REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA LAW ON COMMUNICATIONS The Law on Communications of the Republic of Lithuania shall establish the rights and duties of the State, enterprises, institutions, organizations and natural persons in the use and management of means of communication, in the establishment and operation of the communications networks, in the rendering of communications services, as well as the general principles of responsibility for the violation of this Law. Article
- The Objectives of Communications Communications shall be a constituent part of the economic and social infrastructure of the Republic of Lithuania with the objectives of meeting the requirements of state administration, national defense, economic projects, postal and electrical communications network services. Postal communications network shall be a unifying and indivisible system of state communications companies and means of transport which receives, transmits, and delivers mailable matter. Electrical communications network shall be the complex of technical devices for the reception, preparation, and conveyance of information by the means of electric power and electromagnetic radiation. Article
- The Regulation of Communications Relations Communications relations in the Republic of Lithuania shall be regulated by this Law, other laws of the Republic of Lithuania, directives of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, as well as by the Statute of Communications of the Republic of Lithuania approved by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. Article
- The State Management of Communications Communications shall be managed by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. The Ministry of Communications of the Republic of Lithuania shall be the state body specially authorized by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania for the management of communications. In the manner established by laws, local telephone, radio, and television networks may be managed by local governments, enterprises, institutions, organizations, and natural persons. Article
- Authorizations of the Ministry of Communications of the Republic of Lithuania The Ministry of Communications of the Republic of Lithuania shall: shape the policy of communications and organize the work of the state postal services, telegraph, telephone, data transmission, as well as radio and television facilities network, coordinate the functioning of means of communication belonging to enterprises, institutions, organizations, and natural persons, regulate their interaction, supervise the work of communications network, and carry out the state technical supervision of radio communication facilities. Article
- The Structure of the Management of Communications The Ministry of Communications of the Republic of Lithuania shall establish the structure of the management of the integral communications system belonging to the State and in the manner established by laws it shall found, reorganize and liquidate communications companies subordinate to it. In the manner established by laws, separate communications companies or facilities may be transferred to local governments. Article
- The Ownership of the Communications Network and Means of Communication Postal and electrical communications networks and facilities which are under the control of state communications companies, shall be the state property of the Republic of Lithuania. Separate local telephone, radio, and television networks and stations located in towns and in the countryside may be the property of local governments, enterprises, institutions, organizations, and natural persons. Article
- Departmental Communications Networks Enterprises, institutions, and organizations shall have the right to establish and extend departmental communications networks and means of communication for satisfying their own needs. Departmental communications networks may be included into the state communications network only on the basis of an agreement and meeting the technical requirements established by the Ministry of Communications of the Republic of Lithuania or a communications company. Article
- Communications Networks of Natural Persons Natural persons may purchase, install means of communication and construct individual communications networks for personal use. The Ministry of Communications of the Republic of Lithuania shall establish the order of their use. Article
- The Development of Means of Communication The state means of communication shall be developed, reconstructed, and financed in accordance with the program of the economic development of the Republic of Lithuania. Communications companies shall have the right to lay line communications through agricultural lands, bridges, tunnels, streets, buildings, manifolds, restricted areas, and forests. The conditions of the laying of line communications must be coordinated with the owners (users) of the land and facilities. Communications companies must compensate land users for damages caused during the laying of line communications and must put routes in good order. When new facilities are built, their internal and city's block communications shall be designed and constructed by construction clients. When buildings, roads, bridges, and other facilities are built or reconstructed, line communications shall be transferred by construction clients in accordance with the technical requirements presented by the owners of line communications. Article
- The Protection of Electrical Communications The protective zone of the communications networks shall comprise the stretch of land along line communications. The proportions of the area shall be established in the Regulations of the Protection of Line Communications. In the protective area, land owners may build or dig the land in the manner coordinated with the owners of line communications. The persons who violate the Regulations of the Protection of Line Communications and, also, the Regulations of the Operation and Registration of Radio Communication Facilities, shall be punishable in the manner established by laws. Article
- The Secrecy of Correspondence, Telephone Conversations, and Telegraphic Messages Communications employees shall have no right to read the correspondence of the persons who make use of the communications services, violate the secrecy of their telephone conversations and telegraphic messages, they also shall not permit other people to do this. Communications employees, officials and other persons who violate these regulations, shall be punishable in the manner established by the appropriate laws of the Republic of Lithuania. Mail and telegraphic matter may be attached, inspected, or, in communication companies, seized, telephone conversations may be checked pursuant to the motivated decision of the investigator and only with the sanction of the prosecutor or by the decision of the court. Article
- The Payment for Communications Services Communications services rendered by communications companies subordinate to the Ministry of Communications of the Republic of Lithuania shall be paid for in accordance with the rates and prices established by the Ministry of Communications of the Republic of Lithuania. Contract prices shall be charged for works and services the payment for which has not been established by rates. Enterprises, institutions, organizations, and natural persons owning the means of communication may establish prices and rates for rendered services which must be coordinated with the Ministry of Communications of the Republic of Lithuania. Article
- The Use of the Means of Transport for Mail Transportation Under contracts, communications companies shall have the right to transport mail by state transport which is used in the Republic of Lithuania, over railways and rail routes, waterways and water routes, airways and air routes, highways and routes. Motor vehicles belonging to communications companies must not be used for works not connected with communications activities without the consent of these companies. Article
- The Distribution of Radio Frequencies and Granting of Permits The Ministry of Communications shall distribute radio frequencies which are assigned to the Republic of Lithuania by international agreements, giving priority to state and local government facilities, shall grant permits to enterprises, institutions, organizations, and natural persons to purchase, construct, and operate on the territory of the Republic of Lithuania facilities radiating electromagnetic waves and shall control the work of these facilities. Article
- The Specific Features of the Economic Activities of Communications Companies The principles of the economic mechanism of the activities of the communications branch shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania taking into consideration the specific features of the operational activities of communications companies. Article
- The Issuance of Postage Stamps, Envelopes, and Postal Cards The Ministry of Communications of the Republic of Lithuania shall have the exclusive right to issue postage stamps. Exercising this right, the Ministry of Communications of the Republic of Lithuania shall establish the samples, face values and number of copies of the postage stamps, shall organize the issuance and distribution of postage stamps, envelopes, and postal cards. Article
- The Responsibility of Communications Companies Communications companies and other enterprises, institutions, organizations, and natural persons who use means of communication and communications services shall be materially responsible for the failure to discharge obligations set forth in the Statute of Communications or improper fulfillment of said obligations. Disputes concerning the provision and use of communications services shall be settled in the manner established by laws. Article
- Relations with Foreign Countries The Ministry of Communications of the Republic of Lithuania shall organize the juridical, technological and financial relations with international communications companies and represent the Republic of Lithuania in these organizations, it shall cooperate with foreign countries in the sphere of communications. The international cooperation of the Ministry of Communications of the Republic of Lithuania shall be regulated by international contracts and agreements. Article
- The Seal of Communications Companies Communications companies shall have a seal with the Lithuanian State Emblem and the name of the company thereon. They shall use the Lithuanian State Emblem on business forms, signs of the companies, postage stamps, and on postal seals for the sealing of registered parcels (with statement of value). Article
- The Responsibility Persons guilty of the violation of this Law shall be responsible under the laws of the Republic of Lithuania. Vytautas Landsbergis President Supreme Council Republic of Lithuania Vilnius 30 May 1991 No.I-1392