Criminal proceedings

If you were the victim of a crime, it is very important that you report it to the authorities. If you do so, it is more likely that the person who committed the crime will be caught, held responsible and prevented from doing the same thing again, to you or to others.

Most of crimes are to be investigated even when victims do no report them to police. However the laws provide that pre-trial investigation of certain crimes and criminal infringements can only be started when victims themselves apply to police.

Furthermore, it may be necessary to have reported the crime to be able to claim your rights to insurance or compensation, for example.

There is no duty established by laws to report every crime you happen to know. It is also no general duty to report to authorities every crime you have suffered yourself. It is your right, and not your duty, to report the crime you have suffered. However, it is different when talking about grave crimes (murders, severe health impairments, rapes and sexual assaults of young children, and some others). If you fail to report about a grave crime that you know about, you would be considered to commit a crime yourself, even you are the one who has suffered the damage through the crime not reported.

However please note that even when the crime you have suffered was not a grave one, you would help yourself and others by reporting it. In many cases report of a victim is the only way for law enforcement agencies to find out that the crime has been committed. Thus if you decide not to report, you will lose a legal opportunity to get the damage you’ve suffered to be compensated. Moreover, if you do not report and let the culprit get away with his or her crime, it can mean providing him or her with an opportunity to hurt somebody else. So please think carefully about reporting all the crimes you have suffered or got to know about.

Reporting the crime to the authorities is also important for the purposes of crime statistics and general prevention or even for holding specific activities in certain cases and places to promote safety.

If you would like to talk to someone before making your decision, victim support services are available to provide information and advice.

There are several reasons why you might be unwilling to report a crime:

“It wasn’t important”.
Even a minor crime can be distressing and upsetting. The authorities know this and will take your complaint seriously.

“It’s embarrassing”.
You may be ashamed to report the crime. This often happens in cases of sexual or domestic violence. Authorities should deal with these situations sensitively and not judge you. Whatever your gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality or ethnicity, being a victim of crime can be traumatic.

“The authorities don’t care”.
The authorities have many cases and may not deal with yours as quickly as you would expect, but they will give it the proper attention. They may not always be able to identify or catch the person responsible for the crime, but their duty is always to try.

“It’s over and it hasn’t affected me”.
If the crime has not had much impact on you, all the better. Some people are able to cope well with these difficult situations and act almost as if nothing had happened, even when a serious crime was committed against them. Nevertheless, if you don’t report the crime, the authorities will not be able to try to catch the person who committed the crime and he/she might do it again. You should consider the fact that the next victim might not be as able as you are to overcome the effects of the crime.

“I’m worried about what will happen next”.
It’s normal to feel nervous about having to go to the police, make a statement and then go to court to testify, but don’t forget that help is available to you throughout the entire process.

Whatever you decide to do, you are entitled to support. Even if you don’t report the crime against you, it is very important that you talk to someone about what happened and how you feel, and that you receive all the help you need.

You can file your complaint or report on the crime you have suffered (as well as on any other crime that you know about) with any of the following entities:
- the General Prosecutor’s Office, district prosecutor’s offices or their units (the list and contact details of them could be found here);
- the Police Department under the Ministry of the Interior, county and district police headquarters (the list and contact details of them could be found here);
- in some specific cases you can also report harms suffered to other pre-trial investigation bodies, such as State Border Guard Service under the Ministry of the Interior, Special Investigation Service of the Republic of Lithuania, Financial Crime Investigation Service under the Ministry of the Interior, and some others.

Each of these authorities has a duty to receive all the complaints and reports made to them. They are prohibited by law to decline a report submitted even in cases when a) the crime was not committed within their territorial area, or b) they lack competence to carry out pre-trial investigation in cases of specific crimes, or c) they consider that the process would be smoother if you apply to some other institution.

You can also notify the police about a criminal act to by phone 112 in cases of emergencies, by SMS or MMS by phone +370 614 34567 in cases when no imminent danger is present (however this number is not to be used for phone calls). However in these cases the police would not consider that you have formally submitted a report or complaint about a crime, and you would not acquire the specific rights, e.g. the right to be notified about the decisions taken whether to start pre-trial investigation and the right to appeal them.

Another option is to report crimes through the web page epolicija.lt. In this case the person reporting a crime has to fill a form provided online either by help of electronic means of identification, or anonymously. In case an electronic mean of identification has been used, the form is acknowledged to be a formal report to the police, and you shall be notified about the steps taken by the police in regard of the report. The same applies to reports submitted by email to address epolicija@policija.lt. Once again, you can either sign it with your electronic means of identification, or not. The reports submitted are not considered formal ones and do not provide you with the right to receive information on decisions taken and the right to appeal them (even if you provide all the details on your identity but do not sign it with the help of your electronic means of identification). On the other hand, if you wish to report a criminal act but are reluctant to reveal your identity, you may do so anonymously.

You can file a complaint or report even if you don’t know who committed the crime. It is for the authorities to then investigate and ascertain the identity of the offender. However, please note that the more factual details about the criminal act you provide, the higher are the chances that pre-trial investigation bodies will find the culprit and the evidence of his/her guilt. You should also note that false reports about crimes are crimes under the Criminal Code of Lithuania, however only in cases when these acts have been committed intentionally, i.e. when the person knows that certain facts have not taken place and still tells the police that certain crime has been committed.

It doesn’t have to be the victim that reports crimes and criminal infringements. Anyone who knows of the criminal act can do so and this is sufficient for pre-trial investigation bodies to initiate criminal proceedings, even if the victim doesn’t wish to press charges. However the Code of Criminal Procedure establishes some exceptions to this rule – investigation of some crimes are carried out only in case the victim or his/her legal representative submits a formal complaint, e.g. in cases of negligible bodily injuries, negligent non-aggravated bodily injuries, sexual harassments, non-aggravated rapes, minor thefts, minor frauds, minor property damages, and some other criminal acts. In the latter cases the complaint (unlike the report of the crime) may be withdrawn by the victim. The application to withdraw the complaint must be submitted to the authority responsible for the proceedings at that time, i.e. the prosecutor during the stage of pre-trial investigation or the judge during the trial.

It is best to notify pre-trial investigation bodies about the crime suffered directly after they have been committed, or, if you have noticed the harm later, directly after you find out that you have suffered from a criminal act. Reporting the crime in a timely manner would increase chances that the culprit and the evidence of his/her guilt will be found. However, the Criminal Code establishes long terms for reporting crimes, they depend on the gravity of criminal acts. For example, pre-trial investigation in regard of criminal infringements cannot be started only if more than 3 years have passed since the alleged infringement has been committed, while in case of homicides the corresponding term is 30 years.

Pre-trial investigation can end in two ways.

First, the prosecutor supervising the pre-trial investigation of your case can decide that evidence gathered is not sufficient to charge the person suspected in the case with the crime investigated and there are no chances to gather more evidence of his or her guilt. There can also be a situation when it stays unknown who could be suspected with the crime. In these cases the prosecutor decides to terminate the pre-trial investigation and shall notify you as the injured party about his or her decision. You have the right to appeal the decision to the senior prosecutor in 20 days after you are notified about it. In case the senior prosecutor upholds the decision, you have the right to appeal the decision to a judge of pre-trial investigation. Once again, you would have 20 days for the appeal. You have the right to appeal the decision of the pre-trial judge also. In the latter case you would have to apply to a court of a higher instance, however, would have only 7 days for the appeal. The Code of Criminal Procedure establishes that the injured parties have a right to access the data that the decision to terminate pre-trial investigation was based upon. Please consider that usually decisions of prosecutors to terminate pre-trial investigations are well grounded. Thus, when deciding to appeal it would be best to assure representation of your interests by a practicing lawyer or to consult a professional lawyer at least. Please also note that terminated pre-trial investigations can be renewed afterwards in case new substantial evidence emerge.

Second, the prosecutor can decide that there is enough evidence gathered to proceed with the case to the court. In this case the prosecutor writes a bill of indictment and lays formal charges against the culprit in it. You then have a right to access the whole file of the case, however only if you apply for it in writing. The prosecutor then either provides you with a copy of the file or sets a reasonable time-limit for you to review the file. After this step is taken the case goes to the court for trial.

There are two more options to close pre-trial investigation through simplified proceedings: the procedure of a penal order and a fast-track procedure. They are applied in cases when the circumstances of the crime are clear and there is enough evidence to prove the guilt of the defendant.

After receiving the case file, the judge (who is not necessarily the same judge as the examining judge) schedules the trial date and place. The court hearing shall take pace not later than 15 days after the bill of indictment has been forwarded to the court (in some exceptional cases this term can be prolonged up to 3 months).

It is only natural that most people get nervous and anxious when the day of the trial is coming. Taking part in the procedure when your sufferings and losses are discussed and evaluated by others is stressful. However, you can reduce the level of your stress if you take certain steps to prepare for the trial.

If you get the chance, go to the courtroom a few days before the trial so you become familiar with different areas, such as the courtroom and the witness waiting room and, if possible, attend another trial or at least part of it.

On the day of the trial, you are likely to meet the defendant and his or her friends and relatives. You should prepare for this possibility by planning in advance what you should do: trying to keep away from them, not reacting to any provocation, applying for the help of the court staff. Please note that usually the police are not present at court hearings.

At the trial you will be asked questions by the judge, the Public Prosecutor, the defense lawyer, and your own lawyer, if you have one. It is natural that you will be asked to provide as much detail as possible, because the more information the court has, the better its decision will be. What the judge expects you to do is to tell the court what happened in your own words. Therefore, before the trial, you should try to arrange in your mind all the information you think it is important to transmit to the court. You could also take some notes with you, such as the dates of the most relevant facts. It is normal that you will not remember some details, especially if some time has gone by since the day of the crime. In these cases, don’t be afraid to admit that you do not remember something. The laws consider it to be a crime to provide false statements at the court proceedings, i.e., everyone may be punished for not telling the truth when knowing that he or she is lying. But nobody can blame you neither legally nor in any other way for not remembering something. Thus, do not be afraid of situations when you have no answers to the questions asked.

Don’t forget that if you were the victim of a crime, attending the trial can play an important part in your recovery. Criminal behavior is neither accepted nor tolerated by society and the trial plays a key role in conveying this message: those who break the law must be held responsible and suffer the consequences.

Finally, expenses that you will suffer to be present at the trial shall be covered by the court. You should submit a written application for compensation of the expenses to the court where the hearing takes place and should add all the supporting documents (travel tickets, parking tickets, etc.).

You will be summoned to the court hearing either by a formal letter or the court staff can contact you by phone, e-mail, or other means of communication. Please note that, in case you are summoned by a formal letter, you can suffer a penalty for not being present at the place and time indicated in the letter. A fine can be imposed upon you for not being present at the hearing without a reasoned excuse. The court may even order the police to detain you and bring you to court.

Usually, the need to be present at your workplace, or having some other important tasks on the day of the court hearing do not count as an excuse. However, if you see that there are no chances to get to the hearing at the date indicated, do your best to contact and inform the court in advance. If you have received a formal letter, there are always phone numbers for contacting the court staff indicated, so you should call them immediately when you see obstacles for participation.

Please also note that in case you are not present at the court hearing, the judge or judges can decide to have the hearing even without you when it is clear that your absence does not obstruct proper examination of all circumstances of the case and does not preclude guaranteeing your interests. If the court decides this way you would have no legal chance to appeal such a decision, even if the reasons for you to be absent were serious and justified. Of course, you would not lose the right to appeal the judgment passed, however it is always better to exploit all the rights to protect your interests provided by the laws.

If you have received a formal letter to attend a trial, you must go to the place stated on the date indicated. Do plan your trip to the court in advance by getting information about its exact location and estimating the travel time. Please note that most of district courts have premises even in different towns (called “palaces of district courts”). Thus if your case is to be heard by a district court, you should check even more carefully the address the trial will take place. However, it would be an exceptional situation if a formal letter would not indicate the exact address and even room number where you case will be heard.

Trials are almost always open to the public, that is, anyone can go into the courtroom and attend the hearing. There are a few exceptions, however, such as in cases where a defendant or an injured party (victim) is a juvenile, cases involving sexual crimes, and other cases where there are needs to have hearings closed to the public in order to guarantee special protection needs of the injured parties (victims) and witnesses, or to protect disclosure of data on private lives of the injured parties (victims), defendants, or other persons involved in the case. You also have a right to ask the court for a decision to have the hearing or a part of the hearing closed to the public in case you can provide reasons for such a decision. Please note that the laws establish that injured parties are entitled to have an accompanying person even in hearings closed to the public.

The trial hearings in district courts are presided over by the judge, however in some exceptional cases the chairman of the district court can form a panel of three judges for the case. The trial hearings in regional courts are heard by panels of three judges, one of them acting as a presiding judge.

The other people present at the trial are:

• the prosecutor
• the defendant and the defense lawyer
• the injured party (victim) and his or her lawyer
• the civil parties
• the witnesses
• the specialists and experts
• the secretary of the court hearing
• the interpreter.

The laws establish a general rule that every case shall be heard in one hearing. However, it is natural that many cases are difficult enough to be heard in one day. In these cases a schedule of the hearing, indicating all the breaks to be made, is usually set before the start of the trial procedure. A break can last for several days or even weeks, however not longer than a month. The laws require courts to avoid any unnecessary breaks. However sometimes even hearings planned cannot be held, e.g., when a defendant or a witness that has to give important testimony do not come to the hearing. In these cases breaks in hearings are made or a hearing can even be postponed. In the latter case when a hearing is renewed it shall start anew, i.e. all the previous questionings, testimonies, examination of documents and other evidence shall be repeated.

Absence of the injured party can also be a ground to postpone hearing or to make a break in it, however not necessarily – the laws establish that the hearing can be held even when the injured party (victim) is absent, if the court decides that his or her absence does not preclude comprehensive examination of all the circumstances of the case and protection of the interests of the injured party.

Please note, that the laws do not set any limits on the duration of the whole trial procedure, however establish a general rule that every court shall seek to examine every case in the shortest time possible.

There is a general rule that all audio and video recordings at the hearings are prohibited. However injured parties (victims), their representatives, and other participants of the case are allowed to make audio (not video) recordings. If you wish to make an audio recording, you shall notify the judge or the president of the panel of judges about that in advance. You can be prohibited to make audio recordings however if the judge decides that it would obstruct the hearing. Please note that you are not allowed to share the recordings made with anyone.

The trial starts by the judge or the panel of judges entering the room where the hearing takes place. The laws require every person present in the room to stand up when the judge or the panel of judges are entering (the same rule applies at the time when the judge or panel of judges are leaving the room). After that, the judge formally informs what case will be heard and asks the secretary of the court hearing to indicate who are present at the hearing, and what reasons persons summoned but not present at the hearing have provided to justify their absence. Then the judge or panel of judges decide whether hearing is still possible without the absent participants of the case.

In case the judge or the panel of judges decide to proceed with the hearing, they will inform the participants of the case (including you as the injured party and your representative) about their rights during the trial and will explain in their own words what is the essence of every right.

After that examination of evidence starts. Please note that it is the last moment in the whole procedure that you can still bring a civil claim in the case and request disqualification of a judge, a prosecutor, an interpreter, an expert, and some other officials in the case.

All the evidence must be examined at the trial to make experience of the judge and other participants with the evidence as direct as possible. One of the basic principles of the whole trial procedure is that every evidence shall be presented in the hearing in oral. That means that every document in the case file shall be read. All the participants of the case, including you as the injured party, will have to go through questionings at the court and most probably – to answer the same questions that you have already been asked during the pre-trial procedure. Laws however provide for some cases when the answers provided at pre-trial questionings shall be read at trial. This is to be done when the persons to be questioned are absent at the trial due to justified reasons, or they decline to provide answers, or they state that do not remember the circumstances they have already been asked during the pre-trial questionings, or the answers they are giving at the trial significantly differ from the answers they have given at the pre-trial questioning. In cases when needs of protection of injured parties (victims) require to avoid questioning of the injured party during the court hearings, the court may decide that reading of the records of the injured party would be enough (however only in cases when the questioning at the pre-trial investigation stage was led by a judge of pre-trial investigation). As an alternative, the court can also decide that playing audio or video recording of the pre-trial questioning of the injured party would suffice.

The first person to talk during the examination of evidence is prosecutor. He or she will read the bill of indictment. Sometimes, when the bills of indictment are very long, prosecutors are allowed to present a summary of the bill of indictment only.

Afterwards the defendant will be questioned. The court will first ask the defendant to tell in his or her own words how he or she sees the case. Afterwards, the court will give the floor to other participants of the case to give questions to the defendant. The prosecutor usually is the first to give questions to the defendant. However, you as the injured party and your representative can also pose questions to him or her. Please note that the questions you can ask shall relate to the circumstances of the case, you should be ready to explain what relation between the question and the circumstances of the case you envisage in case the defendant or the defense lawyer object the question as an irrelevant one.

If the defendant confesses to the facts charged against him or her, further examination of evidence can be terminated by the court. However this is an option only in cases when a) the court considers circumstances of the case to raise no doubt in regard of the guilt of the defendant, plus, b) the defendant and the defense lawyer, and the prosecutor agree on such an option, and c) the defendant is not charged with a grave crime. The opinion of the injured party (victim) on this point will not be asked. However, you can appeal such a decision of the court to the court of the higher instance.

If the defendant does not confess, then in general the injured party (victim) is called to testify. In some cases when special protection needs of the injured party require such steps to be taken, the defendant and other participants of the case could be asked to leave the room where the hearing takes place. However, please note that the persons asked to leave will be provided with an opportunity to see and hear the testimony from some other premises.

You should give all your answers to the court in standing position. The judge will first ask questions about your identity. Then he or she will explain your duty to tell the court everything you know about the case, and the responsibility that you could face for false testimonies. Then you will be asked to give an oath to tell the truth and not to conceal anything. You will be asked to sign the text of the oath. Then the court will suggest you telling everything you know about the case in your own words. Please note that you should tell the court the facts you have faced yourself, you should not share any information if you cannot tell where you’ve got this information from. The laws allow you to use notes, however only in cases when your testimony relates to figures or some other data that is difficult to remember. That means you cannot have your testimony drafted as a speech to read. The judge or other participants of the case are allowed by laws to request you to show them what you have on paper with you.

Next, the judge will ask other participants of the case to give you questions. Please note that even persons who have been requested to leave the room for the time of your questioning can give you questions. In this case they will forward their questions to the judge and the judge will read them. It is normal for the prosecutor, the defense lawyers, and other participants of the case to interrupt your responses. It may be necessary to give a better or more detailed explanation of some aspects that are less clear. It is also possible that you may feel uncomfortable with some questions asked by the defense lawyer and think that they are challenging what you went through. Don’t forget that the defense lawyer has an obligation to defend his or her client’s interests, thus his or her questions are not personal. Stay calm and do not try to calculate what answers would be good or bad. There are never bad answers. However, there can be bad questions. If any question exceeds the acceptable boundaries, it is for the judge to interrupt and dismiss it. If you feel that any of the participants is being rude or aggressive, convey your feeling to the judge.

Furthermore, the witnesses, specialists and experts are questioned almost the same way as the defendant and the injured party (victim). The judge will also read all the documents that are in the file of the case and will inspect all the material evidence that are in the file of the case. The court can also decide that some additional investigative acts (e.g., examination of evidence given at the place of the crime, experiments, expertises, etc.) are necessary. The judge or the panel of judges can decide either to perform certain investigative acts themselves or to request prosecutors to carry out these acts. Other participants of the case, including you as the injured party, can also apply to the court for certain investigative acts to be performed or certain other witnesses to be questioned.

After the examination of evidence ends, the closing statements are made by the prosecutor, the injured party and his or her representative, parties of the civil claim, defense lawyer or the defendant himself or herself in case a defendant lawyer is not present in the case. This time there is no prohibition set by laws to have a statement written beforehand. Please note that laws do not limit the length of closing statements, the judges are also not allowed by law to terminate your statement because it seems too long to them. However, the judges can terminate every closing statement in case they consider it to be unrelated to the circumstances of the case. There is no possibility provided in law to give questions to the participants of the case after they present their closing statements. However, you can comment on certain aspects of the statements of other participants of the case after all the statements are made.

When the closing statements are made, the defendant is provided with an opportunity for his or her last word. The laws do not allow to give any questions to the defendant after he or she has told the last word. After it the judges leave the room to take the final decision on the case in secrecy.

If the case is a simple one and the decision is easy, the judge or the panel of judges may announce their decision in a half an hour. However, it is more common for the judge or the panel of judges to schedule a date for reading the decision. Usually, the decision shall be pronounced not later than in 14 days after the hearing ends, however in particularly complex and voluminous cases it can take even up to 45 days.

Every judgment passed by a court shall be pronounced publicly, even in cases when the hearing was closed to the public. However, the court cannot pronounce publicly the data acknowledged to be non-public even if it is mentioned in the judgment.

The judgment is the decision in the proceedings and includes the facts which the judge considers proven, and the evidence on which it was based. The court can pass either an inculpatory (in case it finds the defendant guilty) or an exculpatory judgment (in case it finds the defendant not guilty). There is also a third option for the court – to terminate the case if the court finds that there were certain grounds to excuse the defendant for the crime committed.

In case the civil claim has been lodged in the case, the inculpatory judgment also indicates the damages to be covered. When an exculpatory judgment is passed the court can either dismiss a civil claim (if the court decides that the defendant did not commit the acts incriminated) or leaves the civil claim to be decided through a civil procedure (if the court decides that the acts incriminated to the defendant did not constitute a crime).

You are entitled to receive a copy of the judgment, however, should request it from the court. Even if you were not present at the court when the judgment was being pronounced, you can request the court to send a copy of it to you. The court is obliged by laws to send a copy in 5 days after you have asked for it.

Judgments become binding only after the term of 20 days afforded for lodging of appeals end. After this term ends and no appeals are lodged, execution of a judgment starts.