2008 Assessment

This peer-reviewed country report includes:

Integrity Indicators Scorecard: Scores, scoring criteria, commentary, references, and peer review perspectives for more than 300 Integrity Indicators.

Reporter's Notebook: An on-the-ground look at corruption and integrity from a leading local journalist.

Corruption Timeline: Ten years of political context to today's corruption and integrity issues.

Country Facts: Statistical context for each country.

Lithuania has a relatively unrestricted civil society, high voter participation, and a solid legal framework for anti-corruption. However, there are still serious weaknesses in government accountability, political financing, and the oversight of state-owned enterprises. Lithuanian law does not provide for whistleblower protections or mandate that mechanisms be established in the civil service to receive corruption-related complaints. A draft law providing whistle-blowing protection for employees of both the private and public sectors was debated, but not adopted, leaving whistleblowers vulnerable to punishment by both "official" and "unofficial means." Despite this, the ombudsman and the anti-corruption agency both scored well for their prompt responses to citizen complaints, their collaboration with other agencies in investigations, and their relative autonomy.