The article explores the problems of the legal status of the regulatory authorities in the energy sector of Ukraine in the context of the administrative reform currently taking place in the Ukraine and the fulfillment of the EU requirements in this sphere. Based on the analysis of the EU legislation, in particular Directive 2009/72/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity and repealing Directive 2003/54/EC and Directive 2009/73/EC (...) of the European Parliament and the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in natural gas and repealing Directive 2003/55/EC, and the experience of Ukraine in the field of energy regulation, the author of this article supports granting the special legal status to the national regulatory authorities in the energy sector of Ukraine and their separation from the system of state executive bodies, however, recommends to stipulate in the Constitution of Ukraine the provisions, regarding the organizational legal form and the establishment procedure of such bodies, the appointment and dismissal procedure for their management and members, the peculiarities of the relations of these bodies with the President of Ukraine, the Parliament of Ukraine and the Government of Ukraine. (shrink)

The article analyzes the changes of legal regulation on natural gas market in the context of the third European Union (EU) energy package. The paper consists of the introduction, two parts and conclusions. The first part analyses the main provisions on the natural gas market of the Third EU energy package. The second part of the paper focuses on the effect of the Third EU energy package on legal regulation of natural gas market in Lithuania. For this purpose, the author (...) analyzes the relevant provisions of the future legal regulation that are laid out in the Conception on draft amendment of the Lithuanian law on natural gas (the Conception) that was adopted by the Resolution of 19 May 2010 No. 585 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (the Government). The author analyses the chosen model of implementation of the Directive 2009/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning common rules for the internal market in natural gas of 13 July 2009 and repealing Directive 2003/55/EC (Directive 2009/73/EC), and the possible negative and positive consequences of the implementation of the model chosen by the drafters of the Conception. The paper is ended with motivated conclusions. (shrink)

The article analyses the legal status of the natural gas market regulatory institutions in Lithuania and in the member states of the European Union. First, the authors assess the most important elements of the legal status of the natural gas market regulators in the EU member states, namely, the degree of autonomy (type of institution, appointment and dismissal procedures of management, duration of the terms of office, sources of funding) and the measures aimed at ensuring accountability, transparency, and prevention of (...) conflicts of interest. Second, the legal status of the National Control Commission for Prices and Energy, which carries out functions of regulation and control of the natural gas sector in Lithuania, is examined. Finally, the authors conclude that the imperfections in the regulation of the legal status of the Commission result in several negative effects and provide reasoned proposals regarding the improvement of the legal status of the Commission. (shrink)

The Lithuanian success of implementing international obligation in order to encourage the regulation of labour relations by means of collective agreements is analyzed in this article. It is emphasized that development of social partnership is too slow, coverage of regulation of labour relations by means of collective agreement also is low-level and collective agreements basically are made at the plant level. It is noticed that, because of the need to find a suitable balance between implementing the international obligation to encourage (...) regulation of labour relations by means of collective agreements, and the necessity to undermine the raison d’être of the regulation by means of collective agreements itself, as the process, where attitudes of social partners has to be harmonised at maximum, the state has limited scope to influence the process of making collective agreements. (shrink)

Energy services have a particularly significant impact on the daily life and welfare of consumers. The importance of such services is high, and their regulation is also changing both at the EU and Member States level, especially after the adoption of the Third Energy Package1, which is focused on improving the operation of retail markets to yield real benefits for both electricity and gas consumers. In order to implement the main or the most relevant goal of the EU, such as (...) high level of consumer rights protection, resulting in consumer trust in business sector, proper and effective functioning of the EU internal market etc., it is essential to ensure clear and sufficient legal regulation, establish responsibility of the services providers, consumer rights and duties as well as promote more effective, faster and cheaper ways of solving consumer and business disputes. The authors of this article feel the lack of scientific analysis on this issue. Despite its importance, discussions take place at political or practical level, but no recent analyses exist as to why energy services sector is so fragmented and how it affects different conditions or rights of consumers in various Member States. This article also clearly supports the idea that the above-mentioned goals can be achieved by close and more fruitful cooperation between the EU and national competent authorities, participation in various ad hoc expert working groups and committees, such as the Vulnerable Consumers Working Group. This article reflects general ideas about the problems arising in the energy consumer services sector, the activity of the EU and national institutions, seeking to ensure fair and transparent provision of such services to consumers, it also contains an analysis of alternative dispute resolution (hereinafter – the ADR) methods and good practice of their application in the EU Member States. This article highly supports the application of alternative procedures in the field of energy services and sees them as a possibility to minimise increasing consumer problems, e.g. a new phenomenon – consumer energy poverty in the EU, which is defined as the situation where a household is unable to access a socially and materially necessitated level of energy services at home and pay for the provided services. (shrink)

The main aim of this research is to analyse the peculiarities of legal regulation of metrology and the problems arising in this area. The content of the article is divided into two parts. The first part of the article analyses the concept of metrology, reveals the relation between fundamental and legal metrology and accentuates problems of metrology as well as repressive means applied in the metrological procedure. The second part analyses the European Union as well as national legislation regulating the (...) implementation of metrology in Lithuania and peculiarities of harmonisation of national law with the European Union legislation. (shrink)

The article analyses the legal, economic and other problems of the legal regulation of supervision of business entities in Lithuania and outlines solutions to these problems. The first chapter describes the present situation of the legal regulation of supervision of businesses in Lithuania. The second chapter analyses the problems of the legal regulation of business supervision that the authors consider the most important. The article concludes by offering solutions to the key issues identified.

The article analyzes the system of legal regulation of the higher education in Lithuania with the purpose to determine the boundaries of exercising the discretionary powers of the executive institutions in the field of higher education. The article is made of two parts. Discretionary powers of the executive institutions in legislative field are discussed in the first part. The power of legislative discretion is described as a right to set the legal regulation by way of a subject who is granted (...) such discretionary power. Problems may arise in cases when the law granting such discretionary powers is too abstract or declarative. The main criteria in determining the boundaries of exercise of discretionary powers are the provisions of Constitution and laws, and constitutional law principles. The system of delegation of legislative powers in the field of regulation of the higher education in Lithuania is analyzed in the second part of the article. The permanent changes in administrative legal regulation of higher education and studies determined by a vast amount of subjects issuing post-legislative legal acts in this field, as well as rather tedious legal regulation which, in turn, calls for frequent changes in legal acts, raises doubts regarding a possibility to implement main principles of the studies, such as freedom of creation and scientific research or academic freedom and autonomy. (shrink)

Racionalaus pasirinkimo suvokimas leidžia analitiškai sumodeliuoti ne tik sociodemografinius ir motyvacinius asmenų pasirinkimo veiksnius, bet juos susieti su makrolygmens socialiniais pokyčiais. Žvelgiant sociologiškai, energetinis saugumas yra visuomenės ir jos atskirų grupių rizikos suvokimo pasekmė, todėl racionalaus pasirinkimo teorija šiuo atveju gali padėti tipologizuoti racionalų veikėją energetinio saugumo suvokimo atžvilgiu. Remiantis visuomenės nuomonės apklausa (N = 2002), išskiriami mažai apie energetikos politiką žinančio socialinio veikėjo energetinio saugumo suvokimo tipai ir jų ryšys su įvairiais sociodemografiniais (amžius, pajamos, išsilavinimas, gyvenamoji vieta) rodikliais.

Straipsnyje analizuojama galima grėsmė didelei Lietuvos visuomenės daliai, kylanti dėl centralizuoto šildymo sistemos funkcionavimo rizikos. Aptariama, kaip sovietiniu laikotarpiu didelė visuomenės dalis tapo energetikos sistemos įkaitu ir kaip pažangia laikyta centralizuoto šildymo sistema šiandien yra sunki našta daugybei šalies gyventojų. Analizuojant „organizuoto neatsakingumo“ reiškinį, atskleidžiamas rizikos visuomenėsparadoksas (kuris apibūdina dualistinę rizikos – rizikos kūrimo ir politinės atsakomybės vengimo – prigimtį), iš dalies paaiškinantis atsakingų institucijų nesugebėjimą spręsti centralizuotos šildymo problemos.

This article analyses implementation of freedom of assembly within Lithuania and in some other States of the European Union. Attention is paid to the differences in the implementation practices for this freedom while analysing probability of restriction of freedom of assembly in the light of legal, political and social factors. The article aims to substantiate that the quality of decision while adopting spreading ideas and expressed views during peaceful meetings, or adopting them later, or dismissing in general, is determined by (...) the democratic society being formed in the state during a particular period. On the other hand, although physical restriction of diffusion of ideas while implementing freedom of assembly is legitimate, it should not become the main control tool, since the development of the state in this direction is absolutely opposite to the expansion of democratic ideas in the society. Legal education should become the priority area of the policy conducted by the state. Particularly since this priority provides the security for the spread of best practices in democratic states, thus laying the grounds for effective prevention of expression of illegal behaviour. Such illegal behaviour may occur in the form of incitement of hatred and aggression in respect of persons who have different faith, race, nation or sexual orientation. The article substantiates that the real challenge faced by the modern democracy is security for practical implementation rather than the formal recognition and regulation of rights and freedoms. It has been found in practice that the implementation of freedom of assembly can be faulty restricted by the procedural justice. After evaluating experience of the States of the European Union and the way in which their national legal system is structured, the recommendations are made enabling a timely dispute settlement concerning the right of assembly, i.e., in order to prevent decision making process from becoming an obstacle for the implementation of freedom of assembly. It is pointed out that settlement of the dispute concerning the permission to hold a peaceful assembly after the date of the assembly is pointless and denies social importance of right of the assembly. (shrink)

The article analyses enforcement of freedom of assembly, draws attention to faults of legal regulation of dispute settlement, and revises a possibility of restriction of freedom of assembly. The authors provide evidence that restriction of freedom of assembly by refusing to grant permission to hold a peaceful assembly, is not an effective measure, therefore, it is suggested to educate the public on legal issues in order to enlighten the society about detrimental effect of publicly expressed ideas that provoke national or (...) racial discord, to disclose actual intentions of people who instigate aggression, force and violence so that they do not attract and rally a sufficiently large part of the public. People usually believe that the society enjoys freedom of knowledge and the right to obtain all information, as well as all news that originate and spread across the market, as it creates a pre-requisite for strengthening the best and most useful culture projects resulting in the development of culture and, alongside, the law. (shrink)

This article analyzes the judicial framework of the takeover bid regulation in Lithuania, identifies the obstacles to the more effective regulation and considers possible solutions. As laid down in the Directive 2004/25/EC of the European Parliament and the Council as well as in the Law on Securities of the Republic of Lithuania, if a natural or legal person acquires a specified percentage of voting rights in the company (the issuer), which gives him a certain degree of control of the company, (...) this person must announce and implement a mandatory takeover bid to protect the minority shareholder rights. The regulation process of takeover bids in Lithuania, however, encounters several obstacles in aiming to increase the protection of minority shareholders. The authors claim that the main problems preventing a more efficient takeover regulation are first, issues related to the counting rules of the voting rights and second, the lengthy process of implementing mandatory takeover bids (the implementation process could last up to six years). Finally, the definition of a fair price of the security presents another obstacle to a more efficient takeover regulation as well. The matter of a fair and reasonable price is the most important in emerging markets, such as Lithuania. (shrink)

Homeopathy is a non-traditional medical treatment which came to Europe a few hundred years ago and is presently attributed to the complementary and alternative medicine. Although the assessment of evidence on effectiveness of homeopathic medicinal products has been very contradictory, homeopathy in practice is the only form of alternative medicine that has received certain legal recognition. The paper focuses on the study of the legal regulation of homeopathy in the European Union and in national law. The author analyses the contents (...) of the concept of ‘homeopathic medicinal product’ and the EU legal norms on harmonisation of procedures for registry of homeopathic medicinal products in the Member States. It is concluded that the market of homeopathic medicinal products in the EU still lacks coherence and unity. (shrink)

The principle of solidarity is one of the fundamental legal principles applied in the field of health care regulation. This article analyses EU and Lithuanian legal acts, judicial practice, the doctrine of law and foreign scientific resources in order to reveal the content of solidarity principle and to discuss its role in the legal regulation of health care both at EU and national levels. The article is divided into three parts. The first part of the paper examines the correlation between (...) the right to health established in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (the Charter) and the principle of solidarity as the fundamental value upon which the EU is ‘founded’ and which it seeks to ‘preserve and develop’, as the preamble to the Charter states. It is noticed that the principle of solidarity is one of the principles which characterize the European law on social protection. In the summary of the findings of the article, the author states that this principle can be considered as a tool to achieve a greater social cohesion within the EU Member States in defining and implementing all policies and activities in order to ensure a high level of human physical, mental and social health protection through, first of all, a reduction of health care inequalities. For that it is necessary to tackle the factors which determine health care inequalities among the EU Member States. (shrink)

During the last twenty – thirty years there has been unprecedented demand for new legal regulation in the field of environmental protection, which influenced the immense growth in both the body of environmental legislation and in re-thinking the idea and principles of the environmental protection itself. The provisions of environmental law are passed, accepted and obeyed with a great resistance in the society. On the one hand, environmental law may be defined as a value system that seeks to induce humans (...) to act as stewards of nature rather than only its exploiters, and therefore the environmental provisions are construed in a manner that the main instruments are limitations of different activities in order to prevent the disruption of natural systems. On the other hand, by doing so the environmental law places nature and future generations (those categories commonly do not have any legal personality) and not the human (the sole addressee and the beneficiary of the traditional legal system) in the centre of environmental regulation. This concept radically transforms the relationship between nature and mankind by subordinating the initiative to benefit from legal regulation. By doing so, the environmental provisions make the opposite and evolve tension in respect of such rights as the right to property, the right to personal life, or individual welfare. In the present research the aim is to disclose the origins and the most important principles of international and regional legal regulation of environmental protection, and to analyse the essence of environmental law in the context of public interest. The environmental law is analysed in the context of such human rights as the right to property and the right to personal life. (shrink)

The need to examine the efficiency of state financing of universities is becoming more important for a number of reasons. The growth in the social demand for higher education, the globalization and internationalization of the higher education system, the recognition of the need to improve the quality of studies coincide with the financing aspects of activities of higher education institutions. The object of the research is to analyze the financing models and state funding methods of the higher education system and (...) to disclose the advantages as well as dysfunctions of each conception. This paper examines the mechanisms through which governments allocate resources to higher education in order to establish effective means to transfer these subsidies to institutions. (shrink)