Jurgita Grigienė

Lithuanian Private Law

The section on private law covers five basic areas of Lithuanian law that are essential for understanding the basic rules of conduct that persons should follow in private relations. These are Property Law, Contract and Tort Law, Company and Insolvency Law, Family and Inheritance Law, and Civil Procedure Law. Authors provide a definition and describe the system of property rights (and their encumbrances) stipulated in Lithuanian Civil Code. Starting from a descriptive analysis of the formation of contracts, the authors continue with a review of the rules on content and interpretation of contracts and, additionally, the performance (nonperformance) and termination of them. The part on tort law describes the four elements of tort action (unlawful actions, causation, fault, and damages), then the authors continue with a review of basic defenses from tort liability and finish the tort law part with a presentation of rules on joint tortfeasors, right of recourse, and some other special rules of delictual liability. In company law, the possible types of companies in Lithuania and their main features, such as requirements for incorporation, management, and activity, are introduced. In the second subchapter, the authors provide a brief overview of the bankruptcy proceedings. In family and inheritance law, the in-depth review of the major aspects of family law and inheritance law is provided. In civil procedure, the authors explain the issues of jurisdiction in civil cases and continue with explanation of the basics of the right to apply to court.

Piktnaudžiavimas mokesčių teisėje, kurio pagrindu prarandama teisė į PVM atskaitą

Value added tax is one of the most important sources of all EU member states government revenue, but the its role in Lithuania is even greater. Therefore evasion schemes is real threat to state budget and provision of public services. Therefore the regulation of VAT deduction system is very sensitive. But too strict regulation on abuse of VAT tax may hinder honest tax payers and eventually bring greater loss to economics, since tax payers must enjoy a degree of legal certainty, especially in the case of tax consequences. Deduction system in VAT tax is meant to relieve the trader entirely of the burden of the VAT payable or paid in the course of all his economic activities, since this is meant to ensure complete neutrality of taxation of all economic activities. Though it is clear that principle of prohibiting abusive practices also applies to the sphere of VAT. Since different forms of escaping tax obligations result in tax fraud, evasion or avoidance, fight against these abuses is a mix of national and EU actions. Courts held view that principle of abuse of rights is a general principle of Community law and prevents a taxable person from deducting VAT, where it is apparent from the application for deduction that the objectives of VAT, are not being attained and that the taxable person is artificially creating conditions to justify the application for deduction. But the most problematic issue is to qualify specific situation as abuse of rights. Some tax evasion schemes are clearly recognized as illegal in ECJ decisions and jurisprudence. But still some qualification of situations where VAT is unpaid because of insolvency caused by natural economic factors and not by intentional human will is still unclear. In article it is presented Lithuanian administrative court position that when person deals with partially insolvent partner and may foresee that he would not be able in full to pay his VAT duties, it is held that such transactions are abuse of right denying the right to deduct. Author does not agree with this view, bringing arguments and contesting that the criteria of abuse should be intention of transaction and reality of business operation, but not the knowledge of solvency of business partner in itself. There is not exactly case solved by ECJ regarding this matter, though in general court considers abuse of right only there where tax payer acted not in bona fide transactions-i.e. such transactions which are designed fundamentally to obtain a tax advantage and are of purely artificial nature.

The Age of Consent and the Reduction of the age of Consent in Church and Civil Marriages and their Interaction

Abstract In order for marriage to be valid, material conditions for marriage should be fulfilled. The form of marriage and material conditions for marriage have changed over the ages. Today marriage can be formed both by a civil and church order. The recognition of church marriage also differs from state to state. Some countries have chosen not to recognise church marriage and some countries have chosen to recognise church marriage. Church marriage is recognised by the state of Lithuania. However, only church marriages which correspond to requirements of material marriage conditions can be included in the public register. Marital age both in church and civil marriage is the same - 18 years. Under special circumstances the age of consent can be reduced. There exist different conditions for the reduction of marital age in church and civil marriage procedure. In church marriage, the bishop must give permission to reduce marital age, and in civil marriage only the court can reduce marital age. The authors of the article recommend obtaining court permission to reduce marital age even though performing the church marriage, because, otherwise, the church marriage will not be included into the public register by the state. As marital age and reduction of marital age differ from country to country, the authors also analyse when marriages concluded abroad shall be recognized if they do not satisfy the requirement of age.