You have the right to challenge the lawfulness of your detention and request compensation in a case of unlawful detention.
Complaint
Detention for up to 48 hours
When you are detained by the police or border guards for up to 48 hours, you should be immediately informed that you have the right to challenge the lawfulness of your detention. You can challenge your detention if you are detained as an asylum seeker or as an irregular immigrant.
You should submit your complaint challenging the lawfulness of your initial detention either to a higher institution (officer) or to district court. The institution (officer) or court must examine your complaint within 5 working days.
Detention for longer than 48 hours
You can be detained for longer than 48 hours only upon the decision of a district court (apylinkės teismas). In that case, you must be detained at the Foreigners Registration Centre.
You should submit your complaint challenging the district court decision to detain you for longer than 48 hours to the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania (Lietuvos vyriausiasis administracinis teismas). The court must examine your complaint and adopt a decision in 10 days after receiving your complaint.
What to write
When submitting your complaint, you should try to explain your situation, including all relevant facts, as well as the reasons as to why you believe that you should not be, or should not have been, detained.
Compensation
If you wish to ask for compensation for unlawful detention, you may submit a civil claim to a district court after your detention was recognized to be unlawful. You can seek compensation for material damages as well as moral compensation. Material damage is a material loss, like the salary that you did not earn because you were unlawfully detained. Moral compensation may be granted for the humiliation and suffering you went through because of the unlawful detention.
Court decision
A court has to make a reasoned decision when considering the lawfulness of detention. It must evaluate whether there were any grounds to detain you, bearing in mind the specific circumstances of your case. The decision must not be merely formal and generic. The court should evaluate all of the facts that the authorities have about you and are relevant to your situation.