2)to prepare and consider drafts of laws and other legal acts related to foreign affairs and to submit conclusions thereon;
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3)to exercise parliamentary scrutiny of the ministries and other government agencies which carry out foreign policy, submit proposals and recommendations regarding the improvement of their activities; to consider and submit proposals concerning for developing and implementing State foreign policy;
\n
4)taking into account the priorities of foreign policy, to co-ordinate the activities of the International Relations Department of the Office of the Seimas, to discuss the representation of the Seimas in international organisations and fora, to submit recommendations concerning activities of the Seimas delegations, to co-ordinate activities of the interparliamentary relations groups, to submit recommendations and proposals to them, to hear and evaluate reports on activities of the Seimas delegations in international organisations and fora and the Seimas political groups at least once a year starting from the date of their setting-up;
\n
5)to exercise control of state institutions which present information about Lithuania meant for foreign countries, prepare conclusions and proposals relative thereto;
\n
6)to maintain and develop, in conjunction with State and public organisations, the relations with Lithuanian emigrants and their organisations and with the Lithuanians autochthons residing outside the Republic of Lithuania;
\n
7)to consider, in conjunction with other committees, the problems related to the regulation of migration and submit proposals and conclusions thereon;
\n
8)to consider and submit recommendations and proposals to the Government concerning the establishment of diplomatic relations of the Republic of Lithuania and the opening of Lithuanian missions abroad;
\n
9)to consider in advance proposals of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, submit conclusions and recommendations related to the appointment of diplomatic representatives of the Republic of Lithuania in foreign states and international organisations and the recalling of the said representatives;
\n
10)to participate, within its remit, in the process of the preparation and evaluation of Lithuania’s position concerning proposals to adopt legal acts of the European Union (as they are defined in paragraph 4 of Article 1801), where necessary, to present Seimas opinion regarding these positions to the Government and to evaluate the presentation of the position in the institutions of the European Union;
\n
11)to consider, within its remit, other documents of the European Union (as they are defined in paragraph 5 of Article 1801), where necessary, to present conclusions and proposals regarding these documents;
\n
12)to present, within its remit, where necessary, to the Seimas the conclusions on the non-compliance of the proposals to adopt the legal acts of the European Union (as they are defined in paragraph 4 of Article 1801) with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality.
\n
Article 69Remit of the Committee on State Administration and Local Authorities
\n
The remit of the Committee on State Administration and Local Authorities shall be:
\n
1)to prepare, on the instruction of the Seimas or on its own initiative, drafts of legal acts on the issues of State government and public administration, shaping of regional policy, reform of territorial structures, and the organisation, financing and economic independence of the work of local self-government;
\n
2)to consider drafts of laws and other legal acts, prepare conclusions and proposals related to them, on the issues of the reform of State government, public administration and local self-government, administrative division of the territory of the State, regulation of the legal relations of civil service and local self-government;
\n
3)to consider the Government programme provisions pertaining to the reform of state government, public administration and local self-government;
\n
4)to consider, within the remit of the Committee, and to present to the Seimas conclusions concerning candidates for heads of public authorities and other political officials who are appointed by the Seimas;
\n
5)to consider chapters of a draft law on the approval of financial indicators of the State Budget and municipal budgets and to prepare conclusions related to the implementation of the State Budget and municipal budgets in conjunction with other committees;
\n
6)to approve proposals, as submitted to the Seimas by the Government, on the administrative division of the territory of the State and the and of territorial boundaries of individual municipalities and counties;
\n
7)to submit conclusions to the Seimas concerning the motivation for introducing direct rule and setting of the date of new elections to municipal councils;
\n
8)to discuss the issues within the remit of the Committee which have been referred to it on the instruction of the Seimas, the Board or the Speaker of the Seimas;
\n
9)to consider proposals of the Association of Local Authorities of Lithuania on drafts of laws and other legal acts of the Seimas which are under preparation regarding the issues of local self-government development;
\n
10)to hear, when exercising parliamentary scrutiny, the reports and information of institutions of State government and local self-government pertaining to the implementation of laws of the Republic of Lithuania and other acts adopted by the Seimas in respect of the issues within the remit of the Committee and to submit proposals and recommendations related to the matter in question to the Seimas, the Government and the Association of Local Authorities of Lithuania.
\n
Article 70Remit of the Committee on Human Rights
\n
The remit of the Committee on Human Rights shall be:
\n
1)to prepare and consider drafts of laws and other legal acts and proposals on the issues related to the guarantees of civil rights and the regulation of relations of the nationalities living in Lithuania;
\n
2)to present recommendations and proposals to ministries, state institutions, and other organisations, and to Seimas committees on issues concerning the protection of civil rights and the improvement of relations of the nationalities;
\n
3)to submit, in the prescribed manner, proposals concerning the structure, staff and funding of the Seimas Ombudsmen’s Office;
\n
4)to consider complaints, opinions and proposals referred to the Seimas concerning the work of the Seimas ombudsmen;
\n
5)to prepare, where necessary, a draft resolution on the vote of no-confidence in the Seimas ombudsman and to submit it to the Seimas for consideration; to consider and submit to the Seimas conclusions regarding the draft resolutions which are prepared by other committees;
\n
6)to consider the material submitted by the Seimas ombudsman concerning a breach of law made by ministers and other officials accountable to the Seimas and to submit its conclusions to the Seimas for consideration;
\n
7)to consider and prepare drafts of laws and other legal acts related to the affairs of Lithuanians residing abroad;
\n
8)to exercise parliamentary scrutiny of the institutions which settle the issues pertaining to the ensuring of human and civil rights.
\n
Chapter XII
\n
SEIMAS COMMISSIONS
\n
Article 71Formation of Commissions
\n
1.Having acknowledged the necessity, the Seimas may form a standing commission to examine special problems or form temporary investigation, control, revision, preparatory, editorial and other commissions to examine and prepare or fulfil other assignments of the Seimas.
\n
2.If the term of the commission’s existence is not clearly indicated at the time of its formation, the activity of the commission shall be terminated by decision of the Seimas upon completion of the assigned tasks.
\n
3.The number of commission members shall be established first, when forming the commission. The requirements of proportional representation of the Seimas political groups and the term to be proposed for candidates for commission membership shall be established subsequently.
\n
4.Should the submitted list of candidates for commission membership prove to be insufficient, the political groups may each verbally suggest an additional candidate during a meeting, after which each Member of the Seimas may do likewise, until the required number of candidates is attained.
\n
5.Each of the recommended candidates must agree verbally and, if not present at the meeting, submit a written agreement to work in the commission. The Seimas shall vote on the list of candidates thus obtained. Should it fail to be approved, the procedure shall be repeated.
\n
6.When candidates for commission membership are proposed during a Seimas sitting and not according to designated norms and even if at least two Members of the Seimas express doubt regarding any of the candidates, he shall be voted on individually. If more candidates are recommended for commission membership during a Seimas sitting than the established number of candidates and all of the proposed candidates agree to work on the commission, an open-ballot vote shall be taken with the list of candidates included on the ballots.
\n
7.In certain instances, the Seimas may establish another procedure for forming commissions; however, these may not consist of representatives of one political group or one committee.
\n
Article 72Procedure for Forming Ad Hoc Control or Investigation Commissions
\n
1.Ad hoc control or investigation commissions shall be formed for the purpose of control of implementation of the decisions of the Seimas, collection and presentation of information and conclusions required to analyse the problem at hand and in other instances stipulated in this Statute.
\n
2.Ad ho control or investigation commissions shall be formed of at least five persons in accordance with the procedure established in Article 71 of this Statute.
\n
3.An ad hoc control or investigation commission may involve the participation of experts in various areas.
\n
Article 73Initiative to Form an Ad Hoc Control or Investigation Commission
\n
1.The Board of the Seimas, committees, political groups and a group of at least one-fourth of the Members of the Seimas shall have the right of initiative to form ad hoc control or investigation commissions, unless this Statute stipulates otherwise in certain instances.
\n
2.Initiators must submit to the Seimas a draft proposal of a decision on formation of an ad hoc control or investigation commission, which shall indicate the aim of formation of such a commission, its tasks and powers.
\n
3.If a group of at least one-fourth of the Members of the Seimas submits a written demand to form an ad hoc control or investigation commission, the Seimas must form such a commission at its nearest sitting.
\n
Article 74Working Procedure of Commissions
\n
1.The chair or deputy chair of a standing commission shall be elected and approved according to the procedure established for committees. A member of the Board of the Seimas or a Government member may not become chair or deputy chair of the commission. The Seimas shall appoint chair of an ad hoc commission.
\n
2.The Board of the Seimas shall usually approve the estimate of a commission’s expenses and other issues relevant to its activity.
\n
3.Unless the Seimas decides otherwise, during the course of their powers commissions shall follow the rules of procedure of committees.
\n
4.A standing commission shall enjoy all the rights and obligations of committees.
\n
5.Having completed its work, an ad hoc commission shall submit to the Seimas the draft or conclusion which it has prepared or edited and which the Seimas shall approve by passing a resolution.
\n
6.Ad hoc control and investigation commissions shall act in accordance with the working procedure established by Articles 75-76 of this Statute.
\n
Article 75Powers and Working Procedure of an Ad Hoc Control or Investigation Commission
\n
1.If an issue is being examined which is relevant to a State secret, the meetings of an ad hoc control or investigation commission shall be closed to all persons except those who have been invited, a list of whom shall be compiled in accordance with the commission member’s wishes. In other instances, the ad hoc control or investigation commission may hold closed meetings only with the prior agreement of the Seimas.
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2.The data collected in the course of work by an ad hoc control or investigation commission and related to a State secret shall not be published.
\n
3.The law shall establish the powers of ad hoc control or investigation commissions.
\n
Article 76Decisions of an Ad Hoc Control and Investigation Commission
\n
1.Having completed an assigned task, an ad hoc control or investigation commission shall submit to the Seimas the collected and summarised data, conclusions and a prepared draft decision.
\n
2.A resolution shall be passed at the Seimas sitting regarding the issue examined by an ad hoc control or investigation commission.
\n
3.A Seimas resolution may communicate a vote of no-confidence in the Government, a minister or head of another state institution who is appointed by the Seimas or may present conclusions regarding the proposed impeachment process.
\n
4.In the event of a vote of no-confidence, the requirements of Articles 218 or 222 of this Statute shall be applied in order to pass a resolution.
\n
Article 77Formation of the Commission for Ethics and Procedures
\n
1.A standing Commission for Ethics and Procedures shall be set up in the Seimas. All political groups of the Seimas must be represented in this Commission. When setting up a Commission, at first the number of Commission members shall be fixed and the rates of proportional representation of the Seimas political groups shall be set. Proposals of the Seimas political groups regarding candidates for membership of the Commission for Ethics and Procedures shall be submitted in writing to the Speaker of the Seimas.
\n
2.Should the Seimas fail to approve the first and the second candidate nominated by the same Seimas political group, it shall not be voted separately for the third candidate nominated for membership of the Commission by this political group.
\n
3.The Seimas shall approve a chair and deputy chair of this Commission from the members of the Commission for Ethics and Procedures.
\n
Article 78Activity Fields and Powers of the Commission for Ethics and Procedures
\n
Remit of the Commission for Ethics and Procedures shall be:
\n
1)to prepare drafts of and proposals for legal acts which are related to the activities and ethics of the Members of the Seimas;
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2)to assist, by observing ethical norms, the Seimas, Seimas divisions and Members of the Seimas in developing democracy, co-ordinating various points of view and convictions, striving for moral harmony and amicable relations between the Members of the Seimas;
\n
3)to supervise the observance of the Statute of the Seimas and other legal acts regulating the activities of the Members of the Seimas; to examine, on a proposal of the Speaker of the Seimas, his deputies, chairs of committees and commissions, other Members of the Seimas or on its own initiative violations of these legal acts or ethics; to consider conflicts arising between the Members of the Seimas; and where necessary, to present conclusions to the Seimas, the Speaker of the Seimas, or the Board of the Seimas;
\n
4)to examine and present conclusions concerning procedural disputes at the request of the Seimas, the Speaker of the Seimas, the Board of the Seimas, the presiding member of a Seimas sitting, a political group;
\n
5)to examine information presented by the law enforcement bodies of the Republic of Lithuania concerning personal activities of the Members of the Seimas contradicting laws and to present conclusions to the Seimas thereon;
\n
6)to control whether the funds allocated from the State Budget to cover Members of the Seimas’ expenses related to their parliamentary activities are used for their intended purpose;
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7)to analyse the reasons for which Members of the Seimas have failed to attend sittings of the Seimas and meetings of the Seimas committees and commissions and to announce information on the Seimas website concerning the sittings missed without a justified reason and assignments which have not been carried out;
\n
8)to examine the letters and proposals of voters, state agencies and public organisations on the issues concerning the activities of the Members of the Seimas;
\n
9)to check whether the Members of the Seimas submit private interest declarations properly and timely and to store them;
\n
10)to prepare, based upon annual private interests declarations of Members of the Seimas or at a request of a Member of the Seimas, written recommendations for the Member of the Seimas regarding the measures to be taken by that Member of the Seimas in order to co-ordinate his activity with the Law on the Alignment of Public and Private Interests in Civil Service and requirements of Article 18 of this Statute;
\n
11)to have the right, on the instruction of the Chief Official Ethics Commission or on the receipt of a statement to the effect that a certain Member of the Seimas does not fulfil the requirements of the Law on the Alignment of Public and Private Interests in Civil Service and Article 18 of this Statute, to conduct an investigation into the activities of said Member of the Seimas. The Speaker of the Seimas, the person who submitted the statement, the Member of the Seimas whose activity was investigated and the Chief Official Ethics Commission shall be notified of the received statements, a decision to conduct an investigation and the results of the investigation. Should it be established in the course of the investigation that the Member of the Seimas failed to fulfil the requirements of the Law on the Alignment of Public and Private Interests in Civil Service and Article 18 of this Statute, the Seimas shall be immediately informed thereof;
\n
12)to deliberate an appeal of every Member of the Seimas regarding violation of his rights defined by this Statute and to furnish a justified reply;
\n
13)to control on an ongoing basis the compliance of the Members of the Seimas with the requirements set out in paragraphs 1 and 3 of Article 60 of the Constitution, paragraph 1 of Article 6 and paragraph 4 of Article 15 of this Statute and, on the assignment of the Seimas, to investigate activities of the Members of the Seimas;
\n
14)to initiate an investigation into a possible violation by a Member of the Seimas of the requirements set out in paragraphs 1 and 3 of Article 60 of the Constitution, paragraph 1 of Article 6 and paragraph 4 of Article 15 of this Statute.
\n
2.If upon initiating an investigation it is suspected that the Member of the Seimas has violated the requirements set out in paragraphs 1 and 3 of Article 60 of the Constitution, paragraph 1 of Article 6 of this Statute or paragraph 4 of Article 15, the Commission for Ethics and Procedures shall propose to the Seimas to entrust it with the assignment to conduct an investigation of the activities of the Member of the Seimas or to set up an ad hoc investigation commission. Having conducted the investigation into the activities of the Member of the Seimas on the assignment of the Seimas and having established that the Member of the Seimas has violated the requirements set out in paragraphs 1 and 3 of Article 60 of the Constitution, paragraph 1 of Article 6 and paragraph 4 of Article 15 of this Statute, the Commission for Ethics and Procedures shall, together with the conclusion of the conducted investigation, submit to the Seimas a draft resolution concerning the cessation of the powers of the Member of the Seimas on the grounds provided for in subparagraph 7 of Article 63 of the Constitution and subparagraph 7 of paragraph 1 of Article 8 of this Statute.
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3.If in the course of the investigation into the activities of the Member of the Seimas suspicions are raised that the Member of the Seimas might have grossly violated the Constitution and/or breached the oath, the Commission for Ethics and Procedures shall, by a majority vote of not less than 4/5 of all the Commission members, propose to the Seimas to initiate impeachment proceedings against that Member of the Seimas.
\n
4.If in the course of the investigation into the activities of the Member of the Seimas suspicions are raised that the Member of the Seimas might have committed a crime, the Commission for Ethics and Procedures shall, at the next Seimas sitting, give a notice thereof to the Seimas and, without delay, in writing to the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Lithuania.
\n
5.In the cases set out in subparagraph 14 of paragraph 1 and paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of this Article, the provisions of Articles 233-236 of this Statute shall mutatis mutandis apply to the working procedure of the Commission for Ethics and Procedures.
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Article 79Office of the Seimas
\n
1.The Office of the Seimas shall ensure the activities of the Seimas and resolve Members of the Seimas’ household issues. The Office of the Seimas shall function in compliance with the regulations approved by the Board of the Seimas.
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2.The Office of the Seimas shall be a state agency. It shall have the rights of a legal person, a settlement account with the bank, and seal with the State Emblem of Lithuania.
\n
3.The Office of the Seimas shall, in a manner prescribed by law, manage, use and dispose of the State property in trust.
\n
4.The Office of the Seimas shall be headed by the Secretary General of the Seimas.
\n
5.In its activities, the Office of the Seimas shall observe the Constitution, laws and other legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania.
\n
Article 80Petitions Commission and Deliberation of Petitions in the Seimas
\n
1.A standing Petitions Commission of the Seimas shall be formed for the purpose of examining in the Seimas petitions of Lithuanian citizens.
\n
2.The Petitions Commission shall be formed in accordance with provisions of Article 71 of this Statute.
\n
3.The Petitions Commission shall examine petitions addressed to the Seimas, by the citizen of the Republic of Lithuania.
\n
4.A special law and the regulations of the Petitions Commission shall determine the procedure for submitting and examining of petitions.
\n
5.The complaints addressed to the Seimas regarding the decisions of the Petitions Commission of the Seimas shall be presented by the Chair of the Petitions Commission in the course of a Seimas sitting. The Seimas shall adopt a reasoned Seimas protocol resolution pertaining to the issue, the draft whereof shall be submitted by the Chair of the Petitions Commission.
\n
Article 801Setting-up of the Commission for the Parliamentary Scrutiny of Criminal Intelligence and its Objectives
\n
1.The Commission for the Parliamentary Scrutiny of Criminal Intelligence shall be set up according to the procedure established in Article 71 of the Seimas Statute, by the decision of the Seimas, preserving the principle of proportional representation of the political groups. The Commission shall consist of seven Members of the Seimas and shall be a standing commission.
\n
2.The objectives and rights of the Commission for the Parliamentary Scrutiny of Criminal Intelligence, decisions adopted by it and the rights and duties of its members shall be established by the Law on Criminal Intelligence.
\n
Article 81Parliamentary Delegations and Interparliamentary Relations Groups
\n
1.The Seimas parliamentary delegations to international organisations and forums shall be formed in the same manner as ad hoc commissions.
\n
2.Interparliamentary relations groups shall be formed on the basis of self-determination by Members of the Seimas.
\n
3.Having received the recommendation of the initiators, the Speaker of the Seimas shall inform the Members of the Seimas regarding the commencement and end of joining interparliamentary relations groups and of the initiators of the formation thereof and shall announce the date and location of the first meeting.
\n
4.Following the first meeting of the group in the course whereof the group chair, deputy or assistants shall be elected, the group chair shall announce formation of the interparliamentary group. The group shall be registered at the Seimas based upon a statement by the chair of the group.
\n
5.The Speaker of the Seimas shall inform the parliaments of respective states and their leaders regarding the formation of such groups in the Seimas.
\n
6.The Board of the Seimas, taking into consideration the recommendations of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the workload of a specific working group, the importance of economic, political or moral aspects, shall support the activities of political groups: appoint the secretary of the group, finance the reception of guests invited by the group or visits of the group’s members on the invitation of political groups from other states.
\n
7.The Committee on Foreign Affairs shall co-ordinate activities of interparliamentary groups. The Chairs of the groups shall, at least twice during their term in office, submit written information reports to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. The Committee on Foreign Affairs may hear the group chair’s report during the Committee meeting.
\n
PART IV
\n
SESSIONS OF THE SEIMAS
\n
Chapter XIII
\n
First Session of the Seimas
\n
Article 82Convening of the First Session of the Seimas
\n
1.The Seimas shall be deemed elected after the Central Electoral Commission announces that at least three-fifths of Members of the Seimas have been elected.
\n
2.The opening sitting of the newly elected Seimas must be held no later than 15 days after the election of the Seimas and shall be convened by the President of the Republic.
\n
3.If the opening sitting of the Seimas is not convened by the President of the Republic, the Members of the Seimas shall themselves convene on the day after the expiry of the 15-day period.
\n
Article 83Opening Sitting of the Newly Elected Seimas
\n
1.As a rule, the opening sitting of the newly elected Seimas shall open at twelve o’clock in the Seimas premises.
\n
2.The opening sitting of the Seimas shall be opened by the oldest Member of the Seimas. In the event that he or she is unable or refuses to open the sitting, it shall be opened by the next oldest Member of the Seimas. He or she shall take the chair until the Speaker of the Seimas is elected.
\n
3.This shall be followed by election of Deputy Speakers of the Seimas.
\n
4.The youngest Member of the Seimas shall be appointed to the first vote-tallying group.
\n
Article 84Work Procedure of the Seimas upon Commencement of the Opening Session
\n
1.Upon the commencement of the opening session of the Seimas, time shall be assigned for the formation of political groups and the Conference of Chairs.
\n
2.Thereafter, as a rule, the Seimas, in the following order, shall:
\n
1)approve or reject the candidate for Prime Minister nominated by the President of the Republic;
\n
2)form the committees of the Seimas and approve their respective chair;
\n
3)consider the Programme of the Government submitted by the Prime Minister and decide whether or not to approve it;
\n
4)draw up a work programme for the session in accordance with the procedure established by this Statute.
\n
Chapter XIV
\n
GENERAL ISSUES OF SESSION ORGANISATION
\n
Article 85Seimas Sessions
\n
1.The Seimas shall meet biannually in two regular spring and autumn sessions.
\n
2.The spring session shall open on 10 March and shall close on 30 June.
\n
3.The autumn session shall open on 10 September and close on 23 December.
\n
4.The Seimas may resolve to prolong a session.
\n
5.If the day of the opening of a session is a non-working day, only one sitting shall be held on that day.
\n
6.The Members of the Seimas shall convene in ordinary sessions without a separate invitation.
\n
7.In Seimas sittings, sessions shall open and close with the Lithuanian National Anthem.
\n
Article 86Convening of Extraordinary Sessions
\n
1.Extraordinary sessions shall be convened by the Speaker of the Seimas on the written proposal of at least one-third of all Members of the Seimas or, in cases provided for in Articles 142 and 144 of the Constitution, by the President of the Republic.
\n
2.In the cases provided for in paragraph 1 of Article 89 of the Constitution, the Speaker of the Seimas shall have the right to convene an extraordinary session. It shall be convened not later than within 24 hours. A Seimas sitting may be commenced only if there is a proposal signed by at least 1/3 of the Members of the Seimas.
\n
3.The Board of the Seimas must notify all of the Members of the Seimas of an extraordinary session at least two days prior to the opening of the session, except for urgent cases.
\n
4.Only issues submitted by the initiators thereof shall be considered at an extraordinary session. The work programme of extraordinary sessions shall be approved by the Seimas.
\n
5.The duration of extraordinary sessions may not exceed 15 days. Between extraordinary sessions the Seimas shall adjourn for at least ten days, except for urgent cases.
\n
Article 87Venue of Seimas Sittings
\n
1.Sessions of the Seimas shall be held in the Seimas premises in Vilnius.
\n
2.In the event that the Seimas cannot convene in the Seimas premises, the Speaker of the Seimas or the Board of the Seimas may temporarily assign another place for sittings to be held. All the Members of the Seimas must be notified of such a decision.
\n
3.Having convened in a place designated by the Board of the Seimas for a sitting, the Seimas shall hear the information of the Speaker of the Seimas or the Board of the Seimas concerning the reasons which compelled them to change the venue of the sitting.
\n
Article 88Secretariat of Plenary Sittings
\n
1.The Secretariat of Plenary Sittings shall be a structural subdivision which shall provide services during sittings of the Seimas and the Conference of Chairs and shall fulfil the related assignments of the Speaker and Deputy Speakers of the Seimas.
\n
2.The Secretariat of Plenary Sittings shall:
\n
1)register all submitted drafts of laws and other legal acts and their updated versions, findings and proposals;
\n
2)accept proposals of the Seimas Committees, Members of the Seimas and the Government concerning a work programme of a session and refer them to the Speaker of the Seimas;
\n
3)be responsible for timely presentation of material required for a sitting to the presiding Member of the Seimas sitting, Members of the Seimas, Seimas Committees, political groups, the President of the Republic and the Government;
\n
4)register all the Members of the Seimas participating in a sitting, receive applications of the Members of the Seimas concerning their inability to take part in the sitting during the voting scheduled beforehand, and inform the Commission for Ethics and Procedures thereof;
\n
5)accept requests of the Members of the Seimas to put questions to a reporter, to participate in discussions, to advance an opinion on reasons for voting, and refer them to the member presiding over the sitting;
\n
6)register questions and interpellations of the Members of the Seimas addressed to the members of the Government, heads of the state institutions, and transfer them to appropriate officials;
\n
7)assist the member presiding over a sitting in ensuring that Seimas sittings be conducted in compliance with the requirements of the Seimas Statute;
\n
8)attend to adequate technical preparation and service of the sittings and arrange for the interpretation of sittings;
\n
9)provide information on sittings to the Members of the Seimas, Seimas Committees, political groups, the President of the Republic and the Government, divisions of the Office of the Seimas;
\n
10)carry out other assignments of the Speaker and Deputy Speakers of the Seimas and the Secretary General of the Seimas.
\n
Chapter XV
\n
SESSION WORK PROGRAMMES AND SITTING AGENDAS
\n
Article 89Session Work Programme
\n
1.The preparation of sessions, with the exception of the first session, shall be organised by the Speaker of the Seimas. Together with his deputies, he shall prepare drafts of the work programme of the session and of the agenda of sittings held during the first week.
\n
2.The Members of the Seimas may obtain said drafts at the Secretariat of Plenary Sittings two working days before the opening of the session.
\n
3.The Seimas committees responsible for the issues included in the programme and the date on which an issue is planned to be presented at a Seimas sitting must be specified in the draft work programme of the session.
\n
4.The draft work programme shall be delivered to the President of the Republic and the Government.
\n
5.The draft of the session work programme shall be considered by the Conference of Chairs upon receiving the written proposals of the Government and the President of the Republic. The Conference may amend and supplement the draft in the manner established in Article 37 of this Statute.
\n
6.The draft, along with the amendments and supplements and the recommendations made by the Conference of Chairs, shall be submitted to the Seimas for debate.
\n
7.At the first session following the election, the Seimas shall, as a rule, consider and approve the work programme at the time specified in Article 84 of this Statute. Other sessions shall open with the discussion and approval of the work programme.
\n
8.Individual items of the work programme shall be discussed and put to the vote at the Seimas in accordance with the same procedure as is applicable to the adoption of laws on an article-by-article basis.
\n
9.The Seimas may later revise the work programme in accordance with the procedure established in this Statute.
\n
Article 90Preparation of a Weekly Agenda of Sittings
\n
1.In accordance with the approved work programme of the session, the Speaker of the Seimas, together with the Seimas Deputy Speakers, shall draft a detailed agenda of sittings for a week and submit it to the Conference of Chairs for debate. Proposals shall be submitted by the members of the Conference of Chairs, committees, other Members of the Seimas, and the Government.
\n
2.The time of the sittings, the issues under discussion, the registration number of a draft, the stage of debate, and the rapporteurs and shadow rapporteurs must be specified in the agenda. The Seimas must be informed also of the proposals which were not adopted.
\n
3.If any of the issues on the agenda of a specific week are not discussed within that week, these issues shall be included without voting in the agenda of the following week.
\n
4.With the exception of cases specified in this Statute, issues which are included in drafts of laws, resolutions or other acts in accordance with the requirements set forth in Chapter 19 of this Statute shall be entered in the weekly agenda.
\n
5.The Conference of Chairs shall decide at its sitting whether or not to approve each item of the presented agenda in accordance with the procedure established in Article 37 of this Statute.
\n
6.If a decision is passed to work one day a week, the Conference of Chairs may simultaneously present the agenda of the next day of sittings. In such a case, requirements applicable to the agenda’s preparation, adoption and amendment shall be the same as those which apply to the preparation, adoption and amendment of the weekly agenda of sittings.
\n
Article 91Approval of a Weekly Agenda of Sittings
\n
1.A draft weekly agenda of sittings approved at the Conference of Chairs shall be put to the vote at a Seimas sitting without preliminary discussion thereon.
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2.The items of the agenda presented as recommendations by the Conference of Chairs and the full draft agenda, provided that it was not approved by vote at the Seimas, may be discussed at sittings of the Seimas. In such a case, proposals may be submitted by the Members of the Board of the Seimas, committees, political groups and the Government.
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3.If, for some reason, the Conference of Chairs could not approve the draft weekly agenda sittings, it may be submitted to a sitting of the Seimas by the Speaker of the Seimas. In such a case, the procedure established in paragraph 2 of this Article shall apply.
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Article 92Mandatory Inclusion of Issues on the Agenda
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1.At the written request of a group of at least one-third of the Members of the Seimas, inclusion of an issue in the session work programme or in the weekly agenda or in the agenda of the next day shall be mandatory, provided that the issue has been prepared and relevant provisions for its discussion have been made in accordance with the procedure established in this Statute. No more than one and a half hours shall be assigned for debating such issues unless the Seimas decides to extend the discussion period.
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2.Should the President of the Republic request so, the issues and reports recommended by him shall be included in the agenda of the sitting on a mandatory basis (without a vote).
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3.The Government shall have the right to request inclusion of a Government report concerning an important issue on the agenda of a sitting of the Seimas. Under a decision of the Seimas, a discussion may follow the report.
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4.At the written request of more than one-tenth of all of the Members of the Seimas, inclusion of the discussion concerning an especially important matter in the agenda of the next day shall be mandatory. No more than 30 minutes shall be assigned for the discussion, unless the Seimas decides to extend this discussion. Following the discussion, the Seimas may instruct one of the committees or commissions to examine that matter. Only one such discussion may be held per sitting.
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Article 93Daily Agenda of Sittings
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1.The Speaker of the Seimas shall, together with his deputies, draw up, on the basis of the approved weekly agenda of sittings, a detailed draft daily agenda of the sittings in which the rapporteur and the time of debate or voting on every issue must be specified separately.
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2.The abovementioned draft agenda shall be considered and adopted at the Seimas on the day preceding the sitting.
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3.If the draft daily agenda of a sitting is approved at the Conference of Chairs, it shall not be discussed at the Seimas sitting and the Seimas shall immediately vote on the approval of the agenda.
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4.If the draft daily agenda of a sitting is not approved at the Conference of Chairs, additional proposals may be presented by members of the Board of the Seimas, committees, political groups, and the Government, provided that the approved weekly agenda of sittings is complied with.
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Article 94Inclusion of Additional Issues on the Agenda and Removal of Issues from the Agenda
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1.The Board of the Seimas, the Conference of Chairs, the Government and Seimas political group shall have the right to propose at a Seimas sitting to include additional issues in the adopted weekly or daily agenda of sittings or to remove issues from these agendas.
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2.A proposal to include additional issues in the agenda or to remove issues from the agenda may be adopted if the majority of the Members of the Seimas present at the sitting votes for the proposal.
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3.If the proposal to include additional issues in the agenda or to remove issues from the agenda is not approved, it may be resubmitted on the next day at the earliest.
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Chapter XVI
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SITTINGS OF THE SEIMAS
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Article 95Language of the Seimas Sittings
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Seimas sittings shall be held in the Lithuanian language. Guests, experts or witnesses who do not speak the language shall have the right to speak in any other language, provided they notify the Secretariat of Plenary Sittings thereof no later than six hours in advance; the Secretariat must see to it that interpretation is provided.
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Article 96Frequency of Seimas Sittings
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1.As a rule, four sittings a week – two on Tuesday and two on Thursday – shall be held during the Seimas session, with a week-long adjournment of Seimas plenary sittings every three weeks.
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2.On other days of the week and in the week when no plenary sittings are held, meetings of the Board of the Seimas, the Conference of Chairs, political groups, committees and commissions and meetings of the Members of the Seimas with electors or representatives of local authorities shall be held.
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3.A preliminary schedule of sittings of a Seimas session shall be approved by the Board of the Seimas.
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Article 97Agenda of Seimas Sittings
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1.The last twenty minutes of every day’s evening sitting shall be allotted to Members of the Seimas for making statements on urgent state issues and broadcast on national radio.
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2.Those wishing to speak shall, prior to the morning sitting, submit a written request to the Secretariat of Plenary Sittings. The Secretariat of Plenary Sittings shall present the received requests to the member presiding over the sitting.
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3.No discussion shall be held on the opinions expressed in statements of Members of the Seimas. The Seimas may without discussion approve the proposal of a Member of the Seimas to assign investigation of an issue to an appropriate Seimas committee or commission. The Seimas committee or commission must start investigating this issue not later than within a week.
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4.Thirty minutes of a evening sitting on Tuesday is given to the Parliamentary Question Time (half an hour long), i.e. to replies of individual Government Members, Seimas officials, heads of the state institutions appointed by the Seimas, except judges of the Constitutional Court and Supreme Court, and to replies of heads of other state institutions to the inquiries of Members of the Seimas, while a segment of a morning sitting on Thursday is usually allotted to the Parliamentary Question Time (an hour long).
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5.Agendas of every third Thursday evening sitting shall be drawn up by the political groups of the Opposition. Taking into consideration the principle of proportional representation of the political groups of the Opposition, the Board of the Seimas shall appoint, prior to the beginning of a regular Seimas session, a political group or a coalition of political groups responsible for the agenda of such sittings. In this case the agenda shall not be approved at the Seimas sitting and must be submitted along with the draft weekly agenda of sittings.
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6.Every Thursday, except the Thursdays indicated in paragraph 5 of this Article, no more than two hours shall be allotted at the end of the evening sitting for consideration of the drafts registered by the Members of the Seimas. Such drafts shall be included in the agenda in accordance with the order of their registration, unless more than one-third of the Members of the Seimas object to such inclusion. A Member of the Seimas may request the Seimas to postpone consideration of the draft registered by him, however in this case, the draft may be included in the agenda only when the turn for its consideration comes again.
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Article 98Time of Seimas Sittings and Registration of Members of the Seimas
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1.As a rule the morning sitting of the Seimas shall be held from 10:00 a.m. and the afternoon sitting – from 3:00 p.m.
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2.Members of the Seimas shall be registered at the beginning of every sitting and before the voting planned in advance.
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3.Based upon a decision of the member presiding over a Seimas sitting or at the request of a political group which is supported by at least a half of the Members of the Seimas participating in the sitting, the Seimas sitting may be extended by not more than one hour, provided that the Seimas has failed to consider all issues on the approved agenda.
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Article 99Extraordinary Seimas Sitting
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1.An extraordinary Seimas sitting must be held when it is requested in writing by the President of the Republic, at least one-third of the Members of the Seimas, the Board of the Seimas, and in the cases provided for in paragraph 1 of Article 89 of the Constitution – by the Speaker of the Seimas.
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2.Only the issues submitted by the persons on whose initiative the sitting is held shall be considered at such a sitting.
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3.The Board of the Seimas shall, not less than six hours before the opening of an extraordinary sitting, inform the Members of the Seimas about the sitting and issues proposed for discussion either during an ordinary meeting or in the mass media.
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Article 100Member of the Seimas Presiding over a Seimas Sitting
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1.Sittings of the Seimas shall be presided over by the Speaker of the Seimas or Deputy Speaker of the Seimas.
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2.The Member of the Seimas presiding over a Seimas sitting:
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1)shall, orally and by banging the gavel, announce the opening and closing of the sitting and, as necessary, may also announce an adjournment not provided for in the agenda;
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2)shall attend to the conduct of proceedings of Seimas sittings, supervise compliance with this Statute during the sittings, and control the performance of duties of the group of tellers and the Secretariat of Plenary Sittings;
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3)shall not take part in discussions and may not in any other way influence the Members of the Seimas as regards the decisions pending the adoption;
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4)shall give the floor to the Members of the Seimas, direct a debate and may pose questions to the Members of the Seimas in order to specify the essence of proposals;
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5)shall watch over the duration of speeches and, if the time limit is exceeded, shall warn the rapporteur and may interrupt him after the second warning;
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6)may extend the time of a speech delivered on an urgent issue provided that the Seimas does not object;
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7)may warn the rapporteur or interrupt him after the second warning if the rapporteur is speaking not to the point;
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8)may also give the floor to other persons provided that the Seimas does not object;
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9)shall phrase questions to be put to the vote on the basis of results of the debate; pursuant to this Statute, establish the voting procedure, announce the beginning of voting and, in accordance with the information presented by the group of tellers or electronic voting machines, announce the results of the voting;
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10)shall call to order the Members of the Seimas if they do not adhere to the Statute and make noise in the Plenary Chamber and publicly insult the President of the Republic, the Seimas, the Speaker, the Members of the Seimas, the Government, the Prime Minister or ministers and may submit proposals concerning the recording of the warnings in the minutes or examination thereof in the Commission for Ethics and Procedures or exclusion of the Member of the Seimas from the Plenary Chamber;
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11)shall take a decision to exclude from the Plenary Chamber the invited persons or the correspondents if they interfere with the sitting;
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12)shall, when adopting decisions, announce at the request of the Members of the Seimas the article of the Statute in compliance with which he is acting; and
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13)shall sign an official report on the Seimas sitting, the minutes of the sitting and endorse the laws and other acts passed at the sitting.
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Article 101Open and Closed Seimas Sittings
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1.As a rule, Seimas sittings shall be open.
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2.On a decision of the Seimas and at the request of the Speaker of the Seimas, the President of the Republic or the Prime Minister, a closed sitting may be held by way of exception and may be attended, in addition to the Members of the Seimas, only by persons specially invited to the sitting and, as necessary, by the personnel of the Secretariat of Plenary Sittings.
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3.The Board of the Seimas, the Government, political groups and committees shall have the right, on a duly justified basis, to propose to hold a closed sitting.
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4.Without consent by the Seimas, neither the Members of the Seimas nor other participants of a closed sitting shall have the right to disseminate information regarding the content of the closed sitting.
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Article 102Guests and Observers of Seimas Sittings
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1.The Speaker of the Seimas or the Board of the Seimas may invite to speak at sittings the most prominent guests of the Republic of Lithuania: heads of foreign states, members of governments, heads of parliamentary delegations and international organisations, and chairs of organisations of Lithuanian emigrants.
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2.Other distinguished guests may be invited as observers of the sittings of a session.
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3.The President of the Republic, members of the Government, the justices of the Constitutional Court, the President of the Supreme Court and heads of the state institutions formed by the Seimas may attend the sittings without a special invitation and state their opinion during discussions where issues related to their work are considered. An entry regarding their participation shall be made in the minutes of a sitting.
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4.Open sittings of the Seimas shall be public. They may be attended by all persons having permits to enter the Seimas premises. The Board of the Seimas shall establish the procedure for observing sittings in the Plenary Chamber.
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5.Only Members of the Seimas, employees of the Secretariat of Plenary Sittings and persons who have been given the floor may stay on the ground floor of the Plenary Chamber.
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Article 103Meeting of the Members of the Seimas
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1.The Seimas may convene a meeting of all the Members of the Seimas for preliminary discussion of issues; the rules of this Statute shall not be valid at such meetings. No decisions shall be adopted by the Seimas at such meetings.
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2.The Members of the Seimas shall elect a member presiding over a meeting and may establish provisional rules of procedure of the meeting.
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Article 104Reports, Speeches and Replies to Questions
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1.All reports shall be read at Seimas sittings from the rostrum.
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2.In the cases set forth in Article 106 of this Statute, the Members of the Seimas may speak from their seats or into the microphones installed in the Plenary Chamber.
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3.Speaking during sittings shall be allowed only on the permission of the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting.
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4.As a rule, one principal report and one additional report shall be made on every issue under consideration.
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5.The duration of a report shall be fixed by the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting in co-ordination with the person delivering the report. Usually, reports should not exceed 30 minutes.
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6.Additional reports shall be allotted up to fifteen minutes; closing statements and speaking in a debate on behalf of the Government or a committee shall be allotted up to ten minutes; speaking on behalf of a political group - up to seven minutes, and speeches delivered on behalf of the rapporteur himself shall be given up to five minutes. If, prior to the start of a debate at the Seimas a decision is adopted to limit the duration of the debate, the time allotted to political groups shall be divided in proportion to the size of the political groups and the chairs of the political groups shall inform the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting as to the member of the political group who will speak and the duration of his speech.
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7.During the presentation of a draft, a report shall be allotted ten minutes and replies to the questions of the Members of the Seimas – up to ten minutes.
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8.A reply to a single question may not exceed three minutes, whereas the question itself may not take longer than one minute.
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9.Only one question shall be permitted at a time. A person shall be allowed to ask a second question only when it is his turn again.
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10.On the decision of the Seimas, sessions of questions and replies may be terminated before the fixed time, provided that at least one other Member of the Seimas supports such a proposal.
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Article 105Procedure of Organising Discussion
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1.Registration of persons wishing to take the floor shall begin an hour before the first sitting of the day when an issue is to be discussed and shall close by the commencement of the discussion of the issue. Upon completion of registration, the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting must announce the list of persons participating in the discussion. Registration for speaking shall be carried out by submitting applications to the Secretariat of Plenary Sittings.
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2.Speakers shall be given the floor during discussions in the order in which they have registered to speak. The Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting may change the order for the purpose of ensuring proportional representation of political groups and committees and for presenting arguments “for” and “against”.
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3.A speaker may waive his right to take the floor. If the speaker leaves the Plenary Chamber without giving prior notice to the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting and is not present when called upon to speak, he shall be deemed to have waived his right to take the floor. The Members of the Seimas may not transfer to each other the speaking time allotted to them.
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Article 106Speeches Regarding Procedure and Other Issues
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1.During debates, the Members of the Seimas shall have the right to take the floor not more than once for every item on the agenda.
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2.Questions, remarks, and speeches concerning the reasons or procedure for voting, issues related to the termination of discussion, and proposals to reject or postpone the issue under consideration shall constitute an exception.
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3.In the abovementioned cases, no advance registration shall be required. However, every Member of the Seimas shall have the right to pose a question, speak or make a remark only once on each given issue on the agenda, and concerning the reasons for voting – once before each voting.
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4.Remarks shall be made in response to another person’s speech or asking for an explanation. The Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting shall decide whether to give the floor to make a remark.
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5.Speeches on termination of the procedure, discussion, postponement of deliberation of an issue or rejection of a draft and remarks shall have precedence over the issue under consideration. In the abovementioned cases, members shall be given the floor for no longer than two minutes after the speaker has finished speaking. In the cases specified in the Statute, such speeches may be followed by vote.
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6.If the speaker speaks on an issue other than the one for which he was given the floor, the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting may revoke his right to speak.
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Article 107Debates on Reasons for Voting
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1.Members of the Seimas may speak on reasons for voting after the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting announces the issue on which vote will be taken and asks whether there are any persons present who wish to speak on reasons for voting. The duration of speech may not exceed two minutes.
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2.When the Seimas votes on an issue in its entirety or the adoption of a draft law, not more than four Members of the Seimas may take the floor in favour of and not more than four Members of the Seimas against the reasons of voting. The Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting shall give priority to chairs of political groups and those speaking on behalf of political groups.
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3.In other instances, only one Member of the Seimas may take the floor in favour of and one Member of the Seimas against the reasons of voting.
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Article 108Termination and Limitation of Discussions
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1.Discussions shall be terminated on the decision of the Seimas, except when this Statute provides for a different procedure for termination of discussions.
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2.Proposals to terminate a discussion may be submitted after at least two speakers have been given the floor and may be put to the vote without holding a discussion thereon, provided that at least one more Member of the Seimas supports the proposal. Prior to voting, the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting must announce how many persons registered for speaking and how many have already spoken.
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3.Upon resolving to terminate the discussion, the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting must give the floor to one more Member of the Seimas whose turn it is to speak and to any person who are entitled to be given the floor pursuant to paragraph 4 of this Article. In addition, the speaker may be given the floor for final statement.
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4.During the discussion, the President of the Republic, the Speaker of the Seimas, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Seimas Opposition shall have the right to take the floor one time out of turn.
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5.If members of the Government and one representative of a political group or of a committee notify the Secretariat of Plenary Sittings of their wish to be given the floor prior to termination of a discussion, they shall retain the right to take the floor even if it is resolved to terminate the discussion.
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6.The Seimas may limit in advance the general duration of discussion on each issue or the number of speakers. In such cases, proposals to terminate a discussion shall not be accepted.
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7.If an opposition political group objects to termination of discussion and if its proposal is supported by one-third of the Members of the Seimas participating in the sitting, the discussion shall be continued.
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Article 109Adjournment of a Debate on an Issue and Postponement of the Debate
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1.In discussing each issue and prior to the commencement of voting, the Seimas shall take an unscheduled adjournment of no less than half an hour and no more than an hour or the debate on the issue may be postponed to the next sitting if the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting, the lead committee or a political group so requests and the request is supported by at least one-third of the Members of the Seimas present at the sitting, or if an opposition political group so requests and the request is supported by at least one-fifth of the Members of the Seimas present at the sitting.
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2.In discussing an issue, such adjournments and postponements of debates may only be done twice. Only one unscheduled adjournment of a debate on the same issue may be taken during the same sitting.
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3.If the Statute was expressly violated during a debate on an issue, the committee which prepared the draft of the law or other legal act, a political group, or the Commission for Ethics and Procedures shall have the right to request that the debate on the issue be postponed, but for no longer than one week.
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Article 110Speech of a Member of the Seimas on a Personal Issue
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1.If the conduct or words of a Member of the Seimas are presented in a distorted manner by other speakers, he shall have the right to request that the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting give him the floor to speak on a personal issue for up to two minutes.
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2.If the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting rejects the request, the Member of the Seimas shall have the right to request that the issue of whether or not he should be given the floor to speak on a personal question be put to the vote.
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3.The Member of the Seimas shall be given the floor to speak on a personal issue at the end of the debate on the issue.
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Chapter XVII
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VOTING AND VOTE COUNTING
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Article 111Voting Methods and Procedure
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1.Open ballot voting shall be conducted on issues debated at Seimas sittings, except for the cases stipulated by this Statute.
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2.Laws and resolutions of the Seimas shall be adopted using the electronic vote counting system. Voting shall also take place on individual provisions of an issue under consideration, individual articles or stipulations of a law, protocol decisions and work programme of the session, agenda of sittings and other issues. Data regarding the vote of each Member of the Seimas shall be public. On the decision of the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting, these issues may be voted upon by show of hands.
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3.Individual instructions approved by the Board of the Seimas shall establish how to use the electronic vote counting system.
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4.The Members of the Seimas shall vote in person. The right to vote may not be transferred to other persons.
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Article 112Voting Procedure
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1.The Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting shall announce the commencement of voting procedure.
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2.The Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting must inform the Members of the Seimas how many votes are needed to adopt a decision.
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3.The Members of the Seimas must stay in their seats during the voting.
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4.No issues shall be debated until completion of the voting procedure. The floor is given only to speak on reasons for voting and mode of voting, except the period during which results of roll call voting or voting by ballot are being counted.
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Article 113Decision Taking
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1.Laws of the Republic of Lithuania, Seimas resolutions and other Seimas decisions are adopted by a simple (i.e., more than half) majority of the Members of the Seimas present at the sitting, with the exception of specific cases stipulated by the Constitution and this Statute. Laws shall be adopted when not less than half of all Members of the Seimas attend a Seimas sitting.
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2.Decisions on protocol resolutions of the Seimas (resolutions included in the protocol), individual provisions of an issue being debated, individual articles or statements of a law, issues of working procedure of a session shall be adopted by majority vote, these decisions may also be adopted without a vote (by consensus) i.e., when the question by the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting: ‘Are there any against?’ is followed by no reply, he announces: ‘Adopted.’ 3. At every sitting the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting must, prior to the first voting and also prior to voting on an entire law or adoption of any other legal act, check the number of Members of the Seimas attending the sitting.
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4.If before any voting the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting or any political group fails to request to check the number of Members of the Seimas attending the sitting, this may not be questioned later. The last count established at the sitting shall be considered the number of the Members of the Seimas attending the sitting.
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Article 114Roll Call Voting
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1.Roll call voting shall be permitted in adopting Lithuanian Republic laws, Seimas resolutions or other acts, except for issues regarding individuals, provided that one of the political groups so requests and at least one-third of the Members of the Seimas attending the sitting supports such request.
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2.Such a request may be submitted by the representative of a political group only upon conclusion of a debate on an issue and prior to voting on the entire draft.
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3.In such a case, ballot papers for roll call voting shall be distributed to the Members of the Seimas prior to the commencement of voting; upon receipt of the ballot papers, the Members of the Seimas shall sign the record of issued ballot papers.
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4.The Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting shall announce the time of commencement and completion of roll call voting. Respective information shall be announced throughout the premises of the Seimas.
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5.Prior to the commencement of roll call voting, the chair of any political group may request a postponement of the voting. In this case, the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting shall indicate the precise duration of the postponement; this voting must take place not later than by the end of the next day of sittings. Such mode of postponement of voting may be applied only once.
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6.Upon announcing commencement of voting, every Member of the Seimas shall fill in the ballot paper, sign it, and hand it over to the tellers’ group.
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7.Ballot papers shall be no longer issued and accepted upon the expiry of the time set for voting.
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8.Upon counting the votes, the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting shall announce the vote of each Member of the Seimas.
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Article 115Voting by Secret Ballot
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1.When electing Speaker of the Seimas, Deputy Speakers of the Seimas, resolving an issue related to no-confidence in the Government, the Prime Minister or an individual minister, no-confidence in any official of the Seimas or dismissal of the head of a state institution appointed by the Seimas on the grounds of no-confidence, and when a vote is taken on the wording of charges during impeachment proceedings Members of the Seimas shall vote solely by secret ballot.
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2.Moreover, voting by secret ballot shall be conducted when resolving issues concerning appointment and dismissal of justices of the Constitutional Court, judges of the Supreme Court and presidents of these Courts, chairs of the divisions of the Supreme Court, dismissal of state officials specified by the Constitution and laws on the grounds of no-confidence, appointment of heads of state institutions accountable to the Seimas, and issues concerning the approval of appointment or dismissal of chairs and judges of the Court of Appeal and chairs of the divisions of this Court.
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3.On the decision of the Seimas, other issues regarding individuals may also be voted on by secret ballot.
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4.Voting by secret ballot shall be conducted during the break in the sitting of the Seimas.
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5.Ballot papers shall be stamped and issued by the tellers’ group. Upon receiving their ballot papers, the Members of the Seimas shall sign the record of issued ballot papers.
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6.There must be a secret voting booth and a ballot box in the premises where voting is held. The ballot box must be placed so that, in order to access it, the Members of the Seimas would first have to enter the secret voting booth.
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Article 116Voting by Open Ballot
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1.Voting shall be conducted by open ballot when it is necessary to elect several candidates to posts from a larger number of candidates and when it has not been resolved to vote by secret ballot.
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2.In voting by open ballot, the procedure for voting and establishing the results shall be the same as in voting by secret ballot, except that secret voting booths shall not be used and ballot papers shall be filled out in the Plenary Chamber.
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3.It shall not be necessary to sign the ballot papers.
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Article 117Ballot Papers
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1.A standard ballot paper for voting by secret and open ballot shall be approved by the Seimas prior to voting.
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2.Issues concerning the dismissal of an official or declaration of no-confidence in the official shall be voted on using ballot papers with the following words: ‘Confidence’ and ‘No-confidence’ or ‘To dismiss’ and ‘Not to dismiss’.
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3.One ballot paper shall be used to vote on either the recalling of a single official or the declaration of no-confidence in a collegial institution or one of its members, or the dismissal of a single official.
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4.One ballot paper may contain the surnames, in alphabetical order, of candidates to the same position.
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5.In all cases, a ballot paper must have a heading clearly indicating the issue being voted on.
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6.The Member of the Seimas casting his vote shall cross out on the ballot paper the surname of the candidates against whom he is voting or the statements which he does not support.
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7.Ballot papers which are not of the approved form or which are unstamped and ballot papers containing more surnames than the number of officials being elected or more than one alternative statement shall be deemed invalid.
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8.Surnames and statements additionally entered on ballot papers shall not be counted.
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9.The record of counting of votes by ballot papers shall be signed by the chair of the tellers’ group and the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting.
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10.Ballot papers shall be preserved in the Seimas Archives until the end of the term of office of the Seimas.
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Article 118Putting Issues to the Vote
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1.Voting may be held on one statement or two alternative statements. In the first instance, the vote shall be expressed by “For”, “Against” or “I abstain”. In the second instance, the vote shall be expressed by “For the first statement” or “For the second statement”.
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2.Alternative statements shall be voted upon in the order in which they were submitted for a debate. If there are more than two statements, the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting must group them by topic so that they are all decided upon in several rounds of voting for one or two statements.
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3.The statement which collects the most votes shall be adopted provided the necessary majority of votes is collected; otherwise, it shall again be put to the vote to confirm the decision.
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4.If this fails to be accomplished, the Members of the Seimas may either propose a compromise or postpone the issue.
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5.At his own initiative or at the request of at least two Members of the Seimas, the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting shall split the issue put to the vote into two.
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6.The decision to postpone an issue shall be voted on before voting on the subject matter of the issue.
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7.Numbers shall be voted on in the ascending order. If necessary, the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting may change the order of voting, unless the Members of the Seimas who submitted the proposals object.
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Article 119Tellers’ Group
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1.When the electronic vote counting system is not used, the tellers’ group shall organise the voting and count the votes.
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2.The tellers’ group shall also assist the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting in checking the number of the Members of the Seimas present in the Plenary Chamber and in reviewing registration thereof.
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3.Members of the tellers’ group shall vote according to the general procedure.
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4.The Seimas shall appoint the tellers’ group in an alphabetical order for the period of one month upon the proposal of the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting. The group may not consist exclusively of the members of one political group.
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5.The Members of the Board of the Seimas, chairs of committees and commissions, chairs of political groups, and members of the Government shall not be assigned to the tellers’ group.
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6.The tellers’ group shall elect a chair from among its members.
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7.The Seimas may declare no-confidence in the tellers’ group or one of its members by a majority of votes cast by the Members of the Seimas present at the sitting. In such an event, a new group or a new group member shall be appointed.
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8.On a decision of the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting or at the request of a political group which is supported by no less than 1/3 of the Members of the Seimas present at the sitting, the voting which took place before the declaration of no-confidence may be repeated.
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Article 120Announcement of Voting Results
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Voting results shall be announced by the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting based on the information provided by the tellers’ group or by the indicators of the electronic voting counting system.
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Article 121Repeat Voting and Adjournment
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1.Before a debate on another issue on the agenda begins, voting carried by show of hands or by using the electronic vote counting system may be repeated if doubts arise regarding vote counting accuracy and if so requested by the Speaker of the Seimas, Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting or at least five Members of the Seimas present at the sitting. The decision to repeat the voting shall be adopted by the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting.
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2.The tellers’ group shall also have the right to request that voting be repeated if it admits that it miscalculated votes.
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3.Voting for the submitted proposal shall also be repeated when resulting in a tie. If after a repeat voting the result remains the same, the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting shall announce an adjournment of voting for at least one hour.
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4.If a manifest infringement of individual voting is established, the vote shall be repeated at the request of the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting or a political group, even after a debate of another issue on the agenda starts.
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5.The chair of any political group may request the adjournment of a repeat vote, prior to its commencement. In this case, the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting shall adjourn the voting for not less than 15 minutes and not more than 30 minutes.
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6.Voting on issues concerning the proceedings of a sitting may not be adjourned.
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7.Voting on issues under deliberation may only be adjourned once.
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Chapter XVIII
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OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND PUBLICATION OF SEIMAS DOCUMENTS
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Article 122Minutes of Seimas Sittings
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1.Minutes of Seimas sittings shall be drawn up and published by the Document Department of the Seimas and signed by the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting. Minutes of closed sittings shall not be published and shall be stored in accordance with the procedure established by the Board of the Seimas.
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2.Minutes shall contain debated issues, speakers, adopted resolutions and voting results. Full texts of adopted protocol resolutions shall be recorded in the minutes.
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3.Additional information (data concerning the registration of the Members of the Seimas, roll call voting results and results of voting on the adoption of legal acts, statements of the Members of the Seimas, etc.) shall be appended to the minutes.
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4.Minutes shall be distributed to committees and political groups no later than the next working day after the sitting.
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5.The Members of the Seimas may state their complaints regarding the minutes at the end of the morning sitting held on the next day of the Seimas sittings. If there are disputable issues, the Seimas shall adopt a decision thereon by a simple majority of votes cast by the Members of the Seimas after a brief explanation by the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting.
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Article 123Verbatim Reports of Seimas Sittings
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1.The Document Department of the Office of the Seimas shall draw up and publish verbatim reports of Seimas sittings. Original copies of the reports shall be stored in the Document Department and subsequently transferred to the Seimas Archives. Verbatim reports shall be recorded in a computer medium.
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2.Members of the Seimas and other persons who were given the floor during a sitting shall have the right to check, within two days after the Seimas sitting, the verbatim reports of their speeches prepared for publication. Upon checking the text against audio recordings, they may revise the edited version of the verbatim report of their speeches provided this does not change the essence of the speech. If the speaker does not present any complaints concerning the text of the verbatim report, it shall be assumed that he agrees with the text.
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3.In the event of disputes or misunderstandings concerning the edited text of a verbatim report prepared for publication, a decision thereon shall be adopted by the Member of the Seimas presiding over the respective sitting.
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4.Verbatim reports of closed sittings shall not be published and shall be kept in accordance with the procedure established by the Board of the Seimas.
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5.Representatives of the mass media may obtain texts of speeches given during Seimas sittings through the Public Information and Media Division no later than within 24 hours from the sitting during which the speech was given. Verbatim reports of Seimas sittings shall be printed in a special publication and shall be publicly available.
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Article 124Minutes of Meetings of the Board of the Seimas and the Conference of Chairs
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1.Minutes shall be taken at meetings of the Board of the Seimas and the Conference of Chairs; no verbatim reports shall be drawn up of these meetings.
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2.Minutes shall contain the names of participants in a meeting, debated issues, speakers, adopted resolutions and voting results.
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3.Minutes shall be signed by the Member of the Seimas presiding over a respective meeting.
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4.Committees and political groups shall make these minutes available to the Members of the Seimas.
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Article 125Minutes of Meetings of Seimas Committees and Commissions
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1.Seimas committees and commissions shall take minutes of their respective meetings according to the rules established by the Board of the Seimas.
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2.Committee and commission resolutions, conclusions and minutes of the meetings shall be signed by committee and commission chairs.
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3.Minutes of committee and commission meetings, except those of closed meetings, shall be public.
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4.Upon the completion of the calendar year, the minutes of meetings and other documents of committees and commissions shall be transferred to the Seimas Archives according to the procedure established by the Board of the Seimas.
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5.All documents of an ad hoc commission must be transferred to the Seimas Archives within ten days of the expiry of the powers of the commission.
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Article 126Submission of Draft Laws for Public Comments
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1.Draft laws submitted for public comments shall be made available on the website of the Seimas.
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2.When submitting drafts for public comments, the names of the persons in charge of drafting and initiators thereof must be indicated.
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3.Draft laws submitted for public comments must be signed by the chair of the lead committee.
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Article 127Endorsement and Signing of Acts Adopted by the Seimas
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1.Adopted laws of the Republic of Lithuania, prior to their forwarding to the President of the Republic for signature, and other acts of the Seimas, prior to their submission to the Speaker of the Seimas for endorsement or signature within seven days of their adoption, shall be submitted endorsed by the chair of the lead committee, the rapporteur who participated in the adoption and the authors of the adopted amendments.
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2.Adopted laws bearing an endorsement of the Speaker of the Seimas shall be forwarded within 24 hours to the President of the Republic for signature.
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3.Acts adopted by the Board of the Seimas shall be signed by the Speaker of the Seimas or the Deputy Speaker of the Seimas empowered by him.
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4.Upon signing an act, the Speaker of the Seimas shall transfer the act to the Secretary General of the Seimas for promulgation.
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Article 128Publication and Entry into Force of Acts Adopted by the Seimas
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1.Laws and other documents of the Seimas shall be published and shall enter into force pursuant to the Law on the Procedure of Publication and Entry into Force of Laws and Other Legal Acts.
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2.Laws signed by the President of the Republic and resolutions of the Seimas shall be forwarded to the Government, the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the Auditor General and, as necessary, to heads of other state institutions and to local authorities not later than within three working days after their signature.
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Article 129Seals of the Seimas
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1.The Seimas shall have the great seal, which is 38 mm in diameter, and the lesser seal, which is 27 mm in diameter, each displaying the Lithuanian State Emblem.
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2.The Secretary General of the Seimas shall be responsible for the use and keeping of the Seimas seals.
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3.The great seal of the Seimas with the Lithuanian State Emblem shall be affixed on laws, resolutions and other official documents of the Seimas and on documents, international treaties and other documents signed by the Speaker of the Seimas and communicated to institutions of state government and administration of foreign states.
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4.The lesser seal of the Seimas with the Lithuanian State Emblem shall be affixed on certificates of employment and other documents signed by the Speaker, Deputy Speakers and the Secretary General of the Seimas.
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Article 130Right to Speak on Behalf of the Seimas, Seimas Committees and Seimas Commissions
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1.The Speaker and Deputy Speakers of the Seimas shall have the right to speak on behalf of the Seimas.
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2.The Seimas may also authorise heads of delegations to international organisations who are appointed by the Seimas and a Seimas spokesperson to speak on behalf of the Seimas.
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3.Chairs of Seimas committees or commissions, their deputies or authorised committee members may speak on behalf of their respective committees or commissions.
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Article 131Broadcasting of Seimas Sittings
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1.Seimas sittings shall be broadcast on the webpage of the Seimas in accordance with procedure laid down by the Board of the Seimas.
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2.The procedure of coverage and broadcasting of Seimas sittings by the Lithuanian Radio and Television shall be established by an agreement between the Board of the Seimas and the Lithuanian Radio and Television.
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Article 132Press Conferences
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1.The Public Information and Media Division of the Seimas shall organise press conferences of Members of the Seimas.
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2.As a rule, press conferences of the Members of the Seimas who represent the opposition political groups shall be held at least twice a week.
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3.The Office of the Seimas shall supply the journalists accredited with the Seimas with work-related documents.
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Article 133Official Reports on Seimas Activity
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Official reports on activities of the Seimas, the Board, Conference of Chairs, committees and commissions of the Seimas shall be prepared and published according to the procedure established by the Board of the Seimas.
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Article 134Registration of Documents and Information Material on Seimas Activity
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1.Documents prepared by Members of the Seimas (or received from elsewhere) and proposed to be distributed among the Members of the Seimas, committees or political groups shall be distributed by the Secretariat of Plenary Sittings.
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2.The documents must be registered at the Secretariat of Plenary Sittings and signed by at least one Member of the Seimas.
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3.The procedure for submitting, registering and distributing drafts of laws and other legal acts shall be established by Chapter XIX of this Statute.
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4.Information concerning Seimas activity shall be prepared and, as necessary, presented to the Members of the Seimas by the Parliamentary Research Department of the Office of the Seimas.
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5.To improve the provision of information to the public, the Seimas Publishing House Valstybės žinios shall issue the Seimo kronika (Chronicle of the Seimas). It shall contain descriptions of Seimas sittings, a list of the enacted laws, voting results, summaries of statements by Members of the Seimas, ordinances of the Speaker of the Seimas, decisions of the Board of the Seimas, committees and political groups, newly registered drafts of legal acts and other important information concerning the activities of the Seimas.
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PART V
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LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE
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Chapter XIX
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Registration of Drafts of Laws and other Seimas Acts
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Article 135Requirements for a Draft Submitted for Registration
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1.Drafts of laws and other legal acts and proposals concerning the legislation thereof shall be submitted to the Seimas by the institutions and persons who, pursuant to the Constitution, have the right of legislative initiative.
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2.A draft or proposal submitted to the Seimas for consideration must be signed by the initiators thereof. When a draft law is submitted to the Seimas by citizens of the Republic of Lithuania in accordance with the right granted to them by the Constitution, it shall be signed by the representatives authorised by the initiators; the draft shall be accompanied by citizens’ signatures collected in accordance with the procedure established by the law.
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3.An explanatory note shall accompany the draft law specifying the following:
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1)the reasons leading to the preparation of the draft, those who proposed it first and the persons who took part in the preparation or improvement of the draft;
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2)the objectives and goals of the prepared draft;
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3)the current legal framework regulating the issues considered in the draft law;
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4)envisaged legal regulation provisions, positive qualities of newly regulated issues and expected positive results;
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5)possible negative consequences of the enacted law and the measures which should be taken to avoid these consequences;
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6)effect of the enacted law on crime and corruption;
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7)effect of the implementation of the law on business conditions and business development;
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8)incorporation of the law into the legal system, the legal acts currently in force in this field (a list of these acts shall be presented) and the legal acts currently in force which must be amended or repealed upon adoption of the submitted draft;
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9)the compliance of the draft law with the requirements of the Law on the State Language, the Law on Procedure for Drawing up Laws and Other Regulatory Acts and the norms of the standard Lithuanian language and the assessment of the definitions used in the draft and the terms referring to the definitions in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law on the Term Bank and the legal acts implementing this Law;
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10)the conformity of the draft law with the provisions of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the European Union documents;
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11)the names of persons to prepare secondary legislation, if necessary for the implementation of the law, and time limits for preparation thereof, and the guidelines of this secondary legislation;
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12)the amount of budget funds to be spent or saved in respect of the implementation of the law (estimates to be supplied for the next year and subsequent years);
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13)the evaluation and conclusions of professionals obtained during the drafting of the law;
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14)author or group of authors of the draft law, initiators of the draft law: institution, persons or representatives authorised by citizens;
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15)key words of the draft law which are necessary for the inclusion of this draft in the search engine, including the key words according to the Thesaurus Eurovoc;
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16)other justifications and explanations which the initiators feel are necessary.
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4.Initiators of draft laws shall attach to an explanatory note a comparative version of a submitted draft amending a law, which sets forth the amendments. Amendments in the text of a new version of an article (paragraph or subparagraph thereof) shall be printed in boldface and the words to be deleted shall be stricken through. If an article (paragraph or subparagraph thereof) is proposed to be substantially amended, the text of the former version (stricken through) and the new version of the article (paragraph or subparagraph thereof) shall be presented. If the whole article (paragraph or subparagraph thereof) is proposed to be repealed, the number of the article (paragraph or subparagraph thereof) proposed to be repealed shall be specified in the subject matter of the amendments and the whole text (stricken through) of the article (paragraph or subparagraph thereof) shall be presented. If the draft law is followed by an annex containing references to legal acts of the European Union, a conformity table shall be attached presenting the conformity of the draft law, on an article-by-article basis, to the legal acts of the European Union specified in the annex.
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5.A draft law, where necessary, shall be accompanied by a draft law or resolution on the implementation procedure of this law. The draft law shall be accompanied by other draft legal acts being adopted by the Seimas which amend or repeal the legal acts currently in force and which must be adopted after the enactment of the submitted draft law.
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6.The requirements of Part V, with the exception of those regarding an explanatory note, shall apply to all drafts of laws and other regulatory acts of the Seimas (hereinafter in this Chapter: ‘draft laws’), except in specific instances stipulated by this Statute.
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7.A draft law amending a law may be presented at a plenary sitting of the Seimas not earlier than after six months following the enactment of the law. This requirement shall not apply when implementing rulings of the Constitutional Court in accordance with the procedure laid down by Article 1812 of the Statute of the Seimas or when a draft law amending the law is submitted by the Government or at least 1/5 of all Members of the Seimas.
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Article 136Registration of a Draft Law and Subsequent Activities
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1.All submitted draft laws and proposals shall be registered in the register of draft laws and proposals received by the Secretariat of Plenary Sittings indicating all authors and initiators of a draft and all the documents submitted by them.
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2.Drafts of laws and other legal acts together with an explanatory note shall, not later than within three working days, be forwarded to the Speaker of the Seimas, committees, political groups, Government, Office of the President of the Republic and, where necessary, to appropriate local authorities.
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3.With respect to a registered draft law, the Legal Department of the Office of the Seimas shall, within seven working days of the receipt thereof, draw up conclusions on conformity of the draft with the Constitution, laws, principles of legislation and technical rules of law-making and on conformity of the submitted documents to the requirements of this Statute. If this is a large draft, the Director of the Legal Department shall have the right to apply to the Conference of Chairs for the extension of this period.
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4.If a draft law is submitted by Members of the Seimas, the President of the Republic or citizens, it shall be transferred to the European Law Department under the Ministry of Justice, which shall, within ten working days of receipt thereof, draw up conclusions on conformity of this draft with the European Union law.
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5.Draft laws together with an explanatory note, conclusions of the Legal Department and the European Law Department under the Ministry of Justice shall be distributed among the Members of the Seimas not later than one working day prior to the submission thereof at a Seimas sitting.
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6.When considering a draft and further preparing it, the Secretariat of Plenary Sittings shall be presented with and register all updated versions of the draft, submitted conclusions and amendments and indicate the persons who have submitted them.
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7.A draft law shall be announced also in publications Seimo kronika and Valstybės žinios.
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Article 137Concurrent Consideration of Several Draft Laws. Alternative Drafts
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1.In the event that a draft law is submitted together with amendments to the Constitution, both drafts may be considered concurrently; however, a vote shall first be taken on the amendments to the Constitution in accordance with the procedure for amending the Constitution.
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2.Drafts of laws amending or repealing other laws which must be adopted upon the enactment of the proposed draft law shall also be considered concurrently.
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3.If several alternative drafts of a law have been received, they shall be considered concurrently during the discussion in the Seimas committee and at the sitting of the Seimas, and one of these drafts shall be selected.
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4.If several draft laws amending the same or different articles of the same law have been submitted, all of them shall be presented and considered at a Seimas sitting, and the committee assigned by the Seimas as the lead committee may join them and submit a joint draft to the Seimas for consideration.
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Article 138Preliminary Conclusions on a Draft Law by the Seimas Committee, the Government and Other Institutions
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1.The Speaker of the Seimas, the Board of the Seimas may refer a draft law to one of the committees to make a preliminary analysis and to prepare conclusions.
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2.If the Legal Department presents conclusions that a draft is not in compliance with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, the Committee on Legal Affairs must undertake preliminary consideration of this draft.
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3.As necessary, the Speaker of the Seimas and the Board of the Seimas may, on their own initiative or on the recommendation of the committee, request that the Government and other institutions present to the Seimas their conclusions concerning the draft under consideration.
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4.In this and other cases, the Government shall present conclusions to the Seimas within four weeks.
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Article 139Circumstances under which a Draft Law is not Submitted for Deliberation by Seimas
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1.If the Legal Affairs Committee comes to the conclusion that a draft law is not in conformity with the Constitution and no draft amendments to the Constitution have been presented in accordance with the established procedure, the Speaker of the Seimas shall present this conclusion for consideration in the Seimas. If the Seimas does not consent to the conclusion of the Committee on Legal Affairs by a majority of the votes cast by all Members of the Seimas, a draft of an appropriate law may be considered even without the draft amendments to the Constitution.
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2.In the event that the same draft law or another draft law of similar content was rejected by the Seimas within the last six months, such a draft shall not be accepted for repeat consideration.
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3.Draft laws submitted by entities who are not vested with the right of legislative initiative shall be registered, but shall not be forwarded for consideration; however, competent committees shall be familiarised therewith.
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4.In all of the above cases, drafts with a corresponding endorsement of the Speaker of the Seimas shall be returned to the Secretariat of Preliminary Sittings; at the Secretariat, the draft shall be recorded in the register of rejected draft laws and proposals and shall thereafter be forwarded to the Seimas Archives. A notice to this effect must be published in the Seimo kronika and the person who submitted the draft must be notified thereof.
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5.In cases when a draft law is submitted to the Seimas by citizens, the Speaker of the Seimas must submit this draft to the Seimas, disregarding all of the requirements listed therein.
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Article 140Initiators’ Right to Recall a Draft Law
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1.The initiators of a draft law shall have the right to recall this draft before it is considered at a sitting of the Seimas. The said persons must immediately give a written notice of the decision to the Secretary General of the Seimas, and the latter must notify the Seimas.
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2.The recalled draft law shall be returned to the Secretariat of Plenary Sittings along with the Secretary’s General endorsement, where it shall be entered in the register of the returned drafts and proposals and transferred to the Seimas Archives.
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3.However, in the event that the draft law recalled by the initiators is, no later than the next day, officially supported and submitted by another entity vested with the right of legislative initiative, the consideration procedure of such draft shall be continued. The above provision shall not apply to draft laws submitted by the President of the Republic or the Government.
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Chapter XX
\n
Presentation of Draft Laws and other Acts OF THE SEIMAS at Sittings OF THE SEIMAS
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Article 141Procedure of Submission of a Draft
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1.A draft law or any other act of the Seimas shall be submitted at a Seimas sitting by the initiator of the draft or his representative (a representative of the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, a minister or vice minister authorised by the Government, or a representative of citizens), who shall briefly describe the draft (up to ten minutes) and shall answer questions of the Members of the Seimas (up to ten minutes).
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2.Thereafter, the Member of the Seimas presiding over a sitting shall familiarise the Members of the Seimas with the conclusions of the Legal Department of the Office of the Seimas and the conclusions of the Seimas committees, the Government and the European Law Department under the Ministry of Justice and shall put proposals to the vote.
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Article 142Drafts Presented by Citizens
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A draft law submitted by citizens must be presented at a Seimas sitting no later than one week after the registration thereof during a session of the Seimas and, if registered between Seimas sessions, during the first sitting of the next session.
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Article 143Decisions on a Submitted Draft
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1.The Seimas shall adopt one of the following decisions concerning a submitted draft of a law or any other act of the Seimas:
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1)to commence the procedure of consideration of the draft;
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2)to adjourn the procedure of submission of the draft and to specify the actions to be taken by the initiators prior to repeated submission of the draft to the Seimas;
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3)to reject the draft specifying the grounds for rejection.
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2.If the Seimas decides to commence the procedure of consideration, a decision may be taken on submission of this draft for public comments.
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3.All decisions on the presentation and consideration of a draft law at the sitting of the Seimas shall be adopted by a simple majority of votes cast by those voting, with the exception of decisions to reject a draft or to submit the draft for public comments, which will be adopted by the majority of at least 1/4 of all the Members of the Seimas.
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4.If the Seimas decides to commence the procedure of consideration, a decision may be taken on application of an urgency procedure or a special urgency procedure.
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5.Application for the urgency procedure or the special urgency procedure shall be established in Chapter XXIV of this Statute.
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Article 144Activities Following a Decision to Commence the Procedure of Consideration of a Draft
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1.The procedure of consideration of a draft shall consist of the following: consideration at the lead committee, consideration at the sitting of the Seimas, and adoption of the draft.
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2.Upon deciding to commence the procedure of consideration of a draft, the Seimas must at the same sitting set an approximate date of consideration at a sitting of the Seimas (no earlier than after a week and no later than by the end of the session), and the lead committee and additional committees for further consideration or improvement of the draft. The proposal concerning the date of the preliminary consideration, the lead committee and additional committees shall be deliberated and submitted to the Seimas by the Conference of Chairs for approval.
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Article 145Mandatory Conclusions Regarding a Draft Law
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1.In the event that funding related to the adjustment of the State Budget is required for the implementation of the law, the proposals of the initiators of the draft and the conclusions of the Committee on Budget and Finance and the Government concerning the possible sources of funding, together with a draft law amending the Law on the State Budget which is being considered, must be presented during further consideration of the draft.
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2.If a draft law proposes substantial modifications to the legal regulation (to lay down, change or abolish the rights or duties of right-holders, to define directions of the reform or strategy of the development of particular areas) and the lead committee or at least 1/5 of all Members of the Seimas (but not later than 72 hours after the completion of consideration in the lead committee) support this initiative, the decision to commence the procedure of consideration of the draft law shall be followed by commissioning the independent expert evaluation of the draft law in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Board of the Seimas.
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3.Expert findings shall be a document accompanying a legal act which is presented during consideration in the committees and at a Seimas sitting.
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Article 146Draft Laws Submitted for a Referendum
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If an initiative group for the calling of a referendum on the provisions of a law is formed, the issue shall be considered at the next Seimas sitting during the Seimas session after it is confirmed that the required number of signatures has been collected. Representatives of the initiators of the referendum shall be invited to attend the sitting.
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Chapter XXI
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Consideration of Draft Laws in the LEAD Committee
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Article 147Preparedness of the Lead Committee to Consider a Draft Law
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1.The committee which has been appointed by the Seimas as a lead committee for the consideration of a draft law, in respect whereof the consideration procedure has been commenced, must, within one week, discuss at a sitting the preparedness to consider the draft in the committee.
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2.To this end, the committee shall assign responsible committee members - persons in charge of drafting the committee’s conclusions (as a rule, one from the Seimas majority, one from the Seimas minority), shall stipulate which experts’ opinions need to be heard, may request additional conclusions from other committees or state institutions, shall specify time limits for submission of comments, proposals and amendments by other interested persons to the committee, the deadline for submission to the committee of a first draft of conclusions by the persons in charge of drafting the committee’s conclusions, shall take other preliminary decisions.
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3.Persons having the right of legislative initiative may submit comments and proposals not less than two hours prior to the lead committee’s meeting at which the consideration of the draft of the committee’s conclusions will commence.
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4.If the lead committee decides to return the draft law to the initiators for improvement, persons having the right of legislative initiative may submit comments and proposals regarding the improved draft law according to the same procedure.
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5.If the committee decides to improve the draft law, a working group may be formed for this purpose.
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6.As necessary, the committee may consider issues concerning the preparedness to consider the draft also at other sittings.
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7.The lead committee must, according to the procedure established by the Board of the Seimas, announce on the website of the Seimas the information regarding the time limit designated for submission of proposals and comments by interested persons and the access to the text of the draft law. The lead committee must forward the draft law to interested state institutions and, where necessary, to public organisations, local authorities, and political parties for them to send their evaluations. The Board of the Seimas or the Conference of Chairs may specify the institutions or persons to whom the draft must be forwarded or may relieve the lead committee of the lead committee’s obligations defined in this paragraph.
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8.The entire material received concerning the draft law shall be evaluated and summarised by the lead committee.
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9.If the draft law has been submitted for public comments, the proposals received shall be referred to the lead committee.
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Article 148Hearings during Consideration of a Draft Law in the Committee
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1.Following the expiry of the time limit for submitting comments and proposals on a draft law, all of the comments received from interested persons and experts may be considered in the lead committee’s hearings to which all persons who submitted comments and proposals shall be invited. Hearings shall be organised by persons in charge of drafting the committee’s conclusions. Results of consideration shall be recorded in the draft of conclusions.
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2.After the consideration of the comments and proposals of interested persons is completed in hearings and if many comments, proposals and amendments are received from persons who have the right of legislative initiative, there may be hearings designated by the committee to consider the comments and proposals regarding the draft law submitted by additional Seimas committees designated by the Seimas, Members of the Seimas, the Government and the President of the Republic. These comments and proposals may be presented by the authors thereof not less than two hours before the meeting of this committee.
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3.It shall be possible not to hold hearings during consideration of the draft law in the committee if the amendments and comments are few in number; however, in this case all the authors of amendments and comments must be invited to attend the committee’s meeting in which the draft law is being considered under Article 149 of this Statute.
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Article 149Consideration of a Draft Law at a Meeting of the Lead Committee
\n
1.A draft law and the draft of the committee’s conclusions must be considered by the lead committee no later than four working days prior to the debate thereon at a Seimas sitting. The time and venue of such consideration must be publicly announced to the Members of the Seimas, Government and the Office of the President of the Republic at least two working days prior to the committee’s meeting. Concurrently, the Secretariat of Plenary Sittings must be provided with the draft law and the draft of the committee’s conclusions amended, in accordance with the results of the consideration at the hearings, and signed by the persons in charge of drafting of the committee’s conclusions and indicating the amendments and proposals which have been received from additional committees, experts, interested persons and persons having the right of legislative initiative and the comments and proposals which are taken into account and which are not and why and the proposals regarding amendment of the draft law.
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2.Only those proposals and comments regarding the draft law by persons having the right of legislative initiative which were submitted not later than two hours prior to the committee’s meeting shall be considered at the committee’s meeting.
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3.Representatives of the initiators of the draft, representatives of the additional committees preparing conclusions, experts confirmed by the committee and persons having the right of legislative initiative who submitted amendments to the draft law shall be invited to participate in the consideration by the lead committee. These persons must be given the floor at the committee’s meeting.
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4.Other Members of the Seimas present at the committee’s meeting shall be given the floor to speak about the draft under consideration.
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5.Representatives of other interested state institutions, local authorities, political parties and organisations and public organisations may also be invited to the meeting. With the consent of the Member of the Seimas presiding over the meeting, they may also be given the floor.
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6.In the event that the lead committee fails to examine the draft law within the set time limit, it must request the Conference of Chairs to extend the time limit.
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Article 150Decisions of the Lead Committee
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1.During consideration in the lead committee one of the following decisions must be adopted and presented for consideration of the draft at the Seimas sitting:
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1)to approve a draft law submitted by the initiators or a draft law improved by the committee and the committee’s conclusions;
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2)to approve or to reject the amendments of the draft law received from persons having the right of legislative initiative (approved amendments shall be included in the draft law improved by the committee; all of the amendments received from these persons shall be included in the committee’s conclusions);
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3)to adjourn the consideration in the committee and to return the draft law and the draft of conclusions for improvement by persons in charge of drafting the conclusions who are to implement the actions indicated by the committee;
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4)to submit the draft for public comments;
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5)to return the draft to its initiators for improvement;
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6)to reject the draft.
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2.If the lead committee adopts a decision to return the draft to initiators for improvement or to reject the draft, this committee must nevertheless submit its conclusions to the Seimas.
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3.If the committee was given several alternative drafts, during one of the upcoming meetings the committee shall decide on the alternative draft to be approved and shall begin the consideration thereof in the committee.
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4.After consideration in the lead committee, the draft and the committee’s conclusions approved by the committee shall be forwarded to the Document Department of the Office of the Seimas for editing. The edited draft shall be co-ordinated with representatives of the initiators thereof and of the committees (persons in charge of drafting of the conclusions).
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5.When possible, recording shall be made and minutes of the speeches shall be taken during the consideration in the lead committee.
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6.If during consideration of the draft in the lead committee, at least three committee members disagree with the decision of the majority, they may present a separate opinion to the Seimas which must be included in the committee's conclusions and discussed as alternative during the debate at the Seimas sitting.
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Chapter XXII
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DEBATE oN Draft Laws at Seimas Sittings
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Article 151Procedure of Debate on Draft Laws
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1.A draft law and conclusions of the committee shall be distributed among Members of the Seimas no later than 72 hours before the commencement of the Seimas sitting at which this draft is due to be debated.
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2.During the debate at a Seimas sitting, the expediency, conception, basic provisions and principles of the draft law shall be discussed and the amendments and supplements received from persons having the right of legislative initiative and also amendments regarding the draft law approved by the committee which were submitted by the President of the Republic, the Government or a Member of the Seimas at least 48 hours prior to the time stipulated in the Seimas agenda for commencement of consideration of the draft law. During the debate of the draft law at the Seimas sitting, a Seimas decision shall be adopted with respect to the amendments and supplements.
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3.At a Seimas sitting, a draft law shall be debated in the following sequence:
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1)a report drawn up by the lead committee which considered the draft law and presenting conclusions concerning the results of consideration of the draft in the lead committee;
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2)a vote, if the lead committee proposes to return the draft to its initiators or to reject it. If the Seimas does not approve the lead committee’s proposal, the Seimas may appoint another lead committee or set up a special Seimas commission to improve the draft law. In this case, the commission shall perform the functions of a lead committee and act in accordance with the working procedure of such committee. If a decision is adopted to appoint another lead committee or special commission to improve the draft, a Seimas protocol resolution must be concurrently adopted containing principal provisions as to what the lead committee or special commission must correct in the draft. A Member of the Seimas presenting a proposal to refer the draft to another lead committee for improvement must submit a draft of this protocol resolution;
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3)reports by representatives of initiators of alternative drafts, if any;
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4)additional reports by other committees;
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5)a general discussion on the basic provisions of the draft law – statements of the Government, other committees, political groups, and individual Members of the Seimas;
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6)following a general discussion, if the authors of an alternative draft disagree with the lead committee’s decision not to approve the alternative draft, a vote to approve the committee’s decision;
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7)following a general discussion, another vote to approve the draft law approved by the lead committee if requested by a Member of the Seimas;
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8)an adjournment of the Seimas sitting, if the Seimas does not approve the draft submitted by the lead committee or if the Seimas decides to approve an alternate draft which has not been approved by the lead committee; the draft shall be returned to the same lead committee for improvement or the Seimas may appoint another lead committee or a special Seimas commission to be set up for editing the draft. In this case, the commission shall perform the functions of a lead committee and act in accordance with the working procedure of such committee;
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9)decisions debated and adopted with respect to the amendments and supplements of the draft law which were presented during the consideration in the lead committee by persons having the right of legislative initiative and which have not been approved by the lead committee;
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10)decisions debated and adopted with respect to the amendments and supplements of the draft law which were presented by the President of the Republic, the Government or a Member of the Seimas at least 48 hours prior to the debate on the draft at the Seimas sitting, if the amendment or supplement submitted by him is supported by at least ten Members of the Seimas.
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4.The time allotted to the general discussions on the agenda of the Seimas sitting shall be proportionately divided among representatives of Seimas political groups. If the representatives of the Seimas political groups have not fully used the time allotted for discussion, the discussion shall be completed prior to the expiry of the allotted time.
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Article 152Presentation and Adoption of Amendments of a Draft Law during the Debate at the Seimas Sitting
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1.The President of the Republic, the Government or a Member of the Seimas must forward all of the proposed amendments, deletions and supplements to the draft law to the Secretariat of Plenary Sittings at least 48 hours prior to the time established in the agenda of the sitting for commencement of the debate on the draft law.
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2.The Secretariat of Plenary Sittings shall submit amendments of the draft law to the lead committee considering the law, make copies and distribute them to all of the Members of the Seimas. The conclusions of the lead committee must indicate other amendments and supplements submitted by persons having the right of legislative initiative in the course of the consideration of the draft in the lead committee and those of the mentioned amendments and supplements which have not been approved by the committee.
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3.If new amendments, supplements and deletions were received according to the procedure established in paragraph 1 of this Article, but not considered by the lead committee, a meeting of the lead committee must be held prior to the debate on the draft law at a Seimas sitting to consider the received proposals.
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4.New amendments, supplements and deletions may not be presented and accepted during the debate on the draft at a Seimas sitting, except for editorial amendments which are not debated and voted on, but submitted in writing to the lead committee considering the draft law.
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5.The amendments and supplements of the Members of the Seimas which have been presented in accordance with the procedure in paragraph 1 of this Article shall not be presented by the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting for consideration and voting if supported by less than ten Members of the Seimas after the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting announces them during the sitting.
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6.During the debate on amendments and supplements at a Seimas sitting, the floor shall be given only to authors of the amendments and supplements (up to two minutes for each proposal, except the proposals referred to in paragraph 5 of this Article), to the rapporteur and the persons speaking on the reasons for voting; the rapporteur shall not be questioned.
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7.Having spoken on the amendment or supplement, the author may not speak on reasons for voting.
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8.Amendments of an individual article of a law shall be debated and adopted according to the following procedure:
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1)the rapporteur shall read the received written proposals to amend an entire article, to amend certain statements, to supplement the article and to delete certain statements of the article; he also may briefly comment on each of them (up to two minutes);
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2)decisions on the submitted proposals shall be adopted by voting. When there are several proposals regarding the same article, the vote shall be taken in the order of the proposals indicated in subparagraph 1 of this paragraph and in the indicated order – according to the procedure of the submission of the proposals. Supplements to or amendments of an amendment shall be voted on prior to voting on the amendment itself;
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3)the person who has submitted a proposal may withdraw it prior to the voting;
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4)the Member of the Seimas presiding over the sitting shall not submit for voting the proposals contradicting those adopted earlier;
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5)when a rapporteur informs that the lead committee has considered and adopted the proposal, it is possible not to vote on it, unless Members of the Seimas oppose this;
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6)the article shall be voted on in its entirety.
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9.Presented additional articles of draft laws shall be debated on and adopted according to the same procedure as the remaining amendments or supplements of the draft law.
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Article 153Seimas Decisions Following a Debate on a Draft Law at a Seimas Sitting
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Following the debate the Seimas shall decide:
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1)whether to approve the draft law approved by the committee with the amendments adopted during a Seimas sitting and to set the date of adoption of the law not earlier than after two working days;
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2)whether to submit the draft for public comments. In this case, the procedure shall be repeated starting with the consideration of the draft in the lead committee;
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3)whether to return the draft for improvement to the lead committee. If such a decision is adopted, the Seimas shall concurrently adopt a protocol resolution specifying the principal provisions regarding amendments of the draft to be made by the lead committee. A Member of the Seimas who presents the proposal to return the draft to the lead committee for improvement must submit the draft of this protocol resolution. In this case, the procedure shall be repeated starting with the consideration of the draft in the lead committee. Such a decision may only be adopted once in the course of the debate on the draft;
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4)whether to adjourn the debate on the draft, if the debate is not be completed during the same sitting or if it becomes clear that the Members of the Seimas require additional information for the debate on the draft, or according to the procedure established by Article 109 of this Statute;
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5)whether to return the draft to initiators for considerable improvement. In this case, the procedure of the debate on the draft law shall be repeated starting with the submission thereof at the Seimas sitting;
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6)whether to reject the draft and, if necessary, to assign the preparation of a new draft.
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Article 154Additional Adjournments during a Debate on a Draft Law
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1.If the rapporteur requests and considers an additional meeting of the lead committee to be necessary in order to co-ordinate the adopted amendments and supplements, an adjournment may be made following the vote on all of the amendments and supplements, but not to later than the next day of Seimas sittings.
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2.The amendments and supplements made by the committee, which may not contradict the essence of the amendments already adopted, shall be debated after the adjournment and voted on. In the course of this debate other proposals for amendments and supplements shall not be accepted.
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3.If the amendments repealing the articles decisive of the principles and structure of the law and individual chapters or sections were adopted in the course of the debate on the draft law by the Seimas, the rapporteur may, before the end of the debate on the draft at a Seimas sitting, propose an adjournment of the draft for improvement.
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4.If the Seimas accepts this proposal, the procedure shall be repeated starting with the consideration of the draft law in the lead committee. This possibility may be availed only once in the course of the debate on the draft law.
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Chapter XXIII
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ADOPTION OF A DRAFT LAW AT A SEIMAS SITTING
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Article 155Submission of Amendments and Supplements of a Draft Law
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1.The lead committee must submit to the Seimas for adoption a draft law newly edited by the Document Department of the Office of the Seimas. The Legal Department of the Office of the Seimas shall also submit conclusions regarding this draft. Drafts must be forwarded to these Departments at least four working days prior to the adoption thereof.