Overview
The Republic of Lithuania has been an EU member state since 1 May 2004, a Schengen member since December 2007, and a member of the eurozone since 2015. It is fully integrated into the European Arrest Warrant system; the legal basis is Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA and Sections 78 ff. IRG.
Extradition traffic between Germany and Lithuania is comparatively intensive by EU standards. The focal points are economic criminal matters, narcotics and people-smuggling offenses, property crime and violent offenses. Lithuania is stable under the rule of law; specific bars to extradition, however, recurrently concern detention conditions, in particular with regard to inter-prisoner violence and drug problems within the prison system, as the CPT report on the ad hoc visit in February 2024 (published on 18 July 2024 — CPT/Inf [2024] 25) strikingly documents.
On the Lithuanian side, the Lietuvos Respublikos baudžiamojo proceso kodeksas (Code of Criminal Procedure, BPK, Žin. 2002, No. 37-1341 as subsequently amended) applies, as well as the Lietuvos Respublikos baudžiamasis kodeksas (Criminal Code, BK, Žin. 2000, No. 89-2741).
Legal basis
Extradition to Lithuania is governed primarily by Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA on the European Arrest Warrant, transposed into domestic law in Sections 78 ff. IRG. Lithuania has incorporated the Framework Decision into Chapter XLIII (Art. 364–379) of the Baudžiamojo proceso kodeksas.
On the German side, the Higher Regional Courts are competent in the admissibility proceedings (Section 29 IRG); the granting decision is made by the General Public Prosecutor's Office (Section 79(2) IRG). On the Lithuanian side, the district courts (apylinkės teismas) and the regional courts (apygardos teismas) issue European Arrest Warrants; the issuing and central extradition authority is the Lietuvos Respublikos generalinė prokuratūra (General Public Prosecutor's Office) based in Vilnius. The highest instance in criminal matters is the Lietuvos Aukščiausiasis Teismas (Supreme Court of Lithuania); the constitutional court is the Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucinis Teismas.
For German citizens, Article 16(2) of the Basic Law in conjunction with Section 80 IRG applies. Under Article 13(2) of the Lithuanian Constitution, Lithuanian citizens are extradited only to international courts or under the conditions of international treaties; for EU constellations this restriction has been largely lifted by the EAW Framework Decision.
Country-specific issues in Lithuania
CPT report July 2024 — inter-prisoner violence and drug problems: On 18 July 2024 (CPT/Inf [2024] 25), the CPT published the report on its ad hoc visit to Lithuania in February 2024. The facilities visited were Alytaus pataisos namai (Alytus), Marijampolės pataisos namai, Pravieniškių pataisos namai and Vilniaus pataisos namai. The report confirms — despite documented reform steps — persisting considerable problems with inter-prisoner violence, high drug consumption within the prison system, and the absence of targeted strategies to address drug addiction among the prisoner population. This finding is central from a defense perspective and may, at the second stage of review under Aranyosi/Căldăraru, make facility-specific assurances necessary.
OLG case law — a differentiated practice: German OLG case law on Lithuania is differentiated. The OLG Karlsruhe (decision of 19 June 2014, ref. 1 AK 49/14) made an extradition for the enforcement of a sentence conditional on an assurance, binding under international law, of placement in a facility meeting European minimum standards. The Kammergericht Berlin (decision of 22 Aug 2017 — (4) 151 AuslA 78/17 [95/17]), by contrast, declared the extradition admissible without further investigation where the requested person consented to a simplified extradition and the Lithuanian Ministry of Justice provided a concrete declaration. The OLG Hamm (decision of 25 Apr 2017 — III-2 Ausl. 45/17) relied on the country report of the US Department of State on the human-rights situation.
Geopolitical background — Kaliningrad and the Belarus border: Lithuania borders the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad to the west and Belarus to the east. The situation at the Belarusian border (the migration crisis since 2021, instrumentalized migration) and the eastern-flank policy context are relevant to the proceedings in the case of third-country nationals, persons seeking asylum, or politically active Russian/Belarusian nationals. For politically active persons with a Belarusian or Russian background, it must be examined whether there is in fact a risk of onward extradition to Russia or Belarus; in that case Sections 6, 73 IRG apply by analogy to the BVerfG case law on third-country constellations.
Closure of the Lukiškės facility: The historic Lukiškės facility in Vilnius was closed on 4 July 2019 on account of overcrowding and inadequate detention conditions and was converted into a cultural venue (Lukiškės Prison 2.0). Current remand and prison detention is carried out at Vilniaus pataisos namai, Pravieniškės, Alytus and Marijampolė.
Dual criminality: outside the list catalogue of Art. 2(2) of the EAW Framework Decision, a substantive review applies. The BK is substantively compatible with continental European standards; special offenses concern, among others, anti-money-laundering law, cyber law (Chapter XXX BK) and the circumvention of sanctions.
Detention conditions and the human-rights review
Following the CPT report of July 2024 (CPT/Inf [2024] 25), detention conditions in Lithuanian prisons continue to be assessed critically despite reform steps. Three structural problem areas are at the center: (1) inter-prisoner violence (in particular in Alytus, Marijampolė, Pravieniškės); (2) drug consumption and inadequate addiction treatment within the prison system; (3) historic deficiencies in daylight provision, separated sanitary facilities and material conditions in older parts of the facilities.
The central facilities today are Pravieniškių pataisos namai-atviroji kolonija (one of the largest prisons in Lithuania), Alytaus pataisos namai, Marijampolės pataisos namai and Vilniaus pataisos namai (remand detention and prison detention). For juvenile prisoners there is the Kauno nepilnamečių tardymo izoliatorius-pataisos namai facility.
In German extradition practice, a differentiated review within the meaning of the second stage of review under Aranyosi/Căldăraru is regularly required. For vulnerable persons (addicts, mentally ill requested persons, victims of sexual offenses within the prison system), a facility-specific assurance must be obtained that expressly includes measures against inter-prisoner violence and for addiction support. In cases of preventive detention for general-deterrence purposes, attention must be paid to the specific prison.
Lines of defense
The defense in Lithuania EAW cases focuses on the following points:
- Section 80 IRG (extradition of Germans): review of the connection to the place of the offense and the assurance of return.
- Section 73 sentence 2 IRG in conjunction with Article 4 of the EU Charter / Article 3 ECHR — Aranyosi/Căldăraru: facility-specific assurance; reference to the CPT report of July 2024 (inter-prisoner violence, drug problems). For vulnerable persons, demand explicit protective measures.
- Section 83b(2) IRG (bar to granting): in the case of long-standing habitual residence in Germany, the exercise of discretion by the General Public Prosecutor's Office.
- Sections 6, 73 IRG by analogy (onward extradition to a third state): for politically sensitive Russian or Belarusian requested persons, review of an actual risk of onward extradition.
- Directive 2010/64/EU (translation): for non-Lithuanian-speaking requested persons, full availability; Russian is not automatically recognized as the language of the defense.
- Section 81 no. 1 IRG (sentencing range): substantive review outside the list catalogue.
- Section 83 IRG (judgments in absentia): assurance of a retrial under Chapter XXX BPK (baudžiamosios bylos atnaujinimas).
- Rule of specialty (Section 83h IRG): limitation to the offenses granted.
- Double jeopardy (ne bis in idem) (Art. 50 of the EU Charter, Art. 54 CISA): review of the blocking effect of parallel proceedings.
- Constitutional complaint with an urgent application (Section 32 BVerfGG): where fundamental-rights objections remain — in the case of Lithuania, arguable on account of the CPT report 2024.
Legal representation in Lithuanian extradition proceedings
An extradition case is a specialized mutual-legal-assistance procedure that goes beyond classic criminal defense. Engaging a defense lawyer specialized in extradition law at an early stage is regularly decisive — not only after the formal extradition arrest warrant has been issued, but already from the moment of an arrest based on an Interpol notice, an SIS alert or a European Arrest Warrant.
As a Certified Specialist in Criminal Law with a focus on extradition law, I advise and represent affected persons nationwide before the competent Higher Regional Courts and in constitutional complaint proceedings before the Federal Constitutional Court.