The information contained on this page represents the situation as of 1 January 2012 and is a summary of the country report produced by the country expert from the network. The summary can be downloaded here as well. 

Contact: 
Gediminas Andriukaitis
E-mail: gediminas@lchr.lt

Lithuania regained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. The present Constitution was approved by referendum in 1992. On 1May 2004 Lithuania joined the EU, meaning that significant changes to the legal system had taken place in little over a decade to meet EU and international standards. It must be mentioned that in most cases legal changes were not widely discussed, and society was not sufficiently prepared for new equality standards.

Currently the Law on Equal Treatment in most cases repeats the wording of the Directives, without going into details of particular provisions, hence most concepts still require judicial interpretation. Both natural and legal persons are protected from discrimination. Besides the prohibition of direct and indirect discrimination, discrimination by association, harassment, instructions to discriminate and victimisation are also considered illegal. However, some definitions still lack clarity.

No special judicial, administrative or conciliation procedures for cases of discrimination exist at national level.  Mediation in discrimination disputes is also not covered by national law. The Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson sometimes acts as a mediator in practice, but this procedure is not formalised and does not provide the victim with compensation.