The Ministry of Justice is proposing to amend the controversial law that shields minors from information about LGBTQ people.
The ministry has drafted an amendment to the Law on the Protection of Minors from the Negative Effects of Public Information that would remove the provision stipulating that “information that denigrates family values, promotes a different concept of marriage and family building than that enshrined in the Constitution and the Civil Code” is harmful to minors.
The law was passed in 2009 and attracted criticism both domestically and internationally as directed against the LGBTQ community.
“It is time to correct the regulatory error that led to the decision of the European Court of Human Rights, which found that Lithuania had violated Article 10 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (freedom of expression),” Justice Minister Ewelina Dobrowolska posted on her Facebook account on Friday.
“I believe that we can be one step closer to freedom and respect and one step further from Hungary (the only EU country with a similar regulation),” she added.
The explanatory note to the draft states that crossing out the provision will prevent discrimination. It also states that it would implement the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgment of January 23, 2023, in the case of Macatė v Lithuania.
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In February, the Ministry of Justice said it was not planning to initiate amendments to the law in the near future.
“As the decision itself was still being analysed throughout spring, we did not plan or bring it in the spring session,” the minister told BNS on Friday.
She also added that an action plan to respond to the Strasbourg court’s ruling was being prepared at the time.
“The ECtHR issued its ruling in January. As always, an action plan is being drawn up on how Lithuania will evaluate the decision, what actions – both regulatory and individual – it can take,” Dobrowolska said.
Neringa Dangvydė Macatė, a writer, has won a case concerning the publication of her book of children stories, Amber Heart, which described same-sex romantic relations.
The court found that Lithuania had violated the European Convention on Human Rights’ article on freedom of expression by restricting the distribution of the book, and awarded 12,000 euros in non-pecuniary damages, as well as 5,000 euros in legal costs.
The book was published by the Lithuanian University of Education in 2013, but had its distribution suspended a few months later. The university said it had received a letter from the Journalistic Ethics Inspector which quoted the law to claim that Macatė’s book was harmful to children under 14.
The book has since resumed distribution, but carries a warning label stating that its contents may not be suitable for children under 14.
The author of the book filed a discrimination lawsuit and after an unsuccessful appeal to the Lithuanian courts, she turned to the ECtHR in 2019.
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