Lithuanian secretary: Lithuania is aiming at a rapid turn in ensuring the protection of human rights

As we have previously informed, today a meeting between the President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite and the President of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg Dean Spielmann took place. Also the Lithuanian secretary of justice Juozas Bernatonis met with the president of the Court in Strasbourg.

Dean Spielmann and Juozas Bernatonis talked about the reforms of the legal system which are necessary to achieve the implementation of the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights on nationwide scale and to aim at countering the cases of human rights violation.

„Positive changes in carrying out of the obligation to implement the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights on nationwide scale are already palpable in Lithuania. At the same time we are improving the legal base, so as the number of cases of violation of human rights will be as small as possible” – emphasised the secretary of the department of justice Juozas Bernatonis during the meeting.

According to the secretary, Lithuania has undertaken all possible measures that aim at living up to the rudimentary challenges in ensuring human rights. Among the most important ones he mentioned the protracted court trials in Lithuania, the insufficient conditions of imprisonment.

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a European international judiciary body established in 1959. It adjudicates in human rights cases as provided in the European Convention on Human Rights and additional protocols.

Article 14 of the Convention entitled „Prohibition of discrimination” states: “The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status.”

Although Lithuania is often criticised because of the non-observance of the rights of national minorities, during the meeting of the Lithuanian officials with the President of the European Court of Human Rights Dean Spielmann this topic was not discussed.