Meeting with the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General focuses on the rights of the child
The Vice-Minister of Justice, Gabija Grigaitė-Daugirdė, met Dr Najat Maalla M'jid, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Violence against Children. The visit to Lithuania aimed, among other things, to find out how the system of service provision for children victims of violence and their families in Lithuania works, to identify the best practice and areas for improvement.
The meeting focused on issues related to ensuring the rights of children in the administration of justice, criminalisation of domestic violence, and other issues.
According to Ms Grigaitė-Daugirdė, Lithuania has been making consistent maximum efforts to ensure better protection of all vulnerable children.
The Vice-Minister noted that the issue of domestic violence is a priority on the political agenda of the Government. It is important to note an initiative that will come into force on 1 July, i.e. amendments to the Law on Protection against Domestic Violence, which provide for the entry into force of the domestic violence protection order – a preventive measure aimed at a more effective protection of those who are at risk of domestic violence, ordering perpetrators of violence to move out of the place of residence, not to visit, approach or communicate with the victim of domestic violence and children.
The meeting highlighted that the Code of Criminal Procedure fully ensures the principle of child-friendly justice. With the transposition of EU legislation into the national law by Lithuania, the procedural guarantees and protection of minors in criminal proceedings have been considerably expanded. The maximum protection of the interests of minors has also been ensured by providing for the mandatory participation of a defence counsel, the ordering and extension of detention only by a court decision, a possibility of appeal, and by other measures.
According to the data of the Departmental Register of Criminal Offences, 1 522 children were victims of all criminal offences in Lithuania in 2022.
Ms Maalla M'jid took the office of the Special Representative of the UAB Secretary-General on Violence against Children in July 2019.