DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROTECTION ORDER APPLICATION GAPS AS A VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

The article examines the main gaps of the implementation of the new version of the Law on Protection Against Domestic Violence, which entered into force in Lithuania on the 1st of July 2023, and its accompanying legislation. The topic analysed in the article is of great relevance today, because the number of criminal offences related to domestic violence in Lithuania is increasing. Domestic violence is defined as any form of physical, emotional, sexual or psychological abuse, it is a violation of human rights. The new version of the Law on Protection Against Domestic Violence introduced a new concept called the Domestic Violence Protection Order, which is a preventive protection measure designed to protect a victim of domestic violence, and which obliges abuser to move temporarily from the place of residence. This is an important step towards creating a secured society, however, there is a lack of information addressed to the problems of the implementation of Domestic Violence Protection Order in Lithuania in the context of the protection of human rights. It is therefore reasonable to investigate what problems are faced by police officers when issuing a domestic violence order and by the courts when dealing with complaints about compliance with the terms of the order issued. Thus, the object of the investigation is the Domestic Violence Protection Order. The aim of the article is to investigate the Domestic Violence Protection Order application gaps as a violation of human rights. The Objectives of the study are 1) To explore the concept of domestic violence and its legal regulation; 2) To carry out a case study of Lithuanian court practice of the Domestic Violence Protection Order application problems. The methods used for the investigation: analysis of literature and legislation and a case study of a court decision. To fulfil the purpose of the research, a specific case of court practice was analysed. In this case even several violations committed by police officers when issuing a domestic violence order for a person and checking the person's compliance with the terms of the domestic violence order were recorded and analysed in the court decision. It was found that despite police officers play an important role in ensuring the safety of the public, in some cases they decide without analysing and investigating the factual circumstances, without giving reasons and legal arguments. This creates several problems in terms of human rights protection. Thus, police officers in some cases violate the rights of the violent person and this highlights the problems faced by police officers when issuing a Domestic Violence Protection Order and by the courts when dealing with complaints about compliance with the terms of the order issued. A special attention of Lithuanian legislators should be given to these gaps of Domestic Violence Protection Order application as they can lead to the violation of human rights.