| Abstract [eng] |
Human smuggling is a transnational crime that receives too little attention in both literature and legislation. At an international level the fight against this crime has commenced relatively late - the necessary international legislation to define this crime and address the legal problems associated with it was adopted only at the beginning of the 21st century, while the fight against human trafficking has commenced in the 19th century. Human smuggling is similar to human trafficking in terms of its manifestations, mechanism of action, elements of the actions and other aspects, and although the definitions of these crimes provide clear indications of each, the line between the two crimes is blurred in practice and therefore it is difficult to distinguish these crimes in practice. This thesis provides a comparative analysis of human smuggling and human trafficking, discussing the similarities and differences between these crimes, as well as the fact that these crimes are intertwined in practice, and in some cases may "hide" behind each other, which renders a risk of misclassification of the perpetrators' actions. The thesis argues that appropriate distinction of these phenomena is crucial for the purpose of ensuring the appropriate granting of rights to victims of these crimes, because, as it was outlined in the study, victims of these crimes are granted different legal status. The thesis also describes the preconditions, manifestations, mechanism and violations of rights which the smuggled persons face. The thesis proposes that victims of human smuggling in certain cases be granted the same rights as victims of human trafficking. The thesis also addresses the latent aspects inherent in this crime and its causes. The thesis provides focus on the ineffectiveness of the “traditional” principles of jurisdiction which are applicable to this crime and provides a proposition for the principle of universal jurisdiction to be applied in the case of this crime. The thesis also analyses the regulation and legal doctrine applied in the national law of the Republic of Lithuania in relation to this crime and presents proposals for the improvement of the aforementioned national legal acts and doctrine. The thesis also discusses the tendencies of human smuggling in the national context of the Republic of Lithuania, analyses the selected case law, emphasizing the latest trends of this crime in the context of the crisis of illegal migration caused by the government of the Republic of Belarus at the external borders of the European Union in mid-2021. |
