Hope of Release? Life Imprisonment in Lithuania

In 2017, in the case of Matijošaitis and Others v. Lithuania, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that imposing life imprisonment without hope of release violated Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, both in law and in practice. This landmark decision prohibited irreducible life sentences in Lithuania, prompting significant legislative amendments in 2019. These changes allowed individuals serving life sentences to request a commutation to a fixed term of imprisonment ranging from five to 10 years, provided they had served a minimum of 20 years and met specific criteria assessed by the courts. This article sheds light on these significant changes to Lithuania’s life sentence system and evaluates whether the new commutation procedure offers a realistic hope of release. The analysis draws on legal and documentary sources, as well as empirical evidence from 45 court decisions on commutation requests, and eight research interviews with individuals serving life sentences. The findings reveal a disparity between the progressive, rehabilitative intent of the legislative changes, and the actual experiences of those serving life sentences in Lithuania.