You will be considered a victim of crime if you have suffered damage, e.g. you have been injured or your property has been stolen, etc., as a result of an incident, which constitutes a crime according to national law. As a victim of crime, the law confers certain individual rights to you, before, during and after court proceedings (trial).
Criminal proceedings in Lithuania consists of investigation and trial. During the investigation the public prosecutor and the police will investigate the incident to find the offender and collect evidence about his/her guilt. At the end of the investigation the public prosecutor will review the collected evidence and will make a decision on how to proceed with the case. If the public prosecutor believes the collected evidence is sufficient he/she will bring the case to court for trial. Otherwise the case will be closed.
During the trial the court will examine the collected evidence and will hold a hearing. During the hearing the participants will be invited to make their statements. At the end of the trial the court will announce its final decision. Depending on the collected evidence the offender will be convicted and punished or declared not guilty and released.
The following factsheets will take you through the different steps of the procedure, describing your rights during the investigation of the crime, during the trial or after the first trial. Also, read more about the help and support you can get.