The appointment of the guardians of the Constitution was also postponed by the new Seimas: the lawyer was outraged that he was ridiculed by the most important law.

The term of three judges of the CC – the president of the Court Dainius Žalimas and the judges Gediminas Mesonis and Vytas Milius – ended on March 19.

They continue to work until new judges are appointed.

In preparation for the end of his term a year ago, President Gitanas Nausėda appointed lawyer Giedrė Lastauskienė to the CC, then president of Seimas Viktoras Pranckietis – former CC Chancellor Ingrid Danėlienė.

However, at the end of April, the Seimas who voted for these candidacies rejected them all..

G.Nausėda and S.Rudėnaitė, acting as President of the Supreme Administrative Court, propose the same candidacies to CC – G.Lastauskienė and A.Norkūnas.

Seimas spokesperson Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen introduces the director of the Legal Department of the Parliamentary Office Andrius Kabišaitis.

Last year, after the candidates nominated for the CC were not approved, V. Pranckietis also promised to nominate him.

The presentation of candidates to the judges of the CC in the Seimas was foreseen in the agenda of the plenary sessions of Tuesday, but finally it was suppressed and postponed indefinitely.. It seems like before the spring session of the Seimas.

Due to the epidemiological situation, Parliament wants to end its “live” sessions this week and vote only remotely. Consequently, he could not secretly vote on the nominations.

Mocks the Constitution

In the opinion of Professor Egidijus Šileikis of the Vilnius University (VU) Faculty of Law, the fact that the Seimas does not resolve the issue of the new CC judges is in no way an obvious contradiction to the Constitution.

People who contribute to this contradiction in the country’s most important law, according to him, should be brought to justice.

“However, there is no mechanism to hold politicians accountable for their failure to act. There is a mechanism for prosecution when those in political office commit actions. And in this case there is inaction, which has been going on for more than 8 months, since April “Said the law professor.

E.Šileikis said that after the Seimas rejected the candidatures submitted to the CC, three subjects did not immediately submit nominations a second time: the same or new.

According to him, this had to be done, in May and June, no later than the end of the Seimas spring session.

“Excusing themselves with vague arguments, an argument not fully provided for in the Constitution, that the elections to the Seimas had supposedly started, the procedure for the replacement of three judges whose mandate had expired was moved to September, October, November, December and was not carried out Once again, there are no arguments, no reasons: a pandemic is not the cause.Here is a tragedy.

Professor Egidijus Kūris has made it clear that the kingdom of God, the kingdom of the Almighty, will come before the rotation of the three CC judges. It’s sarcasm, but laughter through tears. For the first time, Lithuania mocks its Constitution, and this is done by the highest level state politicians, who form the agendas of the Seimas and present candidates, ”the lawyer resented.

For the first time, Lithuania makes fun of its Constitution, and this is done by the highest level state politicians, who shape the agendas of the Seimas and present candidates.

E.Šileikis did not want to specify who was the culprit: the head of state and his advisers, the acting head of the Supreme Council and his advisers, the president of the Seimas and his advisers.

“It just came to our notice then. Everyone is to blame. And commentators, including myself, Egidijus Šileikis. I don’t understand, we are setting a precedent that the requirement in the Constitution that a CC judge be appointed for 9 years can be Seriously violated 9 years He cannot have a mandate of 9.5 years, 10 years, etc. Those politicians who rejected the three candidacies did no harm, because the Seimas may disagree and reject the candidates proposed for the judges of the DC.

But those politicians, and not just politicians, who did not react immediately to such a blink of the Seimas, which is politically the blink of an eye, but legally it is a legitimate blink: rejection. They had to immediately present the same nominations for the second time, responsibly hoping that after additional arguments they would receive the approval of the Seimas, or new nominations, ”emphasized the VU professor.

Although it is explained that the Constitutional Court Law allows the CC to continue its functions, whose terms of three judges have expired, E. Šileikis stated that this is a formal argument.

He reiterated that the Constitution clearly establishes the mandate of the CC judges for 9 years.

“This means that we have all become ridiculous in Europe for 30 years, dear, propaganda, defending the rule of law and showing our strength in the European Union. Because at present, to my knowledge, Lithuania is the only state with such a CC, where the term of three judges ended in the spring, on March 20, and the politicians responsible for the state took no action to eliminate such an obvious breach of the Constitution ”, repeated E. Šileikis.

Business continuity is assured

Vytautas Sinkevičius, professor at the Department of Constitutional Law at Mykolas Romeris University (MRU), said firstly that the decision of the previous Seimas must be respected, when two candidacies that are now repeatedly proposed for judges of the CC were rejected.

This also reflects the attitude of those entities that present candidates for the decisions of the Seimas. But such examples, when the same candidacy was nominated for the second time, already existed, they set a precedent. In my head, a very poor precedent, because if the representation of a nation has already expressed its will, it must be respected. But the Constitution does not prohibit the presentation of the same candidacies ”, he commented.

According to V. Sinkevičius, lawyers are appointed to special positions: judges of the CC.

He said that the members of the Seimas should have enough opportunities and time to get acquainted with them in detail, their scientific and professional activities.

On the other hand, as the MRU professor emphasized, parliamentarians should have the opportunity to speak normally with CC candidates: ask questions, listen, see reactions, etc.

“Because a judge is not just a legal knowledge. It is also the ability not to give in to uncomfortable questions, not to show resentment, to remain calm even in conflict situations. Many things must be evaluated by the Seimas committees and must be evaluated. They should be able to speak normally with the judges and decide whether the candidate is suitable or not. This is now that remote evaluation or other evaluation would not be complete “, thinks V. Sinkevičius.

At the same time, he mentioned that according to the Statute of the Seimas, the candidates for the judges of the CC are voted in secret, that is, by voting “live”, it is not possible to do it remotely.

The professor considered that until spring, when it is possible to return to the appointment of the judges of the CC, the subjects who have presented candidates -the President, the Spokesmen of the Seimas, the Supreme Council- will seek support in the Seimas.

And the Seimas members will consider and perhaps think of other nominations. After all, there is nothing to stop the Seimas from again rejecting one candidacy or another, or the three nominations that have been submitted. This is a discretion of the Seimas. You cannot force the Seimas to vote, “said V. Sinkevičius.

After all, there is nothing to stop the Seimas from again rejecting one candidacy or another, or the three nominations that have been submitted. This is a discretion of the Seimas.

V. Sinkevičius does not want to agree with E.Šileikis, who says that the fact that the Seimas does not resolve the issue of the new CC judges is in no way an obvious contradiction to the Constitution.

The MRU professor mentioned that the mandate of a member of the Seimas is vacant and no one can force a parliamentarian to vote for a candidacy for which he does not want to vote.

According to V. Sinkevičius, the drafters of the Law on the Constitutional Court envisaged situations in which, for various reasons, not only of jurisdiction but also political, judges may not be appointed to the CC on time.

“Therefore, the law establishes that the judges will remain in office until other judges are appointed in their place. And this ensures the continuity of the activities of the Court. Politicians, without appointing judges, cannot disrupt the work of the Court. Because we have examples, Ukraine is a particularly striking example where the Constitutional Court is paralyzed only because a judge is not appointed or is not allowed to take an oath. We have examples from Poland and the like. That, behold, the legislators were cautious, they anticipated such a circumstance and here there is no violation of the Constitution, ”he emphasized.

Politicians cannot interrupt the work of the Court without appointing judges.

V. Sinkevičius said that, of course, one can agree with the view that this is not a normal situation.

At the end of the term of the CC judges, it was possible to find suitable candidates within a year.

“But those candidates should coordinate with the majority of the Seimas in one way or another. It is not possible to bring it to the Seimas and present candidacies without strong support. In this case, the entity that nominates is also in a difficult situation, and the one that submits the candidacy is in an even more difficult situation. He has to listen to himself, there would and would not be things, all kinds of gossip, he has to explain, sometimes he mixes completely irrationally with the land, “said the law professor .

Changes in a third

The CC consists of nine judges appointed for nine years and for one term only.

The judges are appointed by the Seimas from among the candidates proposed by the president, the president of Parliament and the president of the Supreme Court.

The president of the CC is appointed from among the judges of this court by the Seimas on the proposal of the president.

The CC is renewed every three years for a third.

Citizens of the Republic of Lithuania with an impeccable reputation, having a higher legal education and at least 10 years of legal or scientific pedagogical work experience in the specialty of a lawyer may be appointed as court judges.