NATIONAL LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORK CONCERNING DEFENDANTS AND PERSONS DEPRIVED OF LIBERTY WITH INTELLECTUAL AND/OR PSYCHOSOCIAL DISABILITIES IN LAW AND PRACTICE 38 procedural safeguards for vulnerable persons suspected or accused in criminal proceedings.35 The term 'vulnerable persons' used in the law is primarily intended for victims of crime.36 Interviews with professionals revealed that in practice pre-trial investigation authorities often do not apply the guidelines set out in the EU Recommendation for the participation of persons with intellectual and / or psychosocial disabilities in pre-trial investigations. 3.1.1. RELEVANT DEFINITIONS IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS An outdated and derogatory term of ‘mental deficiencies’ (Lt. ‘psichiniai trūkumai’) is still used in Lithuanian law in relation to persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities. For example, Article 51 (1) (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides that the participation of a defender is mandatory ‘in the proceedings of the blind, deaf, mute, and other persons who, due to physical or mental deficiencies, are unable to exercise their rights of defence’. The legal doctrine explains that persons having ‘mental deficiencies who are unable to exercise their rights of defence are those who suffer from a serious illness that clearly impairs communication, perception or expression, as well as those whose capacity is restricted due to the abuse of alcoholic beverages, drugs or toxic European Commission recommendation of 27 November 2013 on procedural safeguards for vulnerable persons suspected or accused in criminal proceedings (2013/C 378/02). Available at: https://bit.ly/48JeiN9. 36 Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights, et al. Dignity in Court: Strengthening the Procedural Rights of Persons with Intellectual and/or Psychosocial Disabilities in Criminal Proceedings. 2018, p. 78. Available in Lithuanian at: https://bit.ly/3LUGMJZ. 35