Lithuanian law considers the situation to be an administrative offence where the offense is less serious than a crime. In certain situations, administrative liability can be applied in cases of hate speech.
Offences related to hate speech
In Lithuania, the Code of Administrative Offences and other laws establish several offences that can be applied in cases of hate speech. These offences are generally aimed at platforms that could help with the dissemination of hate speech. Platforms that disseminate hate speech can face fines and in the most severe cases, they can be temporarily or indefinitely suspended.
example The court can legally suspend all the activities of a news portal that does not respond to requests by responsible institutions to stop disseminating articles that incite hatred towards the LGBT+ community indefinitely.
Read more about the right to a fair trial in administrative offences proceedings.
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. Hate speech can, in some cases, help establish that an offence should be considered to be a hate crime or that aggravating circumstances existed.
Read more about hate crimes and the differences between hate crimes and hate speech.
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
- moral suffering
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