Constitutional Court of Lithuania

The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania (in Lithuanian: Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucinis Teismas) is a special court established by the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania of 1992; it began the activities after the adoption of the Law on Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania on February 3, 1993. Since its inception, the Court has been located in the city of Vilnius, Gediminas Avenue.

The main task of the court is judicial review. It may therefore declare the acts of the Seimas unconstitutional 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 from lower courts or as a sort of “superappellate court” on any violation of national laws.

The Court's palace on Gediminas Avenue

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 March 31, 2004, it issued a ruling acknowledging the breach of the oath of office by the President Rolandas Paksas. He was removed from office by Seimas following the impeachment on April 6, 2004; this has been the first successful case of impeachment of the head of state in the history of Europe.[1] 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.

Composition

The Court comprises nine justices, elected 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 candidates are nominated by the Chairman of the Seimas, the President of Lithuania and the President of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Lithuania, 3 persons each. The Seimas appoints the President of the Court from among the justices upon the nomination by the President of the state.

Members

Current members

Name	Date of birth	Hometown	President	Date appointed	Mandatory retirement year	Law School	Prior judicial office
Dainius Žalimas (President Justice)	(1973-05-22) 22 May 1973	Vilnius	Grybauskaitė	15 March 2011 11 July 2014	2020	Vilnius University	Permanent Court of Arbitration
Gediminas Mesonis	(1968-11-09) 9 November 1968	Vilnius	Grybauskaitė	15 March 2011	2020	Mykolas Romeris University
Vytautas Milius	(1949-02-21) 21 February 1949	Varėna	Grybauskaitė	17 December 2013	2020	Vilnius University	Šilutė District Local Court Druskininkai City Local Court Court of Appeal of Lithuania Supreme Court of Lithuania
Elvyra Baltutytė	(1954-12-06) 6 December 1954	Šilutė	Grybauskaitė	10 March 2014	2023	Vilnius University	European Court of Human Rights
Vytautas Greičius	(1949-05-09) 9 May 1949	Tauragė	Grybauskaitė	10 March 2014	2023	Vilnius University	Klaipėda City Local Court Ukmergė Local Court Supreme Court of Lithuania
Danutė Jočienė	(1970-11-10) 10 November 1970	Mažeikiai	Grybauskaitė	10 March 2014	2023	Vilnius University	European Court of Human Rights
Gintaras Goda	(1965-06-13) 13 June 1965	Švenčionys	Grybauskaitė	14 March 2017	2026	Goethe University Frankfurt	Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania Supreme Court of Lithuania
Daiva Petrylaitė	(1977-08-23) 23 August 1977	Raseiniai	Grybauskaitė	14 March 2017	2026	Vilnius University
Janina Stripeikienė	(1955-03-08) 8 March 1955	Kelmė	Grybauskaitė	14 March 2017	2026	Vilnius University	Court of Appeal of Lithuania Supreme Court of Lithuania

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 (current)

Dainius Žalimas (President)
Gediminas Mesonis
Elvyra Baltutytė
Vytas Milius
Vytautas Greičius
Danutė Jočienė
Gintaras Goda
Daiva Petrylaitė
Janina Stripeikienė

gollark: I really should have read the docs in more detail then.

gollark: If I got ARC to allow for multiple beacons at once, imagine the use of this with in-world positioning - you could walk through a mall and see where certain items were available.

gollark: Whether SC is updated I know not.

gollark: The addItem thing is in the docs already.

gollark: What allows that?

References

Lithuania: Paksas Becomes First European President To Be Removed From Office Accessed January 8, 2007

External links

The official website of the Constitutional Court of Lithuania

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[1] Lithuania: Paksas Becomes First European President To Be Removed From Office Accessed January 8, 2007