ABSTRACT

More than 20 years ago, the anti-corruption institution - the Special Investigating Service (SIS) was established in Lithuania. It was the first important step of Lithuanian government toward designing and implementation of new effective anti-corruption policy in the country. Since then, Lithuania has made considerable progress in building an institutional anti-corruption network, prosecuting corrupt individuals, strengthening corruption prevention measures, and supporting anti-corruption values in society. Nevertheless, it would be too optimistic to state that corruption problems have already been solved. This chapter addresses three main areas. First, it discusses the historical and theoretical development of the perception of corruption in Lithuania and its impact on the design and construction of anti-corruption policy. Second, it explores the peculiarities of the anti-corruption policy and the use of assessment tools in monitoring corruption and anti-corruption efforts. Third, it assesses the practical aspects of the implementation of anti-corruption policy in Lithuania through the analysis of the decisions of the Lithuanian courts in corruption cases.