Lithuanian court rejects 77 migrants’ claim for moral damages

A Lithuanian administrative court has dismissed a collective lawsuit from 77 migrants seeking compensation for moral damages, ruling their claims lacked sufficient evidence of unlawful state action, LRT reports.

The Kaunas Regional Administrative Court on Tuesday rejected the group’s demand for €5,000 each in compensation, finding they had failed to prove a key requirement for civil liability: that state institutions had acted unlawfully.

The claimants—who entered Lithuania in July 2021 fleeing persecution—argued they were detained for six months under restrictions imposed during a declared state of emergency, without individual assessments or legal recourse. They cited violations of the European Convention on Human Rights, Lithuania’s Constitution, and EU law, as well as a 2023 Constitutional Court ruling that later struck down similar legal provisions as unconstitutional.

The migrants described psychological harm, including stress, insecurity, distrust in authorities, and fear for their future. However, the court noted that their detention occurred amid “exceptional geopolitical and security circumstances,” including a COVID-19 pandemic and what Lithuania classified as a hybrid attack by Belarus: a deliberately engineered migration crisis deemed a national security threat.

In its decision, the court emphasised that the 2023 Constitutional Court ruling—cited by the claimants—applied only to future cases and could not retroactively invalidate past emergency measures. The judges also ruled that the migrants had not provided concrete evidence linking their alleged suffering to specific unlawful actions by the Migration Department or the State Border Guard Service (VSAT).

The case was heard in closed sessions. The ruling is not final and may be appealed.