NETEISĖTAS INFORMACIJOS APIE ASMENS PRIVATŲ GYVENIMĄ RINKIMAS KAIP NUSIKALSTAMA VEIKA: AR AIŠKUS KRIMINALIZACIJOS TURINYS?

Abstract

This article examines a provision in the Lithuanian Criminal Code that criminalizes the unauthorized collection of information about a person’s private life. The author highlights the issue of legal ambiguity surrounding key elements of this offense, specifically 
the subject-matter and act, which leads to inconsistent court practices in such cases. This ambiguity creates a risk of artificially criminalizing minor interpersonal conflicts, deviating from the true purpose of the law – protecting individuals’ private lives from the most serious threats. Furthermore, the legal uncertainty inherent in the norm may also lead to the opposite outcome, where genuinely dangerous methods of collecting private information cannot be effectively prosecuted due to difficulties in establishing their illegality. The article also reviews similar laws in several European countries and proposes ways to clarify the scope of this offense, ensuring it aligns with fundamental principles of criminal law.
Keywords: private life of a person, inlawful collection of information about a person’s private life, dangerousness of a criminal act, principle of legal certainty.