Skirmantas Bikelis

The Law Institute of Lithuania · Criminal Justice Research Department

Purpose This study aims at elaborating whether the criminalization of illicit enrichment has the potential to be an efficient and well-balanced measure against profiting from serious crime. Design/methodology/approach This study offers a normative analysis of the concept of the criminalization of illicit enrichment, particularly from the perspecti...

This article elaborates on recent developments in modelling the advanced measure for prevention of organized and serious criminality and corruption-civil confiscation. It distinguishes and discusses the safeguards in civil confiscation patterns that are supposed to ensure the balance between the effectiveness and proportionality of the recovery of...

Drug distribution is considered one of the most serious crimes in general and the most serious drug offense in particular. Drug distribution may cover behavior of very different levels of seriousness, ranging from the social supply of small quantities of illicit drugs in friend circles to international drug trafficking organized by powerful global...

The paper discusses the problem of non-recognition of civil confiscation orders in Europe. Despite the breakthrough in international cooperation in the freezing and confiscation of crime proceeds in the criminal law domain, the formal approach in some European states destroys the potential of one of the most advanced instruments against crime proce...

Crime Proceeds Value Threshold in Extended Confiscation in the Light of the Principles of Legality and Proportionality and Rational Penal Policy Summary. The article discusses the clause provided in the Lithuanian Criminal Code, which limits the court’s extended powers of confiscation in regard of crime proceeds of value less than EUR 12,500. The d...

The internationally acknowledged need for effective legal measures against illicit enrichment that is perceived as the key policy tool against organised crime and corruption triggered rapid developments in the variety of those legal measures. Lithuania may serve as a sole-standing example of a jurisdiction that enacted a great variety of legal stra...

Repeated proceedings against suspected illicit wealth – justifiable protection of public interest or violation of human rights? Summary. The internationally acknowledged need for effective legal measures against illicit enrichment that is perceived as the key policy tool against organised crime and corruption triggered rapid developments in the var...

The original study (in Lithuanian) analyses the implementation of criminal liability for illicit enrichment in Lithuania 2015-2018. The authors come to conclusion that the idea of criminalization of illicit enrichment is erroneous both from the perspective of compliance with principles of criminal justice and efficiency. The study also analyzes the...

[straipsnis ir santrauka lietuvių kalba; santrauka anglų kalba] Straipsnio pagrindas yra tarptautiniame moksliniame projekte „DETOUR: Towards Pre-Trial Detention as Ultima Ratio“ atlikti tyrimai. Straipsnyje bent keliais pjūviais analizuojamos kardomosios priemonės – suėmimo taikymo ikiteisminiame tyrime praktika, ypač daug dėmesio skiriant teisin...

The aim of our research was to understand what factors shape the use of PTD, how it actually is justified in practice and whether these justifications are convincing in the light of the two basic human rights guarantees. The study was conducted in seven countries: Austria (AT), Belgium (BE), Germany (DE), Ireland (IE), Lithuania (LT), the Netherlan...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present and analyse the issues with which Lithuania is faced through its introduction of a modern legal mechanism for a more efficient confiscation of the proceeds of crime – the criminalization of illicit enrichment. Design/methodology/approach The paper analyses issues raised in the Constitutional Court of...

The paper presents a recent significant shift in Lithuanian penal policies on non-serious crimes where the punitive approach has given way to the restorative approach. It discusses the preconditions of this change with a particular focus on the attitudes of Lithuanian judicial authorities. In contrary to the common stereotypes and academic opinions...