Aspects of Contact of Administrative and Criminal Justice in Lithuania
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Abstract
Following the establishment of administrative courts in 1999, the lawmaker trusted upon the administrative courts the adjudication of cases, which were quite different in character: according to the Lithuanian laws, administrative courts settle cases over law in the sphere of public and local administration, as well as cases concerning the lawfulness of normative acts, and administrative offences. The proceedings in all of these cases are regulated by a single Law on Administrative Proceedings of the Republic of Lithuania, which provides only few peculiarities for the hearings of cases of different categories.
It is obvious that the legal nature of the mentioned cases is very different. The proceedings, concerning the application of administrative sanctions, have especially distinctive features.
Although acts in respect of which administrative responsibility is established are not considered to be crimes according to the Lithuanian national laws, in the scope of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) they are in many cases associated with the criminal indictment of a person. Questions of incrimination sometimes also arise in cases, which are resolved according to the rules of resolution of disputes with the public administration.
The identification of such cases is especially important because if the criminal nature of the case is determined, an obligation is vested on the state to ensure the observance of the rights of a person being indicted, established by the ECHR and the national laws.
The relation between the administrative responsibility and criminal responsibility remains a problematic issue in Lithuania. Whereas such kinds of responsibility often arise in respect of similar acts, and national laws establish the preconditions for one kind of responsibility to convert to the other, it is important to guarantee that a person is not prosecuted and punished for the same offence twice. Categories of cases heard by the administrative courts, problems of the identification of such cases and the implementation of particular principles in different categories of administrative cases are analyzed. By referring to examples of judicial practice, the authors offer the criteria, according to which an indictment of criminal nature could be established in an administrative case. The most recent jurisprudence of the Lithuanian administrative courts is discussed, which is related to the application of the principle ne bis in idem, where, after stating the absence of guilt in a criminal case, the mentioned case is consigned to be heard in the course of administrative proceedings.
It is obvious that the legal nature of the mentioned cases is very different. The proceedings, concerning the application of administrative sanctions, have especially distinctive features.
Although acts in respect of which administrative responsibility is established are not considered to be crimes according to the Lithuanian national laws, in the scope of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) they are in many cases associated with the criminal indictment of a person. Questions of incrimination sometimes also arise in cases, which are resolved according to the rules of resolution of disputes with the public administration.
The identification of such cases is especially important because if the criminal nature of the case is determined, an obligation is vested on the state to ensure the observance of the rights of a person being indicted, established by the ECHR and the national laws.
The relation between the administrative responsibility and criminal responsibility remains a problematic issue in Lithuania. Whereas such kinds of responsibility often arise in respect of similar acts, and national laws establish the preconditions for one kind of responsibility to convert to the other, it is important to guarantee that a person is not prosecuted and punished for the same offence twice. Categories of cases heard by the administrative courts, problems of the identification of such cases and the implementation of particular principles in different categories of administrative cases are analyzed. By referring to examples of judicial practice, the authors offer the criteria, according to which an indictment of criminal nature could be established in an administrative case. The most recent jurisprudence of the Lithuanian administrative courts is discussed, which is related to the application of the principle ne bis in idem, where, after stating the absence of guilt in a criminal case, the mentioned case is consigned to be heard in the course of administrative proceedings.
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