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Drafted and registered an amendment to the Code of Administrative Offenses so that a member of the council who did not inform the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of a conviction would receive a fine of 900 to 1,400 euros.
According to E. Pupinis, the Municipal Council Elections Law establishes that the powers of a member of a municipal council end with the entry into force of an accusation. The decision on this must be made by the CEC.
However, according to the author of the amendment, a situation may arise where the CEC is not aware of such a verdict.
“A member of a municipal council who has not notified the CEC of a judicial sentence that has become effective for him (and if the information is not disclosed by other means or through other institutions or persons) may continue to hold the position of member of the municipal council illegally, like the CCA, cannot initiate the process of revocation of the mandate ”, indicates the explanatory statement of the project.
According to E. Pupinis, the establishment of administrative responsibility is likely to prevent such situations.
CEC President Laura Matjošaitytė told BNS that it is not uncommon to have to terminate the term of a member of a municipal council due to a court ruling that has come into force, but such a case happened last week.
On March 4, the CEC terminated the authority of L. Purvinis, member of the Municipal Council of the Utena District and representative of the Lithuanian Union for Freedom (Liberals), as the indictment of the Panevėžys Regional Court entered into force on November 4, 2019.
The Panevėžys Regional Court then upheld the judgment of the Utena District Court to find L. Purvinis, Director General of Utenos Melioracija, guilty of fraudulent accounting and to impose a fine of 5,272 euros.
The CEC only learned of this verdict when it received a media inquiry.
The Commission, for its part, approached the Department of Informatics and Communications of the Ministry of the Interior and received confirmation that this person had been convicted.
“The problem is that the council members do not inform the CEC about the impeachment in time and without this information the CEC cannot make a decision on the early termination of the mandate,” L. Matjošaitytė told BNS.
According to her, according to current legal regulations, no one, not the courts, not the municipal administrations, not the convicts themselves, is obliged to inform the CEC.
L. Matjošaitytė argued that this gap should be closed by imposing an obligation to do so on convicted council members, municipal administrations or government representatives in counties.
The head of the CEC said fines for violations should be such as to deter misconduct.
“Maybe it would even be related to not being able to function for a period of time and so on. That those measures would be effective,” L. Matjošaitytė told BNS.
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