges that enforcement of intellectual property rights faces online. Only the combination of the special sanctions and the online dispute resolution mechanism, capable to enforce such sanctions, address most inadequacies of traditional offline remedies (especially high cost, slowness and complexity, competence of the dispute resolution authority, as well as risks of political and legal abuses). This may be achieved through expansion of the existing UDRP system; however, it may need an additional supranational legal framework.
The paper recognizes limitations of any rights enforcement instruments online, which are predefined by the nature of the online environment – its extraterritorial nature and span over jurisdictions, which may willingly tolerate infringement of intellectual property rights. These limitations would set the limits over the effectiveness of the novel remedies.
Nevertheless, the domain seizure and take-over sanction made available for other infringements of the intellectual property rights online (chiefly copyright and related rights infringement) and enforced through relatively easily expandable UDRP system would complement the existing offline remedies and would expand the enforcement instrumentary for the rights holders, thus, enabling marginalization of the most popular intellectual property rights infringements online.
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Jakub Harašta. Cyber Security in Young Democracies
Abstract. Totalitarian past is not the only tie bringing together Lithuania and the Czech Republic nowadays. Both countries are young democracies that underwent dynamic social, legal and political changes during the 90s to ensure transition toward becoming modern democratic states. Now, both countries are members of the European Union and NATO and they share common interest of the small European countries. However, the totalitarian past remains present and it has certain influence on recent issues arising from the current information society. Totalitarian regimes in both countries left some of the political approaches twisted beyond recognition and adversely affected the very core of the society and ways it approaches itself and the others.
The author of the paper is aiming to provide the comparison of Lithuania and the Czech Republic mainly within the field of the cybernetic security, but with certain overlaps to general theory of the information society and the continental legal tradition of distributive rights. In both countries, the cybernetic security presents a new and interesting challenge, because both countries can be perceived as rookies within this particular field.
In the first and the second parts, the author describes the very essence of the information society and the informational self-determination as the core principle arising from the information society. Then, in the third part, the author describes reminiscences of the totalitarian past, which could be understood mainly as a general opposition towards limitations of distributive rights, because the means of cyber security are vastly understood as the government trying to regulate the Internet. This is a rather sensitive topic, due to the totalitarian past of both countries. In the fourth part, the author describes the current stateof- art of the cyber security, mainly approaching the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany as countries well-established within the field of cyber security. Estonia, as another small state, is also taken into consideration, providing their very mature legislation and approach toward the cyber security that may act as a role model for Lithuania and the Czech Republic. Part of the paper is also reserved for the comparison between approaches of Lithuania and the Czech Republic, because despite being part of the EU/NATO political background and target of the currently proposed cyber security Directive, there are still differences present due to the national character of the cyber security.
This contribution is not intended to be exhaustive and overwhelming source of answers, but rather as the approach to the future while taking into consideration both the present and the past.
Main findings could be summarised in the following way: (1) the legislation in Lithuania and the Czech Republic is not as mature as it could be; (2) Lithuania approaches this issue rather more seriously compared to the Czech Republic, given the geographical proximity to Estonia and the 2008 cyber incident as evidenced, for example, by its participation within the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence; (3) public in both Lithuania and the Czech Republic seems to slowly understand the danger of the cyber insecurity, but it also approaches it carefully due to the totalitarian past; (4) cyber security in both countries is insufficient, but given the totalitarian past, the legislators should probably focus more on ensuring the cooperation of public and corporate/private sectors rather than imposing new legal obligations.
Giedrė Lastauskienė. Attorneyship: Its Contradictory Nature and Control
Abstract. This paper analyzes the status of attorneyship as one of the state-controlled legal professions. It should be noted that although the public recognizes the importance of lawyer’s assistance, in the cultural context lawyer is one of the most ridiculed and criticized legal professions. Such assessment of attorneyship depends on the controversial nature of this legal profession, i.e. first, the lawyer uses his profession to earn income for himself, his family and his business; second, the lawyer is obliged to unconditionally pursue his client’s interests to a widest extent possible; and third, the lawyer is one of those participating in the justice implementation and, as a result, is the subject to higher standards of behaviour, normally associated with both formal legal requirements and ethical requirements. The lawyer’s personal interest is mostly in line with his commitment to act exclusively for the benefit of the client, because protection of the client’s interests determines the lawyer’s reputation and income. However, obligations of the lawyer, as the justice implementation participant, often force the lawyer to act otherwise than they would normally act in order to benefit their client. At this date, the controversial nature of attorneyship in Lithuania has yet not reached the level of doctrinal debate; therefore, it is difficult to assess what theoretical models could be considered appropriate when solving this problem.
Such divergence leads to the demand that attorneyship would be controlled by external means. The general external control over attorneyship may be exercised by both lawyers’ professional association (the judicial control over attorneyship in a particular case is not addressed in this article). The paper provides points proving that attorneyship is Lithuania’s least state-controlled profession as compared to other similar professions, e.g. bailiff or notary. The Lithuanian Bar Association bears the primary responsibility for lawyers’ ethical performance. After assessing the published data on the Lithuanian Bar Association activities, it can be stated that the control provided is insufficient, often identifying and responding to formal violations, such as non-payment of contributions and failure to submit the public liability insurance policy. There is no evidence that the Lithuanian Bar Association has a clear position concerning the lawyers’ ethics and expresses it in such a way that no lawyer could question assessment of behaviour non-compliant with ethical principles.
Even more questions arise in the light of the latest trends. The Supreme Court of the Republic of Lithuania asked the European Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling in determining whether in certain cases the lawyer, providing legal services to an individual, should be recognized as a business person, his client as a consumer, and the legal aid contract as a consumer contract. At the same time, a legal prerequisite for the lawyer advertising has been created in Lithuania, which had been strictly prohibited until recently. There are grounds for believing that the lawyer will be viewed more as a business person than as a person involved in the justice implementation process. As a result, the extent of ethical requirements to the lawyer may change.
Viktoras Justickis, Gintautas Valickas, Dovilė Petkevičiūtė- Barysienė. Psychological Factors of Subjectivity in Judge’s Decisions
Abstract. The paper focuses upon cognitive-psychological phenomena leading judge’s decision making. According to general law presumptions, the judge tries the case in the most possible objective and rational way, considering all necessary data and law and in this way providing the only best decision.
During the last four decades, psychological studies have given a good basis to cast these presumptions in doubt. It has been shown that the judge often takes his decisions using not exact, but intuitive decision algorithms (heuristics) and uses only a part of all data that would have been indispensable for a really perfect decision. Especially important is demonstration of a hidden way, in which such intuitive decision algorithms work. Such an algorithm functions without any control of consciousness and acts in a spontaneous way. This makes them a channel for judge’s uncontrolled subjectivity and brings diversity of judge’s decisions in identical cases.
The paper reviews the main stages of the trial and discusses intuitive decision algorithms used on each of them. Their impact on judge’s decisions is discussed, as well.
The principal intuitive decision algorithms used by judges have been discussed. The most important ones, most often and deeply affecting judge’s decisions are conformation bias, availability and anchoring algorithms.
The impact of the use of these algorithms upon decisions of judges is demonstrated. The main consequences of the use of discussed intuitive decision algorithms are diversity of the ways and outcomes in decisions of different judges in identical situations. The analysis of psychological experiments carried out in different countries has shown that the effect of this factor on judging is considerable, which violates one of the most important legal principles – principle of uniformity, demanding similar decisions in similar cases.
Especially, an important discovery is the dependence of the relative frequency of the use of intuitive algorithms on different psychological states of the judge’s mind, especially his mood.
Based upon related publications, it is shown that the methods should be sought that could support judges in making more objective decisions and preventing them from any unwanted impact of heuristics algorithms.
The obstacles and problems in arranging such a support are discussed in the paper.
The most important of this seems to be the unconscious functioning of the intuitive algorithms – their impact is often of covered nature and any judge’s attempt to realize them meets problems.
This explains failure of attempts to support judges by simple information on intuitive algorithms and their impact upon judge’s decisions.
Darius Pranka. The Problematics of Distinction Between Crime and Administrative Offence: Offences Related to Disposal of Narcotic or Psychotropic Substances
Abstract. The main problem of the article is how to separate Article 259 Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania and Article 44 Part 1 of the Administrative Offences Code of the Republic of Lithuania. In spite of the fact that this problem appeared in the doctrine of criminal law and in courts’ practice quiet long time ago, it should be admitted that till now it has not been solved. This is the cause why this problem is topical. In author’s opinion, the topicality is bigger in the context of times, when the courts’ practice has changed. The article gives approval to this courts’ practice, which is different of earlier, when the main focus was concentrated on Article 9 of the Administrative Offences Code, which gives priority to criminal liability. After the analysis of the latest court’s decisions, it can be concluded that formal rules could not determine that crime or administrative offence was committed, but the biggest attention must be deflected to dangerousness of the offence. Every time there is a need to determine that crime or administrative offence was committed, a lot of various criteria must be analyzed, which describe the dangerousness of the offence: the amount and kind of drugs or psychoactive substances, the consequences of committing an offence, the place, purpose, intensity, duration and motivation of the acts. In spite of the large number of such criteria, according to the author’s opinion, the main attention should be given to the amount and kind of drugs or psychoactive substances. Other features should not have a significant value. However, the problematical situation has not been solved, although it became better than before.
The next chapter of the article is focused on the most significant criteria that could have the greatest influence on the legislator while deciding to criminalize a certain act. Sustaining these criteria, the author doubts the criminalization of Article 259 Part 2 of the Criminal Code. According to these features, only two alternative acts of this Article are analyzed – “keeping” and “obtaining”, but it is noted that other acts could be assessed in the same way. Therefore, the author proposes decriminalize this crime and put this offence to the Administrative Offences Code. The author notes that there are some others ways to solve this problem, but, according to the author, this way is the best.
The article is finished with the findings. It is suggested to pay an appropriate attention to dangerousness of an offence, when delimitating offences is needed. Also, a proposal is given to legislator concerned with the decriminalization of Article 259 Part 2 of the Criminal Code.
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Jolanta Zajančkauskienė. Actual Issues on Judicial Practice in Criminal Proceedings in Respect of Offences Comitted by Legal Persons
Abstract. The article focuses on some examples of appeal and cassation instance courts’ judicial practice (2008-2013) in criminal proceedings in respect of offences committed by legal persons. In the beginning, actual judicial practices that can help in explaining the conditions for prosecution of a legal person under the Article 2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania are presented. Further, the accents on defining the legal person‘s foul (mea culpa) are described. In the end of the article, there are some problematic issues in the criminal proceedings in respect of offences committed by legal persons discussed, i.e. representation of a legal person who is prosecuted and application of temporary procedural coercive measures.
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