July 7th, winners of the National Law Knowledge Olympiad were announced at Mykolas Romeris University (MRU. The true winners were Lithuania’s pupils. The Olympiad was organized by joint initiative of MRU, Lithuania’s National Radio and Television (LRT) and partners. The patron of the Olympiad is the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania.
The Olympiad, whose slogan this year was,"You Can Do More Than You Think" took place in two rounds. In the first round, pupils from all over Lithuania took a special legal knowledge test online. This year, over 3,200 pupils from more than 150 Lithuanian schools and gymnasiums registered to participate in the National Olympiad, of which almost 1,270 participants successfully passed the Ist stage of the test. The most active were schoolchildren were from the Kaunas region, as well as students from Vilnius, Alytus, Elektrėnai, Molėtai, Šilutė, Klaipėda and Kėdainiai. More than 300 of the best performing students were invited to participate in the final stage of the Olympiad. The 2nd stage of the Olympiad test consisted of closed and open questions. In the category of closed questions, students were the best at answering questions related to fundamental constitutional values in the current Constitution, as well as at answering a question about the protection of natural persons based on GDPR rules. Also, they did well answering questions related to restrictions on human rights and freedoms of a person who reported corruption or other types of crime at the workplace, legal status, corruption inflicted damage to society and issues of labor law. The most difficult questions for students to answer were questions regarding the regulation of import/export procedures, restrictions on the use of mobile communication devices, the use of images, and labor disputes.
There were 370 pupils who performed best in the first round and registered to compete in the final. This year, the 2nd stage took place at Mykolas Romeris University. The questions for the final test were prepared by representatives of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania, the Customs Department, the Special Investigation Service, the Association of Judges' Assistants, the State Data Protection Inspectorate, the Lithuanian Bailiffs' Chamber, Eversheds Saladžius and other law firms, and MRU Law School lecturers.
Today's young people are the creators of the future of Lithuania. The success of our country requires brave, curious, thoughtful and civic-minded people", said MRU Law School Dean Prof. Dr. Lyra Jakulevičie
According to the Dean, knowledge of law and its application is important not only for the state, but also for each of us, because law is the main guarantor of human dignity.
The patron of the Olympiad, Minister of Justice Ewelina Dobrowolska, noted that both the winners and the participants of the Olympiad are the ones who will create an open, civil and democratic legal state.
“I am proud of you for striving, improving, and wanting to get to know the state, its structure and democratic processes. Lithuania needs as many curious people as possible, protecting their rights, who would contribute to strengthening the legal foundation with new initiatives. Each of you has proven that "you can do more than you think", so continue to be the drivers of your own destiny", said the Minister.
Skaistė Zakarkaitė, an 8th-grade student of Miegėnai Primary School in Kėdainiai district won 1st place in the 5th-8th grade category. Mantas Kybartas, a 10th-grade student of the Vilnius Lyceum, won in the 9-12th grade category. The Law firm of “Eversheds Saladžius" established 1,000 Euro cash prizes for the first place winners. The second place in the 5-8th class category was won by Vilnius St. Christopher Progymnasium student Grėtė Kamienaitė, a 7th-grade student. Titas Jocys, a 11th-grade student of the Šilutė First Gymnasium, won in the 9-12th grade category. There were 500 Euro cash prizes established for the winners of the 2nd places by the partners of the Olympiad. Rimas Janušas, an 8th grade student of the Nemakščiai Martynas Mažvydas Gymnasium, won third place in the 5-8th grade category, Titas Dobravolskis, a 9th grade student of the Šilutė Vydūnas Gymnasium, won third place in the 9-12th grade category. The Lithuanian Young Lawyers Association established 200 euro cash prizes for the winners of the 3rd places. The prize winners of the Olympiad and the ten best performing students in the second stage in both age groups were awarded valuable prizes by the MRU and Olympiad partners, which were established by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania, the Lithuanian Customs Department, the European Commission Representation in Lithuania, the National Judicial Administration, the Supreme Court of Lithuania, the State Data Security Inspectorate, Lithuanian Chamber of Bailiffs, Special Investigation Service, Association of Judges' Assistants and others. Memorial gifts were also awarded to teachers.
Valuable prizes for the winners were established by the international Law firm, “Eversheds Saladžius”, the Lithuanian Young Lawyers Association and other partners.
