REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA LAW ON THE SEIMAS OMBUDSMEN Article 1. The Seimas Ombudsmen shall investigate citizens' complaints

REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA LAW ON THE SEIMAS OMBUDSMEN Article

1. The Seimas Ombudsmen shall investigate citizens' complaints concerning abuse of official position or bureaucracy of state and local government officials. The Ombudsmen shall investigate citizens' complaints concerning abuse of official position or bureaucracy of the following officials: employees of the institutions of State government and administration, employees of local government Councils and their departments, or the authorized persons whose duties embrace the performance of organizational, managerial or administrative functions. The jurisdiction of the Ombudsmen shall not encompass investigation of the activities of the President of the Republic, the members of the Seimas, the judges of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and other courts, the procedural actions of prosecutors, investigators or interrogators, the activities of the Prime Minister, the State Controller and the Government (as a collective institution), or local government Councils and their Boards (as collective institutions). Article
2. Citizens of the Republic of Lithuania who have an impeccable reputation, who are trained in law and who have served in the legal profession or who have been employed in the institutions of State government and administration for at least 5 years shall be eligible for appointment as Ombudsmen. Article
3. The Ombudsmen shall be appointed by the Seimas for the term of 4 years from the candidates nominated by the Speaker of the Seimas. If an Ombudsman dies or is removed from office for reasons specified in Article 4 of this Law, the Seimas shall appoint a new Ombudsman for the remaining period of office. The number of terms of office of the Ombudsmen shall not be limited. Article
4. An Ombudsman may be removed from office before the expiration of his term of office if more than a half of the Seimas members express non-confidence in him. An Ombudsman shall also be removed from office in the following cases: 1) on personal request; 2) upon reaching the pensionable age established pursuant to the Law on Pensions; 3) upon the expiration of his term of office, if he is not reappointed; 4) if he is elected to another office or transferred to another job with his consent; 5) if the Ombudsman is incapable of fulfilling his duties for reasons of health, i.e. if in the course of one year he is ill for more than 4 months; and 6) if a court sentence concerning him becomes effective. In the cases prescribed in Par. 2 hereof, the decision concerning the removal of an Ombudsman from office shall be adopted by the Seimas by simple majority vote. Article
5. The Seimas shall appoint 5 Ombudsmen: 2 Ombudsmen for the investigation of activities of state institution officials, 1 Ombudsman for the investigation of activities of military institution officials and officials of institutions having the status of military institutions, and 2 Ombudsmen for the investigation of activities of officials of local government institutions. When nominating candidates for the office of Ombudsmen, the Seimas Speaker shall specify the institutions for the investigation of activities whereof they are appointed. Article
6. All the Seimas Ombudsmen shall have equal rights and duties, and each of them shall function independently. Together with the ancillary personnel, they shall form the Ombudsmen's Office, which shall be a legal person. Its structure, staffing, and financing shall be approved by the Seimas. The Seimas Speaker shall appoint the head of the Ombudsmen's Office who, alongside with the direct duties of the Ombudsman, shall also perform necessary administrative functions: on the recommendation of the Ombudsmen, he shall employ or dismiss from office deputies of the Ombudsmen, shall employ or dismiss other employees of the Office, shall monitor their work, shall represent the Office, and shall organize the preparation of annual reports. In the absence of the Ombudsman who is the head of the Office, the eldest Ombudsman shall substitute for him. The internal regulations of the Ombudsmen's Office, the issues concerning the activities of the Ombudsmen as well as other issues shall be regulated by the Statute of the Ombudsmen's Office approved by the Seimas. Article
7. If an Ombudsman is incapable of performing his duties by reason of illness, departure abroad, or other reasons, the head of the Office shall empower another Ombudsman to act in his place. If an Ombudsman is incapable of impartially investigating a certain complaint because of relationship by blood or affinity, or for any other valid reasons, the head of the Ombudsmen' Office shall charge another Ombudsman to investigate the complaint. In the event that the head of the Office is incapable of investigating a certain complaint due to the above reasons, he must refer it over to another Ombudsman for investigation. Article
8. The Ombudsmen may not hold any other elective or appointive office, nor may they be employed in other trade, commerce or any other government, public or private institutions or firms, or receive any other remuneration except the salary established according to their office and remuneration for creative activities. Article
9. The Ombudsmen shall be paid a salary which is equal to that of the Supreme Court judges. The head of the Ombudsmen's Office shall be paid a salary which is 10 percent more than the salary of the Ombudsmen. Article
10. When discharging their functions, the Ombudsmen shall act in pursuance of the Constitution and laws, and shall be independent of Seimas members, other institutions, officers or persons. Article
11. If an Ombudsman detects other violations which are not specified in the citizens, complaints, he shall investigate them on his own initiative provided that the appropriate issues are within his competence, or he shall refer them over for investigation to other competent state institutions. Article
12. Abuse of an official position shall be the actions or lack of action of an official whereby the official position is used not in the interests of the office, or is used contrary to laws or other legal acts, or in pursuit of mercenary ends (unlawful appropriation or conveyance to other persons of property, finances, etc. which do not belong to him, etc.), or in pursuit of other personal goals (revenge, jealousy, career advance or provision of illegal services, etc.), as well as the actions of the official whereby he exceeds his powers, or his arbitrary actions. Article
13. Bureaucracy shall be the actions of officials when, rather than settling matters in essence, they systematically maintain unnecessary or made-up formalities, groundlessly refuse to settle issues which are within their jurisdiction, or delay adopting decisions or fulfilling their duties. The style of work of officials characterized by failure to perform the duties established by laws or other legal acts as well as unsatisfactory performance of such duties shall also be considered bureaucracy. Article
14. Every citizen shall have the right to file complaints with the Ombudsman concerning abuse of official position or bureaucracy of officials of state or local government institutions which are assigned to the Ombudsman's competence. The Ombudsmen shall also investigate citizens' complaints referred to them by Seimas members, provided that the complaints correspond to the requirements set forth in this Law. The Ombudsmen shall not investigate complaints arising from legal relations of employment and other complaints the investigation whereof is assigned to the competence of courts. Article
15. Complaints must be submitted within 3 months after the action in question was committed. Complaints filed after the expiration of the time limit, as well as anonymous complaints, shall not be investigated unless the Ombudsman decides otherwise. Article
16. The complaint must indicate: 1) the addressee - the Ombudsman; 2) the complainant's name, surname and address; 3) the name, surname and official position of the officials against whom the complaint is brought, as well as the name of the institution where they are employed; 4) the name of the decision against which the complaint is brought and the date of the adoption thereof, or a description of the actions complained against, and the time and circumstances of their commission; 5) the complainant's position; 6) a distinctly phrased application addressed to the Ombudsman; 7) a list of the documents attached to the complaint; and 8) the date of the complaint and the complainant's signature. Attached to the complaint may be: 1) a copy of the contested decision; 2) available evidence or description thereof; and 3) a list of the persons to be questioned as proposed by the complainant, specifying their address and the circumstances which may be confirmed by each of them. Article
17. The Ombudsman shall refuse to investigate the complaint and return it to the complainant no later than within 7 days if: 1) he makes a conclusion that the matter complained against is insignificant; 2) the complaint is brought after the expiration of the time limit for complaints established in Article 15 of this Law; 3) the circumstances referred to in the complaint are not within the Ombudsmen's competence; 4) an analogous complaint has been investigated or is being investigated in court; and 5) a criminal action has been brought or preliminary investigation is in progress on the case concerning the complaint. If the complaint is returned to the complainant, grounds for refusal to investigate the complaint must be specified. In the cases when the complaint is not within the competence of the Ombudsmen, the refusal to investigate it must also specify the institution which the complainant might address on the matter. A complaint filed repeatedly after investigation shall not be investigated unless the Ombudsman decides otherwise. Article
18. When investigating a complaint, the Ombudsman must ascertain: 1) whether the decisions referred to in the complaint have been adopted and whether there have been grounds for complaint (actions or failure to act, or instances of conduct); 2) on what grounds and under what circumstances the abovementioned was committed; 3) whether the decisions or actions referred to in the complaint contradict laws and other legal acts, and whether in the activity of the official there are instances of abuse of official position or bureaucracy; 4) what officials committed the violations, for what reasons (or in pursuit of what goals), and what is the culpability of concrete officials and how the officials who committed the violation account for their actions; and 5) what facts or evidence confirm the committed violation. All circumstances clarified and evidence collected in the course of investigation as well as the legal evaluation of the investigated activities shall be set forth in the statement which in all cases shall be signed by the Ombudsman. If the accusations brought out in the complaint prove groundless, notification of this shall be given in the statement which shall also contain the description of the circumstances which have been established and the characterization of the investigatory actions which have been carried out. The statement shall be delivered to the complainant. Article
19. At the Ombudsman's request, officials of state and local government institutions must immediately present information, documents and material which are necessary for the Ombudsman to carry out his functions. Article
20. The Ombudsman shall investigate complaints both on his own and by commissioning his assistants on the staff to carry out separate investigatory actions. The Ombudsman shall have the right to enlist the services of police officers if he or his assistants are hindered from entering civil or military institutions which are investigated by them, or if they are refused access to required documents or material. In said cases, police officers must seize the documents and material requested by the Ombudsman. Article
21. The Ombudsman shall have the right to request that the officials whose activities are under investigation present a written explanation; he may also question the required persons. In the event that the Ombudsman is refused explanation or evidence, a report shall be drawn up thereon. Upon completion of the investigation, the head of the office wherein the investigation was conducted as well as the official whose actions were investigated and the complainant shall be acquainted with the results. Article
22. The Ombudsman and the ancillary personnel must guard State, professional or other secrets which are protected by law and which come to their knowledge in the course of their duties. The same pledge of secrecy shall also be incumbent on persons who are not employed in the Ombudsmen's Office but who participated in the investigation of the complaint. Article
23. Upon completing an investigation, the Ombudsman shall adopt one of the following decisions: 1) to refer the material to investigative bodies if elements of crime are found; 2) to bring a court action recommending that the court dismiss from office officials guilty of abuse of official position or bureaucracy, with the exception of officers who are appointed by the President or who are appointed or elected by the Seimas, and to suggest that moral and material damage which the person suffered by reason of the violations committed by officials be compensated; 3) to recommend that the departmental collective institution or head of the institution wherein the investigation was conducted or a superior institution impose disciplinary penalties on the officials guilty of violation; 4) to bring the fact of negligence in work, noncompliance with laws, or violation of professional ethics or bureaucracy to the attention of the officials concerned; 5) to reject the complaint if the violations specified therein are not confirmed; or 6) to notify the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania or the President of the Republic of the violations committed by Ministers or other officials accountable to the Seimas or the President (with the exception of officials enumerated in Par. 3 of Article 1). When adopting decisions on the official's abuse of his official position or acts of bureaucracy, the Ombudsman may not revise or revoke the official's decisions. Upon establishing that while adopting the decision the officer abused his position, the Ombudsman must apply measures to revoke the decision in the manner established by law. The Ombudsman's recommendation to revise the unlawful decision of the official must be examined in the institution to which the official is accountable. The decision of the court to remove from office, on the recommendation of the Ombudsman, officials guilty of abuse of official position or bureaucracy shall be obligatory to the employer and shall constitute grounds for terminating the employment contract. Article
24. Complaints must be investigated and the complainant must be given a response no later than within 1 month of the day of receipt of the complaint. As necessary, the Ombudsman may extend the period of investigation for up to one more month. He must notify the complainant thereof. Article
25. Officials specified in Par.2 of Article 1 of this Law may address the Ombudsman with a request for a conclusion on whether or not the decisions will bring about consequences which later might be appealed against to the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman may refuse to present such a conclusion. Article
26. If numerous or flagrant violations of law are established during investigation, the Ombudsman must notify the Seimas, the Government, or the corresponding local government Council thereof. Article
27. If during the investigation the Ombudsman becomes aware of shortcomings, contradictions or loopholes in statutory law or other legal acts, he shall notify the Seimas, the Government, or the corresponding local government Council thereof. Article
28. Each year, the Ombudsman shall submit a written report on his general activities during the previous calendar year to the Seimas by 15 March; the report must be made public and considered in the Seimas. The report shall also contain generalized information stating in which of the institutions specified in Par.2 of Article 1 of this Law the greatest number of violations committed by the officials has been established, which statutory laws or other legal acts encourage abuse of official position, and what measures should be applied so that the abuse of official position by officials would be diminished. At the same time, the information concerning the activities of the Ombudsmen's Office presented by the Committee on Human and Citizen's Rights and Nationalities Affairs as well as proposals how to improve said activities shall be submitted and considered in the Seimas. I promulgate this Law adopted by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania. ALGIRDAS BRAZAUSKAS President of the Republic Vilnius 11 January 1994 No. I-363 ____________