The Lithuanian e-commerce framework is not based on the adoption of specific laws, but rather finds its origins in the general norms of private law, consumer protection law, data protection law, etc.
However, keeping in mind the EU’s aspiration to boost free movement of information society serviced within the integrated common market, upon accession to the EU Lithuanian legislation has been committed to integrate into its national system the EU-predetermined principles of the e-commerce regulatory framework.
With this in mind, the Lithuanian Parliament has recently registered the draft law aimed at transposing the Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market. The essential aim of the draft is to define and establish grounds for legal regulation of the provision of information society services and engagement into related activities thus filling regulatory gaps which have partly contributed to information society developments lagging behind the average EU level.
The draft law lays down requirements for the information being provided, commercial information, as well as for the provision of commercial information, making orders, concluding agreements by electronic means. It also establishes responsibility of service providers and other entities related to the provision of information society services, institutes certain measures of dispute resolution, establishes functions and rights of the authorized Government institution. By regulating the provision of information society services the draft aims at creating opportunities to develop services based on information technologies and electronic business. The adoption of the law would enhance consumer trust and market confidence, which would induce residents and business entities to join information society and would stimulate processes of information society development in Lithuania.
The corner-stone principles of the e-commerce regulation clearly fleshed-out by the new legislation are the principles of non-discrimination of electronic form, functional equivalency and technological neutrality. So far said principles were mainly a patch worked by virtue of inter alia Article 1.73 of the Lithuanian Civil Code providing that the documents transmitted via phone, facsimile, telex or any other type of terminal equipment of telecommunication network are equated to the hand-written paper based documents, provided any such document ensures protection of text integrity and it is possible to identify the signature of the signatory party. This provision is of vital importance because it mandates the principle of technological neutrality and functional equivalency and attaches to electronic documents, electronic contracts the legal value and legal effect, which is identical to paper based written documents. On the other hand, it is obvious that only electronic documents that are satisfying the above-indicated criteria are recognized as legally enforceable and creating legal outcomes.. The basic principle is that electronic documents cannot be discriminated against paper based written documents, exercising the same or analogical functions.