Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania (in lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucinis Teismas) is the

constitutional court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...

of the

Republic of Lithuania A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

, established by the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania of 1992. It began the activities after the adoption of the Law of Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania on 3 February 1993. Since its inception, the court has been located in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

. The main task of the court is

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incomp ...

. It may therefore declare the acts of the

Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas), or simply the Seimas (), is the unicameral parliament of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of government in Lithuania, enacting laws and amendme ...

unconstitutional Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...

and thus render them ineffective. As such, it is somewhat similar to the Supreme Court of the United States. However, it differs from it and other supreme courts in that it is not part of the regular judicial system, but more a unique judicial branch. Most importantly, it does not serve as a regular

court of appeals A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

from lower courts or as a sort of "superappellate court" on any violation of national laws. Its jurisdiction is focused on constitutional issues, the integrity of the Constitution. Moreover, it adjudicates on the conformance of the acts of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania to the laws, compliance with the Constitution of international agreements, as well as their ratification, and takes a final decision on voting infringements.

Activities

The Court has played a substantial role in the development of the Lithuanian legal system, declaring a number of national laws unconstitutional. On 31 March 2004, it issued a ruling acknowledging the breach of the oath of office by the President

Rolandas Paksas Rolandas Paksas (; born 10 June 1956) is a Lithuanian politician who was the sixth President of Lithuania from 2003 to 2004. He was previously Prime Minister of Lithuania in 1999 and again from 2000 to 2001, and he also served as Mayor of Vilniu ...

. He was removed from office by Seimas following the impeachment on 6 April 2004; this has been the first successful case of impeachment of the head of state in the history of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. The ruling interpreted the Constitution as precluding a person, who was pleaded guilty for the breach of oath, from assuming any future position in public service, which requires taking an oath. On 9 December 1998, the Constitutional Court declared that article 105 of the criminal code of the Republic of Lithuania, which established the death penalty, violated several articles of the Constitution. This ruling was a big step in humanizing the punishment system.Constitutional Court (13 January 2020
25 Konstitucinio Teismo bylos, pakeitusios Lietuvą
(25 cases of the Constitutional Court that changed Lithuania), p. 11

Composition

The Court comprises nine justices, appointed by the Seimas, for a nine-year non-renewable term of office. Only Lithuanian citizens of an impeccable reputation, who are trained in law, and who have served for at least 10 years in the legal profession, or in an area of legal education are eligible for appointment. Usually, notable legal scholars and highly experienced judges qualify for the position. The court is renewed by a third every three years. The candidates are nominated by the Chairman of the Seimas, the

President of Lithuania The President of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Prezidentas) is the head of state of Lithuania. The officeholder has been Gitanas Nausėda since 12 July 2019. Powers The president has somewhat more executive authority th ...

and the President of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Lithuania, the Seimas then decides on appointing them. The Seimas appoints the President of the Court from among the justices upon the nomination by the President of the state.

Members

Current members

Historical composition

1993–1996 *Juozas Žilys (''President'') *Algirdas Gailiūnas *Kęstutis Lapinskas *Zigmas Levickis *Vladas Pavilonis († 2003) *Pranas Vytautas Rasimavičius († 2002) *Teodora Staugaitienė *Stasys Stačiokas *Stasys Šedbaras. 1996–1999 *Juozas Žilys (''President'') * Egidijus Jarašiūnas *Kęstutis Lapinskas *Zigmas Levickis *Augustinas Normantas *Vladas Pavilonis (†2003) *Jonas Prapiestis *Pranas Vytautas Rasimavičius (†2002) *Teodora Staugaitienė 1999–2002 *Vladas Pavilonis (''President'') (†2003) *Egidijus Jarašiūnas *Egidijus Kūris *Zigmas Levickis *Augustinas Normantas * Jonas Prapiestis *Vytautas Sinkevičius *Stasys Stačiokas *Teodora Staugaitienė 2002–2005 * Egidijus Kūris (''President'') *Egidijus Jarašiūnas *Augustinas Normantas *Armanas Abramavičius *Kęstutis Lapinskas *Zenonas Namavičius *Jonas Prapiestis *Vytautas Sinkevičius *Stasys Stačiokas 2005-2008 *Egidijus Kūris (''President'') *Vytautas Sinkevičius *Stasys Stačiokas *Kęstutis Lapinskas *Armanas Abramavičius *Zenonas Namavičius *Romualdas Kęstutis Urbaitis *Toma Birmontienė *Ramutė Ruškytė 2008-2011 *Kęstutis Lapinskas (''President'') *Armanas Abramavičius *Zenonas Namavičius *Romualdas Kęstutis Urbaitis *Toma Birmontienė *Ramutė Ruškytė *Pranas Kuconis *Egidijus Šileikis *Algirdas Taminskas 2011-2014 *Romualdas Kęstutis Urbaitis (''President'') *Toma Birmontienė *Ramutė Ruškytė *Pranas Kuconis *Egidijus Šileikis *Algirdas Taminskas *Dainius Žalimas *Egidijus Bieliūnas *Gediminas Mesonis 2014-2017 *Dainius Žalimas (''President'') *Pranas Kuconis *Egidijus Šileikis *Algirdas Taminskas *Gediminas Mesonis *Elvyra Baltutytė *Vytas Milius *Vytautas Greičius *Danutė Jočienė 2017-2020 *Dainius Žalimas (''President'') *Gediminas Mesonis *Elvyra Baltutytė *Vytas Milius *Vytautas Greičius *Danutė Jočienė *Gintaras Goda *Daiva Petrylaitė *Janina Stripeikienė 2020-2023 ''(current)'' *Danutė Jočienė (''President'') *Elvyra Baltutytė *Vytautas Greičius *Gintaras Goda *Daiva Petrylaitė *Janina Stripeikienė *Giedrė Lastauskienė *Algis Norkūnas *Vytautas Mizaras

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1993 establishments in Lithuania Lithuanian constitutional law Judiciary of Lithuania Lithuania Courts and tribunals established in 1993