Fundamental Rights - and the Rule of Law - National developments from

14 | Fundamental rights and the rule of law – National developments from a civil society perspective, 2020-2021 Disinformation, influence, and self-censorship The rise of disinformation and, more generally, the importance of safeguarding the right to information against the risks of influence and self-censorship came up as a key topic of concern in the discussions with stakeholders in the countrie. [...] • In Lithuania, participants were concerned about the procedure for the selection of judges, which gave a final say to the President of the Republic based on the selection by the special commission for the selection of judges. [...] A major issue concerning application of the law was linked with the division of the country, as inhabitants of the non-government controlled area did not have the same access to their EU citizen-rights as in the south of the island. [...] • In the Czech Republic, participants raised the lack of a unified case law system in the country and problematic inconsistency in the severity of decisions made by courts depending on the geographical locations of the cases or the area of law. [...] This cycle of visits being the first since the start of the COVID crisis, it has also provided the opportunity to hear the views of CSOs and legal practitioners on the impact of urgent and extraordinary decisions taken during the crisis.