Case No 27/94

Case No 27/94 Case No 27/94 THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA D E C I S I O N Concerning the interpretation of item

1. 2 of the Constitutional Court Ruling of 22 December 1994 30 December 1994, Vilnius The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania, composed from the Justices of the Constitutional Court Algirdas Gailiūnas, Kęstutis Lapinskas, Zigmas Levickis, Vladas Pavilonis, Pranas Vytautas Rasimavičius, Stasys Stačiokas, Teodora Staugaitienė and Juozas Žilys, the secretary of the hearing - Rolanda Stimbirytė, the petitioner - Seimas member Vidmantas Žiemelis, representative of a group of Seimas members, the party concerned - Seimas member Pranciškus Vitkevičius, representative of the Seimas, pursuant to Article 61 of the Law on the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania, in the public court hearing examined the request submitted by the Chairman of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania to interpret item
2. 2 of the Constitutional Court Ruling of 22 December 1994 The Constitutional Court has established: The Chairperson of the Seimas requests to interpret if the provision of the Constitutional Court Ruling of 22 December 1994 'On the compliance of Article 2 of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania "On the Establishment of the Supreme Court of Lithuania, Court of Appeal of Lithuania, District Courts; Determination of the Territories of Activity for District and Local Courts, also Reformation of the Procurator's Office of the Republic of Lithuania" of 15 June 1994 and the procedure for its adoption with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania' that '"the powers of the judges of this Court shall be terminated" contradicts item 2 of Article 115 of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania' implies that "not only Supreme Court judges shall retain their powers (unless they are appointed, at their own will, to another office, or retire), but also present heads of the Supreme Court shall preserve their posts, i. e. the duties of the Chairperson and deputy Chairpersons of the Supreme Court, after 1 January 1995." The Constitutional Court holds that: In the Constitutional Court Ruling of 22 December 1994 it is stated that the Seimas , taking into consideration the distribution of competence of the former Supreme Court among the new Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and district courts as well as essential change of procedural functions of the Supreme Court, could establish another than earlier number of the Supreme Court judges. However, termination of judges' powers was possible only pursuant to the principles prescribed by Article 115 of the Constitution. Therefore, the concept of said Law "the present Supreme Court shall be liquidated" was interpreted by the Constitutional Court not as the abolishment of the supreme legal institution but as a certain conditional way of the implementation of court reform. Besides, the Constitutional Court did not deny the possibility to apply this concept with regard to the internal organizational structure of the Supreme Court. Article 115 of the Constitution as well as other articles and the above mentioned Constitutional Court Ruling are concerned with the guarantees for the judge's independence and not with the status of the heads of the Supreme Court. Therefore, the Constitutional Court, while deciding if the provision "the powers of the judges of this Court shall be terminated" of the first part of Article 2 of the 15 June 1994 Law "On the Establishment of the Supreme Court of Lithuania, Court of Appeal of Lithuania, District Courts; Determination of the Territories of Activity for District and Local Courts, also Reformation of the Procurator's Office of the Republic of Lithuania" is in compliance with the Constitution, evaluated only the lawfulness of the termination of judges' powers. Furthermore, the Constitutional Court emphasizes that the Constitution prescribes another than earlier was procedure for the formation of the Supreme Court. Earlier, the Supreme Council first appointed the Chairperson of the Supreme Court and only then - judges; now, according to the second part of Article 112 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court judges shall be appointed first, and the Chairperson of the Supreme Court shall be chosen from among them. Consequently, in the process of court reform, the Seimas can realize the competence provided by Article 112 of the Constitution to appoint the Chairperson of the Supreme Court from among the Supreme Court judges. Conforming to Article 61 of the Law on the Constitutional Court, the Constitutional Court has taken the following decision: To interpret, that the provision of item
3. 2 of the Constitutional Court Ruling of 22 December 1994 is applicable only to the Supreme Court judges but not to the Chairperson or deputy Chairpersons of this Court. Justices of the Constitutional Court: Algirdas Gailiūnas Kęstutis Lapinskas Zigmas Levickis Vladas Pavilonis Pranas Vytautas Rasimavičius Stasys Stačiokas Teodora Staugaitienė Juozas Žilys