<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This paper studies the different positions and the polarization among Slovak political elites due to the European migration crisis and the Union´s migration policy. The inability of collective action at the supranational level is first grounded at the national level. From this basis, the authors differentiate the various standpoints of the selected political leaders and parties towards the current migration wave. Based on this cleavage, we seek to demonstrate the patterns of modern day political party leadership in Slovakia and, secondly, to compare the political response and agendas across the Slovak party system.</abstract>

European Migration Crisis: Positions, Polarization and Conflict Management of Slovak Political Parties

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The research on populism and populist political communication in Lithuania is rather limited, regardless of the fact that populist movements and politicians are influential on national and local political levels; they also receive sufficient support from a significant share of the population. Because the Western European research tradition is concentrated on the challenges of right-wing populism, Lithuanian political scientists distinguish right-wing populism as more significant in comparison to left-wing populism. Although Lithuanian researchers note, that in the balance of the left-right wing populists, Lithuania stands out with the majority of left-wing populists, in comparison to the popularity and number of right-wing populists in neighbouring countries.Despite the interest of scholars in various fields of policy research in Lithuania, there is still a lack of research on populist political communication, and what interest does exist is mostly concentrated on analysis of practical issues within the political arena, e.g. the study of the processes of political elections.The analysis of populist political communication in Lithuania revealed that populism is a relatively oft-mentioned topic in Lithuanian scientific discourse, but in most cases remains on the margins of other research. The theoretical work presents the assumptions based on the analysis of the political situation in Lithuania and examples from other countries. The empirical research of populism is scarce, and in most cases based on content analysis of political documents and media reports.</abstract>

Populism in Lithuania: Defining the Research Tradition

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Poland has recently experienced a constitutional crisis. The crisis involves the role of the Law and Justice Party (PiS) in the election of judges and amendments to the Constitutional Tribunal Act which threatens the independence of the Tribunal. The situation is exacerbated by changes in the media, civil service, police, and prosecution laws introduced by the ruling party. This article analyses the changes, as well as the domestic and international reactions to the crisis, and considers whether the heavy criticism of the PiS is justified, or whether it results from, for instance, specific characteristics of the Polish political system and an unfavourable opinion in Europe about the Law and Justice party.</abstract>

Polish Democracy Under Threat? An Issue of Mere Politics or a Real Danger?

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The European Convention on Human Rights does not provide for a prisoner’s right to parole and no international or regional human rights instrument provides for this right. However, recently, in the case of <italic>Öcalan v Turkey (No. 2)</italic>, one of the judges of the European Court of Human Rights interpreted the European Convention on Human Rights as providing for a prisoner’s right to parole. This is the first time that a judge of this court, and to the author’s best knowledge, a judge of a regional or international court, has expressly held that a prisoner has the right to parole. The author assesses this holding in the light of the jurisprudence or practice on the right to parole from the Human Rights Committee, and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. In order to put the discussion in context, the author also highlights jurisprudence emanating from the European Court of Human Rights relevant to the relationship between parole and other human rights. The author recommends that the time has come for the right to parole to be recognised in human rights instruments.</abstract>

A Prisoner’s Right to be Released or Placed on Parole: A Comment on <italic>Öcalan v Turkey (No. 2)</italic> (18 March 2014)

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Refugee resettlement is not new to EU member states. But the EU only accounts for about 10 percent of resettlements globally. Before the 2015 European Council decisions to relocate about 160,000 persons from Italy and Greece only half of EU Member States participated in resettlement programs. Relocation of refugees has emerged as a new form of resettlement as an EU reaction to the growing refugee influx. It is likely to become a permanent part of Common European Asylum Policy. The refugee emergency has intensified discussions about the application of the solidarity principle to pressure member states not yet engaged in relocation to contribute to the joint efforts of the EU. But this has created serious political controversy in many of the new (eastern) member states.The article outlines key elements of refugee resettlement and relocation that have recently emerged in the EU and discusses the prerequisites for the sustainable use of this tool in an unfavorable political and unclear legal environment, with particular focus on new member states. The main goal of the article is to identify factors that need to be considered for the design of sustainable resettlement and relocation programs, considering the aspects of political salience, legal conditions, burden-sharing, and member states’ capacity. The case study of Lithuania presented in this article suggests that such programs need to be carefully considered and adequately funded as there are ample pitfalls which can quickly discredit the idea among the citizens.</abstract>

EU Refugee Resettlement: Key Challenges of Expanding the Practice into New Member States

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This article analyses the contextual factors and their impact on the planned creation of senior civil service (henceforth, SCS) within the Lithuanian civil service system since 2008. Based on a survey of Lithuanian senior executives’ conducted in 2014 and qualitative semi-structured interviews, the aim of this article is to reveal and explain incentives and obstacles of SCS reform in Lithuania. Empirical research data clarifies attitudes of senior civil servants and their role perceptions. Senior executives’ attitudes towards the establishment of the SCS system were clearly positive. However, the research data reveals that supportive attitudes depend on the perception of the roles of senior executives. Senior civil servants who perceived themselves firstly as actors in policy formation and policy implementers were much more favourable towards the creation of SCS than senior civil servants with other role identities.</abstract>

Context as a Factor in Senior Civil Service Reform: Opinions and Attitudes of Senior Executives in Lithuania

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The article argues that despite the evident link between political environment and security of energy supply, political elements are not sufficiently represented in contemporary scientific literature, namely in indexes that are designed for the assessment of security of energy supply. In an attempt to fill this gap, the article presents an innovative methodology for quantitative assessment of the political vulnerabilities on security of energy supply and applies it to the analysis of the Baltic States.The proposed index determines the plausibility of the occurrence of threats of a political nature on the security of energy supply and defines it as political vulnerability. The application of index methodology to an analysis of the Baltic States has revealed that the overall political vulnerability on security of energy supply is the highest in Lithuania, considerably lower in Latvia, and the lowest in Estonia. The analysis has shown that political vulnerability has increased in Lithuania due to the closure of Ignalina NPP and an increase in energy import quantities from politically unstable countries, such as Russia. On the contrary, political vulnerabilities on the security of the energy supply have decreased in Latvia and Estonia due to the increase of consumption of indigenous energy. However, preliminary calculations show that political vulnerabilities should decrease considerably in 2015 in Lithuania due to the diversification of the natural gas supply.</abstract>

Assessment of Political Vulnerabilities on Security of Energy Supply in the Baltic States

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">In order for marriage to be valid, material conditions for marriage should be fulfilled. The form of marriage and material conditions for marriage have changed over the ages. Today marriage can be formed both by a civil and church order. The recognition of church marriage also differs from state to state. Some countries have chosen not to recognise church marriage and some countries have chosen to recognise church marriage. Church marriage is recognised by the state of Lithuania. However, only church marriages which correspond to requirements of material marriage conditions can be included in the public register. Marital age both in church and civil marriage is the same - 18 years. Under special circumstances the age of consent can be reduced. There exist different conditions for the reduction of marital age in church and civil marriage procedure. In church marriage, the bishop must give permission to reduce marital age, and in civil marriage only the court can reduce marital age. The authors of the article recommend obtaining court permission to reduce marital age even though performing the church marriage, because, otherwise, the church marriage will not be included into the public register by the state. As marital age and reduction of marital age differ from country to country, the authors also analyse when marriages concluded abroad shall be recognized if they do not satisfy the requirement of age.</abstract>

The Age of Consent and the Reduction of the age of Consent in Church and Civil Marriages and their Interaction

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Volume 15 (2022): Issue 2 (December 2022)

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Baltic Journal of Law & Politics

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