If you believe that any of your rights have been violated in relation to your involuntary placement in a mental health care institution, you have the right to complain.
First you should complain locally to the Lithuanian authorities and courts. They should be able to offer the easiest and quickest solution to your problem.
If you consider that the personnel at the mental health care institution did not make a lawful decision or have violated your rights, you have the right to complain about their decisions and actions and to request compensation for the damages sustained.
If you are abused by other patients in any way you should tell the personnel at the mental health care institution first of all. They have an obligation to help you, but they cannot do that if they didn’t know that you had been abused. If the personnel are unable to help you, you can complain further to the administration of the institution.
Complaint to the health care institution
If your complaint is not related to damage compensation you can address your complaint directly to the mental health care institution. The complaint has to be examined in no more than 20 working days and you should be informed about the decision.
If you are not satisfied with the decision you can complain to the national institutions (most notably – Ministry of Health) and courts.
Complaint to the Commission of evaluation of damage done to the patient’s health
You can submit a complaint to the Commission of evaluation of damage done to the patient’s health concerning damage compensation. The Commission will evaluate the decisions made by the doctors and the medical treatment provided to you.
The decision of the Commission must contain information about where and within which deadlines the decision can be appealed. The Commission is a mandatory institution for complaints as you cannot send your complaints directly to the court.
Complaint about a criminal offence
important If the personnel suspect that the mistreatment has resulted in a criminal offence, they have a duty to report this to the police. You also have the right to turn directly to the police. Upon such a complaint, the police must act accordingly and investigate the situation.
It is possible that a criminal case will be opened against the person involved on the basis of your complaint. In this case you should ask for compensation for damages as a victim in the criminal proceedings.
If the compensation claim within the criminal proceedings cannot, or cannot fully, redress your damages, you have the further right to seek damages by filing a civil claim. In some cases, you as a victim, also have the right to compensation from the state.
Complain about actions of police
The police must not deliberately abuse you while escorting you to the mental health care institution. For example, they must not use derogatory language towards you, handle you roughly or otherwise physically abuse you. If you believe that such mistreatment has happened in your case, you have the right to complain.
To complain about the behavior of a police officer, you should submit a complaint to his/her direct supervisor. The supervisor will either examine your submission himself/herself or, if necessary, will forward the complaint.
If you have suffered damages as a result of the behavior of a police officer, you have the right to compensation. You can seek compensation for both – material losses and moral damages. You should first submit the complaint about your mistreatment to the supervisor of the police officers responsible for the mistreatment. It is the supervisor’s responsibility to handle the complaint further and forward it to other institutions if necessary.
You can visit the website of the State Police to find the contacts of supervisors.
Complaints to international bodies
European and international institutions will not accept your claim if you have not tried to complain to the local institutions first. You can only go to the European and international institutions if you think that the violation of your rights has not been remedied by the Lithuanian institutions.
You can read about international and European complaint procedures in the section Human rights institutions.