Gross violations of the Code

1. The following shall be considered to be gross violations of this Code:

1) financing of an electoral political campaign participant from inadmissible donations specified in Article 111;

2) the use by a participant of a political campaign, for the purposes of an electoral political campaign, of donations received either from persons who are not entitled to finance electoral political campaigns or from inadmissible sources of political campaign financing;

3) the conclusion of financing agreements by a political campaign participant in breach of the requirements;

4) submission of knowingly incorrect data in the report on financing;

5) candidate’s donations for financing the respective political campaign, including the sum of the financial obligations (debt) assumed during the electoral campaign and the political campaign expenditure paid up before the beginning of the political campaign, that exceed the amount specified in Article 110(3) by more than 10 per cent;

6) spending on a political campaign that exceeds the maximum threshold by 10 per cent or more;

7) campaign participant spending on undeclared political advertising that exceeds the maximum threshold for political campaign expenditure by 10 per cent or more;

8) undeclared funds received by a campaigner for financing the political campaign that exceed the maximum political campaign spending threshold by 10 per cent or more;

9) loss of the documents to be protected or engagement in other activities that make it impossible to determine the veracity of the data in the independent participant’s report on financing; 

10) dissemination of hidden political advertising, provided the spending on such advertising exceeds the maximum threshold for political campaign spending by 10 per cent or more;

11) undeclared political campaign expenditure of a political campaign participant exceeding one AME applicable to elections and undeclared political campaign expenditure amounting to 50 per cent of the declared expenditure of the political campaign participant;

12) dissemination of political advertising through foreign broadcasters in violation of the requirements on political advertising set out in this Code;

13) breach of the prohibition on bribery of voters laid down in Article 79(10) and Article 101;

14) failure on the part of the candidate to indicate in the candidate’s questionnaire the fact of deliberate collaboration with the special services of the former USSR, if it is proved, in accordance with the procedure laid down by law, that the candidate did in fact collaborate with them;

15) failure on the part of the candidate to indicate in the candidate’s questionnaire the fact of a conviction (court judgment) for having committed a criminal act imposed by the court of the Republic of Lithuania or a foreign state with effect after 11 March 1990, regardless of whether the conviction has expired or has been expunged from the criminal record;

16) submission in the candidate’s questionnaire of knowingly false information/document certifying that the candidate is not bound by an oath or a pledge of allegiance to a foreign state and/or attesting the renunciation of citizenship of another state;

17) failure on the part of the candidate to indicate in the candidate’s questionnaire any previous removal from the office of President of the Republic or loss the mandate of a Member of the Seimas, a municipal councillor, a mayor, or a Member of the European Parliament for breach of an oath, gross violation of the Constitution, commission of a crime, or gross violation of this Code.

2. The Central Electoral Commission shall be in charge of taking the decision on whether a participant of an electoral political campaign has committed a gross violation set out in this Article.

3. Having established the circumstances specified in paragraph (1) and having received the relevant explanations, the Central Electoral Commission shall be entitled to take the decision declaring the violation not to be gross.

4. A participant of an election campaign shall be entitled to appeal against the decision set out in paragraph (2) in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Administrative Proceedings.