Standards for the Coherent Application of the Principles of Criminal Jurisdiction in Relation to Criminal Acts Committed by Lithuanian Citizens and Persons Permanently Resident in Lithuania Outside the Territory of Lithuania

Abstract

The sixth chapter (“Standards for the Coherent Application of the Principles of Criminal Jurisdiction in Relation to Criminal Acts Committed by Lithuanian Citizens and Persons Permanently Resident in Lithuania Outside the Territory of Lithuania”) discusses the problem of the coherent interaction of the principles of state criminal jurisdiction, in particular with regard to the need for the proper application of national criminal law to offenses committed abroad by nationals and other persons residing in that state. This choice of topic was inspired by the fact that Lithuanian citizens are prosecuted under the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania for criminal acts committed outside the territory of Lithuania not based on the active personality principle, but based on the universal principle. Moreover, in Lithuania it is entirely wrongly assumed that criminal acts committed by Lithuanian citizens on board a foreign vessel on the high seas must be qualified as criminal acts committed on the territory of the flag state of the vessel. In other words, the limits to the application of any principle of criminal jurisdiction are expanded on the grounds of the literal interpretation of criminal law norms. In order to avoid such situations and to draw very clear boundaries on the jurisdictional principles applicable to Lithuanian citizens and other persons permanently residing in Lithuania in respect of criminal acts committed by them abroad, the most important and relevant aspects of the content of the flag, active personal, and universal principles are analyzed, and a potential mechanism that might enable their coherent interaction with each other is outlined. The content of the double criminality clause and the rules for determining the place of commission of the crime are analyzed in connection with the elaboration of guidelines for the effective regulation and coherent application of the active personal principle.