SEIMAS OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA

SEIMAS OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA SEIMAS OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA STATUTE 14 October 1993 No. I-276 PART 7 SUPERVISORY ACTIVITIES OF THE SEIMAS Chapter

1. Accountability of the Government and other State Officers to the Seimas Article
2. Within 2 workdays after every sitting of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, the number of copies of the decrees and directives adopted by the Government which has been fixed by the Seimas Chancellor must be delivered to him. The Chancellor shall distribute said copies among all the Committees and parliamentary groups. Article
3. At the request of the Seimas, the Government or individual ministers must account to the Seimas for their respective activities. The above shall also apply to heads of other State institutions who are either appointed by the Seimas or for whose appointment the approval of the Seimas is required, with the exception of courts. The invited persons shall answer the questions posed by the Seimas members, and shall furnish other information concerning their own activities and the activities of the institutions subordinate to them. When drawing up the week's work programme of the Seimas, it shall be established who of the State institution heads shall that week answer the question and interpellations of the Seimas members. Article
4. As a rule, during a session of the Seimas, members of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall for the period of 1 hour answer questions of the Seimas members submitted through the Secretariat of the sittings no later than 2 workdays prior to the sitting. The list of questions which are planned to be answered and the sequence of their presentation shall be established by the Seimas Speaker and shall be distributed among the Seimas members before the sitting. Time permitting, members of the Seimas may ask the members of the Government participating in the sitting other questions either orally or submit said questions in writing. Article
5. During a session of the Seimas, at least once a month, the State Controller and other heads of State institutions who are either appointed by the Seimas or whose appointment requires the approval of the Seimas, with the exception of courts, must answer the questions submitted by the Seimas members in advance. The procedure for submitting and registering the questions shall be as specified in Article
6. Time permitting, the Seimas members may ask the above officers other questions either orally or in writing. Article
7. Criminal action may not be taken against the Prime Minister or Ministers or judges, and said officials may not be arrested, or their liberty may not be in any other way restricted without the prior consent of the Seimas or, in the period between the sessions of the Seimas, without the prior consent of the President of the Republic. Should a motion be submitted by the Procurator General of the Republic of Lithuania to institute criminal proceedings against the Prime Minister, an individual Minister or a judge, a commission of inquiry shall be formed and other acts shall be performed pursuant to Articles 147 and 148 of this Statute. Chapter
8. Interpellations Article
9. A member of the Seimas or a group of members shall address a written interpellation to the member of the Government or any other head of State institution who is appointed by the Seimas or whose appointment requires the approval of the Seimas, with the exception of courts, requesting that the officer present information concerning his activities and adopted decisions. Only a question of national or public significance, in respect whereof a member of the Seimas or a group of Seimas members have applied to State institutions but which question, in their opinion, has not been given due consideration or has been settled negatively, shall be considered as an interpellation. A question, the national or public significance whereof is recognised by the Seimas or the Seimas Board or a Committee or a parliamentary group, may also be considered as an interpellation. Article
10. The person who submits an interpellation must name the officer whom he is addressing and specify whether he expects an oral or a written reply. In the event that the form of reply is not specified, it shall be given in writing, shall be distributed to the Committees and parliamentary groups, and shall not be considered in the sitting of the Seimas. The Secretariat of the sittings shall register the interpellations and hand them over to the Chancellor who shall notify the Seimas thereof and shall deliver the interpellation to the appropriate officer. The person who submits an interpellation shall have the right to withdraw it at any time. Article
11. The period whithin which a reply to a written interpellation must be given may not be longer than 2 weeks and, during its consideration in the Seimas sitting during a session, no longer than 3 weeks from the day of the lodging of the interpellation. In the event that the officer to whom the interpellation is addressed cannot reply within the established period, he must give a written substantiation thereof and propose his own date, but no later than by the end of the session. However, should the interpellators object to the substantiation, the consideration of the interpellation must be held at the fixed date. Article
12. During sessions, interpellations shall be considered at least twice a month at the sittings of the Seimas. Should at least 1/5 of the Seimas members request consideration of the interpellation, the interpellation shall be considered in the mandatory manner. The list of interpellations shall be presented to the Seimas members no later than one day before the consideration thereof. The interpellators (at least one repsesentative of them) must participate in the consideration of the interpellation. If the interpellator is absent from the sitting, the consideration of the interpellation shall be postponed or cancelled, should the interpellator be absent without prior notice. The interpellator may not preside over the sitting in which his interpellation is considered. Article
13. An interpellation shall be considered at the sitting of the Seimas according to the following procedure: 1) a speech delivered by the interpellator (for up to 5 minutes); 2) a reply given by the officer to whom the interpellation is addressed (for up to 15 minutes); and 3) a discussion, should it be requested by any Committee or parliamentary group. During the discussion, the floor shall, as a rule, be granted in turn to those members of the Seimas who approve of the reply to the interpellation and to those who object thereto. No more than 4 members of the Seimas shall be granted the floor, unless the Seimas decides to prolong the discussion. In the event that the interpellators are dissatisfied with the reply to the interpellation, they may submit a draft resolution for consideration in the Seimas, in which resolution the Seimas shall evaluate the reply. Chapter
14. Removal from Office of the Seimas officers and Heads of other State Institutions Article
15. A proposal to remove from office a Seimas officer or a head of a State institution who is appointed by the Seimas, with the exception of cases of institution of impeachment proceedings provided for in the Constitution, must be considered when it is presented by a justified letter by the Seimas Board, a Committee, a parliamentary group or at least 1/5 of the Seimas members. A Committee may not propose to remove from office the Chairman of another Committee. The procedure for removing from office the State Controller, the Chairman of the Board of the Lithuanian Bank shall be established in the laws regulating the activities of these State institutions. Article
16. A petition concerning the removal from office of an officer shall be filed with the Seimas Chairman, whereas the petition to remove from office the Seimas Chairman shall be lodged with the Seimas Chancellor. Such petition must be announce in the next sitting of the Seimas. The same members of the Seimas may not repeatedly request during one session to remove from office the same officer. Article
17. An officer of the Seimas, whose removal from office is under discussion, may not preside over the sitting. During the discussion concerning the removal from office of an officer of the Seimas or head of a State institution, the first person to be granted the floor shall be the representative of the initiators of removal from office (for up to 10 minutes), thereafter, the floor shall be granted to the officer whose removal from office is under consideration (for up to 30 minutes). The subsequent discussion shall be continued in the general manner. Article
18. The decision concerning the removal from office of the Seimas officers or heads of State institutions shall be adopted by secret ballot by the majority vote of more than a half of all Seimas members. Chapter
19. Interpellations and Non-Confidence in the Government Article
20. During a session, a group of no less than 1/5 of the Seimas members may submit an interpellation to the Prime Minister or an idividual minister requesting that said officers elaborate on the motives of the decisions they have adopted and on the directions of their further activity from the point of view of certain aspects of Government policy. No signature may be cancelled after the interpellation has been filed with the Seimas Chancellor who shall immediately register the interpellation and refer it to the appropriate member of the Government. The same group of the Seimas members may not repeatedly interpellate the same member of the Government during one session. Article
21. Upon receipt of interpellation, a member of the Government mutt no later than within 2 weeks deliver a written reply to the Seimas Speaker; the Seimas members shall be familiarised with said reply. During a session, upon receiving a reply to an interpellation, the Seimas must consider it at its sitting no later than within 5 workdays. Article
22. An interpellation shall be considered at the sitting of the Seimas according to the following procedure: 1) a speech by the representative of the persons who submitted the interpellation (for up to 10 minutes); 2) a reply by the officer who received the interpellation (for up to 30 minutes); 3) replies to the questions posed by the Seimas members to the officer who received the interpellation; 4) a discussion during which, as a rule, the floor shall be granted in turn both to those members of the Seimas who approve and those who object to the reply to the interpellation; 5) the final speech of the officer who has received the interpellation; and 6) the forming of the drafting commission according to the requirements set forth in Article 63 of this Statute for drawing up the draft resolution concerning the interpellation. The members who submitted the interpellation must constitute at least 1/3 of the commission members. Article
23. A draft resolution concerning the interpellation must be presented to the Seimas for consideration no later than on the next day of sittings. The Seimas' approval or disapproval of the reply of the Prime Minister or individual minister may be stated in the draft of the resolution concerning the interpellation. In the event that non-confidence in the Prime Minister or an individual minister is declared in the draft resolution, said draft may be adopted by secret ballot by a majority vote of more than a half of all the Seimas members. Should such resolution be adopted, the Government in corpore or the individual minister in whom non-confidence has been declared must resign. Article
24. During a session of the Seimas, a group of no less than 1/5 of the Seimas members may submit a draft of a justified resolution wherein non-confidence in the Government is declared. Such draft resolution shall be considered in the same manner as an interepellation to the Prime Minister. Chapter
25. Ad Hoc Commissions of Control or Inquiry Article
26. The ad hoc commissions of control or inquiry shall be formed for exercising ocontrol over the implementation of the decisions of the Seimas, for collecting and presenting to the Seimas information and conclusions required for dealing with a pending problem and adopting a decision thereon, as well as in other cases provided for in this Statute. Article
27. The right of initiative to form ad hoc commissions of control or inquiry shall be vested in the Seimas Board, Committees, and parliamentary groups, unless in special cases this Statute provides otherwise. The initiators must present to the Seimas a draft resolution concerning the forming of an ad hoc commission of control or inquiry, in which resolution the objective of forming the commission as well as its tasks and powers shall be specified. The Seimas Speaker must notify the Prosecutor-General and, as necessary, the Government of the inititative to form an ad hoc commission of control or inquiry. If the Prosecutor-General notifies in writing that criminal proceedings have been instituted in connection with the facts which determined the initiative of forming the commission, such commission shall not be formed; in the event that it has already been formed, its activities must be terminated by a decision of the Seimas. Article
28. The ad hoc commissions of control or inquiry shall be formed according to the procedure set forth in Article 63 of this Statute of no less than 4 members and the chairman. The chairman of the commission shall be appointed by the Seimas. For its work the commission may enlist an appropriate number of specialists. The period of work of the ad hoc commissions of control or inquiry shall be up to 6 months. Article
29. The sittings of the ad hoc commissions of control or inquiry shall be closed to all persons, with the exception of those persons are invited and whose list shall be drawn up according to the requests of the commission members. The information collected by the commission during its work period shall not be made public. The ad hoc commissions of control or inquiry shall have the right to request the enterprises, institutions and organisations present the required information concerning their respective activities, the officers of the law enforcement bodies and the prosecutor's office present documents and give evidence, and that any citizen of the Republic of Lithuania give evidence. Article
30. Upon completing the work it was charged with, upon having collected and generalised the data, the ad hoc commission of control or inquiry shall present to the Seimas the obtained conclusions and the prepared draft resolution. A resolution shall be adopted at the sitting of the Seimas concerning the issue which has been considered by the ad hoc commission of control or inquiry. Non-confidence in the Government, a minister or any other head of State institution appointed by the Seimas, with the exception of judges of the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court and other courts, may be declared or motions concerning the proposed impeachment proceedings may be presented in the resolution. In the case of non-confidence, the requirements set forth in Articles 256 or 260 shall apply. Chapter
31. Control of State Budget Performance Article
32. The general permanent control of State Budget performance shall be exercised by the Committee on Budget and Finance. Other Committees of the Seimas may control the performance of the Budget chapters which are within their competence. The State Budget performance shall be considered at the sitting of the Seimas at least once in 6 months. In such event, the Government and the State Controller shall present the State Budget statement for consideration. The Budget performance shall be considered at the sittings of Committees at least three times during the performance period. Article
33. The Government shall prepare and by the 31st of March present to the Seimas Speaker the State Budget statement for the previous year. Also, the State Controller must by the above date present to the Seimas Chancellor a report on the State Budget performance. The Seimas Chancellor shall within 2 workdays present copies of the above statement and of the State Controller's statement to the Committee on Budget and Finance, other Committees, and parliamentary groups. The report of the Government on the State Budget performance statement shall be heard at the next sitting. Within 3 weeks from the sitting the Committees shall consider the State Budget performance statement and prepare conclusions. Article
34. The State Budget performance statement must be considered at the sitting of the Seimas no later than by the 1st of May. A report of the Committee on Budget and Finance, conclusions of other Committees shall be heard at the sitting. Upon the completion of discussions, a resolution of the Seimas concerning the performance of the State Budget shall be adopted. Article
35. In the event that the statement is not approved, the Seimas shall decide the issue concerning the restoration of legality of revenues or expenditures. An appropriate resolution shall be prepared for the purpose, and a vote on the non-confidence in the Government or its individual members may be taken according to the procedure established in Article 260 of this Statute. Speaker of the Seimas Ceslovas Jursenas Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania