| Abstract [eng] |
The possibility of getting a compensation for non-pecuniary loss in criminal procedure in Lithuania, have only became possible since 2003 the 1st of May, when the new Code of Penal Proceedings came into effect. The victim of criminal act could only get a compensation of material loss before. Non pecuniary-loss, according to the Civil Code, can only be compensated, when a possibility of it is established in the statute. The Civil Code also establishes that non-pecuniary loss must be compensated in all the cases when non-pecuniary loss emerges because of criminal act, harm of health or deprivation of life. To get the compensation, the person who suffered a non-pecuniary loss has to bring in a civil action, in which he demands a concrete amount of damages that he feels should be awarded to him. There is no minimum or maximum limits of the amount of damage that can be awarded in Lithuania‘s law. Only the judge decides the amount of damages that should be awarded taking into consideration the criteria of the compensation of non-pecuniary loss which are established in the Civil Code. The main aim of the compensation of non-pecuniary loss is to compensate the harm that the victim had to suffer because of the unlawful act towards him. That harm could be psychical sufferings, emotional depression, physical pain etc. The awarded damages should offset negative impact of victim‘s sufferings, it also should compensate the lost joy of living, and restore inner harmony. |
