Implementation of the ultima ratio principle in criminalising acts in the criminal code of the Republic of Lithuania

The issue of validity and expediency of criminalising particular crimes in the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania (defamation (Art. 154 of the CC), misappropriation of a found item (Art. 185 of the CC), unauthorised engagement in economic, commercial, financial or professional activities (Art. 202 of the CC), use of a credit, loan or targeted support not in accordance with its purpose or the established procedure (Art. 206 of the CC), fraudulent and negligent management of accounts (Art. 222 and 223 of the CC), crimes against the environment (Chapter XXXVIII of the CC), and abuse of office (Art. 228 of the CC)) is comprehensively analysed in the dissertation in the light of implementation of the ultima ratio principle, considering the possibility of establishing and applying other types of legal liability for these acts. Thus, it is aimed to assess the activity of crime control carried out by the state and to find the means of limiting criminal policy. The dissertation is composed of two parts. The first one reveals the theoretical foundations of the ultima ratio principle, i. e. the essence, content of the ultima ratio principle is defined, its origins, legal significance in the system of criminal law principles is identified. The second part comprehensively analyses the question of validity and expediency of criminalisation of chosen crimes. Firstly, the criteria of separating crimes and other infringements of law, i. e. torts (delicts), administrative offences and professional misconduct, are identified. Later, the main issues of separating the analysed crimes from other infringements of law, interpreting the elements of corpus delicti of these crimes are revealed, case law concerning these issues is analysed, main tendencies are pinpointed, national law is compared to similar legal regulation in other countries, their case-law, jurisprudence