Donatas Murauskas’s research while affiliated with Vilnius University and other places

We discuss the interaction between the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania and the ordinary courts over three decades. First, we analyse the implementation of the right and obligation of ordinary courts to apply to the Constitutional Court. Also, we consider the possibility for the Constitutional Court to suspend the execution of the ordinary court decision which is associated with the emergence of an individual constitutional complaint. Finally, we overview the reopening of the ordinary court proceedings after the ruling of the Constitutional Court. We discuss in which cases the interaction of the courts can be identified as the judicial dialogue.

We analyse applications presented to the European Court of Human Rights raising the issue of insufficient actions of States to fight climate change. First, we discuss the relevant national cases that expose three different approaches towards climate change justice cases, i.e. the cases from the Netherlands, Norway, and Germany. Second, considering the European Court of Human Rights criteria on inadmissibility and substance, we assess major issues related to the presented applications and their success.

In this paper, I discuss whether the European Convention on Human Rights provides safeguards to individuals affected by predictive analytics in crime prevention. I start with depicting a conceptual issue that worries legal scholars – the trend of law-enforcement authorities to increase their attention to crime prevention rather than traditional criminal investigations. Then, I dive into the right to privacy case-law of the European Court of Human Rights looking for the Court’s references to the threats of data processing. Lastly, I select concrete cases of the European Court of Human Rights on the right to a fair trial to show that the human rights safeguards are not yet developed to frame predictive analytics in crime prevention.

In this paper, I examine the status of soft law in the official interpretation of the Lithuanian Constitution. The “living constitution” doctrine dominates the Lithuanian constitutional scholarship. I question this dominance by providing insights on the essence and application potential of the alternative methodology – the doctrine of originalism. Based on originalistic approach, I doubt the normative claim made in Lithuanian constitutional scholarship that soft law could be considered as a mandatory source of interpretation of the Lithuanian Constitution.

The chapter outlines the implementation of general measures in cases brought against Lithuania at the European Court of Human Rights. It sets a ground for further research and more in-depth analysis on the compliance of Lithuania with the obligations under the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The chapter briefly discusses a rational choice paradigm in the context of execution of ECtHR judgments. It overviews the adjudication of Lithuanian cases at the ECtHR and examines major compliance issues, including cases under the enhanced supervision of the Committee of Ministers.

This volume provides an overview of selected major areas of legal and institutional development in Lithuania since the Restoration of Independence in 1990. The respective chapters discuss changes in fields varying from the constitutional framework to criminal law and procedure. The content highlights four major aspects of the fundamental changes that have affected the entire legal system: the Post-Soviet country’s complex historical heritage; socio-political and other conditions in the process of adopting new (rule of law) standards; international legal influences on the national legal order over the past 30 years; and finally, the search for entirely new national legal models. Over a period of 30 years since gaining its independence from the Soviet Union, Lithuania has undergone unique social changes. The state restarted its independent journey burdened by the complicated heritage of the Soviet legal system. Some major reforms have taken place swiftly, while others have required years of thorough analysis of societal needs and the search for optimal examples in other states. The legal system is now substantially different, with some elements being entirely new, and others adapted to present needs.

The paper examines the application of Artificial Intelligence systems in the judicial environments. It provides an outline of a typology of different algorithms applicable in judicial environments depending on judicial decision-making stage. This is a positive analysis which aims at identifying relevant algorithms in every judicial decision-making stage, be it assessing the facts, indicating the applicable law or deciding.

The Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania establishes criminal liability for prohibited biomedical research involving human beings or human embryos. This paper examines the historical origins and development of criminal liability for biomedicial research within the Lithuanian legal framework. Consideration is given as to what legal virtues (goods) are at risk when prohibited biomedical research is conducted. In this context, the authors discuss issues related to the structure of legal rule imposing criminal liability for prohibited biomedical research in Lithuania.

Straipsnyje aptariama teisės doktrinoje nagrinėjama Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucinio Teismo jurisprudencija valstybės ir bažnyčios santykių klausimais. Išskirtinis dėmesys teikiamas valstybės ir bažnyčios atskirumui, kaip tariamai ypatingam Lietuvos konstitucinės jurisprudencijos bruožui. Konstitucinė jurisprudencija analizuojama, atsižvelgiant į politinėje filosofijoje identifikuojamą valstybės neutralumo principų sampratą. Identifikuojamos rizikos, susijusios su valstybės ir bažnyčios bendradarbiavimo konstitucinės idėjos plėtojimu valstybės neutralumo principo kontekste.