In the context of Lithuania, as in other EU countries, the application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights remains uneven. According to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights 2024, EU countries’ efforts to apply the Charter are often fragmented, without clear structures and deadlines. National courts tend to apply the Charter when national law does not have clear provisions on fundamental rights. For example, Bulgarian courts have used the Charter to recognise same-sex marriages contracted abroad when national law did not regulate it – in this case, the Charter became a powerful tool in a situation where national law did not offer sufficient protection.
As regards the situation in Lithuania, the study shows that the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is used in practice by courts and litigants at all levels. Interestingly, there is also some use of the Charter at the local and regional level, e.g. the Vilnius Municipality refers to the Charter in its Strategic Action Plan 2023-2025, along with other international and national legislation, which may suggest a future trend towards the development of the Charter’s use not only in the judiciary, but also in public administration.
Nevertheless, in Lithuania, as in many other EU Member States, the use of the Charter, especially in strategic litigation, is currently relatively limited and its potential unrealised, although it has the same legal force as the EU Treaties. National courts are obliged to apply the Charter where the cases in question fall within the scope of EU law, but in practice the use of the Charter in strategic litigation is limited for a number of possible reasons: lack of knowledge, not knowing how to find the “hook” in EU law that would justify the use of the Charter, and reluctance to refer cases to the ECJ.
In order to improve the current situation and to ensure that the Charter is more widely and appropriately applied in strategic litigation, it is recommended to:
- Education for lawyers and judges: specialised training should be provided for both judges and legal practitioners to ensure that they understand the importance of the Charter’s application and are able to use it to protect human rights in strategic litigation. Judges must be encouraged to develop the conviction that the Charter is not just an “additional” right, but a powerful instrument to be applied in decision-making.
- Increased focus on the application of the Charter: courts must be encouraged to look carefully at how the Charter can be useful in practice. Jurisprudence should clearly set out the reasons why the Charter is relevant and provide detailed explanations when it does not apply.
- Clear procedures and raising public awareness: clear guidance is needed for both lawyers and civil society on how to ask for a preliminary ruling and how legal arguments must be presented before a court can refer a case to the ECJ. This would help not only applicants but also the courts to better understand when and why to refer to the CJEU.
- Strategic use of the Charter: Legal practitioners and human rights organisations must be encouraged to make greater use of the Charter to achieve justice, especially in complex and challenging cases. This includes both taking cases to the CJEU and strategically developing legal arguments to ensure that human rights are respected and protected at EU level.
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