Lithuanian Law on Legal Status of Aliens of 2004 in View of Refugee Protection
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Abstract
On 29 April 2004 the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania adopted a new version of the Law on Legal Status of Aliens (further – the Aliens’ Law), thereby creating a unified legal regime regulating the status of foreigners in the country. This legal regime encompasses all groups of foreigners entering or staying in Lithuania, including asylum seekers and refugees. The new Aliens’ Law included provisions of previously applied Law on Status of Refugees in the Republic of Lithuania and the Law on Legal Status of Aliens of 1998.
This article analyses the main aspects of legal reform concerning the legal status of foreigners in Lithuania and its possible impact on ensuring refugee protection in the country. The author limits the analysis in the article to those provisions that are likely to cause difficulties while implementing Lithuania’s international obligations or European Union legal acts on asylum. Among the main problematic provisions of the Aliens’ Law, the article analyses detention of asylum seekers and their accommodation pending examination of the claim, as well as integration of refugees; implementation of the right to family reunification, withdrawal of a temporary residence permit and complementary protection on grounds of national security and public order; procedure for examining manifestly unfounded claims and for application of a safe country of origin notion.
Given that one year following the enforcement of the Aliens’ Law might be a bit too short time to assess the impact and value of legal regulation reform in refugee field, the author focuses on evaluation of the Aliens’ law in a view of international law (the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, as well as the 1950 European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) and the EU law (adopted following the Amsterdam Treaty of 1997) provisions and its implementation. The article concludes with recommendations for improvement of Aliens’ Law. In authors opinion, the article will be useful not only for familiarisation purposes for students or refugee law practitioners, but will draw attention to the remaining imperfections in the Aliens’ Law.
This article analyses the main aspects of legal reform concerning the legal status of foreigners in Lithuania and its possible impact on ensuring refugee protection in the country. The author limits the analysis in the article to those provisions that are likely to cause difficulties while implementing Lithuania’s international obligations or European Union legal acts on asylum. Among the main problematic provisions of the Aliens’ Law, the article analyses detention of asylum seekers and their accommodation pending examination of the claim, as well as integration of refugees; implementation of the right to family reunification, withdrawal of a temporary residence permit and complementary protection on grounds of national security and public order; procedure for examining manifestly unfounded claims and for application of a safe country of origin notion.
Given that one year following the enforcement of the Aliens’ Law might be a bit too short time to assess the impact and value of legal regulation reform in refugee field, the author focuses on evaluation of the Aliens’ law in a view of international law (the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, as well as the 1950 European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) and the EU law (adopted following the Amsterdam Treaty of 1997) provisions and its implementation. The article concludes with recommendations for improvement of Aliens’ Law. In authors opinion, the article will be useful not only for familiarisation purposes for students or refugee law practitioners, but will draw attention to the remaining imperfections in the Aliens’ Law.
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Please see Copyright and Licence Agreement for further details.
