Privačios detektyvinės veiklos priežiūros teisinio reguliavimo gairės Lietuvoje

ENIssues of legal regulation of private detective activities in Lithuania raise several important questions – how certain standards necessary for the provision of private detective services will be established and ensured; and how will the supervision and control of such activities be carried out? A Draft Law on Private Detective Activity registered in the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania in 2012 raises doubts on the necessity of certain legal provisions provided for in this draft, i.e. is it expedient to licence private detective activities? Since licencing is the most strict means of state intervention in the market, this article examines whether it is expedient to licence private detective activities, analyzes other possible ways of supervising and controlling private detective activities. Regulation of private detective activities in order to protect human rights is impossible without the supervision of such activities. The regulation of supervision balances between the two objectives: striving to protect oneselves from possible law violations that can be done by private detectives and the desire not to make private detective activities unduly restricted and, thus, make them useful for the protection of human rights and legitimate interests. The evaluation of objectives of the introduction of licencing and the attainability of these objectives allows for concluding that the licencing of private detective activities does not fully achieve the goals of consumer protection or the quality of services provided. Even though licencing affects the quality of services in that it reduces the number of individuals who have an impact on inadequate quality of services, on the other hand it significantly restricts competition, which leads to price growth, thus fewer consumers are able to afford such services.Licencing aimed at the protection of consumers can ensure a minimum skill of individuals providing services in the market, but this alone does not ensure the protection of consumers. Moreover, the same objectives can be achieved by less stringent measures. The main subject carrying out supervision of private detective activities is a client of a private detective. However, the main problem is that under the market conditions the client controls the result, rather than the process itself, when specific detective activities are carried out. Whereas in detective activities, it is the process, i.e. techniques and methods, by which the client’s interests are met, that must be the key object of supervision and control. The author believes that it is expedient to consider the possibility of introducing additional measures in order to achieve more efficient supervision of private detective activities. It is suggested to use the method of annual reporting, when private detective activities are inspected over a calendar year. These reports usually must specify the types of detective activities carried out, clients of these services, methods that were used in the provision of services. Global trends in the area of regulation of private detective activities show that the necessity of regulation of such activities arises following the evaluation of violations and the number of violations made by individuals in the profession. Therefore, the position of Lithuania and its desire to regulate private detective activities is appropriate and timely.