Vilnius University Faculty of Law traditionally initiated the spring semester with a cycle of events The Spring of Law Science that took place on 6th-8th February 2017. The programme included a variety of scientific events, educational meetings, discussions on national and international legal problems. Undoubtedly, one of the most important events was national scientific-practical conference “Research of Criminal Justice” that attracted over 350 participants from the prosecutor’s offices, courts, the Bar Association, the Financial Crime Investigation Service, the Special Investigation Service, the police and other institutions.
The guests of the conference were welcomed by Dean of VU Faculty of Law Prof. Dr. Tomas Davulis who noted that the conferences organized by the Department of Criminal Justice always receive exclusive attention from Lithuanian lawyers.
During the conference, relevant criminal law and criminal procedure issues were discussed.
Head of the Department of Criminal Justice, Prof. Habil. Dr. Gintaras Švedas raised a fundamental question about the essence of the principle of justice and its contents. The professor discussed the principle of justice in the latest case law of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania and the Supreme Court of the Republic of Lithuania, its meaning in imposing a sentence. The researcher urged all conference participants to always keep in mind that justice must be the spirit of the criminal law on which we must focus, and it must consist of two major elements: not only a just punishment in a specific case, but also the assessment of a law as such.
The judge of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Lithuania Prof. Dr. Armanas Ambramavičius discussed the problematic aspects of qualification of crimes against life there are the most serious offenses enshrined in the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania. He shared several paradoxical cases from his own practice that were worth discussing, thus, related to crimes against human life. “Such examples of crimes, situations that happen in life are even difficult to be imagined. Life creates unique legal examples, “- the professor said emotionally.
Chief prosecutor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rita Aliukonienė analysed the legal and medical aspects of infanticide. Lecturer Dr. Andželika Vosyliūtė initiated a discussion on a just classification of an open theft. Lecturer Dr. Justas Namavičius presented interesting examples of possible errors in criminal law cases.
The Judge of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Lithuania Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gintaras Goda reviewed the practice of the cassation court in the substantive violations of the criminal procedure law and one of the latest decisions of the ECHR that is significant in the Lithuanian criminal procedure. The Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pranas Kuconis shared his insights about the problems of accusation formulation in Lithuania. Lawyer Dr. Audrius Juozapavičius discussed the initiation of pre-trial investigation.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ilona Michailovič presented mediation in Lithuania from the scientific theoretical and practical perspectives and the judge of Šiauliai District Court Dr. Mantas Liesis shared his experience of applying mediation in practice.
The detailed conference programme (in Lithuanian).