|
|
|
|
 | Today | 15 |
 | Yesterday | 145 |
 | All Days | 793148 |
Milda Vainiute
14 January 2018
After examining a few complaints about the actions of the Migration Department in handling aliens' applications for a residence permit in Lithuania, Augustin Normantas, the Seimas Ombudsman, concluded that the Migration Department does not follow the examination of claims provided for in legal acts and does not accurately inform applicants about the processing of applications.
Moreover, the Seimas Ombudsman noted that the Migration Department suspends the processing of applications without complying with the legal grounds for delaying the processing of an application.
"If an inspection is carried out due to company fictitiousness, examination of an application for the issuance of a temporary residence permit is not suspended, but merely considered in the general procedure," it is noted in the conclusions of the Ombudsman of the Seimas.
The Seimas Ombudsman also observes that the Migration Department does not suitably inform applicants about the reasons for stopping the examination of an application, does not specify what additional data they must provide.
3 January 2018
On 1 January 2018, amendments to the Law on the Seimas Ombudsmen came into force, providing new functions for the Seimas Ombudsmen, among which are the dissemination and monitoring of human rights in the country. The new functions include presenting the assessment of the human rights situation in Lithuania to international organisations and providing them with information regarding the obligations established in the international treaties of the Republic of Lithuania.
These amendments to the law express the duty of state and municipal authorities to cooperate with the Seimas Ombudsmen's Office by providing information to the Office about the human rights situation in the country while initiating and conducting investigations on fundamental human rights issues.
The Law on the Seimas Ombudsmen establishes the duty of the Seimas Ombudsmen to promote respect for human rights and freedoms while exercising the functions of the National Human Rights Institution. The Seimas Ombudsmen’s Office, which complies with the UN Paris Principles, as a National Human Rights Institution, has been accredited since 23 March 2017; however, amendments to the law were needed to lay the foundations of the institution.
2 December 2018
By presenting the findings of the monitoring team of Lithuania, Mr. Vytautas Valentinavičius, Chief Counsellor of the Seimas Ombudsmen’s Office, raised concerns, for example those related to upholding dignity, the right to privacy, autonomy, participation and access to justice in residential long-term care settings for older persons of Lithuania. Moreover, examples of concerning practices which coincided with those in some of the countries included entry to residential LTC without consent, unsafe environments for the residents and overall the greater challenges upholding human rights
The project’s monitoring work was carried out by NHRIs in Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania and Romania, in residential long-term care settings for older persons; the findings showed that most care workers instinctively used a person-centred approach to inform their work, valuing older care users as individuals, respecting their dignity and independence, and understanding the value of social interaction.
As well as summarising the key findings from the project, which comes to an end in December 2017, the conference offered further guidance to policy-makers, care providers and advocates for older persons on implementing a human rights- based approach in the long-term care (LTC) sector and protecting and promoting the rights of older persons in (or seeking) care.