Press release, 10 November 2016
The Seimas adopted amendments to the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure (drafts No XIIP-4786(2) and No XIIP-4787(2) respectively). The amendments were drafted with a view to aligning Lithuanian criminal law with the requirements of the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions.
The amended Criminal Code stipulates that legal entities may be held liable when natural persons are not prosecuted for their offences. The amendments also establish the liability of legal entities for criminal acts where they have been committed by an employee or authorised representative of the legal entity not only as a result of insufficient supervision or control by an executive officer but also on the instruction or by consent of an executive officer. A legal entity may also be held liable for offences committed to its benefit by a related legal entity.
The amended Criminal Code specifies that giving a bribe directly or through an intermediary incurs criminal liability.
The amendments to the Criminal Code were adopted by 83 votes in favour with no votes against and 2 abstentions.
The Code of Criminal Procedure was amended accordingly by introducing regulations on the proceedings and judgments of such cases (adopted by 78 votes in favour with no votes against and 1 abstention).
The amendments were drafted with a view to harmonising the criminal laws of the Republic of Lithuania with the requirements of the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, adopted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 1997. Lithuania is seeking membership of this organisation and therefore has to join the Convention and become a full-fledged member of the Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions.
Saulė Eglė Trembo, Press Office, Information and Communication Department, tel. +370 5 239 6203, e-mail: egle.trembo@lrs.lt