Seimo nutarimas: samprata ir istorinė raida

Abstract

The article examines the concept of the Seimas (the parliament of the republic of Lithuania) resolution, its legal force, and practices of constitutional proceedings. Scientific research is undertaken with the goal to reveal its essential characteristics, as well as to detect possible legal regulation gaps and practice-based issues of implementation. While analyzing the evolution of centuries-old state parliamentarism, the state of the Seimas resolution and (or) of equivalent legislation was identified in times of the republic of both nations, the restoration of the state of Lithuania and of inter-war independent republic. Therefore, the Seimas resolution is the historical source of Lithuanian constitutional law. The concept of the Seimas resolution is enriched by its significance in march 1990, when the act of independence was adopted and published, as well as its direct provision in the constitution of 1992. This legal act addresses the relationship between the state authorities (distrust of government) and operational matters of the parliament itself (pre-term elections). The Seimas resolution is not an ordinary by-law. Having analysed more than twenty years of Lithuanian parliamentary experiences, the resolution should rather be considered as the primary means of expression of the political will of the Seimas. Depending on the importance of the issue, the will could be derived from the constitution itself and its principles, as well as from the representation of people“™s sovereignty. One of the most important areas of implementation of the Seimas resolution is the parliamentary oversight. By adopting respective resolutions, the Seimas may require reports from the accountable state authorities; it also may assess their performance or assign them various tasks. Some very important seimas resolutions (for example on elections results or impeachment petition to the constitutional court) could be voted with simple majority of participating members of seimas. The significance of such decisions requires renegotiating qualifications of voting to avoid unpredictable consequences in the Lithuanian politics. The Seimas resolutions also have a close relationship with the proceedings of the constitutional court of the republic of Lithuania. The Seimas can implement some of the court“™s judgments and conclusions by its resolutions. On the other hand, the constitutional court itself may assess whether the disputable Seimas resolution is in conformity with the constitution. It is possible in some cases that the court can examine the constitutionality of resolution on implementation of its own conclusions.