Documented Legal Violations
Every entry below is anchored to a specific article of law and to a documented fact in the case file. We do not speculate; we cite.
European Union Law
Free movement of goods
Articles 34–36 TFEU prohibit quantitative restrictions and measures of equivalent effect between member states. Restrictions on cross-border trade of EU REACH-registered substances are unlawful unless justified and proportionate.
Lithuania’s national Schedule IV creates a measure of equivalent effect by restricting cross-border GBL trade among EU member states even when the goods do not enter Lithuanian territory.
Free movement under REACH
Article 128 of REACH prohibits member states from restricting the manufacture, placing on the market or use of REACH-registered substances within the EU.
GBL is registered under REACH and lawfully placed on the EU market. The Lithuanian freeze treats trade in this substance as criminal conduct in breach of REACH Article 128.
Right to property
Article 17 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights protects the right to property. Deprivation must be proportionate, lawful, and subject to fair compensation.
An 18-month asset freeze without formal indictment is a disproportionate interference with property in the meaning of Article 17.
Right to an effective remedy
Article 47 of the EU Charter guarantees the right to an effective remedy before an impartial tribunal.
Judicial reviews that fail to engage with substantive EU-law arguments amount to a denial of effective remedy.
European Convention on Human Rights
Right to a fair trial
Article 6 ECHR guarantees the right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal.
Eighteen months without indictment, with escalating charges and repeated extensions, undermines the reasonableness and fairness required by Article 6.
No punishment without law
Article 7 ECHR prohibits the application of criminal law in a way that was not foreseeable to the accused at the relevant time.
Treating EU-lawful trade as criminal under national lists — retroactively or against a backdrop of EU supremacy — violates the foreseeability requirement of Article 7.
Protection of property
Article 1 of Protocol 1 guarantees the right to the peaceful enjoyment of possessions.
A protracted asset freeze without indictment is an interference disproportionate to any legitimate aim.
Right to an effective remedy
Article 13 ECHR requires effective national-level remedies against alleged violations of the Convention.
Repeated judicial reviews that decline to engage with the EU-law arguments do not constitute an effective domestic remedy.
Lithuanian Constitutional & Procedural Law
Right to property
Article 23 of the Lithuanian Constitution protects property and prohibits deprivation except by law.
A freeze of working capital without timely indictment is incompatible with Article 23.
Temporary restraint of property rights
BPK Art. 151 sets statutory limits and conditions for temporary restraint of property rights during investigation.
Eighteen months without indictment, with serial extensions, exceeds the conditions envisaged by Art. 151.
International Law
Equality before the courts
Article 14 ICCPR guarantees equality before courts and a fair and public hearing.
Differential treatment that disadvantages foreign-owned business undermines Article 14.
Proportionality in chemical restrictions
The EFTA Court ruled that national restrictions on chemical substances harmonised at EEA/EU level must satisfy strict proportionality requirements.
Lithuanian Schedule IV restrictions on a REACH-registered substance are not proportionate within the meaning of E-9/16.