This article analyses implementation of freedom of assembly within Lithuania and in some other States of the European Union. Attention is paid to the differences in the implementation practices for this freedom while analysing probability of restriction of freedom of assembly in the light of legal, political and social factors. The article aims to substantiate that the quality of decision while adopting spreading ideas and expressed views during peaceful meetings, or adopting them later, or dismissing in general, is determined by (...) the democratic society being formed in the state during a particular period. On the other hand, although physical restriction of diffusion of ideas while implementing freedom of assembly is legitimate, it should not become the main control tool, since the development of the state in this direction is absolutely opposite to the expansion of democratic ideas in the society. Legal education should become the priority area of the policy conducted by the state. Particularly since this priority provides the security for the spread of best practices in democratic states, thus laying the grounds for effective prevention of expression of illegal behaviour. Such illegal behaviour may occur in the form of incitement of hatred and aggression in respect of persons who have different faith, race, nation or sexual orientation. The article substantiates that the real challenge faced by the modern democracy is security for practical implementation rather than the formal recognition and regulation of rights and freedoms. It has been found in practice that the implementation of freedom of assembly can be faulty restricted by the procedural justice. After evaluating experience of the States of the European Union and the way in which their national legal system is structured, the recommendations are made enabling a timely dispute settlement concerning the right of assembly, i.e., in order to prevent decision making process from becoming an obstacle for the implementation of freedom of assembly. It is pointed out that settlement of the dispute concerning the permission to hold a peaceful assembly after the date of the assembly is pointless and denies social importance of right of the assembly. (shrink)

The article analyses enforcement of freedom of assembly, draws attention to faults of legal regulation of dispute settlement, and revises a possibility of restriction of freedom of assembly. The authors provide evidence that restriction of freedom of assembly by refusing to grant permission to hold a peaceful assembly, is not an effective measure, therefore, it is suggested to educate the public on legal issues in order to enlighten the society about detrimental effect of publicly expressed ideas that provoke national or (...) racial discord, to disclose actual intentions of people who instigate aggression, force and violence so that they do not attract and rally a sufficiently large part of the public. People usually believe that the society enjoys freedom of knowledge and the right to obtain all information, as well as all news that originate and spread across the market, as it creates a pre-requisite for strengthening the best and most useful culture projects resulting in the development of culture and, alongside, the law. (shrink)

Žymus Lietuvos sociologas Vytautas Kavolis visą akademinę karjerą plačiai tyrinėjo laisvės klausimą, nors ir nenaudojo „laisvės sociologijos“ pavadinimo. Jo daugiamatė analizė apėmė politines institucijas, kultūros normas, istorinę evoliuciją ir globalias perspektyvas, atskleisdama sudėtingą visuomenės struktūrų ir asmens laisvių sąveiką. Šiame straipsnyje politinės sociologijos požiūriu, išskaidant laisvės ir jos apraiškų įvairiuose visuomenės kontekstuose supratimą, bandoma kristalizuoti V. Kavolio sociologinius rėmus. V. Kavolio tarpdisciplininis požiūris, metodologinis originalumas ir reflektyvi analizė prisidėjo prie gilaus visuomenės laisvėjimo dinamikos ir galios santykių tyrinėjimo, (...) metė iššūkį nusistovėjusioms paradigmoms ir pasisakė už įtraukesnę ir teisingesnę visuomenę. Jo įžvalgos tebėra aktualios šiandienei Lietuvai, išgyvenančiai postsovietinį virsmą ir susiduriančiai su globaliais iššūkiais. (shrink)

Tekste nagrinėjama vėlyvojo Schellingo Berlyno paskaitose formuluojama patyrimo samprata ir jos reikšmė svarstant mąstymo ir tikrovės santykį. Keliamas klausimas, kokiu mastu jo siūloma moderniosios patyrimo sampratos transformacija gali būti reikšminga užklausiant nūdienos filosofinio diskurso ateities perspektyvą Benjamino ir Agambeno įvardyto „patirties neprieinamumo“ kontekste. Mėginama parodyti, jog, užuot ieškojus patyrimo galimybės pagrindo imanentinėse ar transcendentalinėse subjekto apibrėžtyse, šelingiškoji alternatyva leidžia permąstyti patyrimą iš radikalios ateities perspektyvos. Atskleidžiant ontologinį patyrimo matmenį, jo sąsajas su laisvės klausimu ir paties mąstymo faktiškumo problema, atsiveria (...) galimybė ieškoti patyrimo vietos anapus subjekto–objekto perskyros, anapus betarpiškumo ar juslinio ir objektiško pažinimo. Tai leidžia persvarstyti patyrimo reikšmę metafizikai tiek pokantinės, tiek postidealistinės savimonės perspektyvoje. (shrink)

[straipsnis lietuvių kalba] Straipsnyje aptariama Alberto Camus kūrybos bruožai ir jo esė „Sizifo mitas“. Teigiama, kad pagrindinė šio kūrinio tema yra absurdas ir su juo susijusios sąvokos: maištas, laisvė, aistra ir panašiai. Absurdas yra pasaulio dėsnis, o kartu proto maištingas pasipiktinimas, nes proto įstatymas yra išmintingas motyvavimas, - absurdas ir išmintis negali būti kartu. Absurdas yra santykis tarp pasaulio ir žmogaus. Absurdą reikia suprasti, įsisąmoninti ir paniekinti. Žmogus, išsirinkdamas gyvenimą per laisvę ir maištą, neigia absurdą, nors jo nesunaikina. Patyręs absurdą (...) ir pasirinkęs gyvenimą, o ne savižudybę, žmogus iš naujo įvertina kiekvieną būties akimirką. Daroma išvada, kad pradėjęs nuo svarstymų apie mirtį ir savižudybę, A. Camus savo samprotavimus baigia gyvenimo teigimu, džiaugsmo troškimu stoiškos ir sąmoningos būties akimirkos sąlygomis. (shrink)

Straipsnyje analizuojama visuomenės nuomonė kaip institucija, jos tyrimo ypatumai dabartiniu laikotarpiu. Pateikiama visuomenės nuomonės tyrimų Lietuvoje per dvidešimt metų periodizacija – pagal visuomenės nuomonės reikšmę, tyrimų tematiką iš viso išskiriami septyni periodai. Ši subjektyvi klasifikacija yra paremta straipsnio autoriaus praktine patirtimi visuomenės nuomonės tyrimų srityje. Aptariamos visuomenės nuomonės tyrimų funkcijos, pagrindiniai šių tyrimų kritikos tipai. Trumpai apžvelgiama apklausų rezultatų publikavimo laisvė pasaulyje, visuomenės nuomonės tyrimų globalizacija. Analizuojami per dvidešimt metų įvykę tyrimų metodikos pasikeitimai.

The article underlines the significance of social rights as important constitutional rights of a human being and emphasises the peculiarities of their nature from the point of view of not only national, but also international law. The article presents an analysis of the constitutional doctrine of the protection of guarantees of social rights, which has been formulated by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania in the course of considering the issues of reduction of social guarantees—pensions and remuneration, which (...) were determined by the economic crisis. In the Constitutional Court’s jurisprudence the personal right to social security has been construed in the most broad and comprehensive terms. The human rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution have been treated as constituting an integrated and harmonious system, and social rights have been interpreted not only as certain obligations of the state to the public, which inter alia are determined by the social purpose of the state, but also as a person’s individual rights, for which judicial defence is guaranteed. Such concept of the said rights has also been influenced by international law, inter alia the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. Social rights, while being an object of regulation of international law, have been forming the European doctrine of guarantees of these rights and have influenced the concept of these rights in national law. The main attention in the article is devoted to the analysis of the doctrine formulated in the Constitutional Court’s jurisprudence in relation to the correction (limitation) of social rights (payment of pensions and remuneration) under the conditions of economic crisis. In the article the period of formation of this doctrine is divided into two stages: the period of 2002–2006, when the Constitutional Court had to decide regarding the compliance of the legal acts whereby social guarantees had been constricted with the Constitution, and which was caused by the consequences of the so-called Russian economic crisis for the economic development of the state of Lithuania; and the period from 2009 to date, during which the Constitutional Court has been forming the constitutional doctrine of limitation of social rights, which was conditioned by the outcomes of the global economic crisis for the economy of the state of Lithuania. The article raises a question as to whether the constitutional doctrine being formed by the Constitutional Court in relation to the limitation of social rights under the conditions of economic crisis may be assessed as an independent one or whether it still remains to be a separate case of limitation of rights within the general doctrine of limitation of human rights. On the basis of the analysis of the Constitutional Court’s jurisprudence, a conclusion is drawn that the criteria established in the Constitutional Court’s doctrine of limitation of social rights under the conditions of economic crisis are even stricter than the universally recognised criteria for the limitation of human rights in the law of human rights, therefore, it is possible to assess the doctrine of limitation of social rights under the conditions of economic crisis, as formulated by the Constitutional Court during 2009–2012, which is the continuation of the previous doctrine, as an independent doctrine, the basis of which, undoubtedly, remains to be formed by the general principles of limitation of human rights recognised in the law of human rights. The article is not only confined to the analysis of the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania, it also provides examples of construction of the doctrine of social rights (inter alia those influenced by the economic crisis) by certain other constitutional courts. (shrink)

In the twenty-first century, human rights play a very important role in modern society. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, released on 10 December 1948th was thought to become an everlasting source of fundamental human rights and freedoms. The Declaration corresponds to the situation that global community was facing 60 years ago. Today it is a collection of articles that is the cornerstone of the whole system of human rights protection. However, gross human rights atrocities, the dynamic process of legislation, (...) technological progress and changing social values have prompted many to revise the concept of human rights. Today many areas of life have changed: we have untraditional marriages and families, the individual enjoys a completely different social status than 60 years ago. These factors have prompted the creation of an entirely new dimension to human rights and freedoms based on personal autonomy, dynamics and self-regulation. Nowadays, the realization of rights and the aspiration to personal happiness are closely connected with personal autonomy. Autos and nomos—these two terms describe the ability of an individual to initiate one’s actions, to realize them by making independent decisions. This article analyzes whether this ability is a natural right or a privilege, what factors determine the exercise of this right, and what is the role of the state in this process. (shrink)

In this article the author analyzes the first written constitutions adopted at the end of the eighteenth century (the Constitution of the United States of 1787, the Constitution of Polish – Lithuanian State and the Constitution of France of 1791). These constitutional acts mark the beginning of the era of constitutionalism. These are the constitutions of the first phase (‘wave’) of constitutional development, which laid the foundations for the further establishment of constitutionalism in the world. The history of the first (...) modern constitutions confirms that the nations adopt constitutions in order to protect individuals from possible abuses of state power. The essence of constitutional regulation is the restriction of this power. The three countries differ in many ways, but all had certain tradition of the restriction of powers. The first modern constitutions established the separation of powers and protected classical individual rights. They have become an example for the authors of later constitutions. These constitutions propose legal standards for constitutional development. Each of these constitutions is an original system of principles and norms. (shrink)

Interest is one of the main sociological and legal categories, which help to discover relation between objective external tendencies and activities of a man. A witness who has procedural rights and obligations is allowed to protect these rights and obligations respectively and thus a witness begins to have an interest in criminal procedure. Two types of interests of witness could be accordingly distinguished, i.e. personal interest and legal interest. The analysis of witness’s interest in criminal cases allows to affirm that (...) the procedural interests of a witness in criminal procedure may be divided into those related to the outcome of the case and those related to a person’s legal position in a definite criminal suit. (shrink)

The article analyses information exchange agreements between competitors. The article aims to reveal the cases where the exchange of information between competitors might be considered as a prohibited agreement, violating Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union or Article 5 of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Competition. The article analyses the legal nature of the information exchange agreements between competitors, with utmost regard to the criteria, according to which an agreement on the (...) exchange of information could be acknowledged as prohibited or violating the rules of competition law. In the article it is presumed that information exchange agreements do not aim at restricting competition, however in certain cases they might have the effect of restriction of competition. (shrink)

Although the need of freedom is definite, the concept of individual freedom, while being interpreted with legal terms, causes not only theoretical, but also practical problems. The observed two extremes of freedom are defined as any human self-expression as well as the license, where the state power is generally attributed to disregard personal freedom. In this article the freedom of expression and state enforcement jurisdiction dichotomy are addressed by discussing positive and negative conceptions of freedom and the relationship between the (...) interpretations of political liberalism and Kant and Hegel‘s philosophies. This paper aims to prove that the positive liberty is the assumption of the negative liberty. The paper based on Hegel‘s philosophy shows that freedom is the characteristic of human nature to seek identity. It is also argued that human identity can take many forms and, therefore, a person has a number of inherent rights and liberties. It is human psycho-physical identity that provides the right to life and health care; human creative identity, providing the right to privacy and freedom of occupation; human moral identity, which provides the right of dignity, and the moral autonomy of person’s social and political identity, providing the political and social rights and freedoms. This article concludes that while a person uses the given rights with integrity and the state is limiting people’s arbitrariness, there is no conflict between the freedom and state violation. (shrink)

This article discusses the problematic aspects relating to the employee privacy in his workplace and its limits reacting to employer‘s interests. It contains analysis of National, European and transatlantic legislation of privacy in the workplace and concentrates on the electronic privacy (e-mails, communications, etc.). The article is based on legal acts and judgements of the Supreme court of Lithuania, European Court of Human Rights and other countries courts judgements in order to provide the legislative execution practice as well as reveal (...) the problems in this field of labour law. (shrink)

The article offers a concise view on the problems related to the Church and State relationship in Latvia. The article presents the author’s hypothesis that under the new circumstances when special legal provisions apply to traditional churches, it must discussed whether the rest of religious organizations could be classified as religious societies, operating in accordance with the Law on Societies and foundations. The author also holds an opinion that it is important for every country to follow the principle of separation (...) of church from state; however, it must be combined with religious freedom. Nevertheless, the article reveals that the task is difficult to follow in practice, in Latvia and in other EU member states alike. (shrink)

Within the Irish government there is a discussion regarding the possibility of limiting the legal protection afforded to the confessional secret. This paper addresses the question of whether this suggestion, if it were to be implemented by the legislature, would be compatible with the right to religious freedom under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). This text will also highlight the role of the confessional secret in canon law and the protection of it under German law. (...) Catholic priests, should this plan that is currently under discussion be implemented, were obliged to disclose the knowledge gained in confession to law enforcement authorities. The canonical consequence of such a breach of the confessional secret would be excommunication. In such cases priests therefore would only have the choice between breaking the law (which would probably also be punishable under criminal law) and excommunication, with all the resulting disadvantages. In this paper, the canonical law rules regarding confession are presented before the provisions relating to the confessional secret in § 53 para. 1 No. 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, § 383 para. 1 No. 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure and § 139 para. 2 of the Criminal Code are discussed. Specifically, the question is raised as to whether a duty of priests to co-operate with the law enforcement authorities may be established by law. Here in particular the protection of the confessional secret under the protection of freedom of religion under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights will be discussed. It has to be noted however that the protection afforded by Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights extends far less than the scope of § 53 para. 1 No. 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, § 129 para. 2 of the Criminal Code and § 383 para. 1 No. 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure, as Art. 9 ECHR only protects the confessional secret as far as it is required from a religious point of view, but not a general pastoral secret. The article then includes a discussion on the limitations of Article 9 ECHR. Limitations of Article 9(1) ECHR on religious freedom under Article 9(2) ECHR are only permitted if they are prescribed by law and necessary in a democratic society for the protection of public order, health, morals or the rights of others. This is discussed against the background of the legislative goal of more effective law enforcement. As a result, a limitation of the protection of confessional secret through normal (sub-constitutional, domestic) laws, despite the understandable goal of more effective law enforcement, is not compatible with Article 9 of the ECHR. (shrink)

The Lithuanian success of implementing international obligation in order to encourage the regulation of labour relations by means of collective agreements is analyzed in this article. It is emphasized that development of social partnership is too slow, coverage of regulation of labour relations by means of collective agreement also is low-level and collective agreements basically are made at the plant level. It is noticed that, because of the need to find a suitable balance between implementing the international obligation to encourage (...) regulation of labour relations by means of collective agreements, and the necessity to undermine the raison d’être of the regulation by means of collective agreements itself, as the process, where attitudes of social partners has to be harmonised at maximum, the state has limited scope to influence the process of making collective agreements. (shrink)

The article deals with a study of a distinct criminal punishment established in the Criminal Code and the Code of Punishment Enforcement of the Republic of Lithuania—restriction of liberty, as an alternative to imprisonment. Without investigating extensively the course of development of this penalty, in the article it is sought to overview the development trends of restriction of liberty; analyse the problems of enforcing this penalty and suggest measures to eliminate them; investigate whether the legal regulation of Lithuania is in (...) line with the provisions of the main international instruments relating to non-custodial sanctions (1990 United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (the so-called Tokyo Rules), Recommendation R (92) 16 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to Member States on the European rules on community sanctions and measures, Recommendation Rec (2000) 22 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to Member States on improving the implementation of the European rules on community sanctions and measures); review the progressive legal regulation of restriction of liberty in place in individual states and provide a comparison between the national and foreign experience in relation to the penalty of restriction of liberty. In addition, the article offers guidelines for the improvement of the legal regulation and implementation of the legal institute of restriction of liberty. (shrink)

In this article there is analysed an independent criminal punishment – public works, which was determined by the Criminal Code and the Punishment Enforcement Code of the Republic of Lithuania as alternative punishment to freedom deprivation punishment. Without looking into the process of historical development, it is made an attempt to overview the tendency of public works’ spreading, to analyse the problems of public works’ realisation and how to deal with them. There is compared Lithuanian legal regulations with international documents, (...) which are related with alternative punishment as alternative to freedom deprivation punishment. There is also looked over public works’ legal regulations in foreign countries, an experience of public works implementation in Lithuania and abroad and, the most important, there had been given landmarks of public works institution improvement. The article is based upon the documents of the United Nations and the Council of Europe, legal regulations and practice of public works in foreign countries, opinion and studies of foreign scientists and the other authors, the data of statistics and questioning of the officers of correctional inspections. (shrink)

The present paper deals with an investigation of the conception and development of the idea (principle) of proportionality, the variety of concepts and the procedure for the verification of the principle of proportionality. The genesis of the conception of coercive measures is studied by reviewing the process of the formation of the current principle of proportionality manifested in the historical sources of the law of Prussia, Germany, and the evolution of the principles consolidated in them. The principle of proportionality consolidated (...) in the case-law of the European Court of Justice and of the European Court of Human Rights is analyzed as well. (shrink)

The article analyzes preconditions of realization of the right to religious education in Lithuania during the period of compulsory education. The article consists of two parts. The essence of the freedom of thought, religion and conscience and their relation to religious education is discussed in the first part. The second part of the article analyses national legal framework related to compulsory education in the light of freedom of thought, religion and conscience. The states are required to ensure education of children (...) according to religious convictions of their parents and needs of the children themselves. The Lithuanian legal regulation, however, allows certain ambiguities as to how effectively may the right to religious education be realised. (shrink)