International Security & Counter-Terrorism Reference Center

This article examines the grounds of discrimination and the forms of their manifestation in the educational sphere through the practice of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson of the Republic of Lithuania. The purpose of the article is to determine which grounds of discrimination predominated in the Ombudsperson’s educational practice during the period 2015–2026 and to identify the institutional settings in which these grounds manifested themselves. The object of the research consists of the body of decisions and opinions adopted by the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson in matters related to education in 2015–2026, supplemented by the annual activity reports of the Ombudsperson for 2015–2025 insofar as they are relevant to the educational context. The empirical corpus comprises 34 decisions and opinions covering preschool, primary, lower secondary, upper secondary, vocational and higher education, as well as cases concerning national assessment procedures and final examinations. The annual reports are used as an additional source for identifying broader institutional priorities and structural trends in the Ombudsperson’s educational practice. The research is based on document analysis, qualitative content analysis, systemic analysis and comparative analysis. The findings demonstrate that the most prominent grounds of discrimination in the educational sphere were sex, disability and social status. Complaints on the ground of sex were primarily related to gender-based allocation of activities, stereotypical organisation of education, school uniform rules, pregnancy and maternity in higher education, and harassment. Disability-based complaints mainly concerned inclusive education, accessibility of educational services, reasonable accommodation, assessment procedures and adaptation of national examinations. Complaints on the ground of social status were most often linked to admission criteria, access to paid or restricted educational services, the structure of competitive admission scores and the reconciliation of studies with family responsibilities. Less frequently, but still in a legally significant manner, complaints were submitted on the grounds of language, nationality, citizenship, origin, religion and beliefs, sexual orientation and age. The analysis shows that the Ombudsperson’s educational practice reveals not merely a broad spectrum of prohibited grounds but also distinct patterns of manifestation across different levels of education. Equality in education therefore extends beyond formal admission or participation and includes educational content, institutional rules, service accessibility, academic culture, assessment systems and the accessibility of state-organised examinations. The article concludes that the Ombudsperson’s practice serves not only as a mechanism for individual rights protection but also as an important instrument for identifying structural problems in education law and policy.

The development of modern society and the continuous expansion of legal relations have contributed to a gradual increase in the number and complexity of legal disputes. At the same time, the growing workload of courts and the prolonged duration of judicial proceedings have reinforced the significance of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. Among the various forms of alternative dispute resolution, legal scholarship has recently devoted particular attention to the application of mediation in disputes between public administration authorities and private individuals. The concept of peaceful dispute resolution, based on dialogue and cooperation rather than adversarial confrontation, is primarily implemented through mediation procedures. Compared to judicial proceedings, mediation offers several advantages, including a more expeditious resolution of disputes, reduced financial costs, and greater procedural autonomy for the parties involved. In Lithuania, the system of administrative justice incorporates both judicial and quasi-judicial models of administrative dispute resolution, including proceedings before the Regional Administrative Court and the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania, as well as pre-trial dispute resolution institutions. The establishment of a mandatory pre-trial dispute-resolution mechanism in Lithuanian administrative law largely aligns with European standards for accessible and efficient administrative justice. Under the current legal framework, certain administrative disputes are subject to mandatory examination by the Lithuanian Administrative Disputes Commission, which operates as a quasi-judicial body. It should be noted that the use of mediation within the Commission's activities has been gradually increasing. Although both Lithuanian and foreign scholars have analyzed mediation as a method of pre-trial administrative dispute resolution, insufficient attention has been paid to the practical functioning of the Lithuanian Administrative Disputes Commission, the challenges arising in its operations, and the methods used in its dispute-resolution practice. Accordingly, this article examines the general processes of mediation in administrative law, with particular emphasis on the legal regulation and operational aspects of the Lithuanian Administrative Disputes Commission.

The right to compensation for damage is guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and further regulated by the Civil Code. Where a person dies as a result of unlawful conduct, compensation may be awarded for both pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage. Although Lithuanian law establishes general criteria for assessing non-pecuniary damage, it neither defines the relative importance of these criteria nor sets minimum or maximum compensation amounts. As a result, the assessment of non-pecuniary damage largely depends on judicial discretion and the development of case law. Due to its intangible nature, determining appropriate compensation remains one of the most complex issues in cases involving the death of a person. This article examines the legal framework governing compensation for damage resulting from the death of a person and analyses Lithuanian judicial practice between 1 January 2020 and 1 September 2025. The study is based on an analysis of 101 court cases and 102 individual claims. The latter number reflects situations in which several claimants sought compensation within the same proceedings. To evaluate the individual relationship between each claimant and the deceased, every claimant was examined separately. Particular attention is paid to the criteria applied by courts when assessing non-pecuniary damage, including the relationship between the claimant and the deceased, the defendant’s financial situation, and the circumstances surrounding the death. The findings identify the main trends in Lithuanian judicial practice and the factors influencing the determination of compensation in cases involving the death of a person. They also identify the compensation amounts most commonly awarded by courts and the factors that most significantly influence judicial decision-making in such cases.

Regional development policy across the European Union continues to rely predominantly on growth-oriented metrics such as GDP, employment rates, investment absorption and productivity indices to evaluate whether regions are progressing. Yet these measures are structurally blind to two conditions fundamental to long-term societal security: social sufficiency floors, meaning minimum acceptable standards of well-being and inclusion, and environmental sustainability ceilings, meaning maximum levels of ecological pressure compatible with stable, liveable communities. This paper argues that this measurement gap constitutes a genuine security vulnerability: one that allows regions to appear successful on paper while social deprivation deepens and environmental conditions deteriorate.Drawing on the beyond-GDP economics literature, human and societal security studies, and EU cohesion policy evaluation research, the paper develops three interlocking arguments. First, dominant evaluation frameworks are structurally insensitive to social shortfalls and environmental overshoot: regional well-being measures and GDP diverge systematically at NUTS-2 level, and cohesion policy assessments anchored in growth metrics fail to detect environmentally meaningful progress. Second, these omissions correspond to documented security pathways: persistent regional inequality erodes institutional trust, fuels populist voting and generates political instability, while environmental deterioration creates deferred but compounding insecurity through climate exposure, health burdens and transition risk. Third, a dual-boundary approach that assesses regions against explicit social sufficiency floors and environmental sustainability ceilings as joint necessary conditions offers a principled and practically feasible direction for evaluation reform. This approach adapts the intellectual lineage running from Rockström et al. (2009) and Dearing et al. (2014) through Raworth's Doughnut Economics (2017), translating the insight that the central policy question should be not merely how much growth, but whether societies are operating in a space that is simultaneously sufficient and sustainable, into the EU regional development and cohesion policy context.These arguments are illustrated at two territorial scales. At the national level, a comparison of Lithuania and the Netherlands demonstrates that GDP convergence and dual-boundary performance are empirically decoupled: Lithuania records strong GDP growth yet fails its social sufficiency floor, while the Netherlands meets social conditions but presses its environmental ceiling. At the urban level, Rotterdam illustrates the same decoupling within a single prosperous city: strong aggregate economic performancecoexists with concentrated social deprivation in specific districts and one of Europe's largest sources of industrial greenhouse gas emissions. The main finding is that current metrics systematically reward growth while remaining insensitive to the structural conditions upon which durable regional security depends, and that this failure is detectable at both national and urban scales.

The employment of minors in Lithuania is characterised by specific legal requirements and safeguards aimed at protecting their health, education, and overall well-being. As the participation of minors in the labour market continues to increase, the practical implementation of these safeguards becomes increasingly important. Although Lithuanian legislation establishes a comprehensive legal framework governing the employment of minors, questions remain regarding the effectiveness of its implementation in practice. The aim of this study is to analyse the national legal framework governing the employment of persons under eighteen years of age and to identify the main legal and practical issues arising in employment relationships involving minor employees. The research is based on document analysis, comparative analysis, and a quantitative survey of individuals who worked in Lithuania before reaching the age of eighteen. A total of 103 employment experiences were analysed.The results demonstrate that Lithuanian legislation generally complies with international and European Union standards and provides a broad system of safeguards for minor employees. However, the empirical study revealed significant shortcomings in the practical implementation of these safeguards. The most common violations were related to employment formalities, working and rest time requirements, occupational safety and health, unofficial wage payments, and age-based discrimination. The findings also indicate insufficient awareness of employment rights among minors and a low tendency to seek assistance when faced with potential violations. The study concludes that, despite the existence of a comprehensive legal framework, the protection of minor employees in practice remains insufficient. Strengthening supervision mechanismsand improving minors’ awareness of their employment rights are essential for ensuring more effective implementation of existing legal safeguards.

XXI amžius vadinamas skaitmeniniu amžiumi, kuris iš esmės palietė įvairias žmonių gyvenimo sritis, valstybės valdymo procesus, kardinaliai pakeitė informacijos rinkimo, apdorojimo, sklaidos ir saugojimo procesus, formatus. Dar prieš trisdešimt metų, galimybė neišeinant iš namų nuotoliu užregistruoti verslo įmonę, gauti leidimus iš valstybinių institucijų tam tikroms ūkinėms veikloms vykdyti, atrodė nepasiekiama svajonė, lyg iš fantastikos pasaulio nužengęs scenarijus. Sparčiais tempais besivystančios technologijos sukūrė galimybes komunikuoti nuotoliu, perduoti didžiulius informacijos kiekius per kelias sekundes iš vieno kontinento į kitą, atlikti finansines transakcijas, bet tuo pačiu sukūrė naujas grėsmes individų, visuomenės, valstybių saugumui. Tos grėsmės yra įvardijamos terminu „kibernetiniai nusikaltimai“ ir egzistuoja greta jau seniai žinomų grėsmių, įvardijamų terminais „korupcija“, „organizuotas nusikalstamumas“, „terorizmas“. Kibernetiniai nusikaltimai akademinėje literatūroje dar vadinami terminu „aukštųjų technologijų nusikaltimai“ ir daro didelę žalą tiek atskiram individui, tiek visuomenei, verslams, kuomet neteisėtais veiksmais, sukčiaujant ar kitaip, yra vykdomos tapatybės vagystės, duomenų vagystės, įvairūs finansiniai nusikaltimai, klaidinančios informacijos skelbimas, manipuliacija, kenkėjiškos programos, šnipinėjimas, įvairios atakos prieš valstybines institucijas ir kt. Europos Sąjungos (toliau –ES) teisėsaugos agentūra (toliau –Europolas) pažymi, kad kibernetiniai nusikaltimai didžiausią pavojų kelia tiek valstybių nacionaliniam saugumui, tiek individualiems asmenims ir visuomenei. Kibernetiniai nusikaltėliai tampa vis agresyvesni, o jų vykdomos veikos tampa vis pavojingesnės ir labiau organizuotos, koordinuotos, siekiant užsibrėžto konkretaus tikslo. Šio tyrimo objektasyra kibernetinių nusikaltimų poveikis žmogui. Šio tyrimo objektas apsprendė ir šio tyrimo tikslą, kurio siekiant bus išanalizuotas kibernetinių nusikaltimų poveikis per asmeninio saugumo prizmę žmogui. Siekiant šio tyrimo tikslo atlikta mokslinių straipsnių publikuotų tiek Lietuvoje, tiek užsienyje analizė, įvardijanti kibernetinių nusikaltimų taikinius, kryptis ir poveikį žmogaus finansiniam stabilumui, psichologinei būsenai bei sukeltus neigiamus padarinius. Tyrimu nustatyta, kad pirmiausiai žmogus patiria žalą, kuri gali būti išmatuojama ir išreiškiama pinigine verte. Po to seka daug sunkiau pastebima, išmatuojama ir ne visada vizualiai pastebima neturtinė žala, pasireiškianti žmogaus psichinės sveikatos pablogėjimu, darančiu įtaką įvairioms žmogaus gyvenimo sritims. Šiame straipsnyje siekiama atsakyti į tyrimo iškeltus klausimus: kokias esmines žmogaus teises įtvirtintas nacionaliniuose ir tarptautiniuose teisės aktuose pažeidžia kibernetiniai nusikaltimai? Kokią žalą patiria žmogus tapęs kibernetinio incidento taikiniu? Kaip žmogus reaguoja į kibernetinę ataką? Kaip kibernetinis incidentas paveikia žmogaus finansinį stabilumą, psichiką, savijautą? Tyrime naudojami šie kokybiniai ir kiekybiniai tyrimo metodai: dokumentų analizė, lyginamasis, abstrakcijos,loginis ir kiti tyrimo metodai.

This article analyzes the system for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities in Lithuania, with a particular focus on its practical implementation following the 2024 reform. The aim of the article is to examine the system for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities in Lithuania, with a primary focus on disputes regarding decisions made by the Agency for the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as well as to assess the effectiveness of the pre-trial dispute resolution procedure and the appropriateness of the dispute resolution mechanisms in use. The scope of the study includes an analysis of legal regulation, institutional changes, and administrative practice. The research questions focus on how the 2024 disability reform changed the dispute resolution model and to what extent the new mechanism ensures a more effective opportunity for legal redress through administrative procedures. The study employs comparative, systematic, analytical-critical, and statistical analysis methods. To analyze legal and administrative practice, case study and generalization methods are utilized. The empirical section is based on data from the activities of the Lithuanian Administrative Disputes Commission for 2024–2025. The results show that the 2024 reform fundamentally restructured the system by establishing a model for assessing participation levels and a mandatory pre-trial review procedure. Although this improved the organization of the system and increased its formal accessibility, certain problems persist in practice. Some complaints are not examined on their merits due to non-compliance with procedural requirements, and the review of decisions is often limited to a formal assessment. There also remains a reliance on medical and social expert opinions. Thus, while the reform has strengthened the legal framework, its effectiveness depends on practical implementation.

This study investigates the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and foreign language learning outcomes among first-year students from Vilnius University Business School (VU BS) and Mykolas Romeris University (MRU). A total of 205 students with B2 English proficiency participated: 137 VU BS students (business/academic English) and 68 MRU students (criminal justice/language). Using a structured questionnaire with five Likert-scale items, the study assessed multiple EI dimensions, including emotional recognition and management, collaboration, stress management, and intercultural communication, alongside measures of language learning performance. Results indicate significant differences between the two student groups: VU BS students excel in social-emotional and intercultural EI dimensions, enhancing their capacity for negotiation, networking, and international communication, whereas MRU students demonstrate stronger self-control, emotional regulation, and conflict-resolution abilities, which are critical for law enforcement, security, and sustainable public safety practices. Statistical analysis confirmed moderate effect sizes (Cohen’s d = 0.3–0.5) for key EI differences. The study further emphasizes that integrating EI development into foreign language education through interactive, experiential, and gamified approaches can simultaneously enhance academic performance, professional readiness, and intercultural competence. These findings underscore the strategic value of embedding EI-focused training in higher education curricula, providing evidence-based guidance for educators, curriculum designers, and policymakers to foster graduates who are both academically proficient and emotionally adept, capable of contributing effectively to diverse professional and societal contexts.

Šiame straipsnyje nagrinėjamos jaunų suaugusiųjų socialinio nerimo, perfekcionizmo ir suvokiamų tėvystės stilių sąsajos. Tyrimo aktualumą lemia didėjantis perfekcionizmo paplitimas šiuolaikinėje visuomenėje, socialinių medijų įtaka tapatumo formavimuisi bei augantis socialinio nerimo aktualumas tarp jaunų žmonių. Straipsnyje remiamasi teorinėmis socialinio nerimo, perfekcionizmo ir tėvystės stilių sampratomis, aptariami pagrindiniai šių reiškinių tarpusavio ryšiai. Tyrime dalyvavo 139 asmenys, kurių amžius svyravo nuo 18 iki 29 metų. Duomenys rinkti naudojant šiuos standartizuotus instrumentus: Tėvų autoritetingumo klausimynas (PAQ), Socialinės fobijos klausimynas (SPIN) bei Daugiamačio perfekcionizmo skalė (MPS). Tyrime buvo skaičiuojamas instrumentų patikimumas, atlikta aprašomoji statistika, taikomas Student t-testas nepriklausomoms imtims bei atlikta Pearson koreliacinė analizė. Tyrimo rezultatai atskleidė, jog jauni suaugusieji patyrė vidutinio arba aukšto išreikštumo socialinį nerimą, tačiau moterys jautė aukštesnį socialinio nerimo lygį nei vyrai. Lyčių skirtumų perfekcionizmo dimensijų atžvilgiu rasta nebuvo. Tyrimas taip pat atskleidė, jog suvoktas autoritarinis auklėjimo stilius buvo teigiamai susijęs su socialiai priskirtu ir į save orientuotu perfekcionizmu bei socialiniu nerimu. Leidžiantis auklėjimo stilius nebuvo susijęs nei su socialiniu nerimu, nei su atskiromis perfekcionizmo dimensijomis, o autoritetingas auklėjimo stilius buvo neigiamai susijęs su socialiai priskirtu perfekcionizmu. Gauti rezultatai pabrėžia ankstyvųjų tėvystės patirčių ir perfekcionistinių nuostatų svarbą jaunų suaugusiųjų psichologinei gerovei bei socialinio nerimo formavimuisi.

The article examines the sociocultural measures of Lithuanian territory and border protection. The name "Lithuania" encompasses the process of Lithuanian ethnogenesis and state formation. In this process, sociocultural measures of protecting one's own territory were formed and the very concept of borders evolved. Thestudy is based on A. Maslow's statement that security is one of the most important existential needs of a person. It can be satisfied only by other people, and only from the outside. This means people's dependence on the environment. It is in the activityof environmental control that the sociocultural experience of protecting one's own territory is accumulated, which is transformed into knowledge and passed on to the younger generation.The principles of Lithuanian state border protection were formed in the long process of Baltic and Lithuanian ethnogenesis. Archaeological, linguistic, anthropological and other historical sources provide information, the analysis of which reveals the means of protecting their territory and things used by Lithuanian and other Baltic tribes. These could have been markers (dashes, notches) and signs placed on objects of natural and artificial origin; mounds and their communication systems; voids separating tribal territories (inter-tribal wastelands); agreements between triballeaders regarding the boundaries of the territory. These territorial protection measures were characteristic of the period of Baltic and Lithuanian tribes' ethnogenesis, as their territories were invaded by foreigners. The state adopted and later modifiedthe listed territorial and border protection measures.Before the formation of the state, there were no people specially trained to protect their own territory. Their need arises when other states are formed or exist on the state border, whose hostile intentions need to be noticed in advance and their own people need to be notified of the threats in time. Therefore, the sociocultural elements of state border protection should include border wastelands; scout and guard villages; border rivers and other water bodies; probable enemy movement routes; oral and written border agreements of warlords; mobile border protection units.The study is based on the methods of document analysis and historical comparative analysis. The conclusions of the study are presentedat the end of the article.