Constitution of Lithuania
The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania defines the legal foundation for all laws passed in the Republic of Lithuania. The first constitution of the contemporary republic was enacted on 1 August 1922. The current constitution was adopted in a referendum on 25 October 1992.
History
Statutes of Lithuania
The first attempt to codify the laws of Grand Duchy of Lithuania took the form of Statutes of Lithuania, with the First Statute in power in 1529. The document, written in Ruthenian language, fulfilled the role of the supreme law of the land, even including provisions that no other law could contradict it.Constitution of 3 May 1791
In the 18th century the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a federal entity consisting of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, faced a period of decline due to increasingly dysfunctional internal politics. In a belated attempt to rectify the situation, a constitution was adopted on May 3, 1791 – one of the oldest codified national constitutions in the world.The new constitution abolished the liberum veto and banned the szlachta's confederations, features that had crippled decision making the state. The constitution also provided for a separation of powers among legislative, executive and judicial branches of government, established "popular sovereignty" and extended political rights to the bourgeoisie. The peasantry saw their rights increased but it fell short of abolishing serfdom, which was reconfirmed. Religious tolerance was preserved, although the status of the Catholic faith was recognized.
Reciprocal Guarantee of Two Nations of 22 October 1791 accompanied the constitution, affirming the unity and indivisibility of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania within a single state and their equal representation in state-governing bodies.
The 1791 document remained in force for less than 19 months; after a brief war with Russia, it was annulled by the Grodno Sejm on 23 November 1793. By 1795, the Commonwealth was partitioned between Russian Empire, Kingdom of Prussia and Habsburg Austria, with most of the lands of the Grand Duchy under the Russian rule.
Interwar constitutions
During the closing stages of World War I, Lithuania declared independence on 16 February 1918. Three separate temporary constitutions were enacted on 2 November 1918, 4 April 1919 and 10 June 1920.On 2 November 1918, the State Council adopted a constitutional act. At the time, it was still constrained by the decision of 11 July 1918, declaring Lithuania a constitutional monarchy, with close ties to Germany. In a changing environment, the council chose to adopt the constitutional act without specifying the form of government or the head of state, leaving the decisions to the Constituent Assembly.
On 4 April 1919, the State Council adopted modified Fundamental Principles of Temporary Constitution. The modifications were mainly notable for the introduction of the office of the President, in place of the Presidium of the Council. Once assembled, the Constituent Assembly adopted another temporary constitutional act on 10 June 1920, confirming Lithuania as a parliamentary republic and providing the framework and limits to its own powers.
The first permanent constitution of the Republic of Lithuania was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 1 August 1922. It was a democratic constitution and resembled contemporary Western European constitutions, enshrining the main rights and freedoms of the people, political freedoms, political pluralism and a mechanism for democratic elections. The constitution envisioned a strong parliament and a politically weakened president as the head of state.
A coup on 17 December 1926 started the process of transforming the Republic of Lithuania into an authoritarian state headed by Antanas Smetona as the President. The constitution of 1922 was disregarded as early as 12 April 1927, when the President dissolved the Seimas without announcing a new election. A constitutional reform was proposed, strengthening the authority of the President and weakening the parliament.
A new constitution was proclaimed by Smetona in May 1928 without any attempt to follow the procedure for changing the Constitution established in the 1922 document. Instead, the constitution was presented as a "proposal" to the nation, to be approved within 10 years, although this provision was not considered meaningful. The constitution maintained a parliament, but assigned all of its functions, such as enacting laws, ratifying treaties, as well as drafting and executing the budget, to the President when the parliament was not in session. The Seimas would not reconvene until 1936.
The constitution of 1928 was never submitted for approval to the nation. Instead, the government started working on a new constitution, approved by the newly assembled Seimas in 1938. The constitution retained the overall authoritarian character of the 1928 document, and declared that the state was the foundation of existence of its citizens and not the other way round. The constitution did away with the separation of powers, stating that state power was "undividable" and led by the President, with the Seimas, Government and courts subordinate to him.
In 1940, Lithuania was invaded and occupied by the Soviet Union. Ironically, the constitution of 1938 assisted the Soviets in legitimizing their actions by concentrating the power in the hands of the President, the post that was de facto taken over by Justas Paleckis. In 1940 and 1978, new constitutions of Lithuanian SSR were adopted, based on the Soviet constitutions of 1936 and 1977, respectively.
Modern constitution
Onset
On 11 March 1990, Lithuania declared independence from the Soviet Union, emphasizing restoration and the legal continuity of the interwar-period Republic of Lithuania. On the same day, the 1938 Constitution of Lithuania was restored for a brief period, but subsequently suspended and replaced with the Provisional Basic Law.The Provisional Basic Law established a framework for the new state, guaranteeing democratic rights and establishing rules of democratic process. However, the government was structured similarly to its Soviet predecessor: legislative and executive functions were combined under the parliament, and the judiciary branch was not independent. The government functions were performed by the presidium of the Supreme Council and the chairman of the presidium became the chairman of the parliament and the Head of State. It was a transitional system, as the Provisional Basic Law did not reflect the changing economic and social relations and the evolving demands of the society and the state. Also over one-third of the Law was amended in a period of two years.
Over the next two years, work on a new constitution was done, with independent drafts prepared in 1990 and 1991. At the end of 1991, the Supreme Council established a commission tasked to prepare a draft constitution. The resulting proposal was approved by the Supreme Council on 21 April 1992, and presented to the public. An alternative draft constitution was prepared by a coalition led by Sąjūdis. The main difference between the two proposals was the balance between the various branches of government. The proposal approved by the Supreme Council envisioned a parliamentary system, while the alternative proposal suggested a presidential model. The final document represented a compromise between a purely parliamentary system and a presidential one.