On 19th of April, 2024, the conference of the Lithuanian Association of Criminologists attracted a large number of participants with a wide range of presentations by researchers and practitioners in the fields of technology and criminology. This year, the organisers invited to discuss contemporary connections between criminology in science, practice and everyday life.

In one of the sessions “Corruption and Transparency in the Public Sector”, Skirmantas Bikelis, a researcher at the Law Institute of the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences (LCSS LI), shared his insights with the audience, which was barely able to fit in the room. In his presentation “When Those Convicted of Corruption Rule: The Dilemma Between the Prohibition on Running for Office and the Prohibition on Holding Office? Issues of Verbosity and Proportionality”, the researcher examined the controversial issues of regulation and application of the prohibition on holding public office and being elected, while comparing the regulation in Lithuania and Germany, where there are substantial differences.

Dr. Skirmantas Bikelis began his presentation by discussing the relevant provisions of the European Union Directive project draft on the fight against corruption. “If the project of Directive is adopted,” he said, “Lithuania will have to abandon the long-standing principle that only one punishment is applicable for a single offence, as the draft requires courts to be able to impose a range of additional measures (in addition to the main sanction), including fines, in relation to corruption offences.”

Discussing the relevant 2023 trials, in which problems have arisen with the application of the prohibition on being elected to public office, the researcher identifies the excessive wording in the Criminal Code as one of the main reasons for the strange decisions of Lithuanian courts. “The multi-wording and over-simplification of the text of the Penal Code, with casuistic descriptions of the procedural aspects of the deprivation of a right, opens the door to mistakes,” said Dr. Skirmantas Bikelis.

At the end of his presentation, the researcher drew attention to one of the most recent changes in the Electoral Code, which expanded the restrictions on the right to be elected, and highlighted the problematic nature of these changes from the point of view of the principle of proportionality. According to these amendments, individuals are automatically deprived of the right to participate actively in political life, even if a court does not impose a prohibition, but imposes any criminal measure (deprivation of driving privileges, deprivation of the right to fish, an obligation to compensate for property damage, etc.) for an offence that may not be in any way related to political activity, such as causing a traffic accident. The conflict with the principle of proportionality is particularly evident when comparing the Lithuanian regulation with the much more restrained and weighted approach of the German legislator.

Dr. Skirmantas Bikelis’ latest publications on the topic of the prohibition to hold public office:

• “Legal Stability in Lithuania: How Long Should a Mayor Convicted of Corruption Stay in Power?” (article written in Lithuanian).
• “Tubis or not Tubis - this is the Question for Our State of Law and Democracy” (article written in Lithuanian).

Dr. Skirmantas Bikelis is currently leading a project funded by the Lithuanian Research Council “Criminalization of Asset Legalization in the System of Criminal Profit Control Strategies“ (LEKOSTRA).