True Lithuania

Lithuanian Laws on Major Issues

These are the stances of Lithuanian law on the legal issues that divide the world:

Drugs, alcohol, and food

Recreational drugs are illegal (and this is enforced).
Alcohol is legal.
Minimal legal age for buying alcohol is 20.
Minimal legal age for buying cigarettes is 18.
Smoking is banned in public building interiors (including restaurants, cafes) and public transport.
Pork is legal.

Sexual and marriage matters

Prostitution is illegal.
Pornography is illegal.
Homosexual relations are legal.
Age of consent is 14 (any sex under that is statutory rape), but 16 if the partner is over 18.
Marriage is between a single husband and a single wife, both at least 18 years old (but this age may be lowered to 16 by a court of law).
Divorce is allowed.

Guns and national defense

Guns are legal to own for self-defense, but only non-automatic (i.e. pistols), only for concealed carry and a local permit is needed (getting one involves having a safe, passing psychological and physical evaluations).
Conscription is practiced.


Gambling is legal although the types permitted are limited.
Legal age for gambling is 21.
Lotteries are legal but have charity obligations.

Killing and punishments

Euthanasia is illegal (albeit punished less than some other types of murder).
Abortion is legal (but limited for older babies).
Capital punishment is not practiced.
Caning is not practiced.
Torturing is banned.
Corporal punishment of children banned.

Freedoms of religion, language, speech, etc.

Practicing any religion is free (both in private and in public), and this includes wearing any religious clothing.
Official language is Lithuanian. Other languages are permitted broadly in minority institutions (including as medium of instruction at schools) and signage for tourists (but not for official signs, e.g. town and street names).
Freedom of speech is generally respected, but voicing negative opinions on certain groups may lead to accusations of "promoting hatred" (which is a crime). Gross disrespect to the national flag, coat of arms, anthem and the European Union flag is also a crime. Communist and Nationalsocialist symbols and the denial of their 20th-century crimes are banned.

Political rights

Political system is democratic, but the Communist and Nationalsocialist parties are not permitted to be established.
Requirements to exercise political rights are at least 18 years old to vote, at least 21 to be elected to a municipality council, at least 25 to be elected to parliament, 40 to 80 to be elected president. There are no gender, ethnic, religious, property or other requirements. Only citizens could vote in all elections save for municipality councils.
Voting is not mandatory.
Referendums are severely restricted (300 000 people must call for one (~13% of total voters) for it to be held, 50%+ turnout is then required for the referendum to be recognized, in some cases 50%+ of total voters voting "YES" are required for the proposition to pass, and referendum is not permitted to question transfers of sovereignty to the European Union).

Labor, business rights, and social benefits

Private enterprise is legal as long as one pays taxes. Some forms of business require a license.
Labor strikes are permitted.
Lockouts are illegal.
Discrimination (sexual, racial, ethnic, religious, social, etc.) is banned (so-called "positive discrimination" is not practiced either). A few forms of gender discrimination against men are sanctioned, however: for instance, men have to work until a longer age than women before they are entitled to social benefits.
Free (taxpayer-funded) education is available to every Lithuanian citizen until the age of ~18 (i.e. before university) but only to the better half of students afterward.
Free (taxpayer-funded) healthcare is available to nearly every Lithuanian citizen for the more serious diseases and health checks.

Citizenship (Nationality)

Citizenship (Nationality) is acquired by ius sanguini (if at least one parent is a Lithuanian citizen) or by naturalization (10 years of legal residence and a language/culture exam). Furthermore, the members of Lithuanian diaspora are permitted to "restore [forefather's] citizenship" or gain citizenship on a simplified process.
Dual citizenship (nationality) is not permitted save for a few special cases (e.g. people who fled Lithuania avoiding the Soviet Russian or German Nationalsocialist genocides).

Intellectual property

Software patents are not available.
Copyright lasts throughout the author's life and 70 years after his/her death.

Traffic rules

Speed limits are 50 km/h (urban), 70 km/h (dirt/gravel roads), 90 km/h (most roads), 110/120 km/h (lower class motorways, winter/summer), 110/130 km/h (upper class motorways, winter/summer).
Car lights must be on day and night.
Maximum alcohol quotient is 0,04% for car drivers, 0% for bus, truck, motorcycle drivers and those having a license for under 2 years.
Driver's license may be acquired at 18 for most cars (16 for micro-cars and 20-23 for various buses and trucks).

See also the articles on Lithuanian visa, Lithuanian legal system, Taxes in Lithuania.

Click to learn more about Lithuania: Politics and Law 14 Comments
Comments (14) Trackbacks (0)
  1. Maximum alcohol quotient is 0% for bus, truck drivers and those having licence for under 2 years as of 2015.

  2. Drinking age is now 20.

  3. Drinking age is 20 but Cigarettes are from 18 still. Age of consent is 16, not 14.

    • Corrected the cigarette-buying age.

      16 may be seen as the “main” age of consent, yet it is not absolute. Statutory rape is defined only if “a person over 18 has sex with a person under 16”, and even there an exception is made where the above sex is not considered a statutory rape “if both people are not differing much in age, spiritual or physical maturity”. That is, there may be even situations of sex between e.g. a 20-year-old and a 15-year-old which are not considered statutory rape, if the 15-year-old is more mature than his/her age suggests and/or the 20-year-old is less mature. That is up to the court to evaluate in such cases.

  4. Funny how you can’t question the sovereignty of Lithuania as it hands powers over to the European Union everyday limiting its full sovereignty or having a referendum on it!

  5. Semi automatic rifles are now banned
    Hunting only bolt action rifles are allowed.
    Self defence gun license is only for handguns.

  6. We buy Lithuania and all signs will be in Chinese.
    We ban all guns and big knifes.

    • No, China is a bad country because of diseases and racist people. So you wont buy Lithuania because you’re not in the European Union.

  7. Can you clarify where you found that the youngest age of consent was 14? I read through the Lithuanian Criminal Code and could not find anything that specifically prohibited sexual acts for children below 14. The only time the Criminal Code mentioned 14 year olds is that they are responsible for rape if the other person refuses to engage in sexual activity. From what I understand, people below the age of 18 can effectively chose to do it with another person below the age of 18 which seems really weird and I have probably missed something important.

    • Gonna get some pussy next year 😉

    • Edited this now to mention just 16 years.

      In the Lithuanian Criminal Code, Article 151(1) says that a non-minor (i.e. 18+) does a crime called “sexual acts in breach of inviolability or sexual preference of a minor” if he or she has sex with a person of age under 16 (when both partners wish for such sex). However, there is an exception if there is “no major age or maturity difference”, so in some cases, the court could deem sex between e.g. 18-year old and 15-year old to be acceptable (although sex between e.g. 30-year-old and 15-year-old would likely be never deemed acceptable and would always fall under this article).

      There is nothing mentioning 14 years of age indeed. However, according to the article on vaginal rape (149) and anal/oral rape (150) issues which make a sexual act to be considered a rape include not only violence or threats of immediate violence, but also “using the powerlessness of the victim”. This powerlessness may include, for example, cases when the victim is handicapped or drunk, but also arguably may include cases where the victim is of very young age.

      According to the Lithuanian law, minors are separated into two groups: nepilnamečiai (literally “not-full-yeared”) and mažamečiai (literally “small-yeared”), covering ages 14-17 and 0-13 respectively. Mažamečiai are considered to be unable to perform most tasks independently, whereas nepilnamečiai are either able to or may get court permission to be considered as adults.

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