On August 10 the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania approved the proposed amendments to the Law on the Organization of National Defence and Military Service and to the Statute on the Use of Military Force. Specific rights and additional authority have been bestowed on Lithuanian Armed Forces personnel for the events of emergency with rapidly increasing scope of the event and the need to assist the police, State Border Guard Service or the Public Security Service under the Ministry of the Interior in their functions to prevent threats to public peace.
The amendments to the law establish a legal mechanism to give military personnel authority concerning non-subordinate persons in case of emergencies in order to ensure efficient Armed Forces assistance to the police, State Border Guard Service or the Public Security Service to carry out their duties.
“Hundreds of soldiers, military volunteers and riflemen who are currently on service for the Republic of Lithuania in an unending cycle, guarding the state border together with the border guard, are under an enormous strain. Their effort to strengthen the state border protection is needful, and the supplementary authorisations will enable them to carry out this task more efficiently. Domestic support tasks are as important as readiness for national defence,” said Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anušauskas. He then added that amendments to the law stipulated the availability of military personnel assistance when responsible institutions run short of human resources in tackling an emergency.
The following authorizations will be available for conferring on military personnel:
– to give mandatory instructions to natural and legal persons, other organisations and their subdivisions;
– to persecute and detain persons who do not follow the mandatory instructions, suspected of committing or committing criminal offences or other infringements of the law;
– to impose temporary limitation on access to designated territories or quarters, halt activities pursued there, restrict or ban traffic in such areas;
– to inspect documents of persons, vehicles, weapons, and other items;
– to carry out search of persons and their belongings;
– to pull over, verify and search vehicles, cargo and other items, as well as persons and their luggage on board.
Military personnel will be allowed to use special measures, such as batons, handcuffs and restraints, signal guns, pyrotechnics, gas, service dogs, physical force, combat wrestling, and other measures, if necessary.
As the draft law amendments stipulate, additional authorization can be given to military personnel by decision of the Seimas (by the President of the Republic of Lithuania in between of Seimas sessions) only when the following conditions are met:
– an emergency is declared;
– the scope of the event is rapidly expanding and the Police, State Border Guard Service or the Public Security Service need assistance in preventing threats to public peace;
– the Government receives a reasoned request document issued by the Government Emergency Commission and tables a proposal to the Seimas (the President of the Republic of Lithuania in between of Seimas sessions);
Military personnel shall be used only in the emergency area and the additional authorisation shall be given for the period not longer than three months. The term can be renewed again for an unlimited number of times that, however, shall not exceed the duration necessary for restoring the conditions for the functioning of national authorities.
Photo credits: Lithuanian Armed Forces
