Doubtful aspects of the application of the features aggravating theft in Lithuania case law

ENThe article deals with the problematic aspects of criminalization and application in court practice of the features qualifying theft provided for in Para 2 and 3, Art.178 of the Lithuanian CC. The aggravating features of theft are assessed in terms of criminological justification and clarity of criminal law. Based on a systematic analysis of criminal law theory and jurisprudence, the authors note that not all the features aggravating theft provided for in Para 2 and 3, Art. 178 of the Lithuanian CC are criminologically justified: "intrusion into a non-residential premises, communication cable system, storage or guarded area", "pickpocketing", "openly", "car", "an. asset comprising the infrastructure of legal persons of strategic or considerable importance to national security or a part thereof" do not obviously affect the degree of dangerousness of the crime. Moreover, the authors state, that the feature “intrusion into a non-residential premises, communication cable system, storage or guarded area” does not meet the prevalence criterion, therefore, they propose to remove these features from the list of features aggravating theft. The authors also point out that the features that aggravate theft as "intrusion into the communication cable system" and "valuables of considerable scientific, historical or cultural significance" do not comply with the principles of clarity of law and subjective culpability, as their evaluation is the responsibility of experts with specialized vocational education. Key words: theft; open theft; aggravating features; criminological justification; clarity of criminal law. [From the publication]

• Baudžiamoji atsakomybė už kvalifikuotą vagystę : disertacija / Andželika Vosyliūtė. Vilnius, 2009. 312 p.
• Baudžiamosios politikos pagrindai ir tendencijos Lietuvos Respublikoje / Gintaras Švedas. Vilnius : Teisinės informacijos centras, 2006. 264 p.
• Baudžiamųjų įstatymų teisėkūra. Teisėjo požiūris / Alvydas Pikelis. Lietuvos Respublikos Baudžiamajam kodeksui - 10 metų / vyriausiasis mokslinis redaktorius Gintaras Švedas. Vilnius: Registrų centras, 2011. P. 69-88.
• Kai kurios baudžiamosios atsakomybės už nusikaltimus vaikų seksualinio apsisprendimo laisvei ir neliečiamumui reglamentavimo problemos / Armanas Abramavičius, Gintaras Švedas. Teisė. 2008, t. 66 (1), p. 8-18.
• Lietuvos baudžiamoji teisė. Kn. 1, Baudžiamasis įstatymas ir baudžiamosios atsakomybės pagrindai / Vytautas Piesliakas. Vilnius : Justitia, 2009. 440 p.
• Turtinė nauda kaip nusikalstamos veikos dalykas: sisteminė normų analizė / Oleg Fedosiuk. Jurisprudencija. 2004, Nr. 60 (52), p. 82-95.
• Veikos kriminalizavimo kriterijai : teorija ir praktika / Gintaras Švedas. Teisė. 2012, t. 82, p. 12-25.