Banevičienė, Anželika

This article examines the legal and societal dimensions of citizens recording police activities across various countries, emphasising the crucial role of such recordings in promoting transparency, accountability, and social justice. It explores how technological advancements, such as smartphones and drones, have democratised journalism, enabling ordinary individuals to document misconduct and influence police behaviour. The paper analyses diverse legal frameworks, highlighting the recognition of the right to record in jurisdictions such as the US, Germany, Lithuania, and the Czech Republic, while also addressing restrictions rooted in privacy, safety, and operational concerns. It underscores the importance of clear legislation and balanced regulations to protect citizens’ rights without compromising public safety or privacy. Ultimately, the article advocates for consistent legal protections and training to ensure that citizen recordings serve as effective tools for oversight, justice, and democratic accountability.

Ensuring the rights of children in pre-trial investigations requires strict adherence to international and EU legal standards that safeguard their fair trial rights. The presentation examines the extent to which Lithuanian pre-trial investigation procedures comply with international human rights law and Principles on Effective Interviewing for Investigations and Information Gathering (Mendez’s Principles), which advocate for non-coercive and rightsbased interviewing practices.

The UN’s 2021 Principles on Effective Interviewing for Investigations and Information Gathering, also known as the Mendez Principles, promote an alternative approach to interviews, interrogations, and information acquisition by public officials. The document emphasizes the need to avoid coercion, psychological manipulation, and other forms of mistreatment that violate commonly recognized human rights and procedural guarantees. Research shows that coercive tactics can result in false confessions, unreliable information, unfair trials, and ultimately undermine the administration of justice. Principle 5 of the Mendez Principles addresses institutional accountability as a safeguard against improper interviewing methods, such as coercive, manipulative, or confession-focused tactics. It underscores the importance of transparent, confidential, and effective complaint mechanisms. The authors examine the procedures for addressing complaints in Lithuania, Serbia, and Poland, specifically concerning allegations of mistreatment during interviews and interrogations of adults in criminal proceedings. The study aims to assess how effectively these three countries handle complaints of mistreatment during interviews and interrogations, using the Mendez Principles as a benchmark. By comparing the complaint-handling procedures in Lithuania, Serbia, and Poland, the study seeks to identify commonalities and discrepancies in their approaches. It also highlights the legal and practical challenges these nations face in aligning their practices with the higher standards of protection outlined by the Mendez Principles. Ultimately, the study offers insights and recommendations for enhancing institutional accountability and improving complaint mechanisms to better safeguard human rights during the investigative process.

A significant number of unaccompanied minors enter the European Union each year. Minors are treated more favourably than adult migrants under EU law because they are considered more vulnerable than other migrants. In many cases, there is no document proving their identity and age and it is not always clear whether the information about the age provided by the migrant is correct. Age assessment therefore plays a crucial role in ensuring the protection of unaccompanied minors. The principles relating to the protection of unaccompanied minors are very clearly set out in international, EU, and national law, but age assessments raise a number of difficult practical issues. The article focuses on the legal regulation of the age assessment of migrants in the Czech Republic and Lithuania and the case law of national courts. A medical examination in the form of X-rays is used as the most common and reliable way of determining the age of a foreigner. In addition, the level of mental maturity must also be assessed. From the perspective of European asylum law, the problem of assessing age is one of the most underestimated practical issues that can hinder the proper application of child protection rules.

States pay special attention to children, embedding this concern in international and national documents. Various international and EU documents establish minimum requirements for protecting child victims' rights in criminal proceedings. Considering those requirements, this paper presents the legal framework for protecting child victims' rights in criminal proceedings in Lithuania, one of the EU member states. The paper covers three main areas of protecting child victims' rights in criminal proceedings: law and policy requirements, cooperation of state institutions, and training of judges, prosecutors, and police officers.

Due to the Lithuanian “push-back” policy, the number of persons irregularly crossing the LithuanianBelarusian border is decreasing. However, irregular migration remains significant in Lithuania. Migrants who irregularly cross the EU border in Latvia use Lithuania as a transit country to reach other EU countries. Such migrants in secondary migration found in Lithuania can be returned to Latvia following the readmission agreement and/or Dublin III Regulation. The paper aims to identify whether Lithuanian law and practice regarding irregular migrants in secondary migration from Latvia comply with international and EU law requirements. To achieve this aim, the paper defines the meaning of secondary migration of irregular migrants from Latvia, determines the International, EU and Lithuanian law and provisions of the Readmission agreement with Latvia applicable to secondary migration, and presents a practice of Lithuanian authorities in organising and performing the return to Latvia of migrants in secondary migration.

Transportation is a strategic sector of the EU’s economy and directly impacts the daily lives of all EU citizens. This industry is responsible for around 11 million jobs. It is vital for the integration of Europe, as interconnected and sustainable transport networks are necessary to complete and adequately function the European Single Market. Over the last few decades, passenger and freight transport volumes have grown, and they are expected to continue to do so, although at a slower pace. Most passenger and freight transport is through road transport, and this article focuses on regulating road transport and its compatibility with the objectives of the European Green Deal. The European Commission has put forth a set of propositions to align the EU's climate, energy, transport, and taxation policies to achieve a minimum reduction of 55% in net greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to the levels recorded in 1990. One proposition is to reduce road transport pollution by increasing the percentage of electric vehicles operating in the road transport sector. This paper aims to introduce the concept of the electric road vehicle, analyse the objectives of the European Green Deal, and discuss Lithuanian policy actions regarding electric road vehicles and related infrastructure.

The paper aims to determine the requirements that must be met in the complaint mechanism to prevent torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment in the pretrial proceeding. This paper analyses the International, regional, and EU laws and policy documents of international organisations andhow the recommendations and complaint mechanisms provided by the MéndezPrinciples contribute to the implementation of International and EU law requirements. It includes a list of conditions to ensure an effective complaintmechanism and analyses them. The paper also discusses problematic issues to be solved while establishing an effective complaint mechanism. The authors concluded that the right to complain during a pre-trial investigation requiresa multifaceted approach that incorporates impartiality, clear guidance, confidentiality, evidence-based decision-making, protection from reprisals, andregular evaluation of the existing policies and practices. The guidance and principles provided by the Méndez Principles lack specific details, leaving space for legal discussions. This requires competent domestic authorities to implement comprehensive guidelines and policies.