Development of property protection in criminal law during Lithuania’s independence

ENLegal protection of property is regulated in many branches of law: constitutional, civil, administrative, social security, etc. Criminal law is the last resort (ultima ratio) in defending this legal value. However, no matter how much effort is made to protect property, the extent of crimes against property remains high. To combat this phenomenon, the criminal laws were constantly amended and supplemented, and new forms of dangerous behaviour were criminalized during the period of restoration of Lithuania’s independence. Some of these amendments raise questions not only of their expediency but also of their compatibility with the constitutional provisions, also main principles of criminal law and their compliance with the requirements of legal technique. This chapter, based on the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court of Lithuania and the Supreme Court of Lithuania, also on the doctrine of the Lithuanian criminal law, deals with the main tendencies of the development of criminal laws relating to criminal acts against property, property rights and property interests in Lithuania during the independence period (1990–2019); analyses certain problematical issues of criminal liability for criminal acts against property, features of aggravated theft and other criminal acts against property; and also evaluates the corpus delicti of criminal acts that have emerged since the new Criminal Code. [From the publication]