Seimas Ombudsperson reports and court decisions in which complaints by people in prison were found justified. Rights can be defended.
Seimas Ombudsperson reports
The Seimas Ombudspersons investigate complaints about officials and visit places of detention. We have selected reports in which a complaint by a person in prison, or part of it, was found justified, or an own-initiative investigation found violations. Complainants are anonymised in the reports, and each card links to the official document (in Lithuanian).
Complaint partly upheldEducation, work, leave
Vocational training must not cost the right to outdoor exercise
Seimas Ombudspersons · · PA-125
Institutions: Šiauliai Prison, Lithuanian Prison Service
A prisoner attending vocational training could not take the statutory outdoor exercise, and his complaints about showering after practical classes were not properly examined. These parts of the complaint were found justified.
Recommendation. Do not set the right to education against the right to outdoor exercise; assess the conditions of practical classes and allow showers afterwards; base answers to complaints on the specific facts.
People with diabetes need fast help in case of hypoglycaemia
Seimas Ombudspersons · · PA-120
Institutions: Lithuanian Prison Service, Ministry of Justice
An own-initiative investigation by the Ombudsperson found that remand prisoners and convicted prisoners with diabetes cannot quickly obtain a remedy to manage symptoms of hypoglycaemia.
Recommendation. Prison Service: allow people to buy and keep a fast-acting glucose supplement on a doctor's recommendation, without a special request. Minister of Justice: ensure all people with diabetes have equal opportunities to take care of their health without delay.
When both relatives are in prison, visits must still be real
Seimas Ombudspersons · · PA-118
Institutions: Lithuanian Prison Service
An own-initiative investigation found that close relatives who are both serving prison sentences and cannot leave their facilities on their own have no real opportunity to see each other.
Recommendation. Ensure that relatives serving sentences always have a real opportunity to see each other, including remotely.
Šiauliai Prison did not allow a prisoner a remote visit with his brother, who is serving a sentence in another prison. The complaint was found justified.
Recommendation. Respond faster to guidance from the Ministry of Justice and to court findings, and take decisions without delay.
Changes in the rules must actually reach prisoners
Seimas Ombudspersons · · PA-114
Institutions: Vilnius Prison, Lithuanian Prison Service
Vilnius Prison did not give clear and effective information about the ban on tobacco products and the deadline for using them up, and did not properly answer requests for short-term leave and legal aid; the Prison Service did not properly answer a request to access pre-trial investigation files. The part about confiscated tobacco was rejected.
Recommendation. Reconsider short-term home leave; inform prisoners about legal changes in a way that actually reaches them and is understood by all.
An answer without reasons or appeal information falls short
Seimas Ombudspersons · · PA-112
Institutions: Lithuanian Prison Service
The Prison Service answered a prisoner's request concerning a money transfer in a way that did not meet legal requirements. The complaint was found justified.
Recommendation. Answers to requests and complaints must be clear, complete and reasoned, stating the legal and factual grounds and how to appeal.
Institutions: Vilnius Prison, Lithuanian Prison Service
The roofs over the exercise yards do not protect against rain, and the Prison Service did not deal with the problem properly. The complaint was found justified.
Recommendation. Urgently ensure that outdoor exercise can take place in a yard with a roof that actually protects from rain; give specific answers to complaints.
Proof that a complaint was received, and clear information about shop goods
Seimas Ombudspersons · · PA-100
Institutions: Pravieniškės Prison No. 2, Lithuanian Prison Service
The prisoner was not given a certificate confirming that his complaint had been received and registered, the Prison Service's answer was inadequate, and information on goods sold in the prison shop was insufficient. These parts of the complaint were found justified.
Recommendation. Issue a receipt for requests and complaints on request; re-examine the complaint and give a reasoned answer; make sure all prisoners can see the actual range and prices when ordering.
Alytus Prison obstructed the prisoners' council: it unlawfully barred members from meetings, did not provide a storage device or a working computer, failed to inform the council of changes in time and mishandled requests to attend meetings. This part of the complaint was found justified.
Recommendation. Clarify how prisoners can contact the council and ensure it can function properly.
Institutions: Pravieniškės Prison No. 1, Lithuanian Prison Service
A prisoner was not given the opportunity to obtain the legal acts he asked for free of charge. The complaint was found justified.
Recommendation. Immediately ensure real access to the current versions of legal acts and, if needed, help him learn to use the limited internet access system and e.teismas.lt on his own.
Home leave during holidays – also for the self-employed
Seimas Ombudspersons · · PA-53
Institutions: Ministry of Justice
An own-initiative investigation confirmed that self-employed prisoners in open-type facilities are unjustifiably restricted from going home to see their families during annual leave. Such rules do not meet international human rights standards.
Recommendation. Minister of Justice: amend the rules so that these prisoners can also go home during their leave.
Meals according to the assigned menu – also during transfers
Seimas Ombudspersons · · PA-42
Institutions: Vilnius Prison, Lithuanian Prison Service
A prisoner complained that he did not always receive meals according to his assigned vegan menu, including dry rations during escorted transfers. The part concerning how the Prison Service handled his complaints was found justified, and recommendations on catering were issued.
Recommendation. Ensure every meal, including dry rations, matches the assigned menu; tell prisoners whom to contact if they receive the wrong meal.
A complaint about detention conditions, disrespectful treatment by officers and limited access to psychological help at Šiauliai Prison was found justified.
Recommendation. Employ a psychologist and ensure full psychological support; communicate respectfully; avoid long periods in a single cell and increase activities.
Vilnius Prison did not properly respect the right to receive parcels with health-care items and did not properly examine complaints about them. The complaint was found justified.
Recommendation. Comply with the internal rules on handing over parcels and give the complainant a full answer.
Self-employment without obstacles not provided for by law
Seimas Ombudspersons · · PA-8
Institutions: Lithuanian Prison Service
An own-initiative investigation confirmed that the Prison Service imposes restrictions not provided for by law – on buying tools and materials and on their weight – on prisoners who want to be self-employed.
Recommendation. Make the right to self-employment real, without requirements not provided for by law.
We are preparing summaries of anonymised court decisions in which the rights of people in prison were upheld. Do you have such a decision? Share it – it may help others.
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The summaries were prepared by the association from the official documents and do not replace them. Seimas Ombudsperson recommendations are not binding, but institutions must examine them and report back on the outcome.
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