NCJ Number
187197
Date Published
2000
Length
58 pages
Annotation
This report describes the criminal justice system of Lithuania and presents statistics on crime and criminal justice in that country.
Abstract
The minimum age of criminal responsibility in Lithuania is 14 years old. Perpetrators ages 14- to 16-years-old are held liable under criminal laws only for certain intentional acts. People reach full criminal responsibility at 16 years old. Criminal codes are complex due to the country’s frequent occupation, annexation, and reinstatement of independence, as well as the impacts of these events on legislation. The Constitution adopted in 1992 established the court system and the principles of judicial independence and impartiality. The Penal Code classifies crimes into serious crimes and other crimes. An investigator, prosecutor, or judge initiates criminal proceedings. The trial phase has an accusatorial nature. The country has a unified and centralized prosecution system. The court system has four levels. The law distinguishes between principal and additional punishments. The principal punishments are life imprisonment, imprisonment, correctional work, and fines. Additional punishments include confiscation of property, fines, and deprivation of the right to a certain job or to perform certain duties. First-time offenders sentenced to correctional work or imprisonment may receive suspended sentences. Working groups formed by the government are currently drafting reforms in the Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Code of the Execution of Punishments. The amount of reported crime in Lithuania doubled and the number of serious crimes increased five-fold between 1990 and 1997. However, extensions of the list of serious crimes often inflate the numbers of serious crimes. Property crimes account for about 80 percent of the total reported crimes. Tables and 25 references