On December 13, 2022, the Seimas (parliament) of the Republic of Lithuania adopted the Law on the Prohibition of Promotion of Totalitarian, Authoritarian Regimes and Their Ideologies. The law enters into force on May 1, 2023.
The new law establishes legal grounds for banning the promotion of both totalitarian and authoritarian regimes and their ideologies in public places, and introduces the procedures and rules for recognizing, removing, and replacing public objects that depict the signs and symbols of such regimes.
Contents of the New Law
Article 2 of the new law distinguishes between authoritarian regimes and totalitarian regimes. The law defines the term “authoritarian regime” as “the form of a political regime, the authorities of one person or the persons loyal to him, based on the cult of the individual, the rejection of constitutional rights and freedoms, crimes against humanity and / or conducting war crimes.” The term “totalitarian regime,” in contrast, is defined as “a form of political regime based on unlimited state power, total control of society, denial of human individuality, censorship, political repression, mass terror, rejection of constitutional rights and freedoms, crimes against humanity and / or war crimes.”
The ban introduced by the newly adopted law extends to symbols of the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in 1940–1941 and 1944–1990, and the Nazi occupation in 1939–1944. Also banned is mentioning the names of individuals who are known to have been or to still be active participants in the political, military, and repressive structures of the occupation authorities, or to have actively participated in the decision-making processes that had an impact on the occupation regimes, or both. The law also specifies that the names of organizations, events, or dates symbolizing totalitarian or authoritarian regimes are to be removed from public places. (Art. 3, paras. 2 & 3.)
The law charged the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania — a government research institute focused on studying and commemorating crimes committed in Lithuania by occupying regimes — with the duty to identify those “public objects” that promote totalitarian and authoritarian regimes and their ideologies. (Art. 4, para. 1.) The law defines “public object” as
a public facility, monument, sculpture, obelisk, memorial board, other object intended to perpetuate memory or other property owned or controlled by the state or municipalities or located on land owned by the state or municipality but without an owner, legal state or municipal property managed by the right of trust of individuals, public place – street, square, park, square or other public space, as well as the name of these objects, another object, which due to its position, purpose or content has significance for public affairs, events and events – nominal bonuses, contests and other public actions complying with the provisions provided for in Article 3 of this law.
Within 20 days after the law enters into force, municipal authorities must identify items subject to prohibition and propose to the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre that they be banned. (Art. 8, para. 3.) The director general of the the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre is to forward proposals to the special inter-institutional commission established by the Seimas for a period of three years. (Art. 4, para. 2.) The commission must present its assessment of proposals and suggestions about the removal of public objects to the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre, which is to make a final decision within five working days and order the execution of the decision by state or municipal institutions. (Art. 4, paras. 6 & 7.)
The law provides that the commission is to consist of nine members and include representatives of the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre, the Department of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture, Vilnius University, Vytautas Magnus University, the Vilnius Academy of Arts, the Lithuanian Institute of History, the International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania, the Lithuanian Union of Political Prisoners and Deportees, and the Association of Local Authorities. (Art. 4, para. 3.)
The commission has the right to use experts in the fields of history, art, language, and law when assessing whether the public objects violate the prohibitions specified in the law. (Art. 4, paras. 2 & 3.)
Furthermore, the state or municipal executive authorities are required to remove or replace any symbols promoting totalitarian or authoritarian regimes and their ideologies, including on monuments, memorial boards, and the names of streets, parks, and squares, within three months after receiving the decision. (Art. 5, paras. 1, 4 & 5.)
Individuals and legal entities may submit information about publicly displayed symbols of totalitarianism and authoritarianism to municipal institutions or the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre. (Art. 4, para. 10.)
These prohibitions do not apply to public objects that are exhibited by museums, archives, and libraries; used to inform the public about totalitarian and authoritarian regimes and their promoted ideologies, their historical and current events, and their consequences; and used for educational, scientific, professional art, and collecting purposes. (Art. 6, para. 1(1)–(3).)
To prevent the spread of authoritarian ideologies, the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre and other nongovernmental organizations and scientific and educational institutions are required to implement projects and programs and disseminate information about the harm of totalitarian regimes and their ideologies, their crimes against humanity, and the war crimes that were committed or are being committed by these regimes, as well as to create opportunities to strengthen knowledge and skills that increase society’s resistance to misinformation.” (Art. 7, paras. 1 & 2.)
Overview of Current Legislation
In Lithuania, the Law on Assemblies prohibits the display of the flags, coats of arms, and uniforms of Nazi Germany, the USSR, or the Lithuanian SSR. Also prohibited is displaying the symbols of Nazi or Communist organizations, including the performance of the anthems of Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, or Soviet Lithuania. (Law on Assemblies art. 8, para. 5.)
Under the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Lithuania, the public display of these symbols is punishable by fines of 150 to 300 euros (about US$163 to $327). (Code of Administrative Offenses art. 524.)
Iana Fremer, Law Library of Congress
February 2, 2023
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