Lithuanian court upholds corruption conviction of former lawyer’s assistant

The Supreme Court of Lithuania has upheld the conviction of Henrikas Ratautas, a former lawyer’s assistant, for influence peddling after he accepted a €2,000 bribe in exchange for promising to manipulate a civil court case, LRT reports.

According to the court’s final and unappealable ruling, Ratautas agreed to use his professional connections to ensure a favourable outcome in a damages claim filed by two individuals—identified as J.G. and T.G.—against the public institution Idėja – sportas visiems (Idea – Sport for All). The case involved a dispute over compensation for alleged financial and non-material losses.

While a lower court initially acquitted Ratautas, arguing his actions lacked criminal intent, an appellate court overturned the decision. The Supreme Court confirmed the conviction, emphasizing that the crime of influence peddling does not require proof that the corrupt agreement was successfully executed.

“The case established not only a promise to influence a judge’s decision in a civil matter via an unnamed intermediary in exchange for a bribe, but also the actual receipt of that bribe,” the court stated. It added that Ratautas’ later return of the money did not negate the criminal nature of his actions, nor did the fact that no judge or state official was ultimately bribed.

The ruling noted that Ratautas acted with direct intent, guaranteeing he would exploit his contacts to sway the court, negotiating the bribe’s amount, and accepting the payment. As a result, he must pay a €15,000 fine and remains barred from working as a lawyer’s assistant for three years.

Ratautas’ defence lawyer, Gintaras Dabkevičius, claimed his client was recognized as a victim in a separate case involving one of the same individuals, Tomas G., who allegedly made threats—including with an attack dog—and demanded unjustified payments from Ratautas. G. is also a witness in the influence-peddling trial.