REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA

REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA OFFICIAL TRANSLATION REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA LAW AMENDING THE LAW ON PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 27 June 2006, No X-736 (As last amended on 18 January 2007 – X-1036) Vilnius Article

1. A New Version of the Republic of Lithuania Law on Public Administration The Republic of Lithuania Law on Public Administration shall be revised and set forth to read as follows: “REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA LAW ON PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS Article
2. Purpose of the Law This Law shall create the necessary preconditions for the implementation of the provision of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania stipulating that all the state institutions shall serve the people; shall establish the principles of public administration, the spheres of public administration, the system of entities of public administration and the basics of organising administrative procedures; shall guarantee the right of persons to appeal against the acts or omissions or administrative decisions of entities of public administration as well as the right to statutory and impartial consideration of applications, complaints and statements submitted by persons. Article
3. Definitions
4. Public administration shall mean the activities of entities of public administration regulated by laws and other legal acts aimed at implementing laws and other regulatory enactments by making administrative decisions, providing administrative services stipulated in laws, administering the provision of public services and carrying out the internal administration of entities of public administration.
5. Administrative regulation shall mean the activities of an entity of public administration when adopting statutes, rules, regulations and other regulatory enactments for the purpose of implementation of laws.
6. Internal administration shall mean an activity aimed at ensuring independent functioning of an entity of public administration (structure arrangement, management of documents, personnel, available material and financial resources) so that it could engage in public administration.
7. Entity of public administration shall mean an institution, agency, official, civil servant or any other natural or legal person authorised by laws to engage in public administration.
8. Institution of public administration shall mean a collegial or one-man entity of public administration authorised by laws to adopt administrative regulatory enactments.
9. Agency of public administration shall mean a state or municipal budgetary agency authorised by laws to engage in public administration.
10. Official shall mean a state politician, civil servant or any other person performing the functions of public administration and authorised by laws to give mandatory instructions stipulated in legal acts to persons who are not subordinate to him.
11. Administrative act shall mean a legal act of the established form adopted by an entity of public administration.
12. Individual administrative act shall mean an act of single application of law intended for a specific person or a specified group of persons.
13. Administrative regulatory enactment shall mean a legal act establishing the rules of conduct and intended for an individual and unspecified group of persons.
14. Administrative decision shall mean an administrative act or any other document of the established form adopted in accordance with the established procedure where the will of an entity of public administration is expressed.
15. Decision on the administrative procedure shall mean an administrative decision the adoption of which means the completion of the administrative procedure.
16. Person shall mean a natural person or a group of natural persons, a legal person or an entity without the rights of a legal person (a commission, general meeting of members, permanent session).
17. Application shall mean a person’s application not related to a violation of the person’s rights or lawful interests to an entity of public administration requesting to adopt an administrative decision or perform other actions stipulated in legal acts.
18. Complaint shall mean a person’s written application to an entity of public administration where it is indicated that his rights or lawful interests have been violated and it is requested to defend them.
19. Notification shall mean a person’s written application to an entity of public administration where it is indicated that the rights or lawful interests of another person have been violated and it is requested to defend them.
20. Administrative service shall mean the activities of an entity of public administration when issuing to persons authorisations (licences) that confirm respective legal facts, when submitting information required by laws and when performing administrative procedure.
21. Public service shall mean the activities of legal persons controlled by the state or municipalities when providing social services for persons, as well as services in the spheres of education, science, culture, sports and other services provided for by laws. Other persons may also provide public services in the cases and in the manner provided for by laws.
22. Arrangement for the provision of public services shall mean the provision, within the set time limits and in accordance with the established procedure, of paid or free-of-charge public services prescribed by legal acts.
23. Administration of the provision of public services shall mean the activities of entities of public administration when laying down the rules and arrangement for the provision of public services, setting up public establishments or issuing authorisations for the provision of public services to other persons as well as supervision and control of the provision of public services.
24. Institutional assistance shall mean the activities of an entity of public administration when providing information and other assistance to another entity of public administration at the request of this entity. Article
25. Principles of Public Administration The activities of entities of public administration shall be based on the following principles: 1) the supremacy of law. This principle means that that the powers of entities of public administration to engage in public administration must be stipulated in laws, and their activities must comply with the legal principles laid down in this Law. Administrative acts related to the implementation of rights and duties of persons must in all cases be based on laws; 2) objectivity. This principle means that the adoption of an administrative decision and other official actions of an entity of public administration must be unbiased and objective; 3) proportionality. This principle means that the scope and the implementation measures of an administrative decision must conform to the necessary and reasonable goals of administration; 4) absence of abuse of power. This principle means that entities of public administration shall be prohibited from performing the functions of public administration without the required authorisations provided for by laws or from taking administrative decisions seeking to attain purposes other than those prescribed by laws; 5) institutional cooperation. This principle means that entities of public administration when drafting administrative decisions shall, where necessary, provide each other with the required information and other assistance; 6) efficiency. This principle means that an entity of public administration when adopting and implementing the decisions shall ensure economical use of the resources allocated to him and shall seek the results at minimum costs; 7) subsidiarity. This principle means that the decisions of entities of public administration must be adopted and implemented at the most efficient level of public administration system; 8) “one-desk”. This principle means that a person shall receive information, submit an application, a complaint or notification and receive an answer to them at one workplace. An entity of public administration that is to consider an application, a complaint or notification and adopt an administrative decision shall consider the application, complaint or notification and shall receive information from its administrative units, subordinate entities and, where necessary, from other entities of public administration, and shall not impose such obligation on a person who has submitted the application, complaint or notification. CHAPTER II PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Article
26. System of Entities of Public Administration
27. The system of entities of public administration shall mean entities of public administration which have been authorised by laws to engage in public administration that are related to each other by subordination and coordination relations.
28. The system of entities of public administration shall consist of entities of state administration, entities of municipal administration and other entities of public administration.
29. Entities of state administration shall mean entities of public administration acting as state institutions or agencies, their officials or civil servants.
30. There are the following entities of state administration: 1) central – entities of state administration whose territory of activity is the whole territory of the state; 2) territorial – entities of state administration whose territory of activity is the established area of the territory of the state.
31. Entities of municipal administration shall mean entities of public administration acting as municipal institutions or agencies, their officials or civil servants.
32. Other entities of public administration shall mean natural and legal persons (public establishments, state enterprises, non-governmental organisations and associations) authorised by laws to engage in public administration. Article
33. Main Spheres of Public Administration The main spheres of public administration shall be as follows: 1) administrative regulation, supervision and control of the implementation of administrative acts; 2) provision of administrative services; 3) administration of the provision of public services; 4) internal administration of an entity of public administration. Article
34. Administrative Regulation
35. Only entities of public administration shall have the right to pass administrative acts required for the implementation of legal acts and other regulatory enactments.
36. Only authorised by law institutions of public administrations shall have the right to pass administrative regulatory enactments.
37. Only authorised by law entities of public administration shall have the right to pass individual administrative acts.
38. Laws and other legal acts adopted on the basis thereof shall set mandatory requirements for persons. Article
39. Obligation to Seek Counsel on Issues of Administrative Regulation
40. Entities of public administration must consult about administrative decisions related to general legitimate public interests with organisations representing public interests in a particular field (associations, trade unions, public organisations and representatives of other NGOs) and in cases provided for by laws - with residents or the groups thereof.
41. The methods of consultation (meetings of the interested persons, polls, publicly announced meetings and other ways of finding out the opinions) shall be chosen by an entity of public administration at its own discretion, unless the law provides otherwise. Article
42. General Requirements for an Individual Administrative Act
43. An individual administrative act must be based on objective data (facts) and the provisions of legal acts.
44. An individual administrative act must contain clearly formulated established or granted rights and duties, and specify the appeal procedure.
45. An individual administrative act must be signed by an official or civil servant who have adopted it, or by the head of an entity of public administration, his deputy or an authorised person and shall have the seal. Article
46. Supervision and Control of the Implementation of Administrative Acts
47. The implementation of administrative acts must be supervised or controlled.
48. An entity subject to supervision or control and the form thereof shall be set by an entity of public administration that has passed an administrative act. It could be an entity of public administration that has passed the administrative act or any other entity of public administration authorised by it or accountable to it. Article
49. Quality Management of Public Administration
50. Quality management of public administration shall be implemented at state level and at the level of an entity of public administration.
51. The most important way of quality management of public administration is monitoring of entities of public administration and their activities. This allows timely noticing the changes in public administration, assessing them and providing for measures of prevention of negative consequences. Monitoring shall be organised by the Government, or an institution authorised by it.
52. The ways of quality management of public administration at the level of an entity of public administration are planning and organisation of the activities of entities of public administration and the control of the internal administration.
53. The activities of an entity of public administration shall be planned taking into consideration the National Long-term Development Strategy and other strategic planning documents.
54. The activities of an entity of public administration shall be organised considering the strategic activity plans of an entity of public administration approved in accordance with the procedure set forth by legal acts and publicly announced.
55. The implementation of the strategic activity plans of an entity of public administration shall be assessed by an internal audit service. Article
56. Internal Administration
57. The purpose of the internal administration is to ensure proper performance of functions of public administration by an entity of public administration.
58. The structure of the administration of an entity of public administration shall be established by the head of the entity of public administration or the founder of the entity of public administration in accordance with laws and legal acts adopted on the basis thereof and taking into consideration the set aims and objectives of the entity, the strategic activity plans and the approved number of positions for civil servants and the number of employees employed under the employment contracts (hereinafter referred to as the “employees”). Article
59. Basis for Internal Administration The internal administration of entities of public administration shall be regulated by laws or legal acts adopted on the basis thereof (regulations, statutes, rules of procedure, job descriptions (job instructions) and internal regulations). Article
60. Internal Administration Control There can be the following forms of the control of the internal administration in respect of an entity of public administration: 1) the internal control and the internal audit carried out in accordance with the procedure set forth by laws and legal acts adopted on the basis thereof; 2) the external audit that assesses the quality and efficiency of an entity of public administration as well as reliability of the internal control and the internal audit system. Article
61. Consideration of Applications Submitted by Persons
62. Entities of public administration shall consider the applications submitted by persons in accordance with the rules approved by the Government.
63. When considering the applications submitted by persons, the provisions of the rules approved by the Government shall be applied to the extent the issues under consideration are not regulated by laws and other legal acts adopted on the basis thereof. Article
64. Provision of Administrative Services
65. There are the following administrative services: 1) issuance of authorisations (licenses); 2) issuance of documents that confirm certain legal facts; 3) submission of information stipulated in laws and available to an entity of public administration to persons; 4) carrying out of the administrative procedure.
66. Administrative services shall be provided by entities of public administration only.
67. Laws and other legal acts adopted on the basis thereof shall set the fees and charges or any other remuneration for provided administrative services. The fees and charges or any other remuneration shall not be set for an administrative service referred to in subparagraph 4 of paragraph 1 of this Article, as well as for considering the applications submitted by persons requesting administrative services. Article
68. Requirements for Administration of the Provision of Public Services
69. Entities of public administration shall be responsible for the legitimacy of the provision of services administered by them.
70. An entity of public administration which administers the provision of a certain public service in accordance with the sphere of management established by this Law may not itself provide such service.
71. Only laws can set the fees and charges or any other remuneration for administration of the provision of public services. Article
72. Regulation of the Provision of Public Services
73. At the state level, the provision of public services stipulated by laws shall be regulated by central entities of state administration according to the sphere of management assigned to them under laws or regulations.
74. At the territorial level, the provision of public services stipulated by law shall be regulated by entities of municipal administration or territorial entities of state administration according to their powers.
75. Territorial entities of state administration may not duplicate or change the regulation of the provision of public services by central entities of state administration, but they may submit proposals to the latter on the improvement of the procedure for the provision of public services or establishment of a new public service.
76. Unless provided for by laws, central entities of state administration shall not have the right to demand from territorial entities of state administration and the municipalities to set up agencies providing public services.
77. The head of an entity that provides services shall be responsible for keeping to the arrangement of the provision of public services and the quality of the provided public services. Article
78. Use of Information technologies for Public Administration When performing the functions assigned to them, entities of public administration shall use information technologies in accordance with the procedure set forth by laws and other legal acts. CHAPTER III ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE Article
79. Administrative Procedure and its Participants
80. The administrative procedure shall comprise mandatory actions performed pursuant to this Law by an entity of public administration while considering a person’s complaint or notification about a violation allegedly committed by acts, omissions or administrative decisions of the entity of public administration of the rights and legitimate interests of the person referred to in the complaint or notification and adopting a decision on administrative procedure.
81. There are the following participants in the administrative procedure: a person who has submitted a complaint, or a person with respect to whose allegedly violated rights and legitimate interests through the actions, omissions or administrative decisions of an entity of public administration a notification has been received and the entity of public administration which has initiated the administrative procedure on the grounds of the received complaint or notification. Article
82. A Person’s Rights and Duties
83. A person shall have the right to: 1) have access to the documents received during the administrative procedure and other information; 2) submit additional information and provide explanations; 3) call for removal of an official, civil servant or employee that carries out the administrative procedure; 4) have an interpreter; 5) participate when checking the factual data on site; 6) express his opinion on issues arising during the administrative procedure; 7) request an entity of public administration which has initiated the administrative procedure to terminate it; 8) receive a decision on the administrative procedure; 9) appeal against the adopted decision on the administrative procedure in accordance with the procedure set forth by laws, if the decision does not comply with the requirements laid down in laws and other legal acts, or to appeal against the actions of an official, civil servant or employee, if they have elements of the abuse of office or bureaucracy (the way they are defined in the Law on the Seimas Ombudsmen); 10) have a representative acting on his behalf.
84. A person must exercise in good faith the rights granted to him and shall not abuse them. If it transpires that a person abused the rights granted to him or acted not in good faith, the administrative procedure may be terminated by decision of the head of an entity of public administration and the person must be notified thereof within 3 working days from terminating the administrative procedure. Article
85. Grounds for Initiating the Administrative Procedure
86. There are the following grounds for initiating the administrative procedure: 1) a complaint filed by a person; 2) a notification given by a state politician, official or civil servant; 3) a notification given by any other person.
87. The grounds for initiating the administrative procedure specified in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be further referred to as a complaint. Article
88. Commencement of the Administrative Procedure
89. The administrative procedure shall be initiated by the head of an entity of public administration or an official or civil servant authorised by him, by a written assignment (order, ordinance or resolution) within 3 working days from the receipt of the documents referred to in Article
91. The information required for initiation of the administrative procedure, which is available to an entity of public administration, or contained in the State Registers or in any other state or municipal information systems, shall be collected by the entity of public administration that has received the complaint. Article
92. Acceptance and Consideration of the Complaint
93. Every entity of public administration must accept complaints and consider them according to their powers. The fact of acceptance of a complaint shall be acknowledged by a certain document indicating the date of its acceptance, the name, surname and telephone number of a civil servant or an employee who has accepted the complaint and the complaint registration number. The document confirming the fact of acceptance of the complaint shall be delivered to the person or sent to him by post or e-mail. The Government shall set the form of the document that confirms the fact of acceptance of the complaint.
94. Complaints submitted by e-mail have to be signed with a digital signature. Replies to these complaints shall be sent to a person by e-mail and, at the request of the person – by post, to the address indicated in the complaint, or delivered personally. The reply that is sent by e-mail shall be signed with a secure digital signature by the head of an entity of public administration or an official or civil servant authorised by him.
95. Complaints submitted anonymously, not specifying the name and surname of a person or the name of a legal entity, its address or signature, may remain unconsidered by decision of the head of an entity of public administration or an official or civil servant authorised by him.
96. If an entity of public administration does not have the powers to adopt a decision on administrative procedure concerning the issue referred to in the complaint, it shall transfer, within 5 working days, the complaint to an entity of public administration that has the required powers and shall inform the person about it. If it transpires after the initiation of the administrative procedure that the court has started to consider the complaint on the same issue, the administrative procedure shall be suspended until the court investigates the complaint and shall inform the person about it.
97. It shall be prohibited to transfer the complaint for consideration to an entity of public administration, its administration or an official or civil servant whose actions are appealed against.
98. The complaint shall not be considered, if the court or an entity of public administration itself has already adopted the decision on administrative procedure on the same issue and a person does not provide any new factual data that would enable to appal against the decision, and also in the case when more than one year has passed since the violations indicated in the complaint and the submission of the complaint. The person shall be informed, within 5 working days from the receipt of the complaint, about the decision not to consider the complaint.
99. If the complaint is addressed to several entities of public administration and the issue is within the competence of several entities of public administration, the entity of public administration that is first mentioned in the complaint shall initiate the administrative procedure and organise the consideration of the complaint. Other entities of public administration that participate in the administrative procedure, must submit, within 10 working days from the receipt of the complaint, within their competence, their proposals concerning the handling of the complaint to the entity of public administration that has initiated the administrative procedure.
100. In the case of the annual leave, a business trip, seminars and other cases of absence from work of officials, civil servants or employees participating in the administrative procedure, the head of an entity of public administration shall delegate the task of participating in the administrative procedure to other officials, civil servants or employees that have equivalent powers. Article
101. Hours for Acceptance of Applications and Complaints
102. An entity of public administration must organise its work in such a way that persons wishing or obliged to file an application or a complaint could do so at all office hours.
103. An entity of public administration must set at least two additional hours per week for the acceptance of applications and complaints after the end of working hours of the entity of public administration. Article
104. Withdrawal of an Official, Civil Servant or Employee
105. An official, civil servant or employee shall withdraw himself or must be withdrawn from participation in the administrative procedure if: 1) an official, civil servant or employee is a close relative (as defined in the Civil Code), brother in law or cohabitant, who has registered partnership in accordance with the procedure set forth in laws, of a person in respect of whom the administrative procedure has been initiated; 2) an official, civil servant or employee and a person in respect of whom the administrative procedure has been initiated are related by subordination relations; 3) the impartiality of an official, civil servant or employee raises reasonable doubts because of some other circumstances which may result in a conflict of private and public interests.
106. A decision concerning the withdrawal of an official, civil servant or employee from taking part in the administrative procedure shall be adopted by the head of an entity of public administration. A decision concerning the withdrawal of the head of a public administration from taking part in the administrative procedure shall be adopted by him, the head of the public administration who has appointed him to this position, or the head of a collegial entity of public administration. Article
107. Obtaining of Information Required for Adopting a Decision
108. Demand for documents and information required for adopting a decision concerning the administrative procedure from persons in respect of whom the administrative procedure has been initiated has to be lawful and substantiated.
109. An entity of public administration may demand only for such documents and information that is not available in the state registers and other state or municipal information systems except for the cases when such documents and information must be provided under laws.
110. The deadline must be set for the provision of the documents and information. It shall be allowed to make a repeated demand for documents and information from the persons in respect of whom the administrative procedure has been initiated only in exceptional cases and properly substantiating the necessity for such documents and information. Article
111. Suspension of the Administrative Procedure
112. If the decision on the administrative procedure can change the legal status of the persons who are not taking part in the administrative procedure, the administrative procedure shall be suspended notifying the said persons of their right to participate in the procedure and notifying the person in respect of whom the administrative procedure has been initiated about the grounds for suspending the administrative procedure.
113. The administrative procedure shall be resumed when the persons referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article express their intention to participate in the procedure or refuse in writing to participate in it, or if no response concerning the proposal to participate in the administrative procedure is received within 10 working days from sending the letter about the suspension of the administrative procedure. Article
114. Questioning
115. Before taking the decision on administrative procedure, a person in respect of whom the administrative procedure has been initiated, as well as other persons, may be questioned seeking to disclose the essence of the issue under consideration and the related circumstances, except for the cases specified in paragraph 2 of this Article when such questioning is mandatory.
116. The decision on administrative decision shall be taken only after questioning a person with respect to whose allegedly violated rights and legitimate interests a notification has been received and the administrative procedure has been initiated on the grounds of this notification. If this person refuses to attend the questioning, or if there are any other objective reasons why it is not possible to question the person during the period of time set for the administrative procedure, the administrative procedure shall be terminated.
117. The decision on the administrative procedure shall be adopted without questioning in the following cases: 1) when the complaint is satisfied immediately and the decision on the administrative procedure does not violate the rights and legitimate interests of other persons; 2) when, under the requirements of legal acts, the decision on the administrative procedure has to be taken immediately. Article
118. The Rights of Natural Persons of Diminished Capacity
119. A natural person of diminished capacity shall be entitled to be heard at his own or his guardian’s request. The guardian must also be heard in order to protect the interests of the natural person of diminished capacity.
120. A natural person of diminished capacity can be heard on issues related to the income or property that are at his disposal. Article
121. Verification of the Factual Data
122. Where necessary, an entity of public administration participating in the administrative procedure may carry out an on-site verification of the factual data. A person in respect of whom the administrative procedure has been initiated and the interested persons must be notified of the time of the verification so that they could, if they wished, participate in the on-site verification of the factual data. If, in the course of the verification, information which, under laws, can not be public may become public, the person in respect of whom the administrative procedure has been initiated and the interested persons shall be able to access only the results of the on-site verification of the factual data.
123. Verbal explanations and the factual data established during the on-site verification must be recorded in the verification report (conclusion) and signed by the persons carrying out the verification. Written explanations shall be attached to the verification report (conclusion). Article
124. Time Limits for the Administrative Procedure The administrative procedure shall be completed and the decision on the administrative procedure shall be adopted within 20 working days from the beginning of the procedure. Where, due to objective reasons, the administrative procedure cannot be completed within the set time limit, the entity of public administration that has initiated the administrative procedure may extend it for a period not longer than 10 working days. A person shall be notified about the extension of the time limit for the administrative procedure in writing or by e-mail (where the complaint has been received by e-mail) and the reasons for the extension. Article
125. Language of the Administrative Procedure
126. Administrative procedures shall be conducted in the official language - the Lithuanian language.
127. When a person in whose respect the administrative procedure has been initiated or other interested persons do not speak or understand Lithuanian or are unable to make themselves understood because of a sensory or speech disorder, an interpreter must be present at the administrative procedure.
128. An entity of public administration that has initiated the administrative procedure or a person in whose respect the administrative procedure has been initiated shall invite an interpreter at his own initiative. Article
129. Recommendation to Adopt a Decision on the Administrative Procedure Upon completing the administrative procedure, an official, civil servant or employee shall draw up a recommendation to adopt a decision on the administrative procedure and submit it to the head of an entity of public administration. Factual circumstances established during the consideration of the complaint, legal acts on the grounds of which the draft decision on the administrative procedure has been prepared, the proposed draft decision on the administrative procedure and the date of preparing the recommendations shall be specified in the recommendation to adopt the decision on the administrative procedure. Article
130. Adoption of a Decision on the Administrative Procedure
131. The administrative procedure shall be concluded by adopting a decision on the administrative procedure. A person in whose respect the administrative procedure has been initiated shall, within 3 working days, be notified about the adopted decision on the administrative procedure and the procedure for appealing against the decision.
132. The decision on the administrative procedure shall be prepared in two copies; one of the copies shall be delivered or sent to the person in whose respect the administrative procedure has been initiated and the other shall remain with the entity of public administration and be kept in accordance with the procedure set forth by laws. Article
133. Error Correction Procedure
134. Upon receiving a reasoned notification from the person in whose respect the administrative procedure has been initiated or from any other interested person about calculation or printing errors, any discrepancies of the factual data or any other technical errors, an entity of public administration which has adopted the decision on the administrative procedure shall undertake the measures required for the correction of errors.
135. If an error may have a significant influence on the execution of the decision, an entity of public administration which has adopted the decision on the administrative procedure shall suspend the execution of the decision until the correction of errors.
136. Errors have to be corrected in the copy of the decision on the administrative procedure whish is kept by the entity of public administration which had adopted the decision on the administrative procedure. The person shall, within 3 working days, receive a new or corrected document (the decision on the administrative decision). Article
137. Appeal against a Decision on the Administrative Procedure A person shall have the right to appeal against a decision on the administrative procedure adopted by an entity of public administration at his own choice either to the Administrative Disputes Commission or to the administrative court in accordance with the procedure set forth by laws. CHAPTER IV TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF INSTITUTIONAL ASSISTANCE Article
138. Cases when Institutional Assistance is Requested An entity of public administration may request the assistance of another entity of public administration for adopting the decision on the administrative procedure if: 1) it does not have information that is required for adopting a decision on the administrative procedure; 2) documents possessed by the entity of public administration that is addressed are required; 3) in other cases of necessity. Article
139. Cases when Institutional Assistance is Refused Institutional assistance shall be refused if: 1) the issue under consideration is outside the competence of the entity of public administration addressed; 2) rendering of institutional assistance would require unreasonably high costs from the assistance provider; 3) institutional assistance is related to information whose provision is prohibited by laws. Article
140. Selecting the Institution for Rendering Assistance Where institutional assistance can be rendered by several entities of public administration, the entity of public administration of the lower level shall first be addressed. Article
141. Specific Features of Rendering Institutional Assistance
142. An entity of public administration which requests institutional assistance shall be responsible for motivation and lawfulness of the application.
143. An entity of public administration which is requested to render institutional assistance shall be obliged to render the assistance, except for the cases listed in Article
144. Institutional assistance shall be rendered not later than within 5 working days from the receipt of the application for institutional assistance.
145. It shall be prohibited to refuse to render institutional assistance on the grounds that it is inexpedient.
146. Institutional assistance rendered by one entity of public administration to another entity of public administration shall be free-of-charge. CHAPTER V FINAL PROVISIONS Article
147. Application of the Provisions of Chapter III The provisions of Chapter III of this Law shall apply in respect of the National Audit Office, the Seimas Ombudsmen, the representatives of the Government in the counties and other entities of public administration performing their functions in accordance with the procedure set forth in laws and other legal acts to the extent their activities in adopting the decisions concerning the applications or complaints are not regulated in laws and other legal acts regulating their activities. Article
148. Liability of Entities of Public Administration An entity of public administration in breach of the provisions of this Law shall be held liable under law. Any pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage resulting from illegal acts of entities of public administration shall be compensated in accordance with the procedure set forth by the Civil Code and other laws.” Article
149. Proposals to the Government, other State and Municipal Institutions and Agencies The Government, other state and municipal institutions and agencies shall, within 6 months from the adoption of this Law, adopt or submit to appropriate institutions draft legal acts required for the implementation of this Law. Article
150. Entry into Force of the Law This Law, except for Article 2, shall enter into force on 1 January
151. I promulgate this Law passed by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania. PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC VALDAS ADAMKUS