REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA

LAW

ON FUNDING OF POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS

AND CONTROL OF FUNDING THEREOF

23 August 2004 No IX-2428

Vilnius

(As last amended on 28 November 2019 – No XIII-2566)

SECTION ONE

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Objective of the Law

The objective of this Law shall be to ensure democracy of political campaigns, legality, transparency and openness of funding of political campaigns, to regulate the procedure and control of funding of political campaigns.

Article 2. Definitions

1. ‘Auditor's report of factual findings’ means a document, in which the auditor provides the results of independent inspection of a political campaign participant and which is prepared in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law, in compliance with international standards on related services and according to the terms of reference approved by the Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter: the 'Central Electoral Commission') and defining the scope of work assigned to the auditor.

2. ‘Auditor’ means a natural person holding the title of the certified auditor granted according to the procedure laid down by the Republic of Lithuania Law on Audit.

3. ‘Donations’ means cash, movable or immovable things, information, property rights, results of intellectual activities, other material and non-material values transferred free of charge to donees, actions carried out free of charge and voluntary works as well as the results of such actions intended for funding a political campaign of an independent political campaign participant.

4. ‘Donor’ means a person who, under this Law, has the right to make, and has made, a donation for the benefit of an independent political campaign participant.

5. ‘Donation sheet’ means a document with technological security measures, bearing a series and a number given in the course of the production and intended to confirm the transfer-acceptance of a donation.

6. ‘Candidate’ means a person whose nomination to be a candidate for President of the Republic or whose candidacy for President of the Republic has been registered in accordance with the procedure laid down by law, or who has been registered as a candidate in a single-member constituency at an election to the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter: the ‘Seimas’) or municipal councils as well as a candidate in a multi-member constituency at an election to the Seimas, the European Parliament or municipal councils.

7. ‘Political campaign’ means activities of political campaign participants, voters and other natural and legal persons during the period defined by this Law, related to an election to the Seimas, an election to the office of President of the Republic, an election to the European Parliament, an election to municipal councils or a referendum.

8. ‘Political advertising’ means information disseminated by a state politician, political party, its member, a political campaign participant, on behalf and/or in the interest thereof, in any form and through any means, for payment or without charge, during a political campaign period or between political campaigns, where such information is aimed at influencing voters’ motivation when voting at an election or a referendum, or where it is disseminated with the purpose of campaigning for a state politician, political party, its member or a political campaign participant as well as their ideas, objectives or programme.

9. ‘Political campaign participant’ means a person or a group of persons who seek to be elected or that a referendum question be accepted or rejected and who are registered by the Central Electoral Commission in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law.

10. ‘Political campaign funding report’ means a document in which an independent political campaign participant specifies donations or their sums received for his political campaign broken down into groups of donors, other funds used for his political campaign, donors (presenting a list of donors) as well as incurred expenditure and assumed liabilities (broken down into expenditure groups).

11. ‘Political campaign expenditure’ means expenses specified in this Law intended to organise and fund a political campaign, irrespective of the date of the transaction that entailed expenses.

12. ‘Political campaign treasurer’ means a natural person acting on behalf and in the interest of an independent political campaign participant on the basis of a property trust agreement and having the rights and duties defined by this Law.

13. ‘Political campaign period’ means a period beginning when an election date is announced in accordance with the procedure laid down by law or a citizens’ initiative group for a referendum is registered with the Central Electoral Commission, or a proposal is submitted to the Seimas by a group of Members of the Seimas to call a referendum, and ending 100 days after the proclamation of the final results of the election (rerun election) or the referendum or when the Central Electoral Commission takes a decision in accordance with the procedure laid down by law to declare the initiative to call a referendum terminated and/or to declare the collecting of signatures terminated.

14. ‘Political campaign account’ means an account of an independent political campaign participant at a bank registered in the Republic of Lithuania or at a branch of a bank registered in another Member State of the European Union or a state of the European Economic Area and operating in the Republic of Lithuania, where the funds in this account are kept and accrued exclusively for a political campaign and for covering political campaign expenses.

15. ‘Monitoring of funding of political campaigns and of political advertising’ means collection, accumulation, analysis and evaluation for the purposes defined by this Law of the data on the funding of political campaigns and their participants, the funding and dissemination of election (referendum) campaigning and political advertising during and between political campaigns.

16. ‘Potential candidate’ means a natural person who satisfies statutory requirements for standing as a candidate, who has declared during the period between the launch of a political campaign and the end of submission of application documents that he will stand as a candidate, and who has concluded an agreement with the political campaign treasurer and has been registered as an independent political campaign participant in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Central Electoral Commission.

17. ‘Referendum initiators’ means members of an initiative group of citizens of the Republic of Lithuania who are registered with the Central Electoral Commission in accordance with the procedure laid down by law or a group of Seimas members which has submitted a proposal to call a referendum.

18. ‘Referendum opponents’ means persons who are registered with the Central Electoral Commission in accordance with the procedure laid down by law, i.e. citizens of the Republic of Lithuania, their groups, and political parties, opposing referendum initiators.

19. ‘Election (referendum) campaigning’ means activities for disseminating political advertising during the election (referendum) campaigning stage, for the purpose of influencing voters’ motivation when voting at an election or a referendum.

20. ‘Declaration of a public information producer or disseminator’ means a document to be submitted to the Central Electoral Commission, by which a public information producer or disseminator declares the disseminated political advertising, indicates the price, rates, publishing (space) of the disseminated political advertisements and the person in the interest of whom the political advertising has been disseminated as well as the person who has commissioned the production or dissemination of the political advertising and the person who has paid for the dissemination of the political advertising.

21. ‘Public election committee’ means a group of voters registered by the Central Electoral Commission in accordance with the procedure laid down by law.

Article 3. Independent and represented political campaign participants

1. According to the right to receive donations and incur political campaign expenditure, political campaign participants may be independent and represented.

2. The following may be registered only as an independent political campaign participant:

1) a political party;

2) a potential candidate;

3) a person who declares himself to be a candidate;

4) referendum initiators;

5) referendum opponents;

6) a public election committee.

3. A candidate nominated in a single-member constituency, a list of candidates nominated in an election to municipal councils or to the European Parliament (hereinafter: a ‘candidate’ or a ‘list of candidates’) may be registered as independent political campaign participants, where there is a proposal (application) of the political party or the public election committee that has nominated them.

4. The following shall be registered as a represented political campaign participant:

1) a candidate entered on the list of candidates;

2) a candidate or a list of candidates, in the absence of a proposal (application) of the political party which nominated him/them for registration as an independent political campaign participant.

5. The Central Electoral Commission shall register independent political campaign participants, publish on its website the lists of registered independent political campaign participants and persons whose registration as independent political campaign participants has been refused.

6. Only independent political campaign participants may accept donations and assume property obligations relating to political campaign expenditure and only from the date of their registration as independent political campaign participants and publication of their list on the website of the Central Electoral Commission.

7. Lists of represented political campaign participants may be made public by a political party on behalf and in the interest of which they act, or by the Central Electoral Commission at the request of such a party.

Article 4. Political campaign period stages

1. Political campaign shall comprise the following stages: the election (referendum) campaigning stage and the final (reporting) stage.

2. The election (referendum) campaigning stage shall start with the announcement of an election (referendum) date in accordance with the procedure laid down by law and end at the beginning of a statutory time limit during which election (referendum) campaigning is prohibited. During the run-off voting the said stage shall also include a period between the end of the prohibition of election campaigning and the commencement of the prohibition of campaigning for run-off voting. The referendum campaigning stage shall start with the registration of a citizens’ initiative group for a referendum with the Central Electoral Commission or the submission of a proposal to the Seimas by a group of Seimas members to call a referendum and end at the beginning of a time limit set out by the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Referendums during which referendum campaigning is prohibited.

3. The final (reporting) stage shall start on the day of the proclamation of the final results of an election (rerun election) or a referendum and end 100 days after the proclamation of the final results of the election (run-off election) or the referendum.

Article 5. Registration of independent political campaign participants

1. The Central Electoral Commission shall start accepting applications of the persons referred to in Article 3(2) and (3) of this Law to register them as independent political campaign participants upon the beginning of a political campaign period and shall finish accepting the applications on the date (inclusive) when, pursuant to the relevant laws, the submission of application documents begins. The time limit during which the said persons shall be entitled to apply to the Central Electoral Commission to be registered as independent political campaign participants shall in no case be less than ten working days.

2. Persons wishing to be registered as independent political campaign participants must have an agreement with the political campaign treasurer concluded and have an account with a bank registered in the Republic of Lithuania or with a branch of a bank registered in another Member State of the European Union or a state of the European Economic Area and operating in the Republic of Lithuania, where such an account will be used as a political campaign account.

3. A political party wishing to be registered and to register a candidate or a list of candidates nominated by it as an independent political campaign participant:

1) must submit to the Central Electoral Commission an application to be registered as an independent political campaign participant and may submit to the Commission a proposal (application) to register a candidate or a list of candidates nominated by it as an independent political campaign participant;

2) must, in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law, submit to the Central Electoral Commission a copy of the property trust agreement with the political campaign treasurer, signed by the person authorised by the political party and may submit a copy of the contract with the political campaign auditing firm or the auditor;

3) must submit the document confirming the opening of a new bank account in the name of the political party that will be used as a political campaign account and the statement issued not earlier than three working days before the submission of the said document that there are no funds in this account;

4) if a proposal (application) to register a candidate or a list of candidates as an independent political campaign participant has been submitted, the Central Electoral Commission must be provided with a copy of the property trust agreement with his political campaign treasurer and the document confirming the opening of a new bank account in the name of the political party that nominated a candidate or a list of candidates that will be used as a political campaign account as well as the statement that there are no funds in this account; a copy of the contract with the political campaign auditing firm or the auditor may also be submitted to the Central Electoral Commission;

5) may submit a list of represented political campaign participants;

4. The persons referred to in points 2 to 6 of Article 3(2) of this Law who wish to register as independent political campaign participants must provide to the Central Electoral Commission:

1) an application for registration as an independent political campaign participant;

2) an identity document (of the representative (coordinator) of referendum initiators, referendum opponents or a public election committee);

3) a copy of the property trust agreement with the political campaign treasurer, signed in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law, and may submit a copy of the contract with the political campaign auditing firm or the auditor;

4) an identity document of the political campaign treasurer;

5) the document confirming the opening of a bank account that will be used as a political campaign account and the statement issued not earlier than three working days before the submission of the said document that there are no funds in this account; An account of the political campaign of referendum initiators, referendum opponents or a public election committee shall be opened by the coordinator.

5. A decision to register as an independent political campaign participant shall be taken by the Chairperson of the Central Electoral Commission or the Commission member authorised by him not later than within three working days from the receipt of all the documents specified in this Article.

6. Refusal to register a person as an independent political campaign participant must be justified. If a person does not agree with the adopted decision, he shall have the right to appeal against the said decision to the Central Electoral Commission. The Central Electoral Commission must investigate the complaint within three working days. The decision of the Central Electoral Commission may be appealed against to the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania not later than within five working days from its adoption.

7. The following shall be published on the website of the Central Electoral Commission:

1) the name or the forename and surname of an independent political campaign participant, its/his status in the political campaign (potential candidate, candidate, referendum initiator or referendum opponent), phone number, e-mail address;

2) the forename, surname, telephone number, e-mail address of the political campaign treasurer;

3) the name, code, telephone, e-mail address of the political campaign auditing firm or the name and surname, telephone, e-mail address of the auditor;

4) represented political campaign participants of the political party and the spending limits fixed for them by the political party, if so requested by this political party.

Article 6. Loss of the status of an independent political campaign participant

1. A political party shall forfeit the status of an independent political campaign participant in the following cases:

1) at the request of the political party;

2) upon imposition of a penalty on the political party under the court sentence (during the period of execution of the sentence);

3) upon cancellation of the registration of all candidates or the list of candidates (lists of candidates) nominated by the political party;

4) when the party ceases to exist;

5) when the Central Electoral Commission cancels, not later than nine days before polling day or referendum day, the registration of the political party as an independent political campaign participant because of gross violations of this Law.

2. Any other independent political campaign participant shall forfeit the status of an independent political campaign participant in the following cases:

1) at the request of the political campaign participant;

2) a potential candidate has failed to be registered as a candidate by the end of the time limit set out in electoral laws for the registration of candidates;

3) upon cancellation of the registration of a candidate or the list of candidates;

4) upon the death of the political campaign participant;

5) when the Central Electoral Commission cancels not later than nine days before polling day or referendum day the registration of the independent political campaign participant because of gross violations of this Law.

6) upon cancellation of the registration of the public election committee.

3. From the moment of the entry into force of a decision on the forfeiture of the status of an independent political campaign participant, the independent political campaign participants who have forfeited the status of an independent political campaign participant shall not have the right to accept the donations referred to in Articles 10 and 11 of this Law to fund the political campaign and to assume obligations related to the political campaign. Forfeiture of the status of an independent political campaign participant shall not afford exemption from the duty to fulfil the obligations, arising from this Law and other laws, of the person who has forfeited the status of an independent political campaign participant.

4. Decisions of the Central Electoral Commission specified in point 5 of paragraph 1 and point 5 of paragraph 2 of this Article may be appealed against to the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania within five working days from the adoption thereof. A complaint must be investigated not later than within 48 hours of the receipt thereof. The decision of the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania shall become effective from its pronouncement.

SECTION TWO

SOURCES OF FUNDING OF POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS.

POLITICAL CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURE

Article 7. Sources of funding of political campaigns of political parties

1. Political campaign of a political party shall be funded exclusively from the following sources:

1) funds of the political party received from the sources of funding of the political party and used to finance political campaigns of the political party, candidates and lists of candidates;

2) donations for the political campaign to the political party during the political campaign period, made by natural persons who under this Law have the right to donate;

3) during the political campaign, loans received by the political party from the banks registered in the Republic of Lithuania or a branch of a bank registered in another Member State of the European Union or a state of the European Economic Area and operating in the Republic of Lithuania;

4) interest on the funds kept in the political campaign account.

2. Political parties must keep funds designated to finance a political campaign in the political campaign account. The political campaign account shall not be subject to any interim measures.

3. It shall be prohibited to finance political campaigns of political parties with funds other than those specified in this Article.

Article 8. Sources of funding of political campaigns of other independent political campaign participants

1. Political campaigns of other independent political campaign participants shall be funded from:

1) donations of natural persons who under this Law have the right to donate and donations of political parties to candidates, lists of candidates or referendum initiators, or referendum opponents;

2) own (personal) funds;

3) interest on the funds kept in the political campaign account.

2. Funds designated to a finance political campaign must be kept in the political campaign account. The political campaign account shall not be subject to any interim measures.

3. It shall be prohibited to finance political campaigns of other independent political campaign participants with funds other than those specified in this Article.

Article 9. Source of funding of political campaigns of represented political campaign participants

Political campaigns of represented political campaign participants shall be financed exclusively with the funds of independent political campaign participants who nominated them.

Article 10. Donations

1. Independent political campaign participants registered in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law shall enjoy the right to accept donations specified in this Law.

2. One natural person referred to in Article 13 of this Law may, during a political campaign, make to each independent political campaign participant a donation which does not exceed the amount of 10 average monthly earnings valid in the fourth quarter of the previous calendar year (hereinafter: ‘AMEs’). During a calendar year the total amount of donations by one natural person for independent political campaign participants may not exceed 10 per cent of the amount of the annual income declared by the natural person for the last calendar year (where the donation is made after 1 May) or the amount of the annual income declared by the natural person for the calendar year before last (where the donation is made before 1 May). These amounts shall not include donations referred to in Article 11 of this Law.

3. In order to fund his own political campaign a candidate in a single-member constituency and a referendum initiator may make a donation not exceeding the amount of 20 AMEs. The total donation of a candidate in a single-member constituency and referendum initiators to fund his/their political campaign during a calendar year may not exceed 20 per cent of the amount of the annual income declared by such persons for the last calendar year (where the donation is made after 1 May) or the amount of the annual income declared for the calendar year before last (where the donation is made before 1 May) and the funds declared.

4. Before making a donation to an independent political campaign participant, a natural person must declare his assets and income in accordance with the procedure established by law.

5. Cash donations of natural persons that exceed EUR 290 must be made only by bank transfer. Cash donations of natural persons for a political campaign received not by bank transfer shall be transferred by the political campaign treasurer to the political campaign account not later than on the next day after the receipt of the donation.

6. Not later than within 10 working days from the receipt of a donation the political campaign treasurer shall announce the name, surname of a donor natural person on the public list of donors published on the website of the Central Electoral Commission.

7. A donation sheet must be completed: when accepting a cash donation – on the day of transfer–acceptance of the donation and when accepting an in-kind donation – within five working days from the receipt of the donation. Donation sheets must indicate the value of a cash donation, an in-kind donation and its fair value, the name and surname, personal number of the donor natural person. Donation sheets shall be drawn up in three copies; the first copy shall be given to the donor, the second to the Central Electoral Commission and the third copy shall be left with the donee.

8. It shall be taken that a donation has been accepted when the political campaign treasurer, upon verifying if the received donation satisfies the requirements of this Law, records the donation and, if the cash donation or in-kind donation is accepted, hands in (sends) a donation sheet to the donor.

9. The procedure for appraising in-kind donations and estimating their fair value shall be laid down by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania or an institution authorised by it.

10. At the end of the election (referendum) campaigning stage it shall be prohibited to accept donations for a political campaign. Funds intended to cover the assumed liabilities may be transferred by an independent political campaign participant to his political campaign account or a represented political campaign participant to the account of an independent political campaign participant representing him before submitting a political campaign funding report to the Central Electoral Commission.

11. A political campaign participant shall not have the right to use cash donations received for funding a political campaign which are not entered on the accounting records of political campaign funding as well as the donations specified in paragraph 7 of this Article if the political campaign treasurer has not completed the donation sheet.

12. The provisions of this Article shall apply to small donations specified in Article 11 of this Law to the extent Article 11 of this Law does not provide otherwise.

Article 11. Small donation

1. A small donation shall be considered an individual cash donation (total amount of donations) made during a political campaign to one independent political campaign participant and not exceeding EUR 12.

2. Small donations to independent political campaign participants may be made by phone, internet, bank transfer or other means, allowing the controlling authorities of political campaign funding to identify the donor.

3. Small donations may be made by phone only by natural persons who have concluded the service contract with a telecommunications company.

4. An independent political campaign participant shall acquire the right to collect donations by phone from the moment of the conclusion of the contract with a telecommunications company chosen by him. The following must be specified in the said contract:

1) the telephone number at which a person may call and make a small donation to an independent political campaign participant who concluded such contract;

2) the time limit for providing the service which may not last longer than until the end of the election (referendum) campaigning stage;

3) the cost of the service;

4) the duty of a service provider to submit a list of donors together with the data allowing to identify the donor immediately at the request of the controlling authorities of political campaign funding;

5) the commitment of the service provider to the independent political campaign participant that the transferred donation (total amount of donations) would not exceed EUR 12.

5. A copy of the contract referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article shall be submitted to the Central Electoral Commission immediately after the conclusion of the contract. The Central Electoral Commission shall, not later than on the next working day, publish the text of the contract on its website.

6. A telecommunications company must transfer all the donations, which are collected on the basis of the contract referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article and which meet with the requirements of this Law, to the political campaign account of an independent political campaign participant no later than by the end of the election (referendum) campaigning stage.

7. After a person forfeits the status of an independent political campaign participant, the contract provided for in paragraph 4 of this Law terminates from the moment of the entry into force of a decision of the Central Election Commission regarding the forfeiture of the status of an independent political campaign participant. All donations collected but not transferred to an independent political campaign participant until the moment of the entry into force of this decision shall be returned to the donors.

8. Donations collected on the basis of the contract provided for in paragraph 4 of this Article and transferred to an independent political campaign participant shall not be considered funding of the independent political campaign participant through third parties.

9. A telecommunications company shall provide the service specified in paragraph 4 of this Article to all independent political campaign participants on the same terms. Provision of the service, specified in paragraph 4 of this Article, free of charge shall be considered an in-kind donation and shall be prohibited.

10. In case of a political campaign of an independent political campaign participant not more than 10 per cent of the fixed maximum permitted amount of political campaign expenses may be funded with small donations provided for in this Article.

11. The total amount of small donations received by an independent political campaign participant shall be, without specifying the donors, indicated in the accounting records of political campaign funding and published on the website of the Central Electoral Commission.

12. A political campaign participant who has received in accordance with the procedure laid down in this Article the donations exceeding the limit fixed in paragraph 10 of this Article shall transfer such donations to the state budget before the submission of a political campaign funding report to the Central Electoral Commission.

Article 12. Unacceptable donations

1. It shall be prohibited to use for political campaigns the received donations which do not meet the requirements of this Law. If such donations have been received and a donor is known, the political campaign treasurer must, within five working days from the date of receipt of such donation, return the donation to the donor, indicating the reason for refusing to accept the donation. In the event of failure to establish the identity of the donor within 10 working days, the political campaign treasurer shall transfer the donation to the state budget. The return of the donations to the donor or transfer to the state budget shall be suspended in accordance with the procedure laid down in this paragraph by the decision of the Central Electoral Commission, if criminal proceedings have been initiated (are being conducted) in the case of illegal funding or an investigation of activities of the political party is carried out pursuant to Article 29 of this Law. The return of the donations to the donor or transfer to the state budget shall be continued by the decision of the Central Electoral Commission in the event of termination of the pre-trial investigation, case or proceedings, or investigation of the activities of the political party, also when a judgment of acquittal comes into force or a judgment of conviction becomes effective, but these funds are not confiscated.

2. If it is established that a political campaign participant has accepted and used funds or a in-kind donation from the sources of funding other than those specified in this Law, or the donations which do not meet the requirements of this Law and the sum of which exceeds the sum of a small donation, the Central Electoral Commission shall take a decision to obligate the political campaign participant to transfer the sum in the amount of the used funds or the in-kind donation to the state budget within 20 working days, with the exception of the cases where due to gross violations of this Law, the political party has not been allocated state budget appropriations.

3. It shall be prohibited to fund political campaign participants through third parties.

4. Persons who under this Law are not entitled to fund political campaign participants shall be prohibited from supporting them in any form.

5. The following shall not be regarded as unacceptable donations and may be used to fund a political campaign:

1) small donations made by phone and received from a telecommunications company with which an independent political campaign participant has concluded the contract specified Article 11(4) of this Law;

2) the donations exceeding the amount, indicated in Article 10(2) and (3) of this Law, of the annual income and possessed funds declared in accordance with the procedure laid down by law, if, according to the data available in the information system of the Central Electoral Commission at the moment of the inquiry of the political campaign treasurer, the sum total of the donations by that donor, candidate or referendum initiator (including the donation offered to be made to an independent political campaign participant) for independent political campaign participants does not exceed the specified amount.

Article 13. Donors

1. The following persons shall have the right to make donations to political campaign participants:

1) citizens of the Republic of Lithuania – to independent political campaign participants of all political campaigns;

2) permanent residents of the Republic of Lithuania holding the citizenship of any other Member State of the European Union – to independent political campaign participants of political campaigns of elections to the European Parliament and municipal councils;

3) permanent residents of the Republic of Lithuania who do not hold the citizenship of any other Member State of the European Union or stateless persons – to independent political campaign participants of political campaigns of elections to municipal councils.

2. Political parties shall enjoy the right to make donations for political campaigns of candidates, lists of candidates, referendum initiators or referendum opponents.

3. Political campaign funding agreements confirming property and non-pecuniary (political) liabilities of a political campaign participant (donee) and a donor must be drawn up in writing. They must be signed by the political campaign participant (donee), the political campaign treasurer and the donor. Political campaign funding agreements must be announced publicly and may not be contrary to public order or good morals. It shall be prohibited to conclude secret commitments. A copy of the political campaign funding agreement together with a political campaign funding report must be transmitted to the Central Electoral Commission. The Commission must publish the text of the agreement on its website.

4. Agreements between donors and donees with respect to commitments to private (personal and (or) group) interests shall be prohibited.

5. Persons elected to the European Parliament, state or municipal institutions shall be prohibited from representing donors’ private (personal and (or) group) interests and taking decisions exceptionally favourable to the donors.

6. The definition ‘a permanent resident of the Republic of Lithuania’ used in points 2 and 3 of paragraph 1 of this Article shall be interpreted as it is defined in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Elections to the European Parliament and the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Elections to Municipal Councils.

Article 14. Political campaign expenditure and spending limits

1. Upon the launch of a political campaign, all political campaign expenditure may be paid only with the funds kept in the political campaign account.

2. In those cases where the constituency covers the entire territory of the Republic of Lithuania, the maximum amount of political campaign expenditure of one independent political campaign participant shall be calculated in the following manner: the number of voters entered on the electoral roll of the Republic of Lithuania shall be multiplied by 0.0005 AMEs and the received product shall be rounded up within the accuracy of the first two significant digits.

3. In those cases where a constituency covers a part of the territory of the Republic of Lithuania, the maximum amount of political campaign expenditure of one independent political campaign participant shall be calculated in the following manner: the number of voters of one constituency shall be multiplied by 0.001 AMEs and the received product shall be rounded up within the accuracy of the first two significant digits. If the received product is less than 10,000 AMEs, the fixed maximum amount of political campaign expenditure shall be 10,000 AMEs. In an election to municipal councils, a political party that has nominated a list (lists) of candidates may additionally spend for this political campaign not more than 10 per cent of the maximum amount of political campaign expenditure of the list (lists) of candidates nominated by this party.

4. Expenditure and assumed liabilities of a political campaign participant during a political campaign shall be recognised as political campaign expenditure, where such liabilities and expenditure are designated for:

1) production or distribution of political advertising or any other campaigning material through any means of the media or in any other public mode;

2) remuneration of the political campaign treasurer and performance of his functions;

3) payment for the services of a political campaign audit firm or auditors;

4) rent of movable or immovable property necessary during the political campaign;

5) rent, exploitation of vehicles used for the political campaign;

6) payment for communications, meals, accommodation and transport of political campaign volunteers, election representatives of a political party or a candidates, or election (referendum) observers;

7) expenditure incurred by political parties, potential candidates, candidates, referendum initiators, referendum opponents or public election committees in accordance with the contracts for legal services;

8) expenditure incurred by political parties, potential candidates, candidates, referendum initiators, referendum opponents or public election committees in accordance with the contracts for services related to organisation, consulting and training in respect to the political campaign;

9) expenditure designated for potential candidate’s, candidate’s travelling (transport and accommodation expenses) to a constituency;

10) other needs related to the political campaign as established by this Law.

5. Expenditure satisfying the purpose indicated in paragraph 4 of this Article, except points 7 and 9 of paragraph 4, but incurred not during a political campaign, provided that the property and other assets specified in paragraph 4 are intended for the political campaign or if the services are received during the political campaign, shall be recognized as political campaign expenditure. In this case the political campaign participants must inform the Central Electoral Commission about this, attaching copies of the documents confirming the expenditure. Where necessary, the Central Electoral Commission may request additional information.

6. The amount of expenditure of every political campaign participant referred to in paragraph 4, except points 7 and 9 of paragraph 4, and in paragraph 5 of this Article may not exceed the maximum amounts of political campaign expenditure set out in paragraph 2 or 3 of this Article. In the cases where a run-off voting is conducted under the election law, the maximum amount of political campaign expenditure of a candidate participating in the run-off voting shall be increased by 25 per cent.

7. The following shall not be regarded as political campaign expenditure:

1) expenditure designated for the payment of an election deposit;

2) expenditure in relation to the rent and maintenance of the premises of a political party and for activities of the staff, where such expenditure is incidental to this political party not during the political campaign.

8. If a political campaign participant does not declare the amount of political campaign expenditure that would exceed his spending limit, the Central Electoral Commission shall take a decision obliging the political campaign participant to transfer the sum equal to the amount of the undeclared political campaign expenditure to the state budget within 20 working days, with the exception of the cases where due to gross violations of this Law, the political party has not been allocated state budget appropriations.

9. If during the political campaign a political campaign participant (with the exception of political parties, candidates or lists of candidates nominated by them) gathered more funds than it has been used to cover the political campaign expenditure, the unused funds must be transferred to the state budget prior to the submission of a political campaign funding report to the Central Electoral Commission. Funds that have not been used by political parties, candidates or lists of candidates nominated by them may be designated only for funding activities of the political parties. The political campaign account (with the exception of the account opened in the name of a political party or a candidate) shall be closed prior to the submission of a political campaign funding report to the Central Electoral Commission.

10. Services specified in points 7 and 8 of paragraph 4 of this Article may be provided to political parties, potential candidates, candidates, referendum initiators, referendum opponents or public election committees only by citizens of the Republic of Lithuania, other Members States of the European Union or Member Countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, citizens of the States of the European Economic Area (hereinafter: ‘designated states’) as well as legal persons, organisations, their branches established in the designated states, except where one-fourth or more of voting rights at the meeting of the participants of such a legal person or another organisation belong not to the designated state or belong to the legal persons established not in the designated states and/or to their citizens. Service providers, having concluded with the political parties, potential candidates, candidates, referendum initiators, referendum opponents or public election committees the contracts for the provision of the services specified in points 7 and 8 of paragraph 4 of this Article, may engage the entities meeting the same requirements as those applicable to them. This requirement shall also apply to the providers of the services specified in points 7 and 8 of paragraph 4 of this Article, which were provided before the beginning of a political campaign period but intended for the political campaign.

11. The Central Electoral Commission, when evaluating whether the contracts for the provision of the services specified in points 7 and 8 of paragraph 4 of this Article have been concluded only with the entities indicated in paragraph 9 of this Article, shall obtain the necessary data from state and departmental registers, information systems and databases. Legal persons, organisations, their branches established in another Member State of the European Union, State of the European Economic Area or Member Country of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, citizens of the Member States must submit to the Central Electoral Commission an extract from the appropriate register of or an attestation from the competent authority of the state in which they are established or have their head office.

12. Persons who fail to comply with the decisions of the Central Electoral Commission shall be held liable in accordance with the procedure laid down by law.

SECTION THREE

POLITICAL ADVERTISING

Article 15. Marking of political advertising

1. Political advertising must be marked with an indication of the source of the funds and be clearly separated from other disseminated information.

2. Political advertising which is not marked pursuant to the requirements set out by legal acts or marked not in compliance with legal acts shall be regarded as surreptitious political advertising and shall be prohibited. Dissemination of surreptitious political advertising shall be subject to statutory liability.

3. Besides the special requirements laid down in this Law, the principles and requirements for advertising set out in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Provision of Information to the Public shall apply to political advertising.

Article 16. Dissemination of political advertising in the media

1. It shall be prohibited to disseminate political advertising:

1) on the front page of a periodical;

2) if the dissemination of such advertising is in violation of the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Lithuania.

2. Besides the restrictions laid down in paragraph 1 of this Article, during the election (referendum) campaigning stage it shall be prohibited to disseminate political advertising:

1) free of charge, except discussion programmes;

2) on television, except discussion programmes and campaigning-related videos of not less than 30 seconds duration in which a political campaign participant informs about his political programme or speaks on issues topical to the public.

3. Expenditure of a political campaign participant for the campaigning-related videos referred to in point 2 of paragraph 2 of this Article may not exceed 50 per cent of the allowed maximum amount of political campaign expenditure set out for the political campaign participant.

4. During a political campaign period until the proclamation of the final results of an election or referendum, public information producers or disseminators may disseminate political advertising only at the rates and under the conditions which are equal to all political campaign participants and which are submitted to the Central Electoral Commission not later than 30 days left before the election or the referendum. The rates and conditions of political advertising presented by public information producers or disseminators shall be immediately published by the Central Electoral Commission on its website. The published rates and conditions of political advertising applicable during a political campaign period may not be changed after the launch of the political campaign. The rates and conditions of political advertising applicable not later than until the launch of a political campaign period may be changed in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Central Electoral Commission.

5. Public information producers and disseminators may refuse to disseminate political advertising which contains the material compromising other political parties or political campaign participants, if it is refused to bear potential expenses related to dissemination of a counter opinion.

6. The following shall not be regarded as political advertising:

1) information notices of usual character disseminated during the period other than a political campaign about activities of state politicians, political parties, their management bodies, with the exception of the cases where such notices agitate to vote in the interest of the state politician, political party or its candidate during a future political campaign, or remuneration is provided for such notices, or remuneration is envisaged;

2) information notices of usual character disseminated free of charge during a political campaign period about activities of state politicians, political parties, candidates, as well as information which refrains from inciting non-participation in a referendum, voting for or against the adoption of a decision submitted for the referendum;

3) information on election programmes disseminated free of charge through the media by public information producers and disseminators during a political campaign period, adhering to the principles of objectivity and equality of political campaign participants.

7. During a political campaign period, public information producers or disseminators shall always be required to complete electronically a declaration of the public information producer or disseminator, indicating details of the political advertising disseminated, not later than within 10 working days of its dissemination. During a political campaign period, a declaration of the public information producer or disseminator shall be submitted to the Central Electoral Commission not later than within 10 working days after the proclamation of the final results of an election (rerun election) or a referendum. During the period other than a political campaign period, a declaration of the public information producer or disseminator shall be submitted to the Central Electoral Commission not later than within one month after the end of a calendar year.

8. Political campaign participants shall, together with a political campaign funding report, submit to the Central Electoral Commission a report on political advertising done during the election (referendum) campaigning stage as well as the sources of its funding.

9. After the Central Electoral Commission announces candidates (lists of candidates), the following shall be financed with state budget funds from the appropriations allocated to the Central Electoral Commission:

1) discussions of candidates over the radio and on television with the aim of presenting election programmes in compliance with the principle of equality and according to the procedure laid down by the Central Electoral Commission;

2) information disseminated in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Central Electoral Commission, encouraging participation in an election.

SECTION FOUR

ACCOUNTING REQUIREMENTS FOR

AND ARREARS OF POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS

Article 17. Accounting and reporting requirements for political campaigns

1. Independent political campaign participants shall handle accounting of a political campaign in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law, the Accounting Law of the Republic of Lithuania and other legal acts regulating accounting and financial reporting.

2. The accounting of a political campaign shall be handled by the political campaign treasurer with whom a person wishing to be registered as an independent political campaign participant must conclude a property trust agreement in accordance with the requirements of Chapter L of Book Six of the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania.

3. A citizen of the Republic of Lithuania or a permanent resident of the Republic of Lithuania may be a political campaign treasurer, except:

1) a potential candidate or a candidate;

2) referendum initiators and referendum opponents;

3) an electoral or referendum committee member;

4) an auditor who carries out independent inspection of a political party or an independent political campaign participant in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law;

5) a natural person who has been declared by the court legally incapable or who has not completed serving a court-imposed sentence;

6) a public election committee member.

4. The political campaign treasurer shall:

1) fill in and sing donation sheets, accounting records of the political campaign funding, a political campaign funding report;

2) keep and preserve accounting records of the political campaign in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law and the Accounting Law;

3) within 10 working days from the receipt of the information, publish on the website of the Central Electoral Commission the data on the donations received, political campaign expenditure, undertaking financial commitments and political campaign funding agreements concluded during a political campaign;

4) control political campaign expenditure and supervise that the said expenditure would not exceed the expenditure amounts fixed in Article 14(2) and (3) of this Law;

5) if an obligation set out in Article 20(1) of this Law does not arise for an independent political campaign participant, submit a political campaign funding report to the Central Electoral Commission not later than within 25 calendar days from the proclamation of the final results of the election (rerun election) or referendum;

6) if an obligation set out in Article 20(1) of this Law arises for an independent political campaign participant, submit a political campaign funding report and the auditor's report of factual findings to the Central Electoral Commission not later than within 85 calendar days from the proclamation of the final results of the election (rerun election) or referendum;

7) together with a political campaign funding report submit to the Central Electoral Commission an extract of the political campaign account and the documents substantiating political campaign proceeds and expenditure;

8) perform other duties laid down by this Law.

5. An independent political campaign participant or a person authorised by him shall:

1) sign accounting records of political campaign funding and a political campaign funding report;

2) immediately transfer the concluded agreements and other financial documents over to the political campaign treasurer;

3) create conditions for the political campaign treasurer to exercise the rights set out for him in legal acts.

6. All political campaign proceeds received by a political party from the sources specified in Article 7(1) of this Law and all political campaign proceeds received by other independent political campaign participants from the sources specified in Article 8 of this Law as well as political campaign expenditure or assumed financial liabilities shall be entered in the accounting records of political campaign funding.

7. All political campaign proceeds and expenditure as well as assumed liabilities (according to the expenditure groups) shall be specified in a political campaign funding report in compliance with the description of the procedure for filling in and submitting a political campaign funding report approved by the Central Electoral Commission. The list of donations and donors or sums of donations according to the groups of donors shall be submitted separately.

8. When the political campaign treasurer terminates the agreement, is unable to carry out his duties because of the circumstances laid down in paragraph 3 of this Article or dies, an independent political campaign participant must conclude an agreement, referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, with another person and notify the Central Electoral Commission about this.

Article 18. Arrears of political campaign participants and clearance thereof

1. A political party shall have the right to pay the arrears only from the sources of funding specified in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Political Parties, and other political campaign participants, only with own (personal) funds.

2. Arrears of political campaign participants during a political campaign must be settled until the launch of the next political campaign of a respective election. In the cases when a former independent political campaign participant does not pay the arrears within the set time limit, upon registering him as an independent participant of another political campaign, his maximum allowable amount of political campaign expenditure shall, by the decision of the Central Electoral Commission, be reduced by 25 per cent.

3. Having paid the arrears, a former independent political campaign participant must, within five working days, notify the Central Electoral Commission about the payment of the arrears and the sources of funds used for this purpose.

SECTION FIVE

MONITORING, CONTROL AND PUBLICITY OF

FUNDING OF POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS.

INSPECTION OF POLITICAL CAMPAIGN PARTICIPANTS

Article 19. Control of funding of political campaigns

1. Funding of political campaigns shall be controlled by the Central Electoral Commission and other institutions within their remit in accordance with the procedure laid down by law.

2. The Central Electoral Commission shall:

1) approve the model form of a donation sheet;

2) approve model forms of an accounting record of political campaign funding, a declaration of a public information producer or disseminator, a report on political advertising done during the election (referendum) campaigning stage as well as the sources of its funding, and a description of the procedure for filling in and submitting the above mentioned documents;

3) after consultation with the Lithuanian Chamber of Auditors, approve the model form of a political campaign funding report;

4) approve a description of the procedure for filling in and submitting a political campaign funding report;

5) approve a description of the procedure for marking political advertising;

6) after consultation with the Lithuanian Chamber of Auditors, approve the terms of reference for an audit firm or an auditor carrying out independent inspection of an independent political campaign participant, defining the scope of work carried out by the auditor;

7) control the compliance by political campaign participants with the requirements of this Law and propose to hold liable for violations of this Law or to appeal to other institutions whose remit granted by law allow to verify the compliance with the requirements laid down by law;

8) create conditions and be responsible that a declaration of a public information producer or disseminator, political campaign funding reports and accounting records of political campaign funding would be published on the website of the Central Electoral Commission immediately after the receipt of their data and would be updated so that the said data would conform to the obtained information;

9) fix the maximum amounts of political campaign expenditure in particular constituencies and announce them not later than by 1 January of each year;

10) register donation sheets, issue them and control their usage;

11) provide software to transfer data of accounting records of political campaign funding or of a declaration of a public information producer or disseminator, to declare the rates and conditions applicable by a public information producer or disseminator during a political campaign, to print political campaign funding reports, declarations of public information producers or disseminators according to the transferred data;

12) publish on its website the rates applicable by a public information producer or disseminator during a political campaign;

13) together with the State Tax Inspectorate under the Ministry of Finance (hereinafter: the ‘State Tax Inspectorate’) create conditions for the political campaign treasurer to check in the information system of the Central Electoral Commission whether or not a donation meets the requirements of Article 10(2) of this Law and whether a donor has declared his assets and income. The Central Electoral Commission shall be responsible for the proper functioning of this information system.

3. The Central Electoral Commission shall control the use of funds designated for a political campaign.

4. The Central Electoral Commission shall be responsible for continuous timely provision of information about violations of funding of political campaigns to the Special Investigation Service of the Republic of Lithuania and to the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Lithuania.

5. The State Tax Inspectorate shall inspect whether or not donors possessed enough income to make donations and whether or not the income has been taxed in accordance with the procedure laid down by law. The State Tax Inspectorate shall inform the Central Electoral Commission about the performed inspection and the violations of legal acts established during it.

6. An institution which has initiated or terminated pre-trial investigation, case or proceedings, as well as investigation of activities of a political party shall inform the Central Electoral Commission about this.

Article 20. Independent inspection of independent political campaign participants

1. An independent political campaign participant who during a political campaign has received the sum of revenue exceeding the amount of 70 AMEs must conclude with an audit firm a contract for independent inspection of the independent political campaign participant. The political campaign treasurer shall submit a copy of the said agreement to the Central Electoral Commission not later than within 25 calendar days after the proclamation of the final results of the election (rerun election) or the referendum.

2. The Central Electoral Commission shall organise independent inspection of independent political campaign participants who have received the sum of revenue lower than the amount of 70 AMEs during a political campaign. In order to carry out independent inspection of independent political campaign participants referred to in this paragraph the Central Electoral Commission shall have the right to purchase services of audit firms or auditors in accordance with the procedure laid down by legal acts.

3. The auditor:

1) must carry out independent inspection of an independent political campaign participant in compliance with legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania and according to the terms of reference approved by the Central Electoral Commission defining the scope of work assigned to the auditor;

2) shall have the right to obtain from the political campaign treasurer and a political campaign participant or the Central Electoral Commission all the documents necessary to carry out independent inspection of the independent political campaign participant.

4. An independent political campaign participant must cooperate with an auditor carrying out independent inspection of the independent political campaign participant and furnish the data, documents and other information necessary to carry out such an inspection.

Article 21. Publicity of funding

1. The Central Electoral Commission shall publish accounting records of political campaign funding, political campaign funding agreements, political campaign funding reports together with auditors’ reports on factual findings, if they are mandatory, on its website not later than within 10 working days from the receipt thereof.

2. Declarations of public information producers or disseminators, political campaign funding reports and auditors' reports of factual findings, reports concerning the dissemination of political advertisements disseminated during the election (referendum) campaigning stage and the funding sources thereof, accounting records of political campaign funding, contracts of political campaign participants with service providers, advertising producers, public information producers or disseminators shall be public and presented in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Central Electoral Commission, ensuring the protection of personal data.

Article 22. Monitoring of funding of political campaigns and of political advertising

1. For the purposes of this Law, monitoring of the funding of political campaigns and of political advertising shall be conducted during the election (referendum) campaigning stage.

2. Monitoring of the funding of political campaigns and of political advertising shall be conducted by the Central Electoral Commission.

3. The methods of and the procedure for monitoring the funding of political campaigns and of political advertising shall be laid down by the Central Electoral Commission.

4. When conducting monitoring of the funding of political campaigns and of political advertising, the Central Electoral Commission shall have the right to procure monitoring services in accordance with the procedure laid down by legal acts.

5. The Central Electoral Commission shall have the right to apply to the Lithuanian Radio and Television Commission, the Commission of Ethics in the Provision of Information to the Public and the Inspector of Journalist Ethics regarding the evaluation of the content of disseminated information in the light of political advertising.

6. The Central Electoral Commission shall constantly publish on its website the summarised data on monitoring of the funding of political campaigns and of political advertising. Controlling authorities must, within their remit, be furnished with detailed monitoring data; a political campaign participant – only with the monitoring data on his political campaign.

7. Upon establishing that a political campaign participant has exceeded the amount of political campaign expenditure set for him, the Central Electoral Commission shall, by its decision, obligate the political campaign participant not to assume new property obligations regarding political campaign expenditure, with the exception of an agreement with an audit firm or the auditor, if an obligation set out in Article 20(1) of this Law arises for the independent political campaign participant.

8. The political campaign participant shall have the right to appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania against the adopted decision, referred to in paragraph 7 of this Article, within seven days after the adoption of such decision. The complaint must be investigated not later than within 48 hours of the receipt thereof. The decision of the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania shall become effective from its pronouncement.

SECTION SIX

LIABILITY

Article 23. Gross violations of this Law

1. The following shall be considered to be gross violations of this Law:

1) funding of a political campaign participant with unacceptable donations specified in Article 12 of this Law;

2) if a political campaign participant takes decisions to use for a political campaign the donations received from the persons who have no right to fund political campaigns or from the unacceptable sources of funding of a political campaign;

3) if a political campaign participant concludes political campaign funding agreements in violation of the requirements of this Law;

4) presentment of knowingly false data in a political campaign funding report;

5) exceeding of the fixed maximum amount of political campaign expenditure by 10 or more per cent;

6) if political campaign participant's expenditure on undeclared political advertising or undeclared political campaign expenditure makes up 10 or more per cent of the fixed maximum amount of political campaign expenditure;

7) if undeclared funds of a political campaign participant received for a political campaign makes up 10 or more per cent of the fixed maximum amount of political campaign expenditure;

8) loss of the documents subject to storing, other activities because of which it is impossible to determine whether a political campaign funding report of the political campaign participant is accurate;

9) dissemination of surreptitious political advertising, if the expenditure on surreptitious political advertising makes up 10 or more per cent of the fixed maximum amount of political campaign expenditure;

10) dissemination of political campaign through foreign broadcasters in violation of the requirements of this Law for political advertising;

11) exceeding of the expenditure fixed in Article 16(3) of this Law for campaigning-related videos during a political campaign.

2. The Central Electoral Commission shall take a decision whether a political campaign participant has grossly violated this Law.

3. Having established the circumstances referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article and having received the explanations, the Central Electoral Commission shall have the right to take a decision that the said violation was not gross.

4. A political campaign participant shall have the right to appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania against the adopted decision, referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, within seven days after the adoption of such decision. A complaint must be investigated not later than within 48 hours of the receipt thereof. The decision of the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania shall become effective from its pronouncement.

Article 24. Liability

Persons who have violated this Law shall be held liable under this Law and other laws.

Article 25. Disputes concerning violations of this Law

Disputes with regard to violations of this Law shall be resolved in accordance with the procedure laid down by law.

I promulgate this Law passed by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.

PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC	VALDAS ADAMKUS