Mokslo ir inovacijų centras / Research and Innovation Centre

The concept of co-governance is understood as a way to build trust in government and to increase public involvement. It should lead to improvements of public services and solve wicked problems related to service provision. However, the idea of co-governance itself requires the sharing and devolution of decisionmaking power, which becomes challenging in relation to the public sector's role, their willingness to retain control, and at the same time – seeking to engage citizens. Although the aim of national strategies in Lithuania is to involve NGOs more actively in service provision, this can be challenging given the diverse characteristics, capacities, and expectations of stakeholders. Furthermore, municipalities are responsible for ensuring the provision of social services and are under pressure to guarantee their availability and quality. The case study of Marijampolė municipality was chosen as an example for analysis because it has one of the highest demands for social services in Lithuania and experience of transferring service provision to NGOs. In this context, this study aims to analyse the shifting boundary between the state and civil society in the context of public service provision. To achieve this aim, the following tasks have been set: 1. Examine the theoretical assumptions and changes in cooperation between the public sector and NGOs. 2. Identify the current cooperation between NGOs and the Marijampolė municipality in the field of service provision. 3. Provide scientific insights into the conditions necessary for co-governance of social services. The case study was conducted in several stages. First, the scientific literature, legal acts and other documents related to the research problem were analysed. Then, a qualitative study was conducted, including interviews and focus groups with representatives of the Marijampolė municipality and NGOs.

Prieš metus per Velykas pasaulį nustebino vieno ypatingo reiškinio, vykusio Prancūzijos bažnyčiose, statistiniai duomenys: Didįjį Šeštadienį buvo apkrikštyta apie 10 000 suaugusių žmonių (į šį skaičių neįtraukti vaikai, kurių tą dieną buvo pakrikštyta 7 000), kai metais anksčiau tokių buvo perpus mažiau, dar anksčiau – dar gerokai mažiau (2 000–3 000 kiekvienais metais).

The efficiency and quality of healthcare services increasingly depend on the application of advanced governance, risk management, and control models. Internal audit, when conducted in line with international professional standards, has the potential to act not only as a control mechanism but also as a strategic partner contributing to organizational resilience and value creation. In 2024, The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) introduced the Global Internal Audit Standards, strengthening the emphasis on professionalism, independence, competence, and strategic alignment of the internal audit function across all sectors, including the public healthcare system. This article examines the challenges of applying these global standards within the Lithuanian healthcare sector, focusing on a specific regulatory requirement that mandates medical or health sciences education for the head of internal audit (the so-called internal medical audit). Through a systematic analysis of the Global Internal Audit Standards, national legislation on public sector internal audit, and sector-specific regulations issued by the Ministry of Health, the study identifies a fundamental normative tension between international audit professionalism and sectoral qualification restrictions. The article argues that internal audit effectiveness derives primarily from professional audit competencies, independence, and risk-based methodologies rather than from subject-specific clinical education. Drawing on an analogy with information technology audits, the analysis demonstrates that complex, knowledge-intensive sectors can be audited effectively through professional internal auditors who engage subject matter experts without compromising objectivity. The findings suggest that the current regulatory model risks professional isolation of healthcare auditors, reduced audit value, weakened organizational resilience, and inefficient allocation of scarce healthcare resources. The article concludes that aligning national healthcare audit regulation with the Global Internal Audit Standards would strengthen governance, enhance risk management, and enable internal audit to function as an integral component of professional management and innovation within healthcare institutions.

Settlements are one of the legal instruments of resolution of civil disputes. However, when it comes to cross-border litigation their effects remain ambiguous. This article focuses on the legal effects of settlements in European Union (EU) private international law. First, it begins with the notion of settlement, including analysis of the origins of settlement as a legal term along with the linguistic peculiarities of its usage. Second, the author presents the challenges related to the finality effect of settlement (res judicata) in foreign jurisdictions. This includes analysis of the relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the practical challenges for effective cross-border dispute settlement deriving from the absence of provisions on res judicata for settlements either in Brussels Ibis Regulation, or in the 2019 Hague Judgements Convention. Third, the article addresses problems related to the recognition effect of settlement. Being the subject of national law regulation, settlements are deprived of recognition in cross-border civil proceedings. To address this problem the author suggests that establishment of an autonomous EU legal concept of settlement and granting recognition would increase its effectiveness as a disputes resolution tool.

Contemporary hybrid threats employ coordinated campaigns across information, cyber, and physical domains, maintaining plausible deniability while exploiting institutional vulnerabilities. This review conducts a scoping analysis following the PRISMA ScR framework (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses—Extension for Scoping Reviews) to evaluate Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), Social Media Intelligence (SOCMINT), and Natural Language Processing (NLP) capabilities relevant to hybrid threat detection. We systematically assess these technologies against a 12-point operational requirements framework derived from documented Russian and Chinese military OSINT methodologies and influence operation tradecraft. The analysis incorporates high-Technology Readiness Level (TRL) European initiatives to ground capability assessments in operational experience. While individual analytical disciplines are technically advanced, current defensive systems remain siloed and lack the cross-domain reasoning necessary to correlate technical cyber indicators with coordinated narrative manipulation. Requirements for cross-platform correlation and adversarial adaptation show only prototype stage coverage. Our findings reveal a persistent “semantic gap”: defensive systems collect extensive data but lack integrated semantic reasoning across domains and languages. To address this, we examine ontology-based approaches as architectural solutions, positioning the ‘Hybrid Information Psychological Societal Threats handling system’ (HIPSTer) framework as an illustrative case. HIPSTer specifically targets the multilingual nature of hybrid threats—particularly in Russian and Chinese contexts—achieving TRL-4 validation through high-efficiency semantic vectors and formal reasoning across diverse language benchmarks. Finally, the review analyzes how European regulations—including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), AI Act, and Network and Information Systems Directive 2 (NIS2)—shape operational architectures through compliance by design imperatives. We conclude by outlining a prioritized research agenda to advance European hybrid threat detection toward operational maturity.

Lietuvos teismai vis dažniau sprendžia dėl vaiko bendravimo su skyriumi gyvenančiu vienu iš tėvų tvarkos, pagal kurią vaikas su abiem tėvais praleidžia po tiek pat laiko, taikymo. Remiantis dokumentų, teismų praktikos analizės, sisteminiu ir lyginamuoju metodais, straipsnyje analizuojama, kokie kriterijai Lietuvos Aukščiausiojo Teismo prakti-koje išskiriami kaip būtini sprendžiant šį klausimą, kodėl išskirti tokie kriterijai ir kaip jų turinys atskleidžiamas Lietuvos apeliacinės instancijos teismų praktikoje ir teisės mokslininkų darbuose. Remiantis Lietuvos Aukščiausiojo Teismo suformuota praktika, esminiai vertinami kriterijai turėtų būti: vaiko nuomonė, vaiko amžius ir poreikiai, tėvų gyvẽnamosios vietos ir atstumas nuo jų iki vaiko ugdymo įstaigos, tėvų galimybės įgyvendinti tokią tvarką, vaiko ryšys su kiekvienu iš tėvų, tėvų tarpusavio santykiai. Įtakos Lietuvos Aukščiausiojo Teismo išskirtiems kriterijams galėjo turėti Europos šeimos teisės komisijos (CEFL) tėvų atsakomybės principai. Apeliacinės instancijos teismų praktikos analizė atskleidžia, kad teismai iš esmės remiasi šiais kriterijais, išsamiai vertindami geriausius vaiko interesus, kai nustatoma maksimali bendravimo tvarka. Vis dėlto pastebima, kad bylose vertinami ne visi, o tik tam tikri kriterijai, ypač pasigendama išsamiau įvertintų konfliktiškų tėvų santykių.

This article examines how India’s draft Digital Competition Bill (DCB), read alongside India’s investment treaty landscape, can create a fresh layer of regulatory uncertainty for large technology investors. It explains why the DCB is being positioned as a distinct instrument, rather than a subset of the proposed Digital India Act or the Digital Personal Data Protection Act and identifies an early friction point: an ex-ante competition design, built around data portability and continuing access, can sit uneasily with a consent-based privacy framework. The analysis then places the DCB within the policy arc that followed the Standing Committee of Finance report and the Committee on Digital Competition Law deliberations. It asks whether India’s ersatz adaptation of the European’s framework employing the spaghetti bowl effect as a framing device. The article maps the most plausible investment treaty claim pathways if the DCB comes into force, including FET arguments tied to legitimate expectations and transparency, and indirect expropriation concerns linked to operational control over data and platform conduct, as well as, Section 38 and its exemption power, and its implications on equal treatment debates and carve out risks. The article concludes that The DCB’s objectives and boundaries need sharper articulation, and the more durable response lies in clearer right to regulate language and disciplined carve outs.