Types of crime
A child is a person under 18 years of age, therefore crimes against children are considered to be crimes against persons who are under 18 years of age.
Crimes against the sexual self-determination of children
Sexual relations or satisfaction of sexual desires with a minor by offering to provide him or providing him with certain remuneration, for example, money, items, cosmetics, or promising to take him abroad is a crime. Sexual abuse of a child is also considered to be a crime. This can include the performance of sexual acts in the presence of a child, showing pornography to children, telling inappropriate stories to children about the satisfaction of sexual desire, etc.
Involving a child in pornographic events or using a child to produce pornography, as well as making a profit from such activities involving a child is also considered to be a crime.
Qualified, professional psychological support for children in the event of such crimes is provided by the Children Support Centre. Psychological support is also provided by pedagogical psychological services according to your place of residence.
If you suspect that there is a child in your environment that could have been a victim of such crimes, please contact the nearest police station or a Child Protection Unit.
Buying or selling a child
Child trafficking is a very serious crime. This is considered to be the purchase, sale, acquisition, grooming and transportation of children or confinement of a child in order to use him for prostitution, pornography or forced labour. This crime has extremely serious and long-term consequences for the child.
Psychological and social support for children who are victims of human trafficking is provided by the Centre against Human Trafficking and Exploitation.
If you suspect that there is a child in your environment that could have been a victim of such crimes, please contact the nearest police station, Child Protection Unit or Centre against Human Trafficking and Exploitation.
Child involvement in criminal activities
Child involvement in criminal activities is considered to be a crime. Children may be involved in criminal activities by convincing or asking them, for example, by implying that the child’s help is necessary, as well as by threatening or intimidating the child. Other methods of involvement can also be used, for example, by deceiving or misleading children, by lying to them, or using manipulation otherwise.
Important.
In the case of crimes against children, it is particularly important to protect the child from secondary trauma which may be caused by the criminal procedure. Therefore, during this process, it is necessary to help the child understand what is happening and why it is happening, as well as assure the child that he is not guilty of what has happened, and show him that adults want to help him. In order to ensure safe participation of a child in the criminal procedure, it is advisable to extensively research the rights of children during the process.
Unlawful deprivation of liberty is the restriction of a person’s movement by kidnapping the person, restraining him, and closing or holding him in a designated place against his will. Forcefully holding a person in a psychiatric hospital when the person is not sick or when this is not necessary in order to treat his disease shall also be considered a crime.
Deprivation of liberty with the use of violence or when endangering the person’s life and health, as well as deprivation of liberty of a person for more than 48 hours is considered to be a more serious crime.
Destruction of or damaging the property of another person is a crime. If property is destroyed or damaged in a manner that is dangerous to others, or if high-value property is destroyed or damaged, this shall be considered a more serious crime. This can be any type of property – either movable or immovable.
A property is considered to be destroyed when it loses its value and can no longer be used for its intended purpose, for example, when burning the property, spilling it or making it obsolete. A property is damaged when it becomes partially unsuitable to be used, but it can be restored, for example, when a car is damaged.
The motives for destroying or damaging property can be various – revenge, anger, jealousy, intention to conceal another crime, or intention to intimidate. Property can also be destroyed or damaged in cases of domestic violence in order to psychologically affect, intimidate or control the victim.
Violation of employee health and safety requirements caused by the employer shall be considered a crime when it afflicts people – an employee suffers an injury or the event results in the death of an employee. The employer or his authorized person shall be liable for this crime. Regarding work safety violations, it is recommended to contact the State Labour Inspectorate, while accidents in which people have been injured must be reported to the police.
Unlawfully forcing a person to give away his property or the rights to this property is a crime. This shall be considered a crime when psychological violence – threats to use violence, destroy or damage the victim’s property, publish compromising information about the victim and similar is used.
Extortion of property using physical force, taking away a person’s freedom, and destroying or damaging his property shall be considered to be a more serious crime. Extortion of high-value property is also considered to be a more serious crime.
Illegally forcing a person to do certain work which he is not required to do under an employment contract or according to his position is considered to be a crime. Labour involves any task, business or work which you are forced to do against your will. This can be any type of labour – physical or mental, legal or illegal.
A person may be forced to work using force, psychological pressure or threats. Criminals can also take advantage of a person’s dependence, for example, financial dependence, or deprive him of the opportunity to resist, for example, lock him in a room from which he cannot escape, or take away the person’s personal documents.
It does not matter whether you receive any payment for such labour or not, if you are forced to carry out work which you do not want to carry out at that time and in that situation. Requirement to carry out work to which a person has agreed in the employment contract or which he must carry out due to his position, and which the person does not want to carry out at that time shall not be considered a crime.
Forcing a person into slavery or forcing him to work under inhumane conditions, for example, forcing to work for a long period of time without sleep and rest, in the cold or heat, in a poisonous environment without providing the necessary safety equipment, as well as forcing a person to work under conditions that degrade his dignity is considered to be a more serious crime.
In cases of exploitation, confidential social, legal and psychological aid is provided by the Centre against Human Trafficking and Exploitation.
Fraud is the acquisition of another person’s property through deception. The victim is encouraged to mishandle his property through deception, distortion of the truth and deliberate misleading.
When high-value assets or large amounts of savings are lost due to fraud, it is natural to feel emotional vulnerability and suffer a serious blow to self-confidence, as well as lose trust in other people. In this case, victims can seek free counselling and psychological support, as well as take measures to protect themselves from fraud in the future.
Human trafficking – selling and buying people – is a very serious crime. Grooming a person, transporting or confining a person in order to sell him by using physical force or threats is considered a crime of human trafficking.
Crime can also be committed by using violence and taking advantage of the victim’s dependence, vulnerability, or deceiving him.
Human trafficking is a crime that violates a number of human rights: the right to freedom, to personal inviolability, to inviolability of private life, the right to sexual self-determination, the right to protection from slavery and forced labour. Human trafficking is the unlawful disposal of another human being by treating him like a product or an object.
Actions of the perpetrator shall also be considered a crime when the victim agreed to be exploited, if such consent was achieved using force, threats, deceit, or by taking advantage of the victim’s dependence and vulnerability.
In Lithuania, crimes of human trafficking are investigates by officers that are specially trained to handle such cases.
Aid to victims of human trafficking and to their relatives is provided by the Centre against Human Trafficking and Exploitation, Caritas, and Missing People Family Support Centre.
Illegal collection of information on the private life of a person is considered to be a crime. Information on the private life of a person can be collected without the consent of that person only under a court order and only in accordance with the law.
Information on the private life of a person is considered to be the information that a person tends to keep to himself or keep within a chosen circle of people, and not make such information public. Such information can include family, friendship, intimate or other close relations, the person’s sexual, spiritual, religious life, health condition, private correspondence or conversations, and private information stored in the person’s computer. Only that person can decide which details of his private life can be disclosed and how to disclose them, for example, publish his contact details online, his photos in social networks, etc.
Even though private life is perceived as non-public, however, even when being in public, a person has the right to the security of certain information about himself, for example, where, how frequently and at what time he usually goes shopping or at what time and what route does he take when going to work and coming back home. Any unauthorized collection of such information about a person shall be considered an unlawful intrusion into the personal life of a person.
Information can be illegally collected in various ways: by following the person, by observing him or his home or private area, by listening to his conversations, tracking or copying his correspondence, by collecting and systemizing data about his health or habits, and by asking the person’s acquaintances, relatives or colleagues to provide information about that person.
Tracking and collection of information can also be a preparation for committing another crime, for example, assault, robbery or theft.
Important.
Unlawful tracking and collection of information about a person’s private life can be particularly dangerous if this is happening in an intimate relationship or right after such a relationship is ended. If you notice that you are being tracked or that data about your personal life and daily habits is being collected otherwise, for example, you find a tracking device attached to your car, or you notice that you are regularly being watched and followed near your workplace or home, please report this to the police and take precautionary measures.
If such actions are being carried out by a person with whom you are or were in a close relationship, particularly if such actions are followed by threats and intimidation, please report this to the police and ask them to provide you with temporary protection measures.
Illegal monitoring, recording, interception, dissemination or other use of non-public electronic data is considered to be a crime. Non-public data can be information about the health and treatment of patients in medical institutions, as well as financial information such as bank client data, etc.
This criminal offense may be committed in many different ways: by monitoring data – tracking it for a certain period of time, when the person monitoring the data recognizes and analyses it. This can be carried out by not only physically monitoring, but also by using certain measures, for example, by secretly installing software on your computer which transfers information on actions executed by the computer to the observer; by recording data – transferring it to a data storage device, and saving it in a data storage device or disk; by intercepting data – recording it when the data is travelling through electronic communication networks or between computers, for example, when sending an e-mail.
Dissemination of such data – its disclosure, publication, transmission to other persons, and forwarding or storage in locations where it can be easily accessed by others is considered to be a crime.
Various protection measures can be taken in order to protect yourself from cybercrime.
Impairment to the health of another person, injuring a person or harming a person by beating, using physical force or in other ways is a crime.
If a person suffered serious consequences to his health, contracted a severe, terminal or prolonged disease, or if the person lost a large part of his ability to work, this shall be considered to be a serious impairment to health. If a person lost a large part of his ability to work or was sick for a long period of time, but did not suffer any long-term and irreversible consequences, this shall be considered to be a minor impairment to health.
Minor impairment to health is made when physical pain is inflicted on a person or he becomes mildly sick due to the fault of the perpetrator. The perpetrator shall be liable for minor impairment to health if the victim reports this to the police or upon the request of the prosecutor, excluding cases of domestic violence.
If you are a victim of domestic violence, you can receive support from these services and organizations.
Freedom of speech is an important value of a democratic society, however it cannot be used to justify criminal actions. Incitement to hatred is considered to be one of such actions.
Incitement to hatred is public bullying, disdain, encouragement of hatred or incitement to discriminate against a group of people or a person of a group because of his gender, sexual orientation, race, nationality, language, origin, social status, religion, beliefs or opinions.
Incitement to hatred against a group of people is when other people are actively encouraged to have negative attitudes against a certain group, for example, against people of specific nationality or people who profess a certain religion. This way, an unsafe or hostile environment is created for this group of people.
Public incitement to violence or physical force is considered to be a more serious crime. The act of incitement itself is considered to be a crime – it is not necessary to prove that the instigator had, in fact, encouraged violence. It is enough that the instigator perceived the possible consequences of his actions.
People in Lithuania most often encounter incitement to hatred online. You can contact the Office of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics to report incitement to hatred in the media or social networks.
Murdering a person is a very serious crime. In this case, the deceased person’s family members and close relatives who suffered losses due to the death of their loved one shall be considered as victims. The losses can be pecuniary due to the loss of a provider, when the family loses its income, as well as non-pecuniary and moral loss, because relatives of the deceased person suffer major psychological trauma and strong emotional grief.
Incitement to commit suicide
Both incitement to commit suicide, as well as procuring a suicide are crimes against human life which are carried out by damaging a person’s psychological balance.
Incitement to commit suicide may occur in many different ways – by encouraging suicide, by creating conditions to commit suicide, by providing tools to commit suicide and providing other aid to commit suicide.
Procuring a suicide differs from incitement to commit suicide, because the accused person’s intention may not necessarily be to push the victim to commit suicide, however the victim chooses to end his life due to the cruel behaviour of the perpetrator.
Negligent homicide
Negligent homicide or unintentional murder is a crime committed due to criminal negligence. A person may take another person’s life due to overconfidence or risky behaviour, for example, when driving and significantly exceeding the speed limit under adverse weather conditions.
This crime may be committed due to negligence, when a person does not anticipate the consequences of his actions (or failure to act), but had to anticipate them when being in that situation, for example, when negligently handling a firearm.
If a person close to you (a family member or close relative) died as a result of a crime, you shall also be considered a victim. In such a case, you shall have the right to receive free counselling or psychological support. You shall also acquire all the rights of a victim in the criminal procedure and shall have the right to apply to court to receive compensation for losses caused by the crime.
Theft of another person’s property using physical force, threatening to use physical force or otherwise depriving a person of the opportunity to resist is considered to be robbery. Robbery by breaking and entering premises using a gun, as well as theft of highly valuable property is considered to be a more serious crime. This crime poses a threat not only to the property, but also to human health.
Sexual intercourse or satisfaction of sexual desire with a person against his will is considered to be a sexual crime. Sexual crimes can be committed by using physical force, by threatening to use physical force or otherwise depriving the victim of the opportunity to resist, and by taking advantage of the helpless state of the victim or his dependence.
A helpless state is when a victim is not able to perceive the essence of actions performed with him or is not able to resist the perpetrator due to the victim’s disease or unconscious, dysfunctional state. A certain level of intoxication from alcohol or drugs can also be recognized as a helpless state, if the victim is not able to perceive the environment, the essence of actions performed with him or is not able to resist.
The perpetrator will answer for his sexual crimes only if the victim reports this crime to the law enforcement authorities, excluding cases when the crime is committed in a close relationship.
In such cases, psychological, social, legal and other aid is provided by specialized help centres.
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is the pursuit of sexual relations or sexual satisfaction with a person whose job position or other factors depend on the perpetrator. The perpetrator shall have to answer for his actions only if he is reported to the law enforcement authorities.
This offence poses a threat to the honour and dignity of a person, and to his freedom of sexual self-determination. Sexual harassment can be expressed in vulgar actions, suggestions and hints. This can be a touch, a slap, a caress, purposeful holding of a hand for too long, an air kiss and similar. A proposal or a hint can be expressed with a facial expression or gesture, orally or in writing.
If you are a victim of sexual harassment, you may contact the police or the Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson.
Seizure of another person’s property is considered to be theft. Open theft, when property is seized in a public area, without hiding, for example, when publicly seizing a handbag or wallet, thus clearly violating the norms of behaviour adopted in the society, is considered to be a more serious crime.
In the event of theft, you, as the property owner, retain the rights to your property, regardless of how many times your property is transferred from one person to another. You may claim your property or demand a compensation for it even if it is repeatedly stolen by another perpetrator.
Threatening, terrorisation and systematic intimidation are types of psychological abuse which is considered to be a crime.
Threatening is considered to be a crime when threats are made to kill or cause grievous bodily harm. Threats can be made orally, using body language, in writing, by telephone or in a virtual reality. Online threats should be judged as seriously as threatening in person. Threatening shall be considered to be a crime when a threat is specific and there is reason to believe that it will be carried out.
Terrorisation of a person is actions threatening to set fire to or blow up a person’s assets or property, for example, a house or car, or carry out other actions that pose a threat to his life, health or property.
Systematic intimidation is open or anonymous threats made in order to inflict fear, worry and stress on a person. If such threats are repeated at least three times, they can be considered to be systematic intimidation.
Terrorisation and intimidation makes the victim feel very insecure and causes constant anxiety. Even though these actions by themselves are considered to be a crime, such actions can also lead to an even more serious crime, for example, physical assault. Therefore, such actions cannot be dismissed as not dangerous and must be reported to the police.
The risk is particularly high when the victim and the suspect were in a close or intimate relationship. In this case, you may request the police to immediately provide a protection measure – prohibit the suspect from approaching or making any contact with you. You can also take self-defense measures – inform a wide circle of people that you trust about the persecution, try to avoid areas where there are no other people around, change your mobile phone number, do not post information on your location in social media, change your place of residence and, if possible, take any other measures to protect yourself.
Violation of the inviolability of the home is intrusion into another person’s house, apartment or other residential premises, as well as buildings – warehouse, garage, sauna or woodshed located within a protected area, for example, a fenced yard. Intrusion can be carried out secretly or openly, by using fraud or violence, or in other ways against the will of the owner of the property. The perpetrator will have to answer for this crime if it is reported to the police.
A person’s home is any type of place of residence – an apartment, cottage, villa, house, hotel room, or a car trailer-bedroom. It can also be a work room, for example, creative workshop, lawyer’s office or doctor’s office used for personal use.
