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Already on June 29, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) blessed the initiative group of a referendum, and already on July 1. The CCA itself decided not to issue signatures to the steering group on ballot papers and access to the electronic signature collection system. However, after appealing this decision to the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania (SACL), the latter declared that the right to collect signatures should be granted.
1 photoIt is likely that we will go to the polls again in the near future, as the CEC’s decision not to issue signature ballots to referendum initiators was reversed. Photo by Irmantas Sidarevičius.
The essence of the citizens’ initiative is very simple and clear: ask people in a referendum if they agree that the provision of the Constitution should be changed and allow a referendum to be held when 100,000 signatures have been collected instead of 300,000 . In late June, the CEC supported this initiative and registered a referendum initiative group.
However, on July 1. The CEC met again to discuss the procedures for organizing and conducting the referendum. The president of the CEC, Jolanta Petkevičienė, explained to the commission members that on June 29 the decision was made to register the initiative group in accordance with the Referendum Law in force at that time. However, as of July 1. The decision of the Constitutional Court (CC) that this law is unconstitutional entered into force, so the commission can no longer continue with the procedures for preparing the referendum. At the end of the day, any legal act is no longer valid from the day the decision of the CC enters into force, which has declared it unconstitutional. Therefore, the CEC voted that the initiative group would not receive signature sheets or access to the electronic system. J.Petkevičienė also proposed including in the decision a provision according to which, after the Seimas amended the Referendum Law, the procedures for preparing the referendum would automatically resume, but the CEC decided that such provision was not necessary.
Yesterday, Zigmas Vaišvila, a member of the referendum initiative group and a signatory of the Law on Restoration of Lithuanian Independence, announced: the SACL, to which the CEC decision was appealed, annulled the latter.
In its ruling, the SACL declares: July 1. After the referendum law expired and the Seimas did not amend the law until then, a loophole was created, restricting the right to initiate a referendum. However, the values protected and protected by the Constitution cannot be denied due to a legal vacuum. And he reminded the CC of the statement that the Nation exercises the highest sovereign power through two main organizational channels: national elections and referendum. The CC has also clarified that the courts can fill the loopholes in the specific situation that is being considered in court. That is what the SACL did in this case. It is true that its decision follows that new initiatives will not be possible until the Seimas modifies the Referendum Law, and in this particular case, the decision in favor of the citizens was taken because the initiative group was registered before 1 July.
Thus, the judicial decision preserves the constitutional right of citizens to a referendum and their initiative. The court confirmed that this constitutional right of citizens must not be violated. Skeptics say there will be nothing, the CEC will do nothing. I can tell you: the CEC already confirmed it on July 21. 2 pm will issue signature collection sheets and provide access to electronically sign this referendum initiative. After all, there is such a Criminal Code, Art. Provides for criminal responsibility for failure to carry out judicial decisions “, – concluded Z.Vaišvila.
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