You have a right to an oral hearing in at least one instance of the trial. You also have the right to be present at oral hearings even if you are defended by a lawyer.

Oral hearing

You have the right to an oral hearing of a criminal trial. In Lithuania, your case will generally be examined in oral hearings at all stages, except the court of cassation. 

Right to be present

You also have the right to be present at court hearings. You have that right even if you are defended by a lawyer.  

The right to be present also involves a duty to attend hearings upon the invitation of the court. If you do not attend the hearings and you have not informed the court in a timely manner about the reasons for your absence, your case may be examined without you being present. 

If you have been convicted without being present at the trial (trial in absentia), this will not always be a violation of your rights. In such a case, you can ask for a new trial, when you have found out about the conviction in your absence or when you are detained because of it. In this new trial, the court must be able to review both the facts and the legal reasoning of the judgement. 

You can only ask for such a new trial if you have not explicitly given up the right to be present at the first trial and if you can prove that you are not to blame for deliberately not attending the previous trial.

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Last updated 23/08/2019