Domestic implementation of international criminal law
Republic of Lithuania
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Crimes Crime of Aggression
The crime of aggression is provided for under Chapter XV ("Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes"), Article 110 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania:
"Article 110. Aggression
Additionally, Lithuania ratified the Kampala amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court on the crime of aggression on 07 December 2015. See:
Any person who causes an aggression against another state or is in command thereof shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of ten up to twenty years or by life imprisonment."
Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania. Law No VIII-1968 of 26 September 2000. (As last amended on 11 February 2010 - No XI-677). [ENG] Crimes Against Humanity
Crimes against Humanity are provided for under Chapter XV ("Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes"), Article 100 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania:
"Article 100. Treatment of Persons Prohibited under International Law
See:
A person who intentionally, by carrying out or supporting the policy of the State or an organisation, attacks civilians on a large scale or in a systematic way and commits their killing or causes serious impairment to their health; inflicts on them such conditions of life as bring about their death; engages in trafficking in human beings; commits deportation of the population; tortures, rapes, involves in sexual slavery, forces to engage in prostitution, forcibly inseminates or sterilises; persecutes any group or community of persons for political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, sexual or other reasons prohibited under international law; detains, arrests or otherwise deprives them of liberty, where such a deprivation of liberty is not recognised, or fails to report the fate or whereabouts of the persons; carries out the policy of apartheid
shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of five up to twenty years or by life imprisonment."
Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania. Law No VIII-1968 of 26 September 2000. (As last amended on 11 February 2010 - No XI-677). [ENG] Genocide
Genocide is provided for under Chapter XV ("Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes"), Article 99 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania:
"Article 99. Genocide
See:
A person who, seeking to physically destroy, in whole or in part, the persons belonging to any national, ethnic, racial, religious, social or political group, organises, is in charge of or participates in their killing, torturing, causing bodily harm to them, hindering their mental development, their deportation or otherwise inflicting on them the conditions of life bringing about the death of all or a part of them, restricts the birth of the persons belonging to those groups or forcibly transfers their children to other groups
shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of five up to twenty years or by life imprisonment."
Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania. Law No VIII-1968 of 26 September 2000. (As last amended on 11 February 2010 - No XI-677). [ENG]
Constitutional Court Ruling on the Compliance of Certain Provisions of the Criminal Code Related to Criminal Liability for Genocide with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania
Ruling No. KT11-N4/2014, Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania, Vilnius, 18 March 2014. [ENG]War Crimes
War crimes are provided for under Chapter XV ("Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes"), Articles 101-109 and 111-113 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania. See:
Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania. Law No VIII-1968 of 26 September 2000. (As last amended on 11 February 2010 - No XI-677). [ENG]
Jurisdiction and non-application of statute of limitations Jurisdiction:
The jurisdictional regime of the Criminal Law of the Republic of Lithuania is provided for under Articles 4-8 of its Criminal Code. More particularly, criminal liability for crimes committed abroad is set out in the following Articles:"Article 5. Criminal Liability of Citizens of the Republic of Lithuania and Other Permanent Residents of Lithuania for the Crimes Committed Abroad
Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations:
Citizens of the Republic of Lithuania and other permanent residents of Lithuania shall be held liable for the crimes committed abroad under this Code."
"Article 7. Criminal Liability for the Crimes Provided for in Treaties
Persons shall be liable under this Code regardless of their citizenship and place of residence, also of the place of commission of a crime and whether the act committed is subject to punishment under laws of the place of commission of the crime where they commit the following crimes subject to liability under treaties:1) crimes against humanity and war crimes (Articles 99-113);
2) trafficking in human beings (Article 147);
3) purchase or sale of a child (Article 157);
4) production, storage or handling of counterfeit currency or securities (Article 213);
5) money or property laundering (Article 216);
6) act of terrorism (Article 250);
7) hijacking of an aircraft, ship or fixed platform on a continental shelf (Article 251);
8) hostage taking (Article 252);
9) unlawful handling of nuclear or radioactive materials or other sources of ionising radiation (Articles 256, 256(1) and 257);
10) the crimes related to possession of narcotic or psychotropic, toxic or highly active substances (Articles 259-269);
11) crimes against the environment (Articles 270, 270(1), 271, 272, 274)."
"Article 8. Criminal Liability for the Crimes Committed Abroad
1. A person who has committed abroad the crimes provided for in Articles 5 and 6 of this Code shall be held criminally liable only where the committed act is recognised as a crime and is punishable under the criminal code of the state of the place of commission of the crime and the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania. Where a person who has committed a crime abroad is prosecuted in the Republic of Lithuania, but a different penalty is provided for this crime in each country, the person shall be subject to a penalty according to laws of the Republic of Lithuania, however it may not exceed the maximum limit of penalty specified in the criminal laws of the state of the place of commission of the crime.
2. A person who has committed the crimes provided for in Articles 5, 6, and 7 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania shall not be held liable under this Code where he:1) has served the sentence imposed by a foreign court;
2) has been released from serving the entire or a part of the sentence imposed by a foreign court;
3) has been acquitted or released from criminal liability or punishment by a foreign court's judgement, or no penalty has been imposed by reason of the statute of limitation or on other legal grounds provided for in that state."
Article 95.5 of the Criminal Code of Lithuania states:"Article 95. Statute of Limitations of a Judgement of Conviction [...]
Retroactivity:
5. The following crimes provided for in this Code shall have no statute of limitations:1) genocide (Article 99);
2) treatment of persons prohibited under international law (Article 100);
3) killing of the persons protected under international humanitarian law (Article 101);
4) deportation of civilians of an occupied state or transfer of the civilian population of an occupying state (Article 102);
5) causing bodily harm to, torture or other inhuman treatment of the persons protected under international humanitarian law (Article 103);
6) violation of norms of international humanitarian law concerning protection of civilians and their property in time of war (Article 104);
7) forcible use of civilians or prisoners of war in the armed forces of the enemy (Article 105);
8) destruction of protected objects or plunder of national valuable properties (Article 106);
9) aggression (Article 110);
10) prohibited military attack (Article 111);
11) use of prohibited means of warfare (Article 112)."
Article 3.3 of the Criminal Code of Lithuania states:"Article 3. Term of Validity of a Criminal Law [...]
See:
3. A criminal law establishing the criminality of an act, imposing a more severe penalty upon or otherwise aggravating legal circumstances of the person who has committed the criminal act shall have no retroactive effect. The provisions of this Code establishing liability for genocide (Article 99), treatment of persons prohibited under international law (Article 100), killing of persons protected under international humanitarian law (Article 101), deportation of the civil population of an occupied state (Article 102), causing bodily harm to, torture or other inhuman treatment of persons protected under international humanitarian law (Article 103), forcible use of civilians or prisoners of war in the armed forces of the enemy (Article 105) and prohibited military attack (Article 111) shall constitute an exception."
Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania. Law No VIII-1968 of 26 September 2000. (As last amended on 11 February 2010 - No XI-677). [ENG]
International Criminal Court
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: The Republic of Lithuania signed the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court on 10 December 1998 and deposited its instrument of ratification on 12 May 2003.
Upon ratification the Republic of Lithuania made the following notification under article 87 (1) and (2) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court:"AND WHEREAS, it is provided in paragraph 1 of Article 87, the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania declares that requests of the International Criminal Court for cooperation may be transmitted directly to the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania or to the Prosecutor's General Office of the Republic of Lithuania;
The Republic of Lithuania ratified the Kampala amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court on the crime of aggression on 07 December 2015.AND WHEREAS, it is provided in paragraph 2 of Article 87, the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania declares that requests of the International Criminal Court for cooperation and any documents supporting the request shall be presented either in Lithuanian language, which is State Language of the Republic of Lithuania, or in English language, which is one of the working languages of the International Criminal Court, or be accompanied by a translation either into Lithuanian language or in English language;..."
Constitutional Court Ruling on the Compliance of Certain Provisions of the Criminal Code Related to Criminal Liability for Genocide with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania
Ruling No. KT11-N4/2014, Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania, Vilnius, 18 March 2014. [ENG]
The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania. (Adopted in the Referendum of 25 October 1992)
Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania . [ENG]. [Last accessed 21Nov17]. [External Link]
The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania. (1992 with Amendments through 2006).
Comparative Constitutions Project, University of Texas at Austin. [ENG]. [Last accessed 21Nov17]. [External Link to pdf document]
Criminal Procedure Code, of March 14, 2002, Law No. IX-785 (Last amended on December 23, 2010, by Law No XI-1264)
World Intellectual Property Organization. [ENG]. [Last accessed 21Nov17]. [External Link]
Valstybes žinios (Official Gazette). (Legal acts from 1993 onwards)
[LIT]. [Interface available in English]. [Last accessed 21Nov17]. [External Link]
Lithuanian law online. (Full text of Lithuanian laws in English).
Office of the Seimas. [ENG]. [Last accessed 21Nov17]. [External Link]
List of International Humanitarian Law Treaties to which Lithuania is a State party
International Committee of the Red Cross. [ENG]. [Last accessed 21Nov17]. [External Link]