Lithuanian law considers the situation to be an administrative offence where the offense is less serious than a crime. Hate crimes may also take the form of an administrative offence.
Aggravating circumstances
In Lithuania, the Code of Administrative Offences establishes that any administrative offences committed with a biased motive towards an individual or a group due to the victim’s age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, race, nationality, language, origins, social situation, religion, beliefs or other similar characteristics is considered to have aggravating circumstances. This means that the responsible institutions, or the court, should take this into account when adopting their decision.
Read more about the right to a fair trial in administrative offences proceedings.
Compensation
Request for compensation during trial
In Lithuania, the victim may request compensation at any time during the pre-trial stage. At the beginning of the trial in the court of first instance, the victim may request compensation only up to the time that the court starts on the examination of evidence. The victim may ask to be compensated for the loss of both:
- damaged or lost property
example A damaged car or money that the victim has spent for their treatment in a hospital.
- moral suffering
example If the victim suffered severe health problems due to the administrative offense, they may request compensation for the moral suffering experienced.
Amount of compensation
In determining the amount of compensation for moral suffering, the court will consider:
- the gravity of the offense
- the injuries suffered and their consequences
- the psychological trauma the victim may have suffered and other factors