CYIL vol. 15 (2024)

VIOLETA VASILIAUSKIENĖ, BIRUTĖ PRANEVIČIENĖ 3.3 The implementation of the obligation to monitor facilities and programmes designed to serve persons with disabilities (Article 16(3) CRPD) Licensing procedure. The licensing procedure is an important factor in the process of monitoring the rights of persons with disabilities as the conditions set out in the previously mentioned Social care norms are verified before the legal entity starts providing social care and later these conditions are checked during the supervision process. The Law on social services indicates that the institutions providing care for adults or children with disabilities on a permanent / resident basis have to obtain a licence for this activity. 83 The licence is issued by the Department of Supervision of Social Services under the Ministry of Social Security and Labour (hereinafter – the Department) 84 . The representative of the department checks the compliance of a particular legal entity to provide social care for children or adults with disability with the Social care norms and other requirements. Monitoring of compliance with social care licensing requirements is carried out also by the Department of Supervision of Social Services under the Ministry of Social Security and Labour. The Department oversees the activity of the licenced institutions providing social care (including social care to adults and children with disability). 85 The Department may issue written notices to the social care institution, suspend the validity of licence or annul the licence of social care institution. 86 Independent monitoring by national preventive mechanism. The Seimas Ombudsmen’s Office is considered a national preventive mechanism (NPM) under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment 87 . To prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, the Seimas Ombudspersons regularly visit places of deprivation of liberty, including psychiatric and social care institutions, for preventive purposes. Competent institutions must examine and consult on the Ombudspersons’ suggestions and recommendations, and report back on their implementation results. Visit locations are chosen based on information about the risks of mistreatment, lack of information on certain places, the concentration of individuals, geographical location, type, size, and founder of the institution, as well as the duration of the visit. Visits can be planned, based on a schedule developed in consultation with the head of the Seimas Ombudspersons’ Office, or ad hoc, conducted in response to immediate situations. 88 It can be noted that institutions are usually visited once, unless the recommendations provided need oversight in a repeated visit. In the last four years, the Ombuspersons’ Office carried out about 3–5 inspections a year in total, including all places of liberty. In the preceding 83 Law on Social Services n (72), Art. 21. 84 Lietuvos Respublikos socialinės apsaugos ir darbo ministro 2014 m. gruodžio 31 d. įsakymas ‘Dėl Socialinės globos įstaigų licencijavimo taisyklių patvirtinimo’ (Order of the Minister of Social Security and Labour of the Republic of Lithuania of 31 December 2014 ‘On the Approval of the Rules on Licensing of Social Care Institutions’), TAR, 2014, Nr. 21299, Art. 4. 85 Law on Social Services n (72), Art. 22. 86 Ibid, Art. 24. 87 Lietuvos Respublikos Seimo kontrolierių įstatymas (Law on the Seimas Ombudspersons of the Republic of Lithuania), Valstybės žinios, 1998, Nr. 110–3024, Art. 19 1 . 88 Ibid.

94