Lithuanian lawmakers propose publishing child sex offenders’ names for five years

Lithuania’s Parliament Speaker Juozas Olekas and several dozen lawmakers have proposed creating a public register of people convicted of sexual offences against children, LRT reports.

The proposal was registered on Friday by Olekas and mostly members of the governing Social Democratic parliamentary group.

Under amendments to the Law on the Fundamentals of Protection of the Rights of the Child, the publicly available list would include a convicted person’s first name, surname, year of birth, the municipality where they live or legally stay, and the date the conviction took effect.

The list would be published on the register administrator’s website and accessible to anyone without prior registration.

The information would remain public for five years from the date the verdict was issued. After that period, it would have to be removed within five working days.

The list would not include information that could directly or indirectly identify the victim, nor the convicted person’s photograph, home address or other data.

The bill would also prohibit using information from the list to discriminate against, harass or intimidate the person concerned or their family members, or for other purposes unrelated to child protection.

The government or an institution authorised by it would establish procedures for maintaining the list and for providing, updating and removing data.

If Parliament approves the amendments, they would take effect next year.