Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania (in ) 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 ru ...

of the

Republic of Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, 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 ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

. The main task of the court is

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which a government's executive, legislative, or administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. In a judicial review, a court may invalidate laws, acts, or governmental actions that are in ...

. It may therefore declare the acts of the

Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (), or simply the Seimas ( ; ), is the unicameralism, unicameral legislative body of the Lithuania, Republic of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of Government of Lithuania, govern ...

unconstitutional In constitutional law, 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 applic ...

and thus render them ineffective. As such, it is comparable to the

Federal Constitutional Court of Germany The Federal Constitutional Court ( ; abbreviated: ) is the supreme court, supreme constitutional court for the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, Basic Law ...

or, in a limited scope, to the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

. However, it differs from it and other

supreme court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

s 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 An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appellat ...

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 An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before assuming the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations. Suc ...

by the President Rolandas Paksas. He was removed from office by Seimas following the

impeachment Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eur ...

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 continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. 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 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 * Danutė Jočienė (''President'') * Elvyra Baltutytė * Vytautas Greičius * Gintaras Goda * Daiva Petrylaitė * Janina Stripeikienė * Giedrė Lastauskienė * Algis Norkūnas * Vytautas Mizaras 2023-2026 * Gintaras Goda ''(President)'' * Daiva Petrylaitė * Janina Stripeikienė * Giedrė Lastauskienė * Algis Norkūnas * Vytautas Mizaras * Tomas Davulis * Aurelijus Gutauskas * Stasys Šedbaras

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1993 establishments in Lithuania Lithuanian constitutional law Judiciary of Lithuania

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Courts and tribunals established in 1993