Implementation of the Legal System Rules in the Field of Public Security
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Abstract
Since 1998, a reorganisation of internal regiments of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania (referred to as regiments) has been going on in Lithuania. First two stages of the reorganisation have passed without major discussions or problems: regiments no longer use draftsmen of national mandatory military service, the function of supervision of detention facilities has been commissioned to the Prisons Department under the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania. Such a reform necessitated changes in the organisational structure, resource management and functions, which should have been culminated in creation of specialised police forces subordinated to the Minister of the Interior.
The article discusses the issues pertaining to legal status and reorganisation of the regiments.
Since the creation of regiments, legal regulation of activities and service was noted for its complexity and lack of coherent, logic legal basis. The quality of regulation of activities and service in the regiments has changed once the Statute of Internal Service was adopted. However, in the Statute, regiments were not listed in the system of interior, and the problem of legitimacy of regiments arose. Since regiments were not listed as agencies of interior, their status, place in the system and legal basis were unclear. Such situation should be treated as a negative one from the perspective of legitimate expectations mad legal certainty. Officers of the regiments have to work in such an uncertainty, their legal status is unclear as there are the applicable social guarantees.
The article discusses two possible options for reorganisation: reforming the regiments into special police forces or into an agency under the Ministry. The latter is suggested since problematic outcomes could be avoided, which would arise should they be reformed into special police forces: 1) reforming regiments into special police forces would run against the Code of Punishment which regulates the institutional framework of agencies ensuring the execution of punishments (convoy, riot control); 2) an option to support armed forces in case of war would be lost; 3) it would not be ensured that there are mobile response forces ready to act and support other law enforcement authorities for restoration of public order and support in emergency situations (riots in prisons; during mass events; wide fires; floods, etc.); 4) damage would be done to the image of the police as an institution protecting human rights and freedoms, providing assistance to persons who suffered from criminal acts and other law infringements, ensuring supervision of traffic, etc.; 5) Lithuania does not have long-running democratic traditions, therefore it should not be purposeful to concentrate special forces in “same hands”. It is suggested that the reform of the regiments should be decided by the Government together with the Ministry of the Interior, taking into account the opinion of the management of the regiments.
The article discusses the issues pertaining to legal status and reorganisation of the regiments.
Since the creation of regiments, legal regulation of activities and service was noted for its complexity and lack of coherent, logic legal basis. The quality of regulation of activities and service in the regiments has changed once the Statute of Internal Service was adopted. However, in the Statute, regiments were not listed in the system of interior, and the problem of legitimacy of regiments arose. Since regiments were not listed as agencies of interior, their status, place in the system and legal basis were unclear. Such situation should be treated as a negative one from the perspective of legitimate expectations mad legal certainty. Officers of the regiments have to work in such an uncertainty, their legal status is unclear as there are the applicable social guarantees.
The article discusses two possible options for reorganisation: reforming the regiments into special police forces or into an agency under the Ministry. The latter is suggested since problematic outcomes could be avoided, which would arise should they be reformed into special police forces: 1) reforming regiments into special police forces would run against the Code of Punishment which regulates the institutional framework of agencies ensuring the execution of punishments (convoy, riot control); 2) an option to support armed forces in case of war would be lost; 3) it would not be ensured that there are mobile response forces ready to act and support other law enforcement authorities for restoration of public order and support in emergency situations (riots in prisons; during mass events; wide fires; floods, etc.); 4) damage would be done to the image of the police as an institution protecting human rights and freedoms, providing assistance to persons who suffered from criminal acts and other law infringements, ensuring supervision of traffic, etc.; 5) Lithuania does not have long-running democratic traditions, therefore it should not be purposeful to concentrate special forces in “same hands”. It is suggested that the reform of the regiments should be decided by the Government together with the Ministry of the Interior, taking into account the opinion of the management of the regiments.
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Please see Copyright and Licence Agreement for further details.
