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Liability of Member States for Violations of European Union Law in the Field of Legislation: Jurisprudence of the Supreme Courts of Lithuania
Get PDFThe article analyzes and evaluates the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union (hereinafter – European Court of Justice, CJEU), which establishes the basis, criteria and conditions of the liability of Member States’ for violations of European Union law. The article further analyses the jurisprudence of the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania and the Supreme Court of Lithuania in cases adjudicated on the violation of European Union (hereinafter – also the EU) law, caused by the actions (inaction) of an entity entitled to adopt normative legal acts, and the compensation of the injured persons. Document analysis and comparative methods are used. The article leads to a conclusion that in deciding on violations of EU law committed by the actions (inaction) of an entity entitled to adopt normative legal acts, case-law of the highest tier courts of Lithuania adheres to the jurisprudence of the CJEU. However, the methods of resolving the aforementioned disputes differ in the practice of the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania and the Supreme Court of Lithuania. The Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania directly follows and evaluates the criteria of Member States’ responsibility established and developed in the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of Lithuania often uses another path: the court recognizes the inconsistency of national provisions with the EU law, assesses whether individuals are granted rights by the EU law provisions, refuses to apply provisions of national law that are in conflict with the EU regulation and seeks to interpret national legal provisions in a manner that they were in line with the goals pursued by the provisions of EU law
Pirk, Skolinkis, Mirk. Kaip turtingieji gyvena iš savo "popierinio" turto bei išvengia mokesčių ir kodėl mes tai leidžiame?
No full textIn 2021, there are reportedly 2,755 billionaires on Earth, with an estimated total net worth of $13.1 trillion. Every year the newspaper Forbes conducts the list of World Billionaires, but we need to acknowledge that, not all billionaires and their wealth gets reported. Usually, the net worth is reported by calculating the number of stocks with the number of shares that the person owns. We take into consideration that the number we see in the newspaper exists only on paper, but the amount of money in the bank account of Billionaire does, not reflect that kind of wealth in any shape and form.Paper wealth differs from “real” or actual wealth, which is the value of the physical assets that are at the disposal of an individual or company. Many individuals and corporations fall victim to the paper wealth trap. On paper, it looks as though the assets logged are worth a certain amount, but the real assets in hand do not add up to the same. In order to assess, the real wealth individual has to realize the asset in the market by selling the asset mentioned below. If the taxpayer sells these assets, it has accumulated capital gains, then the taxpayer is subject to capital gains taxes.By using the tax planning strategy “Buy, Borrow, and Die” the wealthy individual avoids paying the capital gain tax on the assets that they have. This principle suggests buying and holding assets as they appreciate tax-free, as well borrow using the assets as leverage and using debt to reduce or eliminate income and estate taxes, and maximize aftertax wealth accumulation, as well after the taxpayer pass away the heirs, sell the whole wealth is tax-free, and the debt is paid with the tax-free proceeds.Remiantis 2021 m. duomenimis žemėje yra 2755 milijardieriai, kurių bendra grynoji vertė viršija 13,1 trilijono JAV dolerių. Žurnalas „Forbes“ kasmet skelbia pasaulinį milijardierių sąrašą, tačiau turime pripažinti, kad ne visi milijardieriai ir jų turtas lieka dokumentuotas. Paprastai grynoji turto vertė apskaičiuojama asmeniui priklausančių akcijų skaičių padauginus su kapitalo rinkose pateikiamos akcijos kaina. Matydami grynąją vertę, neretai pamirštame, kad tokia vertė egzistuoja tik popieriuje, ir niekaip neatsispindi banko sąskaitoje.
Popierinis turtas skiriasi nuo „realaus“ ar faktinio turto, kuris yra fiziniame pavidale ir priklauso fiziniam asmeniui ar įmonei. Daugelis asmenų ir korporacijų tampa popierinio turto spąstų aukomis. Popieriuje turto vertė, yra tam tikros sumos, tačiau realybėje nėra tas pats. Norint gauti realią turto vertę, asmuo turi realizuoti turtą rinkoje, o realizuojant susikaupęs kapitalo prieaugis apmokestinamas.
Naudodami „Buy, Borrow and Die“ mokesčių planavimo strategiją, turtingi asmenys išvengia mokėti mokesčius dėl atsirandančio kapitalo prieaugio. Remiantis šiuo principu, rekomenduojama turimą kapitalą laikyti kiek įmanoma ilgiau, taip pat naudojant skolą, kaip galimybę susimažinti pajamas, maksimalizuoti kapitalo prieaugį, ir jį palikti savo paveldėtojams
Covid-19 vakcinų išskirtinumas: kompensacija už galimai patirta žalą pagal Lietuvos valstybės teisinį pobūdį globalių pavyzdžių kontekste
Get PDFThe article analyzes legal mechanisms of compensation for damages caused by side effects of COVID-19 vaccines in Lithuania. In particular, draft amendments to the Law on the Rights of Patients and Compensation of the Damage to their Health registered by the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania in 2021 are evaluated and arguments for the need for further improvement are provided herein. In order to comprehensively assess the nature of the side effects that may be a substantiated cause for damages, pharmaceutical analysis and evaluation of COVID-19 vaccines eligible in Lithuania are analyzed. Analysis of the legal framework and proposals are construed mainly in light of the assessment of global examples. Following throughout evaluation of the question at hand, it is the opinion of the authors of the article that the product liability mechanism is not appropriate in the context of the vaccination program applied in Lithuania and instead „a no-fault compensation model“ shall be adopted that would be funded by a separate (non) State institute/fund in Lithuania.Straipsnyje analizuojama teisiniai žalos atlyginimo mechanizmai dėl COVID-19 vakcinų sukeltos žalos, pasireiškusios dėl šalutinio poveikio, Lietuvoje. Konkrečiai – analizuojami Pacientų teisių ir žalos atlyginimo įstatymo pakeitimo pasiūlymai, įregistruoti Lietuvos Respublikos Seimo 2021 m., bei teikiami argumentai dėl poreikio tobulinti šiuos pasiūlymus toliau. Siekiant išsamiai įvertinti šalutinius poveikius, kurie galėtų būti pagrindas reikalauti žalos atlyginimo, pristatoma Lietuvoje teisėtai naudojamų COVID-19 vakcinų šalutinių poveikių farmacinė analizė. Teisinių mechanizmų ir pasiūlymų vertinimas atliekamas labiausiai atsižvelgiant į pavyzdžius, naudojamus globaliai. Plačiai išanalizavus klausimą, šio straipsnio autoriai pirmiausiai laikosi pozicijos, kad produktų saugos teisinis mechanizmas šiuo atveju nėra tinkamas, atsižvelgiant į vakcinavimo programą, kuri taikoma Lietuvoje, vietoje to kad žalos, sukeltos COVID-19 vakcinų šalutinių poveikių, atlyginimas turėtų būti taikomas pagal žalos be kaltės modelį, finansuojamą iš atskiro Valstybes instituto/fondo
All we need to know about the provisional measures of the international court of justice in allegations of genocide (Ukraine v Russian Federation), but the media reports inaccurately
Get PDFOn 27 February 2022, Ukraine filed the application instituting proceedings against Russia before the International Court of Justice to obtain provisional measures protecting its rights. It resulted from Russia‘s launch of the “special military operation” against Ukraine on 24 February 2022, in response to the alleged genocide of Donbass communities by the Kyiv regime. The Courted delivered its Order on 16 Marco 2022 and indicated provisional measures. Unfortunately, the Polish media coverage distorted the content of the Order. This article aims to present how the Order was covered and to demystify its content
THE CONSUMER OR THE TRADER – WHO DECIDES ON HOW A PRODUCT IS USED? An analysis of the application of excise duty exemptions under Directive 92/83/EEC to alcohol
Get PDFTwenty-two years after adopting Directive 92/83/EEC, the European Commission initiated a review of the Directive because it did not correspond with the developments and the challenges, they pose for the alcohol sector. After six years of deliberation, amendments to Article 27.1. of the Directive entered into force this year, which, according to the study, will not address the critical problems with the Directive’s application. The research analyses the concept of ‘not for human use or consumption’, the interpretation of which had been identified by experts and the EC as problematic and detrimental not only to the interests of Member States but also to their residents and legal entities. In particular, the study found that official sources and national systems use definitions that are linguistically and substantively different, which does not ensure homogeneity in the application of the Directive, which is one of the EC’s priority objectives (harmonisation of the excise duty regime).The second part of the study asks whether the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) can resolve the problems of the article’s interpretation. The case law on classifying products for taxation purposes is inconsistent and fragmented, selectively applied, and the judgments are often diagonally opposed. In one case, the CJEU relied on the consumer behaviour argument. In contrast, in another case, the Court held that the trader alone decides on the use of the product and that consumer behaviour is entirely irrelevant. This case is unique because the court legalised fraudulent schemes in selling surrogate alcohol, which is contrary to the EU’s goals to prevent health risks.Given that neither the CJEU nor legislative review and amendment can effectively ensure that the issue of excise duty is harmonised, the study invites us to explore the possibilities of changing the methodology on how court decisions are made. In particular, whether the issue of excise duty exemptions could be addressed by applying economic science. The study explores the concept of ‘not for human use or consumption’ by using the methodologies of mainstream post-Keynesian economic theory and mainline Austrian economic theory. The study finds that an analysis of consumer behaviour would ensure an effective interpretation of Article 27.1. of the Directive
Assessment of Changes in Functional Brain Connectivity During Depression Treatment with TMS Using Granger Causality Based Methods
Get PDFDirected transfer function (DTF) method was used to assess brain connectivity disturbances in depression. The results were depicted as a brain model with the electroencephalographic (EEG) registration points, through which the directions of bioelectric activity transfer are defined. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is used as an alternative treatment for drug-resistant depression and is considered to restore impaired connections. The combination of TMS and EEG allows to study changes of functional brain connectivity (FBC) in a non-invasive way. It was found that the FBC of resistant patients differed more from that of healthy subjects than in non-resistant patients. The largest changes in connectivity were identified in theta frequency
Kodų kaita dvikalbių vaikų rišliuosiuose pasakojimuose
Get PDFThis article discusses the use of code switching for bilingual children. The aim of the study was to assess which types and functions of code switching dominate in children’s narratives collected according to the MAIN methodology. Samples of children from different language groups (LT-EN and RU-LT) were chosen as they were expected to reveal different patterns of code-switching. The study revealed that code-switching was more frequent in the RU-LT sample, whose children lived in Lithuania but grew up in Russian-speaking families and attended educational institutions for national minorities. The children lacked basic Lithuanian language skills and were more likely to use words or phrases from their mother tongue to express their thoughts. Contrary to what is reported in international studies on children’s language development, in the case of Lithuania it is evident that even in third-generation Russian-speaking families Lithuanian is rarely used. Lithuanian children living in an English-speaking country (LT-EN) had fewer difficulties in speaking Lithuanian: fewer instances of code-switching in their narratives were observed and usually they were related to narrative coherence.In the RU-LT group, there was a very clear motivation for the use of code-switching – the code-switching recorded in the narratives was related to filling lexical gaps. A completely different trend emerged in the LT-EN sample, where English words or phrases helped the children to connect the narratives and to link the structural components of the story. In summary, code-switching is used as a helping strategy for the success of the task by helping the child to tell a story in a language that is inherited by some and a second language by others. Thus, even if the child inserts words in Russian or English, he/she successfully completes the task and tells the story according to the pictures that were presented to the children.Šiame straipsnyje aptariami kodų kaitos atvejai dvikalbių vaikų rišliuosiuose pasakojimuose pagal siužetinę paveikslėlių seką. Tyrimu siekta įvertinti, kokie kodų kaitos tipai ir funkcijos vyrauja vaikų pasakojimuose, sukauptuose taikant MAIN metodiką. Pasirinktos skirtingų kalbinių grupių (LT-AN ir RU-LT) vaikų imtys, nes tikėtasi atskleisti skirtingų kodų kaitos vartojimo tendencijų. Tyrimas parodė, kad kodų kaita buvo dažnesnė RU-LT imtyje, kurios vaikai gyveno Lietuvoje, tačiau augo rusakalbėse šeimose, lankė tautinėms mažumoms skirtas ugdymo įstaigas. Vaikai stokojo elementarių lietuvių kalbos vartosenos įgūdžių, todėl dažniau pasitelkdavo savo gimtosios kalbos žodžius ar frazes, norėdami išreikšti mintį. Šių vaikų grupėje vyravo labai aiški kodų kaitos motyvacija, susijusi su leksinių spragų pildymu. Lietuviai vaikai, gyvenantys anglakalbėje šalyje (LT-AN), patyrė mažiau sunkumų pasakodami lietuviškai: jų pasakojimuose kodų kaitos atvejų buvo mažiau, jie buvo dažniau susiję ne su leksinėmis spragomis, bet su pasakojimo rišlumo elementais. Apibendrinant galima teigti, kad kodų kaita pasitelkiama kaip pagalbos strategija, leidžianti sėkmingai įgyvendinti užduotį – papasakoti istoriją kalba, kuri yra paveldėtoji (LT-AN) arba antroji (RU-LT)
Šeimų kalbų politika: latvių kalbos kaip paveldėtosios išlaikymas diasporoje
Get PDFThis article explores the concept of family language policy in relation to child agency and parents’ discourse strategies in the context of the Latvian diaspora. Research is based on four interviews with parents from three countries: the United Kingdom, Norway and Greece. Respondents were recruited through Saturday/Sunday schools in the diaspora, addressing Latvian speakers who work there or whose children attend these schools. Both parents of all four families analysed in this study use Latvian at home. Data were collected using the Zoom platform during spring 2023 and are part of a larger study about family language policies in the diaspora. Currently, data are also gathered using methods such as audio recordings of interactions between parents and children and online classroom observations in Latvian (Saturday) schools. The main research questions for this article are: which language ideologies underlie language practices (language choices) at home involving parents and children, and which parental discourse strategies are used in families with regard to the multilingual language practices of their children.Straipsnyje analizuojama dabartinės Latvijos diasporos šeimų kalbų politika. Siekiama nustatyti, kokios kalbinės ideologijos lemia kalbines praktikas namie, tėvų ir vaikų kalbų pasirinkimus, kokias diskurso strategijas taiko tėvai augindami dvikalbius vaikus. Naudota giluminių interviu su keturiomis latvėmis motinomis medžiaga, rinkta 2023 m. sausio–kovo mėnesiais. Informantės gyvena Jungtinėje Karalystėje (dvi šeimos), Norvegijoje (viena šeima) ir Graikijoje (viena šeima). Straipsnis yra platesnio tiriamojo projekto „Letonika“ (2022–2024) dalis. Duomenų analizė rodo, kad paveldėtosios kalbos perdavimo vaikams sėkmė labai priklauso nuo tėvų įsitikinimo, kiek jie gali veikti kalbinį vaikų elgesį, taip pat nuo vaikų noro bendradarbiauti. Be to, daug lemia konkrečios tėvų taikomos pokalbių strategijos bendraujant su vaikais, t. y. kiek tame pačiame pokalbyje laikomasi vieno kodo, kiek sugebama į tai kreipti vaikus. Analizė atskleidė, kad vaikų kalbinė raida, konkrečiau – kalbiniai jų sutrikimai gali turėti labai neigiamą poveikį kalbinėms tėvų praktikoms, perkeisti kalbines jų nuostatas, mažinti tėvų įsitikinimą, kad jie gali aktyviai prisidėti prie savo vaikų dvikalbystės su paveldėtąja kalba. Skirtingos tėvų ir vaikų kalbinės praktikos (pvz., vienos ar kitos kalbos pasirinkimas arba kodų kaita bendraujant), vyraujančios šeimose kasdienybėje, formuoja ir plečia jų kalbų politiką. Šie sudėtingi įsitikinimų, kalbų vadybos, komunikacijos modeliai ir jų sampynos reikalauja daugiau ir išsamesnio mokslinio dėmesio. Drauge paskirų šeimų kalbų politika siejasi ir yra veikiama vietos bendruomenės praktikų (pvz., mokykloje, darbe), turimų ir išreiškiamų nuostatų, taip pat nacionalinio socialinio diskurso bei šalies kalbų politikos. Kadangi kiekviena šeima yra savita sudėtinga sistema, svarbus ir individualus dėmesys kiekvienam atvejui