"It has been agreed that it will not be submitted for ratification any time soon, the public will be consulted first, there will be talks, and we'll look into how everything looks, everything will be analyzed, and only then will it be decided," Lithuanian Minister of Justice Remigijus Šimašius told journalists on Wednesday, adding that there was no deadline for Lithuania to ratify the copyright pact.
"Since there was no previous deadline set, one cannot say the government decided to postpone. It just decided not to rush to ratify but discuss the issue normally," the minister said.
Šimašius also said he had doubts whether the role of inventions, intellectual property products and copyright products on people's lives and their protection reflected today's situation.
"The intellectual property protection measure has evolved slowly and has not followed the technological revolutions but stayed the way it was in the late 19 century. Perhaps time has come to evaluate whether it still matches today's needs," Šimašius said.
Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Egidijus Meilūnas said a discussion between ACTA supporters and opponents was needed. "We’ll hold a discussion with interested organizations and public representatives following the government meeting. The objectives are two-fold – to listen more closely to questions raised and also try to answer those questions," he said.
Meilūnas underlined the fact the ACTA contains nothing that would add something new to national of the EU law.
Several Lithuanian ministries have different opinions on ACTA.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said the agreement will not violate public interests. The ministry has underlined that ACTA does not oblige the European Union to amend its legal norms as the EU law exceeds existing international standards.
Meanwhile Minister of Justice Remigijus Šimašius of the Liberal party and Minister of Transport Eligijus Masiulis said on Monday that provisions in the copyright pact were too strict.
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė has promised not rush to submit the document for ratification until conclusions by lawyers and the government, which had confirmed ACTA submission for signing, on public concerns are not once again presented.
