"The author intends to present legal socialization - the concept of the sociology of law - which describes attitudes to norms, law and law enforcement institutions. For law to be effective, any individual in a given community needs to internalize a number of values and attitudes. The attitude to law will influence its application; its effectiveness will depend on the perspective adopted by the legal norm addressees who could either accept binding regulations or ignore them. An adequate legal policy helps construe legal norms in a manner to prevent costs of interventions which need to be taken when law is not convergent with social expectations." (author's abstract)
Summary When Lithuania joined the European Union on 1 May 2004, the law of European Communities became an integral part of law of the Republic of Lithuania. While the system of criminal law sources is expanding, whereby one legal norm complements or replaces another or there is a competition between them, objective and subjective reasons which cause the occurrence of potential judicial errors tend to arise. In this respect, the official doctrines of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania and the formation of uniform judicial practice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Lithuania become increasingly important. The aim of the present thesis is to review in principle the established system of criminal law sources in a systematic manner by expanding it with new forms of kinds of legal sources, presenting the concept of the EU acquis and certain peculiarities of co-operation between courts and the police in the European Union, inter alia the paper reveals: 1) the semantic importance of the use of legal terminology and criteria for distinguishing sources of legal norms and sources of legal thought; 2) specifics of criminal law sources of the Republic of Lithuania and ideas reflected in them during various stages of the evolution of the state and legal sources and priorities of changed protected legal values in the new Criminal Code of the Rpulic of Lithuania; 3) subornation and correlation of standard sources of criminal law; 4) the content of different forms of criminal law sources and relationship with others sources, examples of judicial practice, potential problems and their solutions, the significance of alternative legal sources and their relation to criminal law through the logical structure of criminal law norm as well as examples when sources of other branches of law become ad hoc and criminal law sources; 5) concrete examples aimed at proving the application of generally accepted principles in criminal law and their constitutionalised recognition as Lithuanian criminal law sources; 6) the issue of independence of courts, the significance of recognition of court judgements and official doctrine as criminal law sources in the context of enforcing justice by emphasising the growing importance of the Constitutional Court in the negative and positive legislation process; 7) attention is paid to active participation of criminal law scholars by amending, supplementing or repealing norms of criminal law sources in the processes of criminalisation and decriminalisation, penalisation and depenalisation in order to avoid chaotic criminal law source replacement procedures initiated by the legislator. The conclusions formulated at the end of this thesis reflect the key aspects of results achieved during this study
Summary When Lithuania joined the European Union on 1 May 2004, the law of European Communities became an integral part of law of the Republic of Lithuania. While the system of criminal law sources is expanding, whereby one legal norm complements or replaces another or there is a competition between them, objective and subjective reasons which cause the occurrence of potential judicial errors tend to arise. In this respect, the official doctrines of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania and the formation of uniform judicial practice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Lithuania become increasingly important. The aim of the present thesis is to review in principle the established system of criminal law sources in a systematic manner by expanding it with new forms of kinds of legal sources, presenting the concept of the EU acquis and certain peculiarities of co-operation between courts and the police in the European Union, inter alia the paper reveals: 1) the semantic importance of the use of legal terminology and criteria for distinguishing sources of legal norms and sources of legal thought; 2) specifics of criminal law sources of the Republic of Lithuania and ideas reflected in them during various stages of the evolution of the state and legal sources and priorities of changed protected legal values in the new Criminal Code of the Rpulic of Lithuania; 3) subornation and correlation of standard sources of criminal law; 4) the content of different forms of criminal law sources and relationship with others sources, examples of judicial practice, potential problems and their solutions, the significance of alternative legal sources and their relation to criminal law through the logical structure of criminal law norm as well as examples when sources of other branches of law become ad hoc and criminal law sources; 5) concrete examples aimed at proving the application of generally accepted principles in criminal law and their constitutionalised recognition as Lithuanian criminal law sources; 6) the issue of independence of courts, the significance of recognition of court judgements and official doctrine as criminal law sources in the context of enforcing justice by emphasising the growing importance of the Constitutional Court in the negative and positive legislation process; 7) attention is paid to active participation of criminal law scholars by amending, supplementing or repealing norms of criminal law sources in the processes of criminalisation and decriminalisation, penalisation and depenalisation in order to avoid chaotic criminal law source replacement procedures initiated by the legislator. The conclusions formulated at the end of this thesis reflect the key aspects of results achieved during this study
In this work the author aspires to fully explore the importance of European Union law for the national criminal law. This is done by taking a closer look at the European Union law and how it is incorporated into national law. Author is analyzing different types of European Union legal acts and how they directly influence national and national criminal law. The first part of this paper is dedicated to the European Union legal acts types, their adoption procedures and how they influence Lithuanian legal system. It is analyzed how European Union law is influencing national legislation and the author mentions some aspects that should be taken into consideration when national law is being harmonized with European Union law requirements. In the second part of the work a direct look is taken at the primary and secondary European Union legal acts influence for the national criminal law system. Moreover, it is analyzed how European Union law is incorporated into national law and what influence it has. Finally, some of international conventions are reviewed, precisely the ones that have influence for national criminal law formation. In the final part of the paper particular institutes of national criminal law are examined. These are the institutes that are highly influenced by European Union legal acts, such as liability of natural an legal persons, stages in the commission of crime, aiding and abetting. The author analyses how European Union legal acts regarding the mentioned institutes are implemented in national criminal law. Besides, one of the most important European Union legal cooperation institutes is examined – the European Union arrest order. Its pros and cons are compared to previously adopted extradition mechanism.
In this work the author aspires to fully explore the importance of European Union law for the national criminal law. This is done by taking a closer look at the European Union law and how it is incorporated into national law. Author is analyzing different types of European Union legal acts and how they directly influence national and national criminal law. The first part of this paper is dedicated to the European Union legal acts types, their adoption procedures and how they influence Lithuanian legal system. It is analyzed how European Union law is influencing national legislation and the author mentions some aspects that should be taken into consideration when national law is being harmonized with European Union law requirements. In the second part of the work a direct look is taken at the primary and secondary European Union legal acts influence for the national criminal law system. Moreover, it is analyzed how European Union law is incorporated into national law and what influence it has. Finally, some of international conventions are reviewed, precisely the ones that have influence for national criminal law formation. In the final part of the paper particular institutes of national criminal law are examined. These are the institutes that are highly influenced by European Union legal acts, such as liability of natural an legal persons, stages in the commission of crime, aiding and abetting. The author analyses how European Union legal acts regarding the mentioned institutes are implemented in national criminal law. Besides, one of the most important European Union legal cooperation institutes is examined – the European Union arrest order. Its pros and cons are compared to previously adopted extradition mechanism.
Analysis of this Master's Paper is developed in three directions: firstly, the author summarized the issues of the international and national criminal law. Attention is drawn to the place of the international treaties in the Lithuanian law, focusing on the national criminal law implications of such treaties; attempting to determine the possibility of direct application of the treaties in the criminal law. The author concludes that international treaties regulating the matters that are relevant to criminal justice should be transferred to national laws. The second part of the Paper analyses the significance of the treaties on the protection of universal human rights and freedoms, such as the Universal Charter on Human Rights, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECPHRFF) and of the conventions adopted by the United Nations Organization in general, to the criminal law of Lithuania. The author does not aim at defining the importance of the particular rules of law to the national criminal law, and distinguishes instead the trends of the national criminal law implications. Analyzing the ECPHRFF, the author emphasizes the special character of this international treaty also drawing attention to the problem of interaction between the blanket dispositions constructed in the Lithuanian criminal law and the principle of nullum crimen sine lege guaranteed by the Convention. The Master's Paper concludes that implementation of the international legal acts guaranteeing the protection of personal rights in terms of criminal law of Lithuania is being implemented with sufficient accuracy. In the final part of the Master's Paper the relevance of the European Union (EU) law with regard to the national criminal law is summarized. In the first instance the author draws attention to the issue of relevance of the primary EU law to the national criminal law, which practically has not been analyzed by the Lithuanian scientists. Analyzing separate types of the secondary legislation passed by the EU authorities, in the first instance the features of each legal act – regulation, directive, decision, framework decision, general actions, recommendations, opinions, guidelines and conventions – are distinguished. The author aims at disclosing the manner in which the features of each secondary legal act of the EU influence the national criminal law. Also, the possibilities of the direct application of regulations, directives and decisions in the national law are elaborate. The author concludes that it is the secondary legislation by means of which the criminal law of the Member States is being approximated, whereas appropriate implementation of the secondary legislation of the EU, as a rule, requires corrections of the criminal law.
Analysis of this Master's Paper is developed in three directions: firstly, the author summarized the issues of the international and national criminal law. Attention is drawn to the place of the international treaties in the Lithuanian law, focusing on the national criminal law implications of such treaties; attempting to determine the possibility of direct application of the treaties in the criminal law. The author concludes that international treaties regulating the matters that are relevant to criminal justice should be transferred to national laws. The second part of the Paper analyses the significance of the treaties on the protection of universal human rights and freedoms, such as the Universal Charter on Human Rights, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECPHRFF) and of the conventions adopted by the United Nations Organization in general, to the criminal law of Lithuania. The author does not aim at defining the importance of the particular rules of law to the national criminal law, and distinguishes instead the trends of the national criminal law implications. Analyzing the ECPHRFF, the author emphasizes the special character of this international treaty also drawing attention to the problem of interaction between the blanket dispositions constructed in the Lithuanian criminal law and the principle of nullum crimen sine lege guaranteed by the Convention. The Master's Paper concludes that implementation of the international legal acts guaranteeing the protection of personal rights in terms of criminal law of Lithuania is being implemented with sufficient accuracy. In the final part of the Master's Paper the relevance of the European Union (EU) law with regard to the national criminal law is summarized. In the first instance the author draws attention to the issue of relevance of the primary EU law to the national criminal law, which practically has not been analyzed by the Lithuanian scientists. Analyzing separate types of the secondary legislation passed by the EU authorities, in the first instance the features of each legal act – regulation, directive, decision, framework decision, general actions, recommendations, opinions, guidelines and conventions – are distinguished. The author aims at disclosing the manner in which the features of each secondary legal act of the EU influence the national criminal law. Also, the possibilities of the direct application of regulations, directives and decisions in the national law are elaborate. The author concludes that it is the secondary legislation by means of which the criminal law of the Member States is being approximated, whereas appropriate implementation of the secondary legislation of the EU, as a rule, requires corrections of the criminal law.
Analysis of this Master's Paper is developed in three directions: firstly, the author summarized the issues of the international and national criminal law. Attention is drawn to the place of the international treaties in the Lithuanian law, focusing on the national criminal law implications of such treaties; attempting to determine the possibility of direct application of the treaties in the criminal law. The author concludes that international treaties regulating the matters that are relevant to criminal justice should be transferred to national laws. The second part of the Paper analyses the significance of the treaties on the protection of universal human rights and freedoms, such as the Universal Charter on Human Rights, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECPHRFF) and of the conventions adopted by the United Nations Organization in general, to the criminal law of Lithuania. The author does not aim at defining the importance of the particular rules of law to the national criminal law, and distinguishes instead the trends of the national criminal law implications. Analyzing the ECPHRFF, the author emphasizes the special character of this international treaty also drawing attention to the problem of interaction between the blanket dispositions constructed in the Lithuanian criminal law and the principle of nullum crimen sine lege guaranteed by the Convention. The Master's Paper concludes that implementation of the international legal acts guaranteeing the protection of personal rights in terms of criminal law of Lithuania is being implemented with sufficient accuracy. In the final part of the Master's Paper the relevance of the European Union (EU) law with regard to the national criminal law is summarized. In the first instance the author draws attention to the issue of relevance of the primary EU law to the national criminal law, which practically has not been analyzed by the Lithuanian scientists. Analyzing separate types of the secondary legislation passed by the EU authorities, in the first instance the features of each legal act – regulation, directive, decision, framework decision, general actions, recommendations, opinions, guidelines and conventions – are distinguished. The author aims at disclosing the manner in which the features of each secondary legal act of the EU influence the national criminal law. Also, the possibilities of the direct application of regulations, directives and decisions in the national law are elaborate. The author concludes that it is the secondary legislation by means of which the criminal law of the Member States is being approximated, whereas appropriate implementation of the secondary legislation of the EU, as a rule, requires corrections of the criminal law.
Analysis of this Master's Paper is developed in three directions: firstly, the author summarized the issues of the international and national criminal law. Attention is drawn to the place of the international treaties in the Lithuanian law, focusing on the national criminal law implications of such treaties; attempting to determine the possibility of direct application of the treaties in the criminal law. The author concludes that international treaties regulating the matters that are relevant to criminal justice should be transferred to national laws. The second part of the Paper analyses the significance of the treaties on the protection of universal human rights and freedoms, such as the Universal Charter on Human Rights, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECPHRFF) and of the conventions adopted by the United Nations Organization in general, to the criminal law of Lithuania. The author does not aim at defining the importance of the particular rules of law to the national criminal law, and distinguishes instead the trends of the national criminal law implications. Analyzing the ECPHRFF, the author emphasizes the special character of this international treaty also drawing attention to the problem of interaction between the blanket dispositions constructed in the Lithuanian criminal law and the principle of nullum crimen sine lege guaranteed by the Convention. The Master's Paper concludes that implementation of the international legal acts guaranteeing the protection of personal rights in terms of criminal law of Lithuania is being implemented with sufficient accuracy. In the final part of the Master's Paper the relevance of the European Union (EU) law with regard to the national criminal law is summarized. In the first instance the author draws attention to the issue of relevance of the primary EU law to the national criminal law, which practically has not been analyzed by the Lithuanian scientists. Analyzing separate types of the secondary legislation passed by the EU authorities, in the first instance the features of each legal act – regulation, directive, decision, framework decision, general actions, recommendations, opinions, guidelines and conventions – are distinguished. The author aims at disclosing the manner in which the features of each secondary legal act of the EU influence the national criminal law. Also, the possibilities of the direct application of regulations, directives and decisions in the national law are elaborate. The author concludes that it is the secondary legislation by means of which the criminal law of the Member States is being approximated, whereas appropriate implementation of the secondary legislation of the EU, as a rule, requires corrections of the criminal law.
The biggest concern for the Lithuanian national criminal and criminal procedure law is the definition of features of certain crimes and minimal terms of imprisonment for certain crimes in EU legislation, as well as withdrawal of the rule of ne bis in idem in international legal assistance in criminal matters.
The biggest concern for the Lithuanian national criminal and criminal procedure law is the definition of features of certain crimes and minimal terms of imprisonment for certain crimes in EU legislation, as well as withdrawal of the rule of ne bis in idem in international legal assistance in criminal matters.
The biggest concern for the Lithuanian national criminal and criminal procedure law is the definition of features of certain crimes and minimal terms of imprisonment for certain crimes in EU legislation, as well as withdrawal of the rule of ne bis in idem in international legal assistance in criminal matters.
The biggest concern for the Lithuanian national criminal and criminal procedure law is the definition of features of certain crimes and minimal terms of imprisonment for certain crimes in EU legislation, as well as withdrawal of the rule of ne bis in idem in international legal assistance in criminal matters.
Research problem In the present doctoral dissertation, the problematic issues of the institute of multiple offences are analysed. Multiple offences as an institute of criminal law is characterised as involving the problems of both the qualification of criminal offences and the individualisation of criminal liability. The problems of the qualification of criminal offences are relevant, when questions of the separation of single criminal acts from multiple offences are dealt with. When the existence of multiple offences is established, it is necessary to move on to the consideration of another problem—the individualisation of criminal liability. The individualisation of criminal liability depends on the form of multiple offences. Therefore, for the formation of a uniform case-law, homogeneous and clear criteria for the differentiation of the forms of multiple offences and their separation form each other are essential. When the forms of multiple offences are defined, it is necessary to evaluate their impact on the criminal liability of the person who committed the criminal act. Of course, the key influence on criminal liability manifests through the rules of the combination of sentences; however, one should not forget other topical issues (such as sentence suspension, release from a custodial sentence on parole and the replacement of the term not served of the custodial sentence with a more lenient penalty, statute of limitations of a judgement of conviction, etc.) the solution of which in one way or another depends on the existence of multiple offences. Moreover, sometimes it is necessary to deal with the problems of the separation of multiple offences from other similar institutes of criminal law (repeat offence, competition between the norms of criminal law). Therefore, a number of such issues constitute the problem of the present research. The implementation of the principle of legal justice depends on appropriate and unvaried solution of these issues. Topicality, originality and significance of the research Multiple offences is a rather frequent phenomenon in the Lithuanian case-law; often persons are judged for several rather than single criminal acts. However, the criminal law jurisprudence still lacks a uniform attitude towards the issues regarding multiple offences. First, there exist different definitions of the notion of multiple offences itself, different forms of multiple offences are distinguished and their interpretations change, the criteria for the separation of single criminal acts from multiple offences vary (they often depend on the type of the criminal act committed). Special attention should be paid to the process of the individualisation of criminal liability in cases of multiple offences. In the case-law, the fact that prosecutors more and more often lodge appeals against the decisions of lower instances about improper combination of sentences is observed. In the case-law, the process of the combination of sentences has become 'forgotten', as often sentences are combined only formally (by adding 3–6 months of imprisonment) without any motivations regarding the choice of the additional sentence imposed. Moreover, after the entering into force of the new Criminal Code on 1 May 2003, due to the changes in case-law and the entrenchment of new ideas in the criminal law jurisprudence, it became crucial to revise the old and well-established provisions regarding multiple offences. Thus, even if the issues of multiple offences have been analysed for a rather long time, in the present dissertation, a new approach of the author as well as of other researchers to the institute of multiple offences is presented together with general considerations (and critical evaluations) on the newly developing case-law. Furthermore, with reference to the fact that the majority of the issues regarding multiple offences (except for the imposition of sentences) are not regulated by the Criminal Code and the decision-making is left for the case-law and the criminal law jurisprudence, the present paper may have great practical significance for the constantly changing and developing Lithuanian case-law in terms of the peculiarities of multiple offences. The aim and the tasks of the research The aim of the present doctoral dissertation is to develop a uniform attitude (corresponding to the needs of the theory of criminal law and the relevant case-law) towards the institute of multiple offences and the solution of problems related to it by generalising the experience and achievements of science and case-law. The tasks of the doctoral dissertation: 1) to define the notion of the institute of multiple offences and its elements by separating it from other similar institutes of criminal law (repeat offence, competition between the norms of criminal law); 2) to develop uniform (by generalising and concretising the existing ones or by suggesting new ones) criteria for the separation of single criminal acts from multiple offences; 3) to review the existing variety of the forms of multiple offences found in the criminal law jurisprudence and distinguish the ones which would correspond to the needs of the Lithuanian case-law as well as define them by distinguishing and describing their characteristics and developing clear and uniform criteria for their separation form each other; 4) to identify the key problems related to the influence of multiple offences on the individualisation of criminal liability as well as to suggest the most appropriate ways of solving these problems; 5) to provide suggestions for the legislator and the courts regarding the development of the institute of multiple offences and the ways of solving the problems related to it. Propositions to be defended 1) Multiple offences must be related not to the fact of committing several criminal acts but to the legal evaluation of this fact—prosecution for committing several criminal acts. 2) Repeat offence should not be considered as an independent form of multiple offences and should be evaluated from the perspective of the perpetrator's personality. 3) In case-law, the separation of single criminal acts from multiple offences is often casuistic (depends on a particular category of cases), having no clear and well-established criteria and thus violating the principle of legal justice. 4) The key attributes of single criminal acts are a violation of a direct value or the whole of values protected under a specific norm of the Criminal Code as well as a united content of guilt. 5) The case-law of the recent years, which broadens the perception of the ideal coincidence of criminal acts, forms an incoherent and exceptions-based case-law. 6) In the cases of multiple offences, the rules for sentence imposition restrict the freedom of courts and disturb the appropriate individualisation of sentences; therefore, it is crucial to improve the laws. 7) In case-law, the process of the combination of sentences is 'forgotten' and often does not properly reflect the gravity of all the criminal acts committed; therefore, changes in laws orienting courts towards the case-law appropriate from the perspective of criminal policy are a must. Research methodology For the present doctoral dissertation, various methods of scientific research were applied: logical, comparative, historical, linguistic, systemic, method of criticism, document analysis, etc. Firstly, the logical method and the method of criticism were rather widely applied in the present dissertation. The logical method was applied for making generalisations and conclusions aiming at the development of the institute of multiple offences. The method of criticism was also applied: the author criticised case-law, opinions of scholars, the lack of argumentation for such opinions, etc. The logical method and the method of criticism allowed making the final conclusions and forming suggestions regarding the changes of law and the development of case-law. A lot of attention was paid to the method of comparative analysis. It was applied for the comparison of scientific conceptions and different opinions of scholars. In order to gain experience, the laws and case-law of different foreign countries were analysed and compared. The application of the historical method allowed revealing the drawbacks of the former laws and case-law (under the Criminal Code of 1961) as well as reviewing the origin of the institute of multiple offences and the history of certain terms. The linguistic method was applied for the analysis of the denominations of the forms of multiple offences (ideal and real coincidence of criminal acts) and the consideration of their ability to convey the actual meaning. A different variant of these terms, which linguistically better corresponds to the meaning of the forms of multiple offences, was suggested. For the present research, the systemic method was applied as well. It allowed revealing the structure of the institute of multiple offences, its elements, their interrelation and the place in the system of the bases for criminal liability. By applying this method, the drawbacks of certain notions as well as the use of excessive elements were identified. The main method applied for the research was the method of document analysis. As even the case-law of the Supreme Court of Lithuania contains rather numerous incongruities and contradictions, namely the rulings, decisions and summary reviews of the case-law of this court passed during the term of the Criminal Codes of 1961 as well as of 2003 being in force were chosen as the key source. However, the scope of analysis was not limited to the case-law of the Supreme Court of Lithuania. The case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, the Court of Appeal of Lithuania, the Vilnius and Panevežys Regional Courts as well as the District Court of Šiauliai Region was analysed. Structure and review of the doctoral dissertation, main conclusions The dissertation is c
