Lithuania

International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children

Updated August 2017

Lithuania

National Child Protection Legislation

National Legislation

Age of Consent

The national age of legal sexual consent to 16 years of age, as specified in Article 151 of the

Lithuanian Criminal Code

Age of Criminal Responsibility

A person who is 16 years old that commits a crime is liable under Article 13 of the Lithuanian

Criminal Code. A person who is 14 years old may be held criminally responsible for murder,

impairment to health, sexual harassment, robbery, rape, theft, property extortion, seizure of

firearms or explosives, destruction of property, illegal possession of narcotics, or damage to

roads and vehicles is liable under Article 13 of the Lithuanian Criminal Code

Age of Marriage

The legal age of marriage in Lithuania is 18 years of age. There is a possibility for those below

18 to legally be married, upon request and approval by the courts, but the lowest age for a

request to be submitted is 15 years of age. The only exception to being married below 15 years

of age is when a girl becomes pregnant, which then allows for marriage between the father

and the mother of the child. See Article 3.14 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania

Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania 2000 (as amended 2010)

Extraterritoriality

 Article 4. Validity of a Criminal Law in Respect of the Persons who have Committed Criminal

Acts within the Territory of the State of Lithuania or Onboard the Ships or Aircrafts Flying the

Flag or Displaying Marks of Registry of the State of Lithuania

1. The persons who have committed criminal acts within the territory of the state of

Lithuania or onboard the ships or aircrafts flying the flag or displaying marks of registry

of the State of Lithuania shall be held liable under this Code.

2. The place of commission of a criminal act shall be the place in which a person acted

or ought to have acted or could have acted or the place in which the consequences

provided for by a criminal law occurred. The place of commission of a criminal act by

accomplices shall be the place in which the criminal act was committed or, if one of

the accomplices acted elsewhere, the place where he acted.

3. A single criminal act committed both in the territory of the State of Lithuania and

abroad shall be considered to have been committed in the territory of the Republic of

Lithuania if it was commenced or completed or discontinued in this territory.

4. The issue of criminal liability of the persons who enjoy immunity from criminal

jurisdiction under international legal norms and commit a criminal act in the territory

of the Republic of Lithuania shall be decided in accordance with treaties of the

Republic of Lithuania and this Code.

 Article 5. Criminal Liability of Citizens of the Republic of Lithuania and Other Permanent

Residents of Lithuania for the Crimes Committed Abroad

Citizens of the Republic of Lithuania and other permanent residents of Lithuania shall be held

liable for the crimes committed abroad under this Code.

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Updated August 2017

 Article 6. Criminal Liability of Aliens for the Crimes Committed Abroad against the State of

Lithuania

The aliens who do not have a permanent residence in the Republic of Lithuania shall be liable

under a criminal law where they commit crimes abroad against the State of Lithuania as

provided for in Articles 114-128 of this Code.

 Article 7. Criminal Liability for the Crimes Provided for in Treaties

Persons shall be liable under this Code regardless of their citizenship and place of residence,

also of the place of commission of a crime and whether the act committed is subject to

punishment under laws of the place of commission of the crime where they commit the

following crimes subject to liability under treaties: 1) crimes against humanity and war crimes

(Articles 99-113); 2) trafficking in human beings (Article 147); 3) purchase or sale of a child

(Article 157); ….

 Article 8. Criminal Liability for the Crimes Committed Abroad

1. A person who has committed abroad the crimes provided for in Articles 5 and 6 of

this Code shall be held criminally liable only where the committed act is recognised as

a crime and is punishable under the criminal code of the state of the place of

commission of the crime and the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania. Where a

person who has committed a crime abroad is prosecuted in the Republic of Lithuania,

but a different penalty is provided for this crime in each country, the person shall be

subject to a penalty according to laws of the Republic of Lithuania, however it may not

exceed the maximum limit of penalty specified in the criminal laws of the state of the

place of commission of the crime.

2. A person who has committed the crimes provided for in Articles 5, 6, and 7 of the

Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania shall not be held liable under this Code

where he: 1) has served the sentence imposed by a foreign court; 2) has been released

from serving the entire or a part of the sentence imposed by a foreign court; 3) has

been acquitted or released from criminal liability or punishment by a foreign court’s

judgement, or no penalty has been imposed by reason of the statute of limitation or on

other legal grounds provided for in that state.

 Article 9. Extradition

o 1. A citizen of the Republic of Lithuania who has committed a criminal act in the

Republic of Lithuania or in the territory of another state may be extradited to the foreign

state or surrendered to the International Criminal Court solely in accordance with a

treaty to which the Republic of Lithuania is party or a resolution of the United Nations

Security Council.

 Article 149 states that intercourse with a person against their will through the use of physical

violence, the threat of using force, or by taking advantage of someone in a helpless state

deprives a person of their liberty and is considered rape.

 Article 150 states that a person who fulfills their sexual desire through any form of sexual

intercourse by the use or threat of physical violence, depriving someone of the ability to resist,

or taking advantage of someone in a helpless state is considered sexual assault. Those who

commit sexual assault can be imprisoned for up to seven years. Those who commit sexual

assault in a group can serve a term up to eight years. Those who sexually assault a minor face

anywhere between 3-13 years of imprisonment.

 Article 151 states that a person who uses or threatens to use physical force or violence, or

uses verbal threats to induce someone to have sexual intercourse with them has committed

sexual abuse and is liable to be arrested or serve a prison term of up to three years. A person

who sexually abuses a minor face a prison term of up to five years.

 Article 151

(1)

states that a person who has sexual intercourse with a minor by bribing them

with money or other forms of consideration, promising an award or gift of some type, or sexually

assaults, abuses, or rapes the minor is considered to have violated a minor’s freedom of sexual

International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children

Updated August 2017

determination and can be punished with a fine, arrest, or imprisonment up to three years. If

these acts are committed by family members including mothers, fathers, legal guardians,

teachers, or anyone with legal authority to a minor is susceptible to a fine, arrest, or a prison

term up to four years.

 Article 152 States that a person who desires sexual satisfaction or contact with a co-worker or

subordinate by harassing them in the work space or making crude and vulgar remarks or

gestures is considered to have committed the misdemeanor of sexual harassment and can be

punished through a fine or arrest.

 Article 153 states that a person who sexually molests children is subject to being fined,

arrested, or serving a prison term of two years.

 Article 156 States that a person who abducts a child or exchanges (swapping) that child may

be penalized with arrest or imprisonment with a sentence of up to 8 years. If the person who

abducts the child is the mother, father, or of close family relation they are able to be punished

through community service, fining, arrest, or a prison sentence of up to two years.

 Article 157 states that a person who tries to purchase or sell a child through trafficking, or

assists in transporting, luring, or holding the child captive in order to involve that child in

prostitution or to gain profit through prostitution or pornographic images or videos, or for labour

purposes is susceptible to a prison sentence anywhere between 3-12 years. If the person

commits any of the above acts involving two or more children through a group is susceptible

to a prison sentence anywhere between 5-15 years.

 Article 158 states that parents, legal guardians, or anyone in watch of a child who purposefully

deserts them and leaves them without care is capable of being susceptible to punishment by

community service, arrest, or a prison sentence of up to two years.

 Article 159 states that try bribing, asking, threatening, deceiving, or trying to involve a child in

a criminal act are susceptible to punishment by being fined, arrested or sentenced to a prison

term of up to three years.

 Article 160 states that it is illegal for guardians, parents, or authoritative figures in a child’s life

to involve a child in using medicine for means other than those that are for medical treatment

and those who do so are susceptible to fines, arrest, or a prison sentence of up to three years.

 Article 161 states that a person who involves a child or children in the consumption of alcohol

is susceptible to a punishment of community service, a fine, arrest, or a prison sentence of up

to 2 years. The person responsible for providing the alcohol or intoxicated that child has

committed a misdemeanour and is susceptible to community service, fine, or arrest.

 Article 162 states that a person who exploits a child for pornographic events or exploits that

child by producing pornographic material or gains a monetary profit off of the pornographic

exploitation is susceptible to a fine, arrest, or a prison sentence of up to five years.

 Article 163 states that a person who physically or mentally abuses a child, leaves the child

unsupervised for a long duration, or treats the child in a way which would be deemed cruel and

unusual is susceptible to a fine, arrest, or a prison sentence of up to five years.

 Article 164 states that a person who tries to avoid any decisions that a court has made in

regard to the care of a child, which include the paying of child care or any other forms of support

to a child, is susceptible to punishment by community service, arrest, or a prison.

Other important laws:

 Law on Fundamentals of Protection of the Rights of the Child

 Decree of the Minister of Interior on Register of Wanted Persons, Missing Persons,

Unrecognised bodies and Unknown Helpless Persons, 20/6/2006, No. 1V-232

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Updated August 2017

 Law amending the Title of Chapter Six of the Law on the Implementation of the European Union

and International Legal Acts Regulating Civil Proceedings No. X-1809 and Supplementing this

Law with Articles 12

and 12

-- 11 December 2014 No XII-1413 (implementation of Hague

Abduction Convention)

 Specification of the Procedure for Granting Authorisation to a Child Placed in Institutional

Custody (Care) for Temporary Stay

The Order No. A1-559 of 28 December 2011 of the Minister of Social Security and Labour of

the Republic of Lithuania

 Annex 1–5 to the Specification of the Procedure for Granting Authorisation to a Child for

Temporary Stay

 Specification of the Pre-trial Procedure Regarding the Adoption of Special Needs Children

Eligible for Adoption

The Order No. A1-32 of 1 February 2007 of the Minister of Social Security and Labour of the

Republic of Lithuania

 Amendments to the Order of the Minister of Social Security and Labor of the Republic of

Lithuania No. A1-162 “Re: Approval of the Description of Procedure for Authorizing the

Institutions of Foreign States to Act in Pursuance of Intercountry Adoption in the Republic of

Lithuania“ of 3 June 2005 (As last amended on 10 January 2012)

 On the Amendment to the Order No. A1-162 of 3 June 2005 of the Minister of Social Security

and Labour of the Republic of Lithuania “On the Approval of the Specification of the

Procedure for Granting Authorization to Foreign Institutions in Respect of Inter-Country

Adoption in the Republic of Lithuania”

 The Order on the Approval of the Specification of the Procedure for Granting Authorization to

Foreign Institutions in Respect of Inter-Country Adoption in the Republic of Lithuania

 The Procedure for Registry of Adoption

 The Regulations of the State Rights Protection and Adoption Service