Remedies and enforcement

• Author: Sabatauskait?, Birut?
• Pages: 85-97

85

6REMEDIES AND ENFORCEMENT

6.1Judicial and/or administrative procedures (Article 7 Directive 2000/43,

Article 9 Directive 2000/78)

a)Available procedures for enforcing the principle of equal treatment

In Lithuania, the following proceduresexist for enforcing the principle of equal treatment

before thecivil and administrative courts. Criminal procedure is also possible in cases of

discrimination, butthis israrely or never applied. There is also thequasi-judicial

procedure of filing a complaint with the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson, whichis

considered to be an administrative procedure.247

The Constitution guarantees the right of everyperson to appeal to a court for the

protection ofthe constitutional rights that havebeen violated. The general principle of

equality of persons is embodied in a number of laws, including the Civil Code and the

Labour Code. According toArticle12(1) of the Law on Equal Treatment, each person

whose equal opportunities havebeen violated has a right to file a complaintto the

Ombudsperson. Thisdoes not preclude the person fromhaving the right to defend his or

her rights in court. Therefore, in casesof violation of the principleof equal treatment,

anypersoncan address the court (underadministrative or civil jurisdiction, depending on

thematterat hand). The court offers the only option for a personto receive some sort of

compensation for discriminatoryactions and sufferedharm,because none of the other

available procedures provides compensation to the victims.

Inthe case of a labour dispute, a person maytake advantage of certain pre-trial

procedures establishedby the Labour Code. The Labour Code, adopted in 2017,

significantly changed the previous labour disputeinvestigationprocedure. According to

theLabour Code, a person mayapply to the employment disputes commissions orcourts

directly. Employment disputes commissions are permanent bodies, working under the

State Labour Inspectorate. Theyconsist of three members: the chairman (a state official,

appointed by the State Labour Inspectorate), a representative of an employer

organisation,and a representative of a tradeunion. In cases of unfair dismissal,the

commission can award the payment of salaryfor the durationof forced absenteeism (but

forno morethan one year) and pecuniary and non-pecuniarydamages, as well as

compensationworth amaximum of six times the average salary (Article 218).Labour

dispute commissions can also function as a mediator.

According to theinformation provided by the State Labour Inspectorateon itswebsite,

thelabourdispute commissions received 7 579 requests in 2019 (compared to 6 712in

2018). Out of the 7 398requests that have been analysed, 10 concernedor partially

concerned discrimination in employment (compared with 13 in 2018).248

People who believe that their rights have been infringed by individual administrative

actions orbythe actions (oromissions) of civil servants or municipal employees in the

sphere of public administration – including in relation tosocial protection, social

advantages, education and access to and thesupply of goods and services available to

the public – have the right tofile a complaint with the Administrative Disputes

Commission underthe Law on Administrative Disputes Commissions, or with the

administrative courts under the Lawon Administrative Procedure. Actions (or omissions)

by civil servants or municipal employees in the sphere of public administration can also

247Thereare further theoretical optionsthatare not used in practice, such as filing a complaint to the

Parliamentary Ombudsman when human rights violations have beencommitted by state officials or

institutions, or to the State Labour Inspectorate in cases of labour law violations. However, the

Parliamentary Ombudsman wouldnot duplicate the function of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson.

248Lithuanian State Labour Inspectorate, ‘An Overview of Activity of LabourDispute Commissions in 2018’,

available in Lithuanianat: https://www.vdi.lt/Forms/Tema.aspx?Tema_ID=63.