REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
LAW ON
THE PROTECTION OF IMMOVABLE CULTURAL HERITAGE
22 December 1994 No I-733
(As last amended on 11 July 2019 – No XIII-2318)
Vilnius
CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1. Purpose of the Law
1. The purpose of this Law shall be to preserve Lithuania’s immovable cultural heritage and to transmit it to future generations, to provide conditions for the public to become knowledgeable about and use it.
2. This Law shall:
1) implement the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, the Law on Treaties and the Law on the Basics of National Security in the area of the protection of immovable cultural heritage;
2) lay down legal grounds for the accounting, safeguarding and maintenance of immovable cultural heritage located on the territory of the Republic of Lithuania, for the supervision of compliance with the heritage protection requirements set by this Law and other legal acts and for the monitoring of the condition of objects of cultural heritage;
3. The immovable cultural heritage which is important for Lithuania and is located in other states shall be protected under international treaties and laws of the foreign states.
4. The immovable cultural heritage which is important for foreign states and is located in the Republic of Lithuania shall be recognised, upkept and maintained under international treaties of the Republic of Lithuania, laws and other legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania. Legal and natural persons of foreign states shall maintain this heritage in accordance with the procedure laid down by laws and other legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania and by the Minister of Culture subject to obtaining consent of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Article 2. Definitions
1. ‘Protection regulation’ means a document which sets heritage protection requirements for a specific object of immovable cultural heritage, territory or protection zone thereof or a type of such objects.
3. ‘Archaeological findings’ means the items or remnants thereof which have been created by man or bear signs of human existence, found during research or otherwise and possessing, either on their own or in relation to other signs, a scientific value of the knowledge of history. The former owner of these items cannot be identified normally due to a considerable lapse of time since the burying or disposal of the said items. Bodies of the ancients or remains thereof shall also be considered as archaeological findings.
31. ‘Archaeological research’ means fundamental and applied research aimed at exploring the objects located above the ground, on the ground, underwater or partly underwater in order to acquire new knowledge of past phenomena and processes and to collect information on the remaining, altered or lost archaeological valuable properties, to determine the facts confirming the historical development of the object under research, to consolidate and to document them.
4. ‘Destructive research’ means physical research irrevocably affecting an object, part or element thereof which is or can be an authentic material source of scientific knowledge.
5. ‘Recreation’ means the recreation of an unpreserved immovable cultural property in exceptional cases according to determined unpreserved valuable properties by carrying out research-based management operations of heritage protection, construction and landscaping. In the course of recreation, the remaining parts and elements of the property under recreation shall be preserved and returned to the original location, unpreserved parts and elements shall be precisely replicated or created anew.
6. ‘Elimination of the threat of an accident’ means the removal of the reasons which may lead to a sudden collapse of an object of cultural heritage or other loss thereof by minimally altering its valuable properties and carrying out management operations of heritage protection, construction and landscaping.
7. ‘Authenticity’ means the preserved properties of an object or site of cultural heritage including the original or historically formed purpose of the object, appearance and a peculiar physical shape and form, the materials used, constructions, layout, technique of execution, the surrounding environment.
8. ‘Basic research’ means experimental and/or theoretical operations which are carried out primarily to acquire new knowledge about the essence of phenomena and/or observed reality without the aim, at the time of research, of using the obtained results for a specific purpose.
9. ‘Conservational (safeguarding) purpose’ means the purpose of the use of a protected object, territory of the object or land plots of a site set in accordance with the procedure laid down by legal acts, where the purpose of the use is to preserve the valuable properties of the said land plot or item by using or adapting for the use in the original or historically formed, closely related or purposefully selected manner (for such purpose) which would ensure adequate upkeep and reveal valuable properties.
10. ‘Conservation’ means putting an end to the influence of the factors destroying or damaging the valuable properties of an object of cultural heritage and reinforcement of authentic characteristics by carrying out research-based management operations of heritage protection, construction and landscaping.
11. ‘Cultural landscape’ means a landscape created as a result of human activities and reflecting his coexistence with the environment.
13. ‘Cultural heritage’ means the cultural property inherited, taken over, created and transmitted from generation to generation and significant from the ethnic, historical, aesthetical or scientific point of view.
14. ‘Objects of cultural heritage’ means the single objects, complex objects or the objects being part of a complex which are registered as immovable cultural property, i.e. structures or other immovable items which are located in land plots, parts of the plots, water and forest areas or parts thereof and which have valuable properties and, together with the territory assigned thereto, are or may be separate objects of rights in rem.
15. ‘Territory of an object of cultural heritage’ means a land plot or other area occupied by and required for the use of an object of cultural heritage and subject to heritage protection requirements.
16. ‘Repairs of a structure of cultural heritage’ means the operations with a structure of cultural heritage which preserve (maintain unchanged) its valuable properties, authenticity, the materials or construction products used for existing structural elements, components.
17. ‘Structure of cultural heritage’ means a building or part thereof having valuable properties, engineering structures or remaining part thereof, monumental immovable works of art.
18. ‘Site of cultural heritage’ means a territory which is characterised by historically formed specificities, homogeneity and/or place in the natural environment and wherein objects of cultural heritage are located.
19. ‘Interim protection regulations (special heritage protection requirements)’ means a document which, pursuant to the Law on Construction, sets out special heritage protection requirements for a specific item of immovable cultural property, the territory thereof, a specific structure of cultural heritage or a structure located within the territory or protection zone of the immovable cultural property.
20. ‘Immovable cultural heritage’ means a part of cultural heritage made up of the surviving or non-surviving material cultural property built, equipped, created by past generations or made important by historical events and directly related to the territory occupied by and required for the use of the property.
21. ‘Immovable cultural property’ means the whole of the valuable properties determining the significance of an object or site of cultural heritage and important for society as its cultural wealth, irrespective of the identity of the owner of the object or the site.
22. ‘Research of immovable cultural property’ means the determination, generalisation and documentation of the surviving, changed or lost valuable properties and of the facts evidencing the historical development of immovable cultural property.
23. ‘Heritage maintenance regulations’ means a part of the system of binding regulatory documents on maintenance setting rules for the planning, designing, carrying out of operations and for the implementation of the procedures related to the maintenance and the requirements ensuring the preservation of authenticity.
24. ‘Heritage protection requirements’ means the conditions for the management, use and disposal of an object or site of cultural heritage, the territories and protection zones thereof as established in this Law, the documents specified therein and other legal acts to protect the valuable properties of the object or site of cultural heritage, the territories and protection zones thereof.
25. ‘Heritage management’ means the creation of the system of the standard legal acts regulating heritage protection, the formation of institutions and organisation of activities thereof, the drafting and implementation of heritage protection programmes, maintenance administration and monitoring.
26. ‘Initial protection’ means the requirements set out by this Law for the protection of the objects of cultural heritage included in the Register of Cultural Property, but not declared protected as well as of the immovable cultural properties discovered during the carrying out of construction or other operations.
27. ‘Upkeep’ means operations which are regularly carried by managers and do not change the valuable properties of an object of cultural heritage and are not subject to a consent of an institution in charge of the protection of this object.
28. ‘Adaptation’ means the restructuring of an object of cultural heritage or constituent parts thereof for use by agreeing the needs of the manager and the public, minimally altering the valuable properties and providing for a possibility to restore to a condition prior to the changes and carrying out research-based management operations of heritage protection, construction and landscaping.
29. ‘Restoration’ means the conservation of all surviving authentic parts or elements of an object of cultural heritage, the recreation of separate non-surviving elements or parts, the preservation, making known and highlighting of characteristics of an immovable cultural property by carrying out research-based management operations of heritage protection, construction and landscaping.
30. ‘Protected site’ means a site of cultural heritage which, in accordance with the procedure laid down by legal acts, has been declared protected and which is subject to heritage protection requirements or for the protection whereof a historical national park, a historical regional park, a cultural strict reserve or a cultural reserve has been established in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law on Protected Areas.
31. ‘Protected object’ means an object of cultural heritage declared a protected object or a cultural monument in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law.
32. ‘Monitoring’ means the periodic observation and recording of the condition of objects and sites of cultural heritage and changing thereof, the assessment, generalisation and forecasting of the influence destroying or damaging valuable properties.
33. ‘Applied scientific research’ means the experimental and/or theoretical operations carried out for acquiring knowledge and primarily aimed at attaining specific practical objectives or at solving tasks.
34. ‘Maintenance’ means the following operations carried out to preserve cultural heritage: (applied) research, repairs, elimination of the threat of an accident, conservation, restoration and the planning and designing of these operations.
35. ‘Supervision of the implementation of a design documentation of maintenance operations’ means supervision organised by the builder (sponsor) and having the aim of controlling that the maintenance operations of an object of cultural heritage are carried out in compliance with a design documentation, heritage protection requirements and in a quality manner. The results of such supervision shall be presented in a report.
36. ‘Management operations of heritage protection’ means the maintenance operations carried out by employing the special technologies ensuring the preservation of authenticity.
37. ‘Management operations of construction’ means the construction or demolition operations, as defined by the Law on Construction, carried out at an object of cultural heritage, within the territory or protection zone thereof or at a site of cultural heritage.
38. ‘Mothballing’ means the elimination of the threat of an accident and other actions required to preserve the valuable properties of a structure of cultural heritage where maintenance operations thereof are suspended or it is no longer used.
39. ‘Manager’ means the owner or any other holder of rights of the management of an object of cultural heritage and other immovable items located within the territory or at the site of a single object or a complex object.
40. ‘Valuable property’ means a feature of an object or site of cultural heritage, part or element thereof which is of value from the ethnic, historical, aesthetical or scientific point of view.
41. ‘Change of valuable properties’ means the maintenance operations affecting valuable properties (the elimination of the threat of an accident, conservation, adaptation, restoration, recreation) and selected and carried out pursuant to the requirements set by this Law to maximally preserve authenticity and to ensure that an object or a site of cultural heritage are suitable for use.
42. Other concepts used in this Law shall be interpreted as they are defined in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Protected Areas, the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Special Land Use Conditions, the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Construction, the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Territorial Planning, the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Green Areas, the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Land.
Article 3. Classification of immovable cultural heritage
1. Immovable cultural heritage shall be classified according to the structure and according to the nature of valuable properties determining significance thereof.
2. According to the structure, immovable cultural heritage shall be:
1) an individual object – a location, a structure or another immovable item possessing valuable properties;
3. According to the nature of valuable properties determining significance or combination thereof, immovable cultural heritage may be:
1) archaeological – locations of past economic or defensive activities, residential, burial or cult sites, complexes thereof or the sites the only or one of the main sources of scientific data whereon is archaeological research and findings;
2) underwater – the archaeological objects, sites and the items of immovable or movable property recognised as significant which are totally or partially under water, where the only or one of the main sources of scientific data thereon is underwater research and findings;
3) mythological – the objects of ancient cult or other human activities recognised as significant and referred to in folklore;
4) ethnocultural – the structures recognised as significant, complexes thereof, locations or sites revealing the singularity of the ethnic culture;
5) architectural – the architectural structures recognised as significant, parts thereof, fixtures and the integral architectural compositions of such structures and/or complexes of locations, clusters, locations and sites;
6) urban – historical parts of cities, towns and similar locations and sites recognised as significant;
7) green areas – objects of cultural heritage – the historical green areas recognised as significant (parks, gardens and other historical green areas);
8) engineering – engineering technical structures and complexes thereof recognised as significant as well as industrial or technological equipment;
9) historical – the objects or sites recognised as significant, related to important events or persons of the public, cultural and state history or made well-known by literature or other works of art;
10) memorial – the objects whose purpose is to commemorate significant events or persons of the cultural and state history;
11) artistic – works of monumental art, miniature chapels, pillar-type crosses, roofed pillar-type crosses, monument crosses, memorial structures and other works of art recognised as significant and directly related to the territory occupied by and required for use thereof;
12) sacral – the objects, locations, complexes thereof and sites significant for religious communities, societies and centres;
Article 4. Protection of immovable cultural heritage
1. The protection of immovable cultural heritage shall consist of:
2. The protection of immovable cultural heritage shall be regulated for the following protection purposes:
1) scientific knowledge – to preserve archaeological and other unique sources of the historical data which could be taken over by conducting scientific research of a protected object or a site.
2) public knowledge and use – to provide conditions for the present and future generations to become knowledgeable about, be admitted to and use immovable cultural heritage;
3. One or several protection purposes of an object or site of immovable cultural heritage may be set.
4. The legal protection of immovable cultural heritage shall consist of:
1) the heritage protection requirements set out by this Law and other laws for the objects of cultural heritage, territories, sites and protection zones thereof;
2) the requirements set out by the Law on Protected Areas and this Law for the objects of cultural heritage located in reserves, strict reserves and state parks;
3) the requirements set out by the Law on Territorial Planning, the Law on Protected Areas and the territorial planning documents prepared in compliance with this Law;
Article 5. State administration of the protection of immovable cultural heritage
1. The national policy of the protection of immovable cultural heritage shall be formulated by the Seimas, the Government and the Ministry of Culture, having regard to the assessments, analyses and proposals of heritage protection experience and tendencies as submitted by the National Commission for Cultural Heritage.
2. The Minister of Culture shall organise the state administration of the protection of immovable cultural heritage and be in charge thereof. The Minister of Culture shall authorise divisions of the Ministry and the bodies established under the Ministry, other budgetary institutions the rights and duties of the owner whereof are exercised by the Ministry of Culture to perform immovable cultural heritage protection functions.
3. Municipalities shall perform the functions assigned thereto by the Law on Local Self-Government, this Law and other laws.
4. Regulatory enactments on the protection of immovable cultural heritage shall be adopted by the Government, the Minister of Culture, the Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage Protection under the Ministry of Culture (hereinafter: ‘the Department’) and a municipal council within their respective remit.
5. The Government shall declare as cultural monuments the objects and sites of cultural heritage of national significance, be in charge of the implementation of the heritage protection obligations assumed under international treaties and perform other functions specified by laws.
6. The Minister of Culture shall approve programmes for the heritage protection of immovable cultural heritage (accounting, heritage management, control, protection and management of protected areas, etc.) financed from the state budget, organise the implementation of heritage management programmes, declare immovable cultural property state-protected, approve the regulations of the Commission for Certification of Professionals of Immovable Cultural Heritage Protection (Researchers, Designers, Heritage Protection Experts) and the composition thereof, the regulations of the Commission of Experts on the Protection of Immovable Cultural Heritage and the composition thereof, submit objects and sites of cultural heritage for inclusion in lists of objects or sites of cultural heritage of international significance, unless specified otherwise by international treaties, perform other functions established by laws and other legal acts.
7. The Ministry of Culture shall, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science, organise the preparation, training and improvement of qualifications of professionals of immovable cultural heritage protection.
8. The regulatory enactments adopted by the Government, ministries and other Government bodies regarding the protection of immovable cultural heritage must, prior to adoption thereof, be submitted to the Ministry of Culture for coordination in accordance with the procedure laid down by legal acts. The legal acts adopted by municipal institutions and contradicting the requirements set out by this Law must be suspended or repealed in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law on Administrative Supervision of Municipalities.
10. The Department shall:
3) use state budget funds intended for the activities related to the protection of immovable cultural heritage (excluding heritage management programmes);
4) draft programmes for the heritage protection of immovable cultural heritage and organise their implementation (excluding heritage management programmes). The Department may delegate the implementation of these programmes or parts thereof to other budgetary bodies, where it exercises the rights and duties of the owner thereof;
5) organise and coordinate the drawing up of inventories, making known and monitoring of immovable cultural heritage;
6) initiate and organise the declaration of objects of cultural heritage state-protected and submit proposals on the initiation of the declaration of objects of cultural heritage municipality-protected to heritage protection divisions of a municipality;
9) prepare and issue protection regulations for objects of cultural heritage of national and regional significance;
12) process data of the Register of Cultural Property wherein immovable cultural property and data thereon shall be registered; collect, handle and store the documents related to this Register pursuant to statutory requirements;
13) submit to the data processor of the Real Property Register for registration the immovable items which are objects of cultural heritage, constituent parts or territories thereof, the legal facts related to the protection of immovable cultural heritage;
14) submit to the data processor of the Real Property Cadastre for entering or amending data on registration of objects of cultural heritage as objects of rights in rem and on restrictions on the use of real property;
16) present, within one month from the submission, conclusions whether the design proposals prepared by the managers seeking to manage objects of cultural heritage meet heritage protection requirements;
17) organise the preparation of territorial planning documents implementing the provisions of this Law;
18) verify the implementation of this Law and other legal acts regulating the protection of immovable cultural heritage, control compliance with these legal acts;
19) control the maintenance and upkeep of cultural heritage, stop actions of natural and legal persons at immovable cultural property, within the territories and protection zones thereof, if any violations of heritage protection requirements are detected;
20) determine the manner of the recreation of damaged immovable cultural property and the amount of losses sustained;
22) perform, within its remit, the functions of an entity of the environmental impact assessment of economic activities under the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment of the Proposed Economic Activity;
23) have the right to obtain from state and municipal institutions, managers and other natural and legal persons information on objects of cultural heritage, survey, record and research immovable cultural property and immovable items which may possess valuable properties;
24) draw up records of administrative offences in the cases and in accordance with the procedure laid down by law and examine the cases of administrative offences falling within its remit;
25) refer to the court seeking to defend the public interest in the area of the protection of immovable cultural heritage, bring actions, applications, appeals before the court in accordance with the procedure laid down by law, submit to the institution exercising state supervision of territorial planning data on the natural persons holding a certificate of competency of a manager of special territorial planning of immovable cultural heritage protection and suspected of infringing this Law and the legal acts implementing it when preparing territorial planning documents or managing the preparation thereof;
11. The Commission for Certification of Professionals of Immovable Cultural Heritage Protection (researchers, designers, heritage protection experts) and the Commission of Experts on the Protection of Immovable Cultural Heritage referred to in paragraph 6 of this Article shall perform the functions assigned to them in their regulations and the work of their members shall be remunerated in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Remuneration of Employees of State and Municipal Bodies and Members of Commissions.
Article 6. Administration of the protection of immovable cultural heritage in municipalities
1. In municipalities, the functions of protection of immovable cultural heritage stipulated (assigned) by the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Lithuania shall be performed by municipal institutions in accordance with the procedure laid down by legal acts.
2. Municipal institutions shall issue sets of design conditions for protected structures and structures in the territories of protected objects and at protected sites, organise coordination of the design documentation of such structures and grant permits to build, reconstruct, repair or demolish such structures in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law, the Law on Local Self-Government and the Law on Construction.
3. The heritage protection divisions of municipalities, in performing the functions of the protection of state-protected objects assigned to a municipality, shall:
1) act as intermediaries between managers and the Department: receive applications of the managers, forward the applications accompanied by a division’s proposals to the Department and present replies to the managers;
3) verify the condition of objects of cultural heritage, accumulate information and provide it to the Department in accordance with the monitoring procedure approved by the Minister of Culture;
4) notify the Department of the decisions adopted by the municipality regarding state-protected objects and sites;
4. Heritage protection divisions of municipalities shall, with regard to the objects declared protected by a municipal council, perform the functions referred to in points 2, 7 to 11 and 13 to 19 of Article 5(10) of this Law as well as:
1) develop programmes for the municipality’s immovable cultural heritage accounting, heritage management, education, schooling and other heritage protection programmes and organise implementation thereof;
2) initiate and organise the declaration of objects of cultural heritage municipality-protected and submit data thereon to the Register of Cultural Property;
3) cooperate with heritage protection divisions of other municipalities in the area of the protection of immovable cultural heritage;
5) submit to other divisions of the municipality, enterprises, agencies, organisations and other legal and natural persons proposals and provide methodical and professional assistance on issues of explanation, protection, dissemination of knowledge and rehabilitation of immovable cultural heritage;
6) have the right to obtain from state and municipal institutions, managers and other natural and legal persons information on objects of cultural heritage, survey, record and research immovable cultural property and immovable items which may possess valuable properties;
Article 7. National Commission for Cultural Heritage
The National Commission for Cultural Heritage shall be an expert of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, the President of the Republic of Lithuania and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania and shall advise on issues relating to state cultural heritage protection policy, its implementation, assessment and improvement. The Commission shall be accountable to the Seimas. The management, financing, tasks and rights of the Commission shall be specified by the Law on the National Commission for Cultural Heritage.
CHAPTER THREE
ACCOUNTING OF IMMOVABLE CULTURAL HERITAGE AND DECLARATION OF AN OBJECT OF CULTURAL HERITAGE PROTECTED
Article 8. Accounting of immovable cultural heritage
1. The accounting of immovable cultural heritage shall consist of drawing up of inventories, making specific items of immovable cultural property known and registration thereof.
2. Inventories of immovable cultural heritage shall be drawn up by compiling a list of all works and other items which could be assigned thereto. Inventory data shall be regularly adjusted, accumulated and systematised. The procedure for drawing up the inventories shall be approved by the Minister of Culture.
3. In order to make immovable cultural property known, research shall be conducted. On the basis of data of this research, the significance of objects or sites of cultural heritage and valuable properties thereof shall be determined, and the boundaries of territories thereof shall be defined or adjusted.
4. The making known of specific items of immovable cultural property shall be organised by the Department and municipal institutions. Traditional religious communities, societies and centres, higher education and research institutions and state research institutions may organise the drawing up of inventories and making known of the immovable cultural heritage corresponding to their area of activities or belonging to them by the right of ownership by coordinating their actions with the Department.
5. The significance of immovable cultural property and the valuable properties of objects or sites of cultural heritage shall be determined and boundaries of territories thereof and of protection zones of the objects of cultural heritage shall be defined by immovable cultural heritage assessment councils formed by the Department and municipalities (hereinafter: ‘assessment councils’). The assessment councils formed by a municipality or several municipalities shall decide on determination of valuable properties of immovable cultural heritage of local significance located within the territory of the municipality and the level of local significance thereof, definition of boundaries of the territory of immovable cultural heritage of local significance and the necessity of the protection thereof, non-application of the local significance level of protection to immovable cultural property or adjustment of accounting data of such property. The assessment councils of the Department shall decide on determination of valuable properties of immovable cultural heritage located within the territory of the Republic of Lithuania, definition of the boundaries thereof and determination of the national, regional or local level of significance of immovable cultural property, the necessity of the protection thereof, non-application of protection to the immovable cultural property or adjustment of accounting data of such property.
6. Criteria for the assessment, selection and determination of the level of significance of immovable cultural property, the volume of data of the research required for the making known of this property and model regulations of assessment councils shall be approved by the Minister of Culture. The work of members of the Commission shall be remunerated in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Remuneration of Employees of State and Municipal Bodies and Members of Commissions.
7. The Register of Cultural Property shall be set up, managed, used and reorganised in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law, the Law on State Information Resources Management, the Law on the Protection of Movable Cultural Property and other legal acts.
8. Immovable cultural properties shall be registered after an assessment council decides that a property is in need of protection. Such property shall be registered as single or complex objects or sites of cultural heritage or objects or sites of cultural heritage being a part of a complex which are of considerable scientific, historical or cultural significance. Decisions of assessment councils shall be published on websites of the Department and of the municipalities which have formed the assessment council in question, and information on registration – in the Register of Cultural Property in accordance with the procedure laid down by legal acts.
9. The following data on each property to be registered shall be entered in the Register of Cultural Property and in an immovable cultural property certificate (extract from the data of the Register) compiled on the basis of data thereof:
10. The Department shall set a code for each registered immovable cultural property, enter it in the Register of Cultural Property and adjust the already entered code(s) assigned by a public register (the Real Property Register) to the land plots of an object or site of cultural heritage and other immovable items located within the territory of the object or the site as well as other data of the Register of Cultural Property established by legal acts.
11. The Register of Cultural Property shall, in accordance with the procedure laid down by laws and other legal acts or under agreements on exchange of data, exchange required data with the Real Property Register and other state registers, cadastres, classifiers, specialised data banks as well as with the developers of state programmes and organisers of territorial planning, where they are state or municipal institutions. The Register of Cultural Property shall have the right to obtain the required data of other state registers and cadastres free of charge.
12. The data of the Register of Cultural Property shall be public. Under data provision agreements, these data shall be transmitted free of charge to related registers and state information systems. On the basis of these agreements, the data processor of the Real Property Register shall, free of charge, note the following legal facts in an entry on the relevant immovable item contained in the Real Property Register: the entry of the immovable item in the Register of Cultural Property, the presence thereof within the territory of an object of cultural heritage, at a site or protection zones thereof, restrictions of rights in rem to the immovable item as set out in special conditions of the use of the immovable cultural property.
Article 9. Initial protection of immovable cultural heritage
1. The manager of an object of cultural heritage registered in the Register of Cultural Property whereon no decision has been adopted as to whether or not to declare it protected, planning to carry out the maintenance operations which may damage the valuable properties of the object of cultural heritage, must submit design proposals to the heritage protection division of a municipality or to list the operations to be carried out in writing. The heritage protection division of the municipality shall forthwith notify thereof the Department.
2. Where it is established that the operations to be carried out would damage valuable properties, the declaration of an object of cultural heritage protected must be initiated within 15 days. A decision on the initiation of the declaration of the object of cultural heritage state-protected shall be adopted by the Department, and municipality-protected – by the heritage protection division of a municipality.
3. Where, in the course of construction or other operations, archaeological findings or valuable properties of an immovable item are discovered, the managers or the persons carrying out the operations must notify thereof the heritage protection division of a municipality, and the latter shall inform thereof the Department. The Department may suspend operations for 15 days. Within this time limit, it must, in cooperation with the heritage protection division of the municipality, verify the notification and adopt a decision whether or not to initiate registration of a discovered immovable cultural property, declaration of an object of cultural heritage protected or making of the discovered valuable property known and adjustment of the protection requirements.
4. The Department may also suspend operations for 15 days, where it transpires that the requirements referred to in paragraph 1 or 2 of this Article have been violated.
5. An institution which has adopted a decision to initiate the declaration of an object of cultural heritage protected or the identification of a newly discovered valuable property of an already protected object and the amendment of protection requirements may restrict for a period of up to six months or prohibit the operations which could damage valuable properties at the object itself, within the territory or protection zone thereof. Where the territory and the protection zone have not been established, the operations may be restricted or prohibited within the distance of 250 metres from the object. Where required research is not conducted due to unfavourable climatic conditions, the time limit may be extended. The duration of the prohibition of the carrying out of the operations may not exceed a total of eight months. Within this time limit and in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law, the required research must be conducted, a design documentation of boundaries of the territory and of the protection zone must be prepared and coordinated, where necessary, the structure must be mothballed and other actions of the procedure for declaring an object of cultural heritage protected must be carried out.
Article 10. Declaration of an object and site of cultural heritage protected
1. The Department or a municipal institution must register in the Register of Cultural Property a decision to initiate the declaration of an object or site of cultural heritage protected and publish it on the website of the Department or the municipality and give a written notice thereof, within 15 days from the registration, to all persons whose rights in rem to immovable items within the territory of such an object of cultural heritage are registered in the Real Property Register.
2. The Government shall, on a recommendation of the Minister of Culture and subject to approval by the National Commission for Cultural Heritage, declare as cultural monuments the objects and sites of cultural heritage of national significance. The Government shall, on a recommendation of the Minister of Culture, enter the cultural monuments which, by virtue of their outstanding scientific, historical or cultural value, must be made accessible to the public on the List of Historical, Archaeological and Cultural Objects of National Significance. The procedure for financing the maintenance of the cultural monuments which are held by the right of private ownership and are accessible to the public and have been entered on the List of Historical, Archaeological and Cultural Objects of National Significance and reimbursing the expenses of management operations of heritage protection shall be established by the Government.
3. The objects and sites of cultural heritage of national significance which are not declared cultural monuments and objects and sites of cultural heritage of regional significance shall be declared state-protected by the Minister of Culture. Approval of the National Commission for Cultural Heritage shall be required for declaring as state-protected the objects and sites of cultural heritage of national significance which are not declared cultural monuments. The objects and sites shall be selected having regard to the valuable properties of the objects and sites of immovable cultural heritage and significance criteria, the cultural value and public significance thereof.
4. Objects and sites of cultural heritage of local significance shall be declared municipality-protected by a municipal council.
5. A legal act whereby an object or site of cultural heritage is declared state-protected or a cultural monument shall specify the purpose or purposes of protection, the nature of the valuable properties or combination thereof determining the level of significance and approve the boundaries of the territory and protection zone thereof.
6. Where an object of cultural heritage has deteriorated, has been destroyed or its valuable properties have been otherwise lost and the reasons for such losses and/or the persons liable have been identified or the object or site of cultural heritage does not meet the specified significance criteria and valuable properties of objects or sites of immovable cultural heritage, subject to giving at least three months’ advance notice thereof in the press, a decision shall be adopted to repeal or amend an act on the declaration of the object or site of cultural heritage protected. Upon the adoption of a decision cancelling the protection of the object of cultural heritage, the said object or site shall not be removed from the Register of Cultural Property.
7. The Register of Cultural Property must contain the following data on protected objects and sites of cultural heritage:
1) the legal acts and amendments thereto laying down protection and approving the territory and protection zones, the codes of entries in the registers registering these acts;
3) the terms and conditions of a protection agreement concluded with the manager, where such an agreement has been concluded;
8. Where the purpose of a movable item located at an object of cultural heritage and protected under the Law on the Protection of Movable Cultural Property is integral of the purpose of the object and where the item is historically related to the object and contributes an additional value thereto, the item shall be entered in the Register of Cultural Property as an item being one of valuable properties thereof. Where the object of cultural heritage is declared state-protected, the movable cultural property specified as a valuable property shall also become protected under this Law.
Article 11. Territories, protection zones and sub-zones of objects and sites of cultural heritage
1. An object of cultural heritage shall be protected together with the territory which it occupies and which is assigned thereto. This territory shall be integral of the object of cultural heritage.
2. The boundaries of the territory of an object of cultural heritage and a site of cultural heritage shall be defined on the basis of data of historical and other research so that they correspond to the boundaries of existing land plots or parts thereof which are objects of rights in rem or to other boundaries of immovable items or natural or anthropogenic elements.
3. Territories of sites of cultural heritage shall be established according to documents drawn up in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law on Territorial Planning, the Law on Protected Areas and this Law.
4. The territories of objects and sites of underwater heritage and the territories of the objects of cultural heritage located in forests shall be described, established and formalised as objects of civil right and registered in the Register of Cultural Property in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law and other legal acts.
5. The conservational (safeguarding) purpose shall be set for the land plots or parts thereof located within the territory of a protected object and being objects of rights in rem.
6. An intermediate protection zone mitigating the adverse impact of human activity shall be established for a protected object or site. This zone may have one or both of the following subzones of a different protection and use regime:
1) the subzone of protection against physical impact – the land plots or parts thereof outside the territory of an object of cultural heritage together with other immovable items located therein as well as the forest and water areas subject to the requirements of this Law and other legal acts prohibiting in this subzone the activities likely to physically impair the valuable properties of the object of cultural heritage;
2) the subzone of visual protection – the land plots or parts thereof outside the territory of an object of cultural heritage or the subzone of protection against physical influence together with other immovable items located therein and being subject to the requirements of this Law and other legal acts prohibiting in this subzone the activities likely to hinder the viewing of the object of cultural heritage.
7. The boundaries of a protection zone shall be defined in compliance with the Law on Territorial Planning and this Law. The boundaries of the protection zone of an object of cultural heritage located in a reserve or a strict reserve or at a site of cultural heritage shall not be defined. In this case, the territorial planning documents of the reserve or strict reserve and/or the regulations of these protected areas shall be supplemented with requirements for protection against the likely adverse impact of activity in adjacent territories.
Article 12. Marking of objects of cultural heritage
1. Protected objects shall be marked by typical boards and signs in accordance with the procedure approved by the Government or an institution authorised by it.
Article 13. Safeguarding regimes
1. Protected objects and territories thereof may be subject to the following safeguarding regimes: the reserve regime, the authentic purpose regime and the sparing use regime.
2. The reserve regime shall be applied to the objects of cultural heritage which it is expedient to preserve so that they could be researched in the future by making use of broader scientific possibilities. The activities which may destroy scientific data, such as destructive research, maintenance operations, economic activities, shall be prohibited thereat. The list of the objects subject to the reserve regime shall be approved by the Minister of Culture.
3. The authentic purpose regime shall be introduced for the objects of cultural heritage whose use in the original or historically formed manner would ensure the upkeep thereof and would make the valuable properties of the protected object known better than the other manner of use.
4. The sparing use regime shall be introduced for the objects of cultural heritage for protection whereof it is expedient to select such a manner of use and adaptation that the valuable properties of the object be least damaged and the manager be interested in keeping it up.
5. The authentic purpose regime or the sparing use regime shall be introduced for objects and territories of cultural heritage by an institution which has declared an object protected. The conservational (safeguarding) purpose may be set for such objects as the supplementary rather than the main purpose.
Article 14. Rights and duties of the manager
1. The manager shall have the right:
1) to use the property managed by him according to its purpose without prejudice to the requirements set out by this Law and other laws;
2) to receive methodical, technical, financial and/or other support for the upkeep and maintenance of an object of cultural heritage, to be granted access to the research data and other information held by state and municipal institutions on the object of cultural heritage;
3) to obtain information on the immovable cultural property declared protected or planned to be declared protected, a reserve or a strict reserve set up to protect a site and the heritage protection requirements set out on this ground for the property (items) managed by him;
4) to file proposals, comments and claims concerning registration of his property in the Register of Cultural Property and declaration as a protected object or site of cultural heritage or cultural monument;
2. The manager of a protected object shall have the right to conclude a protection agreement under the terms and conditions referred to in Article 16 of this Law to enter in additional commitments and/or specify the ways of compensation for the safeguarding of the object of cultural heritage.
3. The manager’s duty shall be to preserve an immovable cultural property. The manager must:
1) keep up an object of cultural heritage, the territory thereof, a site, timely remove emerging defects and protect structures against adverse environmental impact; maintain adequate microclimate conditions in premises with valuable interior; timely renew vegetation, remove volunteer plants, mow grass and trim trees, clean debris and eliminate sources of pollution within the territory; keep up and maintain historical green areas which are objects of cultural heritage in compliance with the heritage maintenance regulations approved by the Minister of Culture and coordinated with the Ministry of Environment and intended for historical green area maintenance;
2) notify an institution in charge of protection of a threat posed to an immovable property which he cannot eliminate himself or does not possess the competency or authorisation required therefor;
3) permit, in accordance with the procedure established by the Minister of Culture, the members and officials of the Department, the heritage protection subdivision of a municipality and the National Commission for Cultural Heritage or the professionals authorised thereby to view an object or site of cultural heritage, to record the condition of the object or site of cultural heritage and to conduct research under the agreed conditions, also allow the persons who have received the authorisation referred to in Article 181(2) of this Law to conduct archaeological research under the conditions agreed with the manager. In these cases, the parties must agree on the duration, volume of the research and compensation for possible losses;
4) submit to the heritage protection division of a municipality a design documentation of the maintenance of a protected object or an object in respect whereof the procedure of declaration of the object protected has been initiated and the entire design documentation implementation whereof would affect the surrounding environment of the said object;
5) provide the conditions meeting the requirements set out by this Law and other laws for the public to be admitted to and become knowledgeable about immovable cultural property;
6) permit an institution in charge of protection to mark an object of cultural heritage by typical and/or individually created boards and signs;
Article 15. Transactions on objects of cultural heritage
1. The seller or the manager of an object of cultural heritage otherwise transferring rights of management (hereinafter: ‘the seller’) shall give at least a one-month advance notice of his intention to conclude a transaction to the heritage protection division of a municipality. Within this time period, the division must verify whether the condition of the said object and valuable properties thereof correspond to the condition specified in the object’s passport of immovable cultural property.
2. The condition of an object of cultural heritage shall be verified in accordance with the procedure established by the Minister of Culture. Where maintenance operations have not been carried out thereat, where no damage thereto has been established and where requirements set out for the use thereof have not been violated, the verification act shall remain in force for six months from signing of the act. Upon the request of the seller or the acquirer, the said verification of the condition may be carried out for a state fee in the amount established by the Government not later than within 15 working days from notification of the intention to conclude a transaction.
3. The rights, duties and liability of the transferor of an object of cultural heritage shall, upon the verification of the condition of the object, be transferred to the new manager (acquirer) from signing of an act of transfer and acceptance. Where the condition established at the time of the verification does not correspond to the condition specified in the object’s passport of immovable cultural property, the transferor shall be held liable therefor.
Article 16. Protection agreements
1. Protection agreements shall establish the servitudes of structures and formalise other heritage protection requirements for objects and sites of cultural heritage.
2. Agreements may be concluded with owners and users of land, forest and water bodies, where the land, forest or water body is located in a protected area, by an institution authorised by the Government and being in charge of the protection of the protected area.
3. Protection agreements may be concluded with the managers of the objects of cultural heritage registered in the Register of Cultural Property and with the managers of the land plots or immovable items located within the territories and protection zones of the objects by the Department, the heritage protection division of a municipality, funds or other public institutions performing the function of the protection of cultural heritage.
4. The procedure for concluding protection agreements shall be established by the Government or an institution authorised by it.
5. Protection agreements shall be registered in the Real Property Register. In the event of change of the manager, the heritage protection requirements listed in an agreement shall be transferred together with an object to the new manager.
6. Protection agreements may establish:
1) the commitment of the manager not to build the structures likely to obstruct or change the existing view;
2) the commitment of the manager not to carry out specific actions which would change the valuable properties or hinder public knowledge thereof;
4) methodical, technical, financial and/or other support for the maintenance of an object of cultural heritage;
Article 17. Protection of immovable cultural heritage safeguarded for the purposes of scientific knowledge
1. At an object safeguarded for scientific knowledge, within the territory thereof, at a site, it shall be prohibited, without the consent of an institution in charge of the protection of cultural heritage, to use metal, electronic or other detectors for the purpose of searching for archaeological and other findings or objects, to move, research, lift underwater objects, separate parts thereof or archaeological findings in inland waters, inland waters of the maritime area, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone and the exclusive economic zone within the meaning of the international treaties of the Republic of Lithuania.
2. A protection agreement may lay down conditions for the restrictive use of the territory of a safeguarded object or site for agricultural, forestry or other purpose.
3. At an unresearched object safeguarded for the purposes of scientific knowledge, the manager may carry out only upkeep and conservation operations.
4. Where it is unprofitable for the manager to keep up and use an object, site or part thereof safeguarded for the purposes of scientific knowledge, he may apply to an institution in charge of the protection of the object or site for an authorisation to organise scientific research of the said object, site or part thereof or to take over the safeguarded object, site or part thereof from him. The protection requirements of a researched object, site or part thereof may be changed by a legal act declaring the object protected upon striking off scientific knowledge from the objectives of protection.
Article 18. Research of immovable cultural heritage
1. Research shall be the basis for the accounting, maintenance, knowledge of immovable cultural heritage and dissemination thereof.
2. Basic research of immovable cultural heritage conducted with funds of the state budget shall be conducted by higher education and research institutions and other state and non-state research institutions, scientific researchers. Applied research and destructive research may be conducted by persons who have obtained, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 231 of this Law, a certificate of competency or an entitlement document granting the right to conduct the research of immovable cultural heritage.
3. When assessing the environmental impact of the proposed economic activity in accordance with the procedure laid down by law, the organiser (developer) thereof shall request that the Department conducts the applied research of immovable cultural heritage required for the impact assessment. It shall be financed by the organiser of the proposed economic activity.
4. The applied research required to be conducted prior to preparation of a design documentation of the maintenance of an object of cultural heritage or during maintenance shall be organised by the Department where the object is state-protected or by the heritage protection division of a municipality where the object is municipality-protected. A state fee in the amount established by the Government shall be collected for the research conclusions issued to the manager or another organiser of maintenance. Where new valuable properties are discovered during the carrying out of maintenance operations, additional research required for making them known shall be organised by an institution in charge of protection. It may be funded by the manager or another organiser of maintenance wishing to speed up the research.
5. The archaeological findings discovered during research shall, if possible, be safeguarded and exhibited at the place of discovery thereof. In other cases, they shall, in accordance with the procedure approved by the Minister of Culture, be handed over to museums having conditions to preserve and exhibit them. The treasures taken for public needs shall be reimbursed in accordance with the procedure approved by the Minister of Culture.
6. Destructive and applied research shall be conducted and reports thereon shall be drawn up in accordance with the procedure established in the heritage maintenance regulations governing such research. The Department shall issue authorisations and give a notice thereof to the heritage protection divisions of a municipality. The researchers who have conducted research shall submit research reports and authors of publications prepared on the basis of research data shall submit copies of the publications to the Department, which shall record them in the Register of Cultural Property.
Article 181. Issue and validity of an authorisation to conduct archaeological research
1. Archaeological research may be conducted by professionals with a degree in the field of archaeology or history of the study area of humanitarian sciences or an equivalent degree and certified in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 231 of this Law or by nationals of a Member State of the European Union, the Swiss Confederation or a state which is a signatory to the Agreement on the European Economic Area and other natural persons enjoying the freedom of movement in the Member States granted to them under EU legislation and entitled to conduct archaeological research subject to recognition of their entitlement, as held in the country of origin, to carry out the relevant activities (hereinafter: ‘persons of other states’) (hereinafter jointly: ‘researchers’). Recognition of the entitlement to conduct archaeological research by persons of other states shall be carried out in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 231 of this Law.
2. The researchers referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall become entitled to conduct archaeological research upon obtaining an authorisation issued by the Department to conduct archaeological research (hereinafter: an ‘authorisation’). Authorisations shall be issued, the validity thereof shall be extended, suspended, suspension of the validity shall be lifted or the authorisations shall be withdrawn in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law. Forms of applications for the issue of an authorisation or for the extension of the validity of an authorisation, the procedure for lodging them with the Department and examining them by the Department, forms of the authorisations and the procedure for publishing them (hereinafter: ‘the description of the procedure for issuing authorisations’) shall be established by the Minister of Culture on the grounds laid down by this Law. The Department shall issue an authorisation or adopt a decision not to issue an authorisation not later than within 20 working days from the receipt of the researcher’s application and a design documentation of archaeological research. The application for the issue of an authorisation shall contain all the information referred to in the description of the procedure for issuing authorisations and substantiating the requirements referred to in points 1, 2 and 3 of paragraph 4 of this Article.
3. Where a researcher’s application for the issue of an authorisation does not contain all the information referred to in the description of the procedure for issuing authorisations, false data have been submitted or not all documents substantiating the requirements referred to in points 1, 2 and 3 of paragraph 4 of this Article have been submitted, the Department shall notify the researcher not later than within three working days from the receipt of his application of the need to provide missing information, to adjust the data or to submit missing documents and inform that the time limit for issuing the authorisation runs from the submission of the missing information and/or documents. Upon adopting a decision to issue or not to issue the authorisation, the Department shall, not later than within three working days from the adoption of the decision, give a notice thereof to the applicant researcher and to the administration of the municipality within the territory whereof the archaeological research is to be conducted.
4. An authorisation shall be issued to the researchers referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, provided that the following requirements are fulfilled:
1) the researcher meets the qualification requirements set out in Article 231 of this Law and entitling him to conduct archaeological research at the research site specified in the application;
2) the researcher has, in the cases and in accordance with the procedure established in the heritage maintenance regulations governing the maintenance of archaeological heritage and approved by the Minister of Culture (hereinafter: ‘the archaeological heritage maintenance regulations’), reported on the archaeological research conducted in the past year and has tidied up the site of the previous archaeological research and, pursuant to the provisions of Article 18(5) of this Law and in accordance with the procedure established by the Minister of Culture, has handed over to museums the archaeological findings discovered during the archaeological research and to archives a report on this research approved by the Scientific Commission of Archaeology;
5. The Scientific Commission of Archaeology, the composition and regulations whereof shall be approved by the Minister of Culture, shall approve the draft design documentation of archaeological research submitted by the researcher or a draft amendment or supplement thereof, provided that it meets the requirements for the preparation of a draft documentation of archaeological research set out in the archaeological heritage maintenance regulations and meets the general requirements for the methodology of archaeological research established in the archaeological heritage maintenance regulations. If the Scientific Commission of Archaeology adopts a decision to approve the draft design documentation of archaeological research with observations, the draft design documentation of archaeological research must be verified by the Department before adopting a decision to issue an authorisation or the design documentation must be amended according to the observations provided by the Scientific Commission of Archaeology.
6. The issue of an authorisation shall be refused if at least one of the requirements set out in paragraph 4 of this Article is not fulfilled. The issue shall also be refused if the researcher has already been issued ten authorisations to conduct archaeological research in the current year and the researcher has not reported thereon in the cases and in accordance with the procedure established in the archaeological heritage maintenance regulations.
7. When conducting archaeological research, the following conditions necessary for the conduct of archaeological research must be ensured:
1) at the research site, the ambient temperature of the archaeological research is positive and the soil is not frozen;
2) it is possible to conserve archaeological findings under field conditions, if required by the specific features of the object under research;
3) the research site, uncovered archaeological structures, findings, human remains are safeguarded from fall of land or construction parts, flooding with water or natural disasters, entry of vehicles, as well as any type of damage, vandalism, theft and risk to human safety and health;
8. Authorisations shall be issued for the period from 1 March of the current year to 30 November of the current year. The authorisations may be issued for the period from 30 November of the current year to 1 March of the following year only in the following cases:
1) where there is a need to eliminate the threat of an accident. In this case, the requirement to ensure the conditions laid down in points 1 and 2 of paragraph 7 of this Article and necessary for the conduct of research and the requirement set out in point 4 of paragraph 4 of this Article to prepare and submit a design documentation of archaeological research approved by the Scientific Commission of Archaeology shall not apply;
2) when conducting the research, the conditions necessary for the conduct of the research, such as the positive ambient temperature of the research and the non-frozen soil at the research site, will be ensured. In this case, the researcher shall provide in an application for the issue of an authorisation the detailed information on how the conditions necessary for the conduct of the research, such as the positive ambient temperature of the research and the non-frozen soil at the research site, will be ensured. The application for the issue of an authorisation shall be accompanied by a written acknowledgement of the sponsor of the archaeological research that he undertakes to take measures (specific measures to be indicated) to ensure the conditions necessary for the conduct of the archaeological research referred to in this paragraph.
9. A researcher who has failed to timely complete the research provided for in a design documentation of archaeological research may submit to the Department an application for extension of the validity of an authorisation not later than ten working days before the expiry of the validity of the authorisation. The validity of the authorisation shall be extended for the researcher meeting the requirements referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article after 30 November of the current year for a period indicated by the researcher, but not later than until 30 November of the following year. The validity of the issued authorisation shall be extended or a reasoned refusal to extend it shall be provided not later than within ten working days from the receipt of the application by the Department. Where the researcher’s application for extension of the validity of the authorisation does not contain all the information indicated in the description of the procedure for issuing authorisations or false data have been provided, the Department shall notify the applicant researcher thereof not later than within three working days from the receipt of the application and shall set for adjustment of the application a time limit of five working days, running from the receipt of the Department’s notification to the researcher regarding adjustment of the application. In this case, the time limit for extending the validity of the issued authorisation within which a decision must be adopted regarding extension of the validity of the authorisation shall run from the receipt of the adjusted application by the Department.
10. Extension of the validity of an authorisation shall be refused if the Department, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 7 of this Article, does not approve extension of the authorisation on the ground that the conditions necessary for the conduct of the research are not ensured.
11. In the event of refusal to extend the validity of an issued authorisation, the Department shall, not later than within three working days from the adoption of the decision, give a notice thereof to the applicant researcher and the administration of the municipality within the territory whereof the archaeological research was to be conducted, stating the reasons for which the authorisation has not been issued or extension of the validity of the issued authorisation has been refused.
12. The validity of an authorisation shall be suspended where the Department establishes that:
1) archaeological research is conducted at the sites not provided for in the design documentation of archaeological research approved by the Scientific Commission of Archaeology and/or not according to the nature of the research provided for in the approved design documentation of archaeological research;
2) a threat of damage to or loss of the object of cultural heritage under research or adjacent objects of cultural heritage arose in the course of the archaeological research;
13. In the event of suspension of the validity of an authorisation, the Department shall, not later than within three working days from the adoption of the decision, give a notice thereof to the applicant researcher and the administration of the municipality within the territory whereof the archaeological research was to be conducted, stating the reasons for which the validity of the authorisation has been suspended or a time limit for elimination of the reasons for suspension of the validity of the authorisation. The researcher shall be prohibited from conducting archaeological research from the receipt of the Department’s notification of suspension of the validity of the authorisation.
14. Suspension of the validity of an authorisation shall be lifted upon eliminating within the set time limit the reasons for suspension of the validity of an authorisation provided for in paragraph 12 of this Article. The Department shall adopt a decision to lift suspension of the validity of an authorisation within ten working days from the receipt of a notification of elimination of the reasons for suspension of the validity of the authorisation subject to verification of the information received and shall, not later than within three working days from the adoption of the decision, give a notice thereof to the researcher who has been issued the authorisation and the administration of the municipality within the territory whereof the archaeological research was to be conducted.
15. An authorisation shall be withdrawn where the Department establishes that:
1) the researcher whose authorisation has been suspended has not eliminated the reasons for suspension of the validity of the authorisation within the time limit set by the Department;
2) the researcher whose authorisation has been suspended continues the archaeological research following the receipt of the Department’s notification of suspension of the validity of the authorisation;
3) the researcher lodges with the Department an application for withdrawal of the authorisation issued to him;
4) a certificate of competency issued to the researcher as a certified professional or an entitlement document recognising the entitlement of the researcher as a person of another state to conduct archaeological research is withdrawn;
16. In the event of withdrawal of an authorisation, the Department shall, not later than within three working days from the adoption of the decision, give a notice thereof to the applicant researcher and the administration of the municipality within the territory whereof the archaeological research was to be conducted, stating the reasons for which the authorisation has been withdrawn.
17. A researcher must:
1) upon the receipt of an authorisation and before the commencement of archaeological research, notify the manager thereof and agree with him, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 14(3)(3) of this Law, on conditions for the conduct of the archaeological research;
2) in accordance with the procedure laid down in the archaeological heritage maintenance regulations and according to a design documentation of archaeological research approved by the Scientific Commission of Archaeology, conduct the archaeological research and report on the archaeological research, tidy up the archaeological research site.
18. An authorised researcher shall be responsible for compliance with the requirements set out in paragraphs 4 and 7 of this Article.
20. Where upon the issue of an authorisation there is a need to amend or supplement the volume of archaeological research, sites or methods of research provided for in a design documentation of archaeological research approved by the Scientific Commission of Archaeology without altering the nature of the archaeological research, the archaeological research may be further conducted under a valid authorisation, subject to preparing a draft design documentation amending and/or supplementing the design documentation of archaeological research and obtaining the Department’s approval for the conduct of the archaeological research according to the amended or supplemented design documentation of archaeological research.
21. The Department shall adopt a decision to approve or not to approve the conduct of archaeological research according to an amended or supplemented design documentation of archaeological research within 20 working days from the receipt of the researcher’s application and the amended and/or supplemented design documentation of archaeological research by the Department, provided that it is approved by the Scientific Commission of Archaeology and the researcher amends it in accordance with observations of the Scientific Commission of Archaeology, if any.
22. Upon the adoption of a decision to approve or not to approve the conduct of archaeological research according to an amended or supplemented design documentation of archaeological research, the Department shall notify the applicant researcher thereof not later than within three working days from the adoption of the decision.
Article 19. Protection of immovable cultural heritage safeguarded for public knowledge and use
1. The manager of an object safeguarded for public knowledge and use, another object located at a complex object or a site safeguarded for public knowledge and use may use it in the ways specified in the object’s passport of immovable cultural property.
2. At an object safeguarded for public knowledge and use, the following shall be prohibited:
3. The unresearched parts of an object or site safeguarded for public knowledge and use as specified in its passport of immovable cultural property shall be subject to requirements of Article 17 of this Law.
4. At the immovable cultural property safeguarded for public knowledge and use, the following construction operations destroying valuable properties shall be prohibited: adaptation of the object of cultural heritage for uses other than specified in its passport of immovable cultural property; increase of the intensity of the use of protected structures, building of extensions to buildings, additional floors, equipment of new mansards, formation of a new planned structure and other destruction of signs of authenticity.
5. Where the manager proves that the use of a safeguarded object in the ways and within the scope specified in the passport of the said property is unprofitable, does not justify the costs of maintenance thereof and that there are no persons wishing to take over the use of the object of cultural heritage without damaging valuable properties thereof, the institution in charge of the protection of this object shall propose to carry out, at the expense of the manager, all required operations of scientific research and document management in order to enable to establish the likely changes least impairing valuable properties or shall require to mothball the object. In the latter case, mothballing costs shall be reimbursed, in accordance with the procedure approved by the Minister of Culture, by the institutions in charge of the protection of the object.
6. In order to avoid a negative impact on the valuable properties of a protected object, a consent of an institution in charge of the protection of cultural heritage must be obtained, where the intention is:
8. At objects of cultural heritage, in territories and protection zones thereof, advertising shall be placed pursuant to the rules approved by the Minister of Culture.
9. The manager of an object of cultural heritage managed by the right of private ownership may impose a charge for admission to the interior premises and territory of a structure of cultural heritage or collect from visitors donations (charge) for the upkeep and maintenance of the object of cultural heritage, request compensation for the use of the image of the object in commercial advertising.
Article 20. Protection of immovable cultural heritage of public respect
1. All cemeteries shall be kept up pursuant to rules for the upkeep of cemeteries approved by the Government or an institution authorised by it. The main conservational (safeguarding) purpose of land use shall be set for the territories of unused cemeteries and may be changed only upon recognising the priority of another public need and after transferring the remains of the dead.
2. A place of immovable cultural heritage of public respect may be protected, although there are no authentic parts or elements significative of a person, an event or other valuable properties thereof. This place shall be marked with boards intended for marking a protected object, sculpture works, memorial structures and the items demonstrating the former surroundings of an event or living environment.
Article 21. Protection of immovable cultural heritage located in a reserve, strict reserve or state park
1. The immovable cultural heritage located in a reserve, strict reserve or state park shall be protected pursuant to the requirements of this Law and the Law on Protected Areas.
2. With a view to protecting sites of cultural heritage, historical national parks, cultural strict reserves and cultural reserves shall be set up in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law on Protected Areas.
3. The Minister of Culture shall approve a description of the procedure for the use of and admission to cultural strict reserves (reserves-museums) and criteria for the establishment of cultural strict reserves (reserves-museums), historical national parks, submit these protected areas for entry on international lists of protected areas, unless international treaties stipulate otherwise, set up directorates of cultural strict state reserves and historical national parks and approve the territorial planning documents referred to in the Law on Protected Areas.
4. The Ministry of Culture shall perform the following functions of the management of cultural strict state reserves (reserves-museums), historical national parks, cultural state reserves:
3) organise the preparation of territorial planning documents (except for the preparation of territorial planning documents of the cultural reserves and cultural strict reserves located in state parks);
5. In carrying out the protection of immovable cultural heritage in reserves, strict reserves and state parks, the Department shall control:
1) compliance with the established protection and use regime, assurance of the protection and maintenance of objects of cultural heritage and the implementation of targeted programmes;
6. Municipal institutions shall supervise the use of the objects and sites of cultural heritage declared protected by municipalities and located in protected areas and the construction or maintenance operations carried out thereat, control the ensuring of the protection of municipality-protected objects, sites and compliance with the established protection and use regime in planning or carrying out activities, prepare protection regulations of the municipality-protected objects of cultural heritage, organise the preparation of plans of the management of sites of cultural heritage and protection zones thereof (except for the preparation of plans of the management of sites o cultural heritage and protection zones thereof located in state parks, strict state reserves, state reserves).
Article 22. Protection of immovable cultural heritage and territorial planning
1. Immovable cultural property, territories and protection zones thereof shall be managed and activities therein shall be developed pursuant to the complex and special territorial planning and strategic planning documents, protection regulations and the heritage protection requirements set out therein prepared on the basis of the provisions of this Law, the Law on Protected Areas and the Law on Territorial Planning.
2. Objects of cultural heritage, territories and protection zones thereof, sites of cultural heritage and protection zones thereof, cultural strict reserves and cultural reserves shall be managed and activities therein shall be developed:
1) objects of cultural heritage, territories and protection zones thereof – according to the heritage protection requirements set out in typical protection regulations of objects of cultural heritage approved by the Government and individual protection regulations prepared and approved in accordance with the procedure established by the Minister of Culture;
2) sites of cultural heritage and protection zones thereof – under special territorial planning documents of immovable cultural heritage protection, that is, management plans (except for the cases specified in points 3 and 4 of this paragraph). The management plans may, in accordance with the procedure established by the Minister of Culture and the Minister of Environment, be prepared also in respect of complex objects of cultural heritage. The plans of the management of complex objects of cultural heritage and protection zones thereof shall be held equivalent to plans of the management of sites of cultural heritage and protection zones thereof and shall be prepared and approved in accordance with the same procedure as the plans of the management of the sites of cultural heritage and protection zones thereof;
3) sites of cultural heritage located in state parks, cultural reserves and cultural strict reserves – according to state park planning schemes (boundaries and management plans);
3. A plan of the management of sites of cultural heritage and protection zones thereof shall be a special territorial planning document which sets out heritage protection requirements for immovable cultural heritage protection and the development of activities at a site of cultural heritage and within the protection zone thereof as well as boundaries of the site of cultural heritage and the protection zone thereof. The heritage protection requirements for the protection of the sites of cultural heritage located in state parks, strict state reserves and state reserves and the development of activities therein shall be set out and boundaries thereof shall be defined in compliance with this Law and the documents of special territorial planning of protected areas prepared in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Law on Protected Areas.
4. The special territorial planning of immovable cultural heritage protection shall be organised by:
1) the Department – the preparation of plans of the management of sites of cultural heritage and complex objects of cultural heritage, where the State declares them protected or they are state-protected, and protection zones thereof; funds shall be allocated from the state budget or other sources of financing; directorates of protected sites may also act as organisers of this planning;
2) the director of a municipal administration – the preparation of plans of the management of the sites of cultural heritage and complex objects of cultural heritage, where a municipality declares them protected or they are municipality-protected, and protection zones thereof; funds shall be allocated from the municipal budget or other sources of financing.
5. The heritage protection requirements set out by special territorial planning documents of immovable cultural heritage protection and protection regulations shall be binding when preparing complex and special territorial planning documents. These heritage protection requirements shall, in addition to other requirements set by laws, also apply to land works, construction of structures or installations, height and capacity of the structures, density and intensity of development, exterior finishing materials, planting of greenery, height, density and type of plantations, transport flows and intensity thereof.
6. The special territorial planning documents of immovable cultural heritage protection shall be prepared pursuant to the rules for the preparation of these documents prepared by the Ministry of Culture and approved by the Minister of Culture and the Minister of Environment. The rules shall specify the territorial protection measures stipulated by special planning documents of immovable cultural heritage protection and the procedure for organising, preparing, revising, amending, coordinating, verifying and approving these documents.
7. The documents of complex and special territorial planning of the territories wherein registered immovable cultural property is located must be coordinated in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law on Territorial Planning and the relevant rules for the preparation of territorial planning documents:
1) at the state level and/or those approved by the Government – with the Ministry of Culture, which has issued planning conditions, and the institutions specified in the relevant rules for the preparation of territorial planning documents;
8. The entitlement to prepare special territorial planning documents of immovable cultural heritage protection shall be granted to the natural persons entitled, in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law and other laws, to manage the preparation of special territorial planning documents of immovable cultural heritage protection, legal persons and divisions thereof, foreign organisations and divisions thereof engaged in the activities of territorial planning, where these operations are managed by natural persons entitled to do so.
9. The entitlement to manage the preparation of special territorial planning documents of immovable cultural heritage protection shall be granted to a natural person who has acquired a degree in the field of architecture of the study area of art studies or an equivalent degree and has obtained a certificate of competency of a manager of special territorial planning of immovable cultural heritage protection issued by the organisation carrying out certification, namely, the Architects’ Chamber of the Republic of Lithuania, granting the entitlement to manage the preparation of special territorial planning documents of immovable cultural heritage protection. These requirements shall not apply to nationals of another EU Member State, the Swiss Confederation or a state which is a signatory to the Agreement on the European Economic Area and other natural persons enjoying the freedom of movement granted to them under EU legislation, provided that they hold a certificate of competency issued by the competent authority of another EU Member State, the Swiss Confederation or the state which is a signatory to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or another document confirming their entitlement to carry out activities equivalent to the preparation of documents of special territorial planning of immovable cultural heritage protection in their country of origin.
10. Natural persons seeking to acquire the entitlement to manage the preparation of a special territorial planning document of immovable cultural heritage protection must meet the following qualification requirements (except for nationals of an EU Member State, the Swiss Confederation or a state which is a signatory to the Agreement on the European Economic Area and other natural persons enjoying the freedom of movement granted to them under EU legislation):
2) have professional experience, the duration of which shall be calculated from the acquisition of the degree referred to in paragraph 9 of this Article: have at least three-year professional experience of participation in the preparation of special territorial planning documents of immovable cultural heritage protection or professional experience in the preparation of other territorial planning documents which address the relevant tasks of the protection of immovable cultural heritage. The basic principles of assessment of professional experience of participation in the preparation of special territorial planning documents of immovable cultural heritage protection shall be established by this Law and the Law on Territorial Planning;
3) to pass an examination of professional and legal knowledge according to a programme approved by the Minister of Culture and the Minister of Environment with the Architects’ Chamber of the Republic of Lithuania in accordance with the procedure established by it. The results of examinations of professional knowledge for managers of special territorial planning of immovable cultural heritage protection who have improved their qualifications in accordance with the established procedure and who do not have administrative penalties in professional field and in respect of whom no breaches of professional ethics have been established shall be valid for an indefinite period.
11. Certificates of competency of a manager of special territorial planning of immovable cultural heritage protection shall be issued, renewed, their validity shall be suspended, the suspension of their validity shall be lifted, and they shall be withdrawn in accordance with the procedure established by the Minister of Culture and the Minister of Environment. The certification commission shall be set up in accordance with the procedure established by the Minister of Environment. The regulations of the certification commission for managers of special territorial planning of immovable cultural heritage protection and the composition thereof shall be approved by the Minister of Culture upon coordination with the Minister of Environment.
12. Natural persons seeking to acquire the entitlement to manage the preparation of a special territorial planning document of immovable cultural heritage protection shall, in accordance with the procedure established by an organisation carrying out certification, have the right to perform all the certification-related procedures at a distance, by electronic means through a point of single contact or by applying directly to organisations carrying out certification. Certificates of competency of a manager of special territorial planning of immovable cultural heritage protection shall be issued after the certification commission submits a conclusion to issue a certificate not later than within 30 working days from the receipt of all the documents for obtaining this certificate of competency by the organisation carrying out certification. The natural persons who have obtained certificates of competency of a manager of special territorial planning of immovable cultural heritage protection must improve their qualifications in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law on Territorial Planning.
13. Where it is technically feasible, an organisation carrying out certification must allow natural persons who have acquired the entitlement to manage the preparation of a special territorial planning document of immovable cultural heritage protection to receive a certificate of competency of a manager of special territorial planning of immovable cultural heritage protection in electronic form.
14. Plans of the management of the sites of cultural heritage and complex objects of cultural heritage which are declared protected by the State and are state-protected and protection zones thereof shall be approved by the Minister of Culture, and plans of the management of the sites of cultural heritage and complex objects of cultural heritage which are declared protected by a municipality and are municipality-protected and protection zones thereof shall be approved by a municipal council.
15. The preparation of special territorial planning documents of immovable cultural heritage protection specified by this Article may be financed also by managers of an object of cultural heritage and owners of other immovable items located within the territory of the immovable cultural property or protection zone thereof or other holders of management rights.
Article 23. Maintenance of immovable cultural heritage
1. The maintenance of cultural heritage shall be carried out:
2) pursuant to the regulations of management operations of construction of a structure of cultural heritage (technical construction regulations) approved by the Minister of Environment and the Minister of Culture;
2. A design documentation of maintenance shall be prepared on the basis of data of the Register of Cultural Property, the conclusions of the research required prior to preparation of the design documentation and upon assessment of the environmental impact of the proposed economic activity, where this is carried out in the cases specified by the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment of Proposed Economic Activity. Heritage maintenance regulations shall establish the binding character and volume of the research conducted prior to preparation of the design documentation and required for the assessment of the environmental impact.
3. Where new valuable properties are discovered during maintenance, operations shall be suspended in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 9(3) of this Law. In order to make the discovered valuable properties known, additional research shall be conducted. On the basis of conclusions thereof, additional maintenance operations of an object of cultural heritage may be requested.
4. The objects of cultural heritage destroyed by natural disasters or by man may, in exceptional cases and without posing threat to remnants, parts or elements thereof possessing valuable properties, be restored in accordance with the procedure established by the Government or an institution authorised by it, where:
1) the possibility of restoration is based on the thorough data of historical sources and physical research;
2) an object possesses particular artistic or symbolic significance, is of especial importance to the fostering of the national consciousness and cultural heritage and matches the landscape character;
5. The removal of an object of cultural heritage shall be prohibited, except where the preservation of such an object makes removal imperative. All necessary precautions must be taken for its dismantling, transfer and reinstatement at a suitable location.
8. Special heritage protection requirements for management operations of construction and documents permitting construction for the carrying out of such operations shall be issued in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law on Construction. Prior to issuing a document permitting construction, a (special) expert examination of heritage protection pertaining to a design documentation of such operations must be carried out in accordance with the procedure established by the Minister of Culture and an expert examination of a design documentation of a structure – in the cases and in accordance with the procedure established by the Minister of Environment and the Minister of Culture. The design documentation must be revised according to binding notes to reports on conducting such expert examinations prior to issuing the document permitting construction. The document permitting construction for the carrying out of management operations of construction of a structure of cultural heritage shall be issued where such design documentation is not in conflict with heritage protection requirements and is approved by representatives of the Department and a municipality.
9. Prior to issuing an authorisation to carry out management operations of heritage protection, a (special) expert examination of heritage protection pertaining to a design documentation of such operations must be carried out in the cases and in accordance with the procedure established by the Minister of Culture. The design documentation must be revised according to binding notes to a report on conducting of such expert examination. Design conditions of management operations of heritage protection and authorisations to carry out such operations shall be issued in accordance with the procedure established by the Minister of Culture. The authorisations shall be issued not later than within one month from the submission of a design documentation or a revised design documentation.
10. The manager, the Department and municipal institutions and the entities referred to in other laws controlling the progress and quality of the implementation of a design documentation of maintenance operations carried out at an object of cultural heritage must, upon establishing that heritage protection requirements were violated in the course of the carrying out of the operations or a danger of a loss of or damage to valuable properties has arisen due to deficiencies of the design documentation, give a notice thereof to the Department. The Department must suspend the operations which cause damage or threat to the valuable properties of the object of cultural heritage. Such suspension shall remain in force until elimination of violations of the heritage protection requirements or the arising threat or until adoption of a court decision.
12. The procedure for accepting maintenance operations of objects of cultural heritage shall be approved by the Minister of Culture, with the exception of management operations of construction of structures of cultural heritage and management operations of green areas whose acceptance procedure shall be approved by the Minister of Environment and the Minister of Culture.
Article 231. Entitlement to carry out activities related to the maintenance of immovable movable cultural heritage
1. The entitlement to carry out the maintenance of immovable cultural heritage (except in the cases referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article) and a (special) examination of heritage protection shall be vested in professionals meeting the qualification requirements set out in this Article and certified in accordance with the procedure laid down in this Article, where they have been issued a certificate of competency of a professional of immovable cultural heritage (hereinafter: a ‘certificate of competency’), and uncertified assistants thereof under the direction of a certified professional. A certified professional shall be responsible for the operations being carried out.
Note in the Register of Legal Acts. Certificates entitling to carry out the activities referred to in Article 231(1) and issued before the entry into force of Law No XII-2574 (1 January 2017) shall be held equivalent to certificates of competency issued in accordance with the procedure laid down in this Law and entitling to carry out the activities of the relevant type and profile. The certificates referred to in this paragraph shall be renewed before the expiry of the period of validity of such certificates after the organisation carrying out certification assesses, in accordance with the procedure established by the Minister of Culture, the experience of the holder of a certificate in the carrying out of activities according to the type and profile specified in the certificate issued to him, by issuing a certificate of competency entitling to carry out the relevant activities.
2. The entitlement to carry out research, conservation and restoration operations of movable items constituting one of the valuable properties of an object of cultural heritage, of valuable properties of objects of art immovable cultural heritage as well as of structures (wall painting, polychrome, moulding, sculpture, stained glass art, carving) shall be vested in restorers certified in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Law on the Protection of Movable Cultural Property.
3. On a recommendation of the Certification Commission for the Protection of Immovable Cultural Heritage Protection (hereinafter: ‘the Certification Commission’), certificates of competency shall be issued by the Minister of Culture, who shall approve profiles of the activities subject to certification, a description of the procedure for issuing, renewing, suspending the validity of, lifting the suspension of the validity of and withdrawing certificates of competency based on the grounds laid down in this Law.
4. Natural persons seeking to prepare a design documentation of maintenance operations, carry out supervision of the implementation of the design documentation of maintenance operations must meet the following qualification requirements:
1) hold a degree in the field of architecture of the study area of art studies, in the field of construction engineering or construction technology of the study area of technology studies or an equivalent degree;
2) have professional experience, the duration whereof shall be calculated from the acquisition of the degree referred to in point 1 of paragraph 4 of this Article: for the preparation of a design documentation of maintenance operations – at least two-year experience of participation in the preparation of a design documentation of maintenance operations, when activities are carried out at objects, sites of cultural heritage or in structures of cultural heritage. The professional experience of participation in the preparation of a design documentation of management operations of heritage protection maintenance shall be determined on the basis of submitted documentary evidence of work experience, design documentation and a list of objects, sites of cultural heritage and structures of cultural heritage with participation in the preparation of a design documentation of maintenance operations thereof; for the supervision of the implementation of a design documentation of maintenance operations – at least two-year professional experience of participation in the implementation of a design documentation of maintenance operations, where activities are carried out at objects, sites of cultural heritage and in structures of cultural heritage. The professional experience of participation in the implementation of the design documentation of maintenance operations shall be determined on the basis of submitted documentary evidence of work experience and a list of objects of cultural heritage, structures of cultural heritage with participation in the implementation of a design documentation of maintenance operations thereof;
3) pass, in accordance with the procedure established by the Minister of Culture, an examination of professional and legal knowledge according to a programme approved by the Minister of Culture. The results of examinations of professional knowledge shall be valid for an indefinite period for certified professionals who have improved their qualifications in accordance with the established procedure and whose certificate of competency or entitlement document has not been revoked for the reasons referred to in points 1 and 2 of paragraph 17 of this Law and who do not have administrative penalties in professional field and in respect of whom no breaches of professional ethics have been established.
5. Professionals seeking to conduct research, conservation, restoration of immovable cultural heritage, repairs of a structure of cultural heritage (hereinafter: ‘repairs’) must meet the following qualification requirements according to the relevant activities:
1) professionals conducting research of immovable cultural heritage must hold a degree in the field of archaeology, in the field of history, in the field of art sciences, in the field of heritage protection studies of the study area of humanities, in the field of architecture of the study area of art studies, in the study field of construction engineering or construction technology of the study area of technology studies or an equivalent degree; professionals carrying out repairs, conservation and restoration must have completed qualification improvement courses for professionals of maintenance operations of immovable cultural property whose programme and organisation procedure shall be established by the Minister of Culture;
2) have professional experience: professionals conducting research of immovable cultural heritage must have at least three-year professional experience of participation in the research of immovable cultural heritage (the duration thereof shall be calculated from the acquisition of the degree referred to in point 1 of paragraph 5 of this Article). The professional experience of participation in such research shall be determined on the basis of the data provided in research reports on the persons participating in the research; the professionals carrying out repairs, conservation or restoration must have at least three-year professional experience in carrying out repair, conservation or restoration operations, where activities are carried out at immovable cultural property. The professional experience of participation in the carrying out of repairs, conservation or restoration operations shall be determined on the basis of submitted documentary evidence of work experience and a list of immovable cultural property with participation in the carrying out of repairs, conservation or restoration thereof;
3) pass, in accordance with the procedure established by the Minister of Culture, an examination of professional and legal knowledge with the Certification Commission according to a programme approved by the Minister of Culture. The results of examinations of professional knowledge shall be valid for an indefinite period for certified professionals who have improved their qualifications in accordance with the established procedure and whose certificate of competency or entitlement document has not been withdrawn for the reasons referred to in points 1 and 2 of paragraph 17 of this Law and who do not have administrative penalties in professional field and in respect of whom no breaches of professional ethics have been established.
6. Professionals seeking to perform a (special) expert examination of heritage protection must meet the following qualification requirements:
1) hold at least a second-cycle university degree in the field of archaeology, in the field of history, in the field of art sciences, in the field of heritage protection studies of the study area of humanities, in the field of architecture of the study area of art studies, in the study field of construction engineering or construction technology of the study area of technology studies or an equivalent degree;
2) have professional experience, the duration of which shall be calculated from the acquisition of the degree referred to in point 1 of paragraph 6 of this Article – at least seven-year professional experience in the area of cultural heritage protection. Professional experience in the area of cultural heritage protection shall be determined on the basis of submitted documentary evidence of work experience, a list of researched, prepared design documentation of maintenance operations of objects of cultural heritage, sites of cultural heritage and structures of cultural heritage and special territorial planning documents of immovable cultural heritage protection, the data provided in reports of a (special) expert examination of heritage protection on the persons participating in the preparation thereof;
3) pass, in accordance with the procedure established by the Minister of Culture, an examination of professional and legal knowledge with the Certification Commission according to a programme approved by the Minister of Culture. The results of examinations of professional knowledge shall be valid for an indefinite period for certified professionals who have improved their qualifications in accordance with the established procedure and whose certificate of competency or entitlement document has not been withdrawn for the reasons referred to in points 1 and 2 of paragraph 17 of this Law and who do not have administrative penalties in professional field and in respect of whom no breaches of professional ethics have been established.
7. Certified specialists seeking to manage the preparation of a design documentation of maintenance operations of objects of cultural heritage and structures of cultural heritage and the supervision of the implementation of the design documentation of maintenance operations must meet the following qualification requirements:
2) have professional experience, the duration of which shall be calculated from the acquisition of the degree referred to in point 1 of paragraph 4 of this Article: professionals managing the preparation of the design documentation of maintenance operations – at least three-year professional experience of participation in the preparation of a design documentation of maintenance operations, where activities are carried out at objects of cultural heritage and in structures of cultural heritage. The professional experience of participation in the preparation of a design documentation of management operations of heritage protection maintenance shall be determined on the basis of submitted documentary evidence of work experience, design documentation and a list of objects of cultural heritage, structures of cultural heritage with participation in the preparation of a design documentation of maintenance operations thereof; the natural persons managing the supervision of the implementation of a design documentation of maintenance operations – at least three-year professional experience of participation in the implementation of a design documentation of maintenance operations, where activities are carried out at objects of cultural heritage and in structures of cultural heritage. The professional experience of participation in the implementation of a design documentation of maintenance operations shall be determined on the basis of submitted documentary evidence of work experience and a list of objects of cultural heritage, structures of cultural heritage with participation in the implementation of the design documentation of maintenance operations thereof;
3) pass, in accordance with the procedure established by the Minister of Culture, an examination of professional and legal knowledge with the Certification Commission according to a programme approved by the Minister of Culture. The results of examinations of professional knowledge shall be valid for an indefinite period for certified professionals who have improved their qualifications in accordance with the established procedure and whose certificate of competency or entitlement document has not been withdrawn for the reasons referred to in points 1 and 2 of paragraph 17 of this Article and who do not have administrative penalties in professional field and in respect of whom no breaches of professional ethics have been established.
8. Nationals of an EU Member State, the Swiss Confederation or a state which is a signatory of the Agreement on the European Economic Area and other natural persons enjoying the freedom of movement granted to them under EU legislation shall have the right to perform the functions indicated in paragraph 1 of this Article, subject to recognition of the entitlement to carry out the relevant activities held in their country of origin. The procedure for recognising the entitlement held, the procedure for renewing, suspending the validity, lifting the suspension of the validity and withdrawing an issued entitlement document shall be established by the Minister of Culture on the grounds laid down in this Law. Recognition of the entitlement shall be carried out by the Ministry of Culture.
9. Natural persons seeking to acquire the entitlement to carry out maintenance operations of immovable cultural heritage or a (special) expert examination of heritage protection or seeking recognition of this entitlement shall have the right to undertake the procedures related to certification and recognition of the entitlement (with the exception of taking of an examination of professional and legal knowledge) in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Minister of Culture at a distance, by electronic means through a point of single contact, by using the Cultural Heritage Electronic Service Information System or by applying directly to the Ministry of Culture. A decision to issue or not to issue a certificate of competency or to recognise or not to recognise the entitlement shall be adopted and, upon adopting the relevant decision, the certificate of competency or the entitlement document shall be issued for an indefinite period not later than within 30 working days from the receipt by the Ministry of Culture of all the documents required for the issue of a certificate of competency or an entitlement document. Natural persons who have been issued a certificate of competency must, at least every five years, improve their qualifications in qualification improvement courses by attending at least 20 hours of lectures according to training programmes approved by higher education institutions, associations, training schools and coordinated with the Ministry of Culture. The documentary evidence of qualification improvement shall be submitted to the Ministry of Culture in accordance with the procedure established by the Minister of Culture.
10. The entitlement to manage the preparation of a design documentation of a special or non-special structure (except for objects of cultural heritage and structures of cultural heritage) located within the territory of an object of cultural heritage, the protection zone thereof or at a site of cultural heritage, the supervision of the implementation of the design documentation of such a structure shall be vested in architects and construction engineers certified in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Law on Construction and meeting the requirements set out therein.
Note in the Register of Legal Acts. The entitlement to carry out the activities referred to in Article 231(10), (11) and (12) at special structures shall also be exercised by persons who have been issued certificates or entitlement documents entitling them to carry out the relevant activities before the entry into force of Law No XII-2574 (1 January 2017) in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Construction, the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Protection of Immovable Cultural Heritage as amended by this Law and the implementing legislation. This right shall be valid until the expiry of a certificate or an entitlement document.
11. The entitlement to manage the preparation of a design documentation of management construction operations in relation to an object of cultural heritage and a structure of cultural heritage, supervise the implementation of the design documentation of such a structure shall be vested in architects and construction engineers certified in accordance with the procedure laid down in paragraph 10 of this Article who have acquired the entitlement to manage the preparation of a design documentation of maintenance operations of objects of cultural heritage and structures of cultural heritage or the supervision of the implementation of the design documentation of the maintenance operations.
Note in the Register of Legal Acts. The entitlement to carry out the activities referred to in Article 231(10), (11) and (12) at special structures shall also be held by persons who have been issued certificates or entitlement documents entitling them to carry out the relevant activities before the entry into force of Law No XII-2574 (1 January 2017) in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Construction, the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Protection of Immovable Cultural Heritage as amended by this Law and the implementing legislation. This entitlement shall be valid until the expiry of a certificate or an entitlement document.
12. The entitlement to manage management construction operations in relation to an object of cultural heritage and a structure of cultural heritage, any other special or non-special structure located within the territory of the object of cultural heritage, the protection zone thereof or at a site of cultural heritage, an expert examination of such a structure, the technical supervision of construction of such a structure shall be vested in architects and construction engineers certified in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Law on Construction and meeting the requirements set out therein.
Note in the Register of Legal Acts. The entitlement to carry out the activities referred to in Article 231(10), (11) and (12) at special structures shall also be held by persons who have been issued certificates or entitlement documents entitling them to carry out the relevant activities before the entry into force of Law No XII-2574 (1 January 2017) in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Construction, the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Protection of Immovable Cultural Heritage as amended by this Law and the implementing legislation. The entitlement shall be valid until the expiry of a certificate or an entitlement document.
13. Nationals of an EU Member State, the Swiss Confederation or a state which is a signatory of the Agreement on the European Economic Area and other natural persons enjoying the freedom of movement granted to them under EU legislation shall be entitled to carry out the activities referred to in paragraphs 10, 11 and 12 of this Article, subject to recognition of the entitlement to carry out the relevant activities held in their country of origin in accordance with the procedure laid down in this Law and the Law on Construction.
14. The Minister of Culture shall suspend the validity of a certificate of competency or an entitlement document for a period of up to six months (a specific time limit shall be laid down taking into account the nature of an infringement, the degree of dangerousness in relation to objects and/or sites of cultural heritage and the arising consequences, and in the event of suspension of the entitlement of a natural person held in the country of origin and recognised by issuing the entitlement document thereto – taking into account the circumstances of and time limit for suspension of such entitlement) in the following cases:
1) where the Certification Commission , on a recommendation of the Ministry of Culture or the Department, establishes that in the course of carrying out the activities indicated in the certificate of competency or the entitlement document, the person has committed a non-serious infringement of the requirements of this Law and the implementing legislation. An infringement of the requirements of this Law and the implementing legislation shall be considered non-serious if it does not result in destruction of a valuable property(ies) or authenticity of immovable cultural heritage;
2) where the entitlement recognised when issuing the entitlement document is suspended in the country of origin of the person who has been issued the entitlement document;
15. The holder of a certificate of competency or an entitlement document who has eliminated the infringements referred to in point 1 of paragraph 14 of this Article due to which the validity of the certificate of competency has been suspended shall submit supporting documents to the Ministry of Culture. Not later than within 20 working days from the submission of these documents to the Ministry of Culture, the Minister of Culture shall, on a recommendation of the Certification Commission, adopt a decision to lift the suspension of the certificate of competency or the entitlement document (not to withdraw it, where it transpires upon the verification of the documents and other factual data that the circumstances, as referred to in this paragraph, due to which the validity of the certificate of competency or the entitlement document has been suspended have not ceased to exist). The Ministry of Culture shall, not later than within three working days from the adoption of this decision, give a written notice thereof to the holder of the certificate of competency or the entitlement document. Where a decision is adopted that the infringements have not been eliminated, the notice must state the reasons for the decision.
16. Upon eliminating the infringement indicated in point 3 of paragraph 14 of this Article or in the event of disappearance in the country of origin of a natural person, during the period of suspension of the validity of an entitlement document, of the circumstances due to which his entitlement as referred to in paragraph 8 of this Article has been suspended, the holder of a certificate of competency shall submit supporting documents to the Ministry of Culture. Not later than within ten working days from the submission of these documents to the Ministry of Culture, the Minister of Culture shall adopt a decision to lift the suspension of the validity of the certificate of competency or the entitlement document (not to withdraw it, where upon verifying the documents and other factual data it transpires that the circumstances, as referred to in this paragraph, due to which the validity of the certificate of competency or the entitlement document has been suspended have not ceased to exist). The Ministry of Culture shall, not later than within three working days from the adoption of this decision, give a written notice thereof to the holder of the certificate of competency or the entitlement document. Where a decision not to lift the suspension of the validity of the certificate of competency or the entitlement document is adopted, the notice must state the reasons for the decision.
17. The Minister of Culture shall, on a recommendation of the Certification Commission, withdraw a certificate of competency or an entitlement document in the following cases:
1) where it is established that in the course of carrying out the activities indicated in the certificate of competency or the entitlement document, the person has committed a serious infringement of the requirements of this Law and the implementing legislation. An infringement of the requirements of this Law and the implementing legislation shall be considered serious if it results in destruction of a valuable property(ies) or authenticity of immovable cultural heritage;
2) it is established that upon suspending the validity of the certificate of competency or the entitlement document, the person continues to engage in the activities for which a certificate of competency or an entitlement document is required;
3) the person whose certificate of competency or entitlement document has been suspended fails, within the set time limit, to eliminate the infringements due to which the validity of the certificate of competency or the entitlement document has been suspended;
4) the person has failed, within the set time limit, to submit the requested documents and/or data required for the examination of the infringements committed by him;
5) it transpires that the person has provided incorrect data seeking to obtain a certificate of competency or an entitlement document;
6) where the entitlement recognised when issuing the entitlement document has been cancelled in the country of origin of the natural person who had been issued the entitlement document;
18. A person whose certificate of competency or entitlement document has been withdrawn for the reasons referred to in points 1 and 2 of paragraph 17 of this Article may submit an application for the issue of a new certificate of competency or entitlement document not earlier than after the lapse of three years from the withdrawal of the certificate of competency or the entitlement document.
19. The right to be a contractor of construction of structures of cultural heritage, an expert examination of a design documentation of structures and an expert examination of a structure shall be vested in the persons certified in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Law on Construction and meeting the requirements set out therein.
Article 24. Knowledge of immovable cultural heritage, dissemination of knowledge and public use of heritage
1. The knowledge of immovable cultural heritage shall be disseminated and heritage shall be publicly used in the following manner:
1) possibilities shall be provided for the public to acquire direct knowledge and to develop awareness of it being under protection and made known in the historical surroundings;
2. Cultural and recreational tourism shall be one of the ways of the public use of cultural heritage. In order to continuously develop it, the authentic form of heritage must be preserved.
3. The Department as well as the heritage protection divisions of municipalities, directorates of state parks and cultural strict reserves shall, in cooperation with museums, libraries, archives and higher education and general education schools:
1) collect, manage, systematise, protect and disseminate information on immovable cultural heritage and the protection thereof;
3) publish information bulletins popularising cultural heritage and the protection thereof and organise the publication of heritage protection literature;
4) cooperate with the media in preparing radio and television programmes or articles on cultural heritage and the protection thereof;
4. The Ministry of Education and Science shall, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture:
1) organise a state programme for the basic research of immovable cultural heritage and coordinate the implementation thereof;
2) ensure that the theoretical and practical knowledge of cultural heritage be included in pre-school education, general education programmes for children and youth, education programmes for adults;
3) arrange for the improvement of qualifications of teachers in the area of knowledge of cultural heritage and safeguarding thereof;
4) promote and support the educational institutions which organise and implement events disseminating knowledge about cultural heritage and the maintenance operations of this heritage provided for in protection programmes;
Article 25. Accessibility of immovable cultural property
1. Every member of the public shall have the right to become knowledgeable about immovable cultural property.
2. Where it is necessary to preserve a cultural monument and make it accessible to the public, the Government shall have the right to take over cultural monuments for public needs in accordance with the procedure laid down by law.
3. Sample rules for admission to the objects of cultural heritage belonging to the State and municipalities shall be approved by the Government or an institution authorised by it.
4. The viewing of the interior of the structures of cultural heritage managed by the right of private ownership shall be subject to consent of the manager. The conditions of admission and viewing may be laid down by a protection agreement.
5. In order to ensure that an object of cultural heritage could be adequately viewed from the outside, the managers must allow to pass through the territory managed by them to viewing places.
6. Where an object of cultural heritage is surrounded on all sides by the land plots managed by the right of private ownership, owners thereof or other managers must grant the visitors access to this object.
7. When preparing territorial planning documents, servitudes of access to objects of cultural heritage of public knowledge and use and places of viewing them must be provided for. These servitudes shall be formalised pursuant to provisions of the Civil Code and the Law on Land.
8. Where visitors were granted access to an object of cultural heritage, but this right was not entered in documents of the right of ownership of the land plots surrounding the object, an institution in charge of protection thereof must organise the formalisation of such servitudes.
Article 26. Rehabilitation of immovable cultural heritage
1. Immovable cultural heritage shall be integrated in public life by adapting it for use so that the valuable properties of heritage are best revealed and possibilities are provided to become knowledgeable about it as well as by enhancing cultural landscape.
2. Heritage shall be rehabilitated so that the public understands the importance of the heritage it possesses from the point of view of national identity, social and economic welfare, civil society, national security and other points of view.
Article 27. Financing of the protection of immovable cultural heritage
1. State programmes for the accounting, heritage management and control of immovable cultural heritage shall be financed from the state budget.
2. Immovable cultural property shall be made known and objects shall be declared protected with funds allocated to heritage protection from the state budget and from municipal budgets. The right to make a property known at own expense shall be vested in religious communities, societies and centres as well as public organisations of heritage protection.
3. The operations of keeping up of a protected object shall be financed with funds of managers, maintenance operations – with funds of the managers, where possible,- co-financed with funds allocated to heritage management from the state budget or from municipal budgets, international funds and programmes or other sources of financing. The managers shall enjoy tax reliefs established by law.
4. The Minister of Culture shall approve the programmes for the dissemination of knowledge and rehabilitation of immovable cultural heritage which are financed from the state budget, while municipal councils shall approve the programmes for the dissemination of knowledge and rehabilitation of immovable cultural heritage which are financed from municipal budgets as well as the procedure for financing such projects from the respective budgets.
5. Research of immovable cultural property and operations of response to the threat of an accident, introduction of technical protection measures and other urgent safeguarding operations may be financed with funds allocated to heritage management. A list of such operations and priorities of financing thereof shall be approved by the Minister of Culture. A procedure for allocating municipal funds to maintenance operations shall be established by municipal councils.
Article 28. Reimbursement to managers
1. Expenses for management operations of heritage protection of a state-protected object of cultural heritage which is held by the right of private ownership -and is accessible to the public shall be reimbursed from the funds of the state budget allocated for the maintenance of immovable cultural heritage in accordance with the procedure and in the amount approved by the Government or an institution authorised by -it. The expenses shall be reimbursed taking account of the significance of the object and the importance of the operations for the preservation of the object.
2. Under a decision of a municipal council, the municipality may, from the funds of its budget, reimburse expenses for maintenance operations of an object of cultural heritage declared protected which does not belong to the municipality by the right of ownership, but is located within its territory.
3. Upon the request of the institutions in charge of protection, the managers of the mothballed structures under protection shall, in accordance with the procedure established by the Minister of Culture, be reimbursed mothballing expenses.
4. Reimbursement shall be paid to the manager of an object of cultural heritage declared protected, where the established or tightened activity restrictions prohibiting previous activities factually reduce the profit obtained by the manager. The procedure for calculating and paying reimbursement shall be established by the Government or an institution authorised by it.
Article 29. Compensation for damage caused to immovable cultural property
1. The legal and natural persons who have caused damage to an immovable cultural property, also caused damage within the territory or protection zone thereof must restore, to the maximum extent practicable, the condition prior to damage and compensate for direct and indirect losses sustained by the public and the manager.
2. An institution in charge of the protection of an immovable cultural property must propose to a person who has caused damage to restore the condition prior to damage and to compensate for the losses sustained. Where no agreement is reached, the Department shall bring actions before a court for compensation of the damage caused to the immovable cultural property and recovery of losses.
3. The losses sustained by the State may include the expenditure of the state budget and municipal budgets for the maintenance of a damaged cultural property, tourism income not received, the loss of an unknown source of scientific data and educational and schooling means, also the expenditure of the state budget and municipal budgets for the making of the lost or damaged property known and protection thereof.
Article 30. Taking over of immovable cultural property
1. In exceptional cases, an immovable cultural property may be taken over by the State for public needs, with a fair recompense in accordance with the procedure laid down by laws of the Republic of Lithuania and by the Government, where:
1) the cultural property is located in a cultural strict state reserve (reserve-museum) established or being established;
2) a state museum or a branch of the state museum has been or is being established for the exhibition of the cultural property;
2. In the case of the taking over of immovable cultural property for public needs, the owner shall be compensated for at market price established under the Law on the Bases of Property and Business Valuation or by agreement between the parties – by transferring another equivalent item (assets).
Article 31. Liability for infringements of this Law
1. Natural and legal persons in breach of the provisions of this Law shall be held liable under law.
2. Legal persons or other organisations or divisions thereof in breach of this Law shall be subject to a fine in the amount from eight hundred and sixty-eight euros up to eleven thousand five hundred and eighty-four euros. Infringements of this Law committed by the legal persons or other organisations or divisions thereof shall be examined, resolutions shall be appealed against and enforced in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law and other laws.
3. The specific amount of a fine imposed under paragraph 2 of this Article shall be determined having regard to the nature and extent of a committed infringement, mitigating and aggravating circumstances and other relevant circumstances. In the presence of any mitigating circumstances, the amount of the fine shall be reduced from the average to the minimum, and in the presence of any aggravating circumstances the fine shall be increased from the average to the maximum amount. If there are both mitigating and aggravating circumstances, the fine shall be imposed taking into account their amount and significance. The reduction or increase of the amount of the fine shall be substantiated in a resolution of the institution imposing the fine for non-compliance with the requirements set out in this Law.
4. The fact that, having committed an infringement, legal persons or other organisations or divisions thereof have voluntarily prevented the harmful consequences of the infringement, assisted competent institutions in the course of the investigation and compensated for losses or eliminated the damage caused shall be regarded as mitigating circumstances. The institution imposing a fine may also recognise other circumstances which have not been indicated in this paragraph as mitigating.
5. The fact that, having committed an infringement, legal persons or other organisations or divisions thereof have hindered the investigation, concealed the committed infringement, continued to infringe the provisions of this Law despite the competent authority’s instruction to terminate unlawful actions shall be regarded as aggravating circumstances. The institution imposing a fine may also recognise other circumstances which have not been indicated in this paragraph as aggravating.
Article 311. Record of infringements of this Law and time limits for examining cases
1. Having established that the provisions of this Law have been infringed, duly authorised officials of the Department shall draw up against the entities indicated in Article 31(2) of this Law a record of the content set out in the Code of Administrative Offences in respect of infringements of this Law.
2. The cases opened against the entities indicated in Article 31(2) of this Law shall be examined and fines shall be imposed not later than within one month from the detection of an infringement, however not later than within three years from the commission of the infringement, and in the event of a continuous infringement – within three years from the transpiration thereof.
Article 312.. Participants in proceedings
1. The following persons shall participate in examining infringements of this Law:
2) by a decision of the entity examining a case, experts, professionals, interpreters and other persons whose interests are directly related to the case being examined (participants in the proceedings and the parties to the proceedings) and representatives of state and municipal institutions at their request (participants in the proceedings).
2. The persons indicated in point 1 of paragraph 1 of this Article shall be referred to in this Law as the parties to the proceedings.
Article 313. Notice of the examination of a case
Parties to proceedings shall be given a written notice regarding the established infringements of this Law, the time and venue of the examination of a case and shall also be offered access to the case material and requested to present written explanations.
Article 314. Examination of a case
1. A case shall be examined by officials authorised by the Director of the Department. The case shall be examined in the presence of the parties to the proceedings and other participants in the proceedings.
2. During the examination of a case, the parties to the proceedings shall have the right to familiarise themselves with the collected material, give oral and written explanations, present evidence and lodge motions.
Article 315. Resolutions adopted upon the examination of a case
1. The entities referred to in Article 314(1) of this Law, having examined a case, shall have the right to adopt a resolution:
1) to impose a fine specified in Article 31(2) of this Law, the amount of which shall be determined having regard to the nature and extent of the committed infringement, mitigating and aggravating circumstances and other relevant circumstances;
2. Upon the examination of a case and adoption of a resolution to impose a fine, the resolution must indicate: the name of the institution which has adopted the resolution; the date and venue of the examination of the case; information regarding the infringer; circumstances of the infringement; proof of the infringer’s guilt on which the resolution is based, the article of this Law which establishes liability for the infringement; the explanations of the violator and the assessment thereof; the adopted resolution; the time limits and procedure for appealing against the resolution.
Article 316. Recovery of fines
1. A fine shall be paid to the state budget not later than within one month from the service of a resolution to impose the fine on the infringer of this Law.
2. Judicial officers shall recover unpaid fines by enforcing the submitted resolutions indicated in Article 315 of this Law in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Code of Civil Procedure. The resolutions may be submitted for enforcement not later than within three years of the adoption thereof.
Article 317. Appeal against resolutions
1. Legal persons or other organisations or divisions thereof objecting to the resolutions indicated in Article 315 of this Law shall have the right to appeal against a resolution to court in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law on Administrative Proceedings within one month from the service of the resolution thereon.
2. A referral to court shall suspend the enforcement of the resolutions indicated in Article 315 of this Law regarding the imposition of sanctions.
3. The court hearing an appeal shall, taking into account to the nature and extent of a committed infringement, mitigating and other relevant circumstances (due to which a respective fine imposed on the infringer would be manifestly excessive and disproportionate (inadequate) in respect of the committed infringement and therefore unfair) and acting in compliance with the principles of fairness and reasonableness, have the right to impose a fine in the amount smaller than the minimum amount stipulated in Article 31(2) of this Law.
I promulgate this Law passed by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.