1)to prepare conclusions concerning the ratification and denouncement of international treaties of the Republic of Lithuania, as well as other issues of foreign policy which are considered in the Seimas;
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2)to prepare and consider drafts of laws and other legal acts related to foreign affairs, and to submit conclusions thereon;
\n
3)to exercise parliamentary scrutiny of the ministries and other governmental agencies which carry out foreign policy, submit proposals and recommendations regarding the improvement of their activities; to consider and submit proposals concerning the formations and carrying out of 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 inter-parliamentary 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 as well as the Seimas parliamentary groups at least once a year starting from the date of their setting-up;
\n
5)to exercise control of State institutions which make the presentation of information about Lithuania meant for foreign countries, prepare conclusions and proposals relative thereto;
\n
6)in conjunction with State and public organisations, to maintain and develop relations with Lithuanian emigrants and their organisations, as well as with the Lithuanians autochthons residing outside the Republic of Lithuania;
\n
7)in conjunction with other committees, to consider 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, as well as the recall of the said representatives;
\n
10)within the limits of its competence, to participate in the process of the preparation and evaluation of a position of Lithuania concerning proposals to adopt legal acts of the European Union (as they are defined in paragraph 3 of Article 1801), when 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)within the limits of its competence to consider other documents of the European Union (as they are defined in paragraph 4 of Article 1801), when necessary to present Seimas opinion regarding this position to the Government and to evaluate the presentation of the position in the institutions of the European Union;
\n
12)within the limits of its competence to present, when necessary, to the Seimas the conclusions on the compliance of the proposals to adopt the legal acts of the European Union (as they are defined in paragraph 3 of Article 1801) with the principle of subsidiarity.
\n
Article 69Trends of Activities of the Committee on State Administration and Local Authorities
\n
The trends of activities of the Committee on State Administration and Local Authorities shall be:
\n
1)upon the instruction of the Seimas or on its own initiative, to prepare drafts of legal acts on the issues of state management and public administration, shaping of regional policy, reform of territorial structures, 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 state government, public administration, and local self-government reform, 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 state management and public administration as well as local self-government reform;
\n
4)within the competence of the Committee, to consider and to present conclusions to the Seimas concerning the candidatures of heads of public authorities and other political officials who are appointed by the Seimas;
\n
5)to consider the chapters of a draft law on the approval of financial indicators of the State Budget and municipal budgets, to prepare in conjunction with other committees conclusions related to the execution of the State Budget and municipal budgets;
\n
6)to approve the proposals, submitted to the Seimas by the Government, on the administrative division of the territory of the State and the establishment of territorial boundaries of individual municipalities and counties;
\n
7)to submit conclusions to the Seimas concerning the motivation for introducing the direct rule, and setting of the date of new elections to municipal councils;
\n
8)to discuss the issues within the competence of the committee which have been referred to it upon the instruction of the Seimas, its 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 in process of preparation, on the issues of local self-government development; and
\n
10)when exercising parliamentary scrutiny, to hear the reports and information of institutions of state administration 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 competence of the Committee, to submit to the Seimas, the Government and the Association of Local Authorities of Lithuania proposals and recommendations related to the said matter.
\n
Article 70Trends of Activities of the Committee on Human Rights
\n
The trends of activities of the Committee on Human Rights shall be:
\n
1)to prepare and consider drafts of laws and other legal acts, as well as 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, as well as Seimas committees on issues concerning the protection of civil rights and the improvement of relations of the nationalities;
\n
3)to submit proposals in a prescribed manner concerning the structure, staff and funding of the Seimas ombudsmen institution;
\n
4)to consider complaints, opinions and proposals referred to the Seimas concerning the work of the Seimas ombudsmen;
\n
5)as necessary, to prepare a draft resolution on the vote of non-confidence in the Seimas ombudsman and to submit it to the Seimas for consideration, as well as to 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 answerable to the Seimas, and submit its conclusions to the Seimas for consideration;
\n
7)to consider and prepare drafts of laws and other legal acts relating 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 to form temporary investigation, control, revision, preparatory, editorial and other commissions to examine and prepare or fulfil another mission of the Seimas.
\n
2.If at the time of formation the term of the commission powers had not been clearly indicated, the activity of the commission shall be terminated per decision of the Seimas upon completion of the assigned tasks.
\n
3.The number of commission members shall be established first, in forming a commission. The norms of proportional representation of the Seimas parliamentary groups, as well as the term to be proposed for candidates to commission membership shall be established after that.
\n
4.Should the submitted list of candidates to commission membership prove to be insufficient, the parliamentary groups may each verbally suggest an additional candidate, during the meeting, and after them, also by each member of the Seimas, until the needed number of candidates shall be attained.
\n
5.Each of the recommended candidates must agree verbally and, if not present at the meeting, submit a written agreement to work on the commission. The Seimas shall vote for the list of candidates derived thus. 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 Seimas Members 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 Seimas may establish another procedure of commission formation, however these may not consist of representatives of one parliamentary group or one committee.
\n
Article 72The Procedure of Forming Ad Hoc Control or Investigation Commissions
\n
1.Ad Hoc Control or Investigation Commissions shall be formed for the purpose of control of how the decisions of Seimas are being implemented, collection and presentation of collected information and conclusions, required to analyse the problem at hand, as well as in other instances stipulated in this Statute.
\n
2.Ad Hoc Control or Investigation commissions shall be formed of at least 5 persons, in accordance with the procedure established in Article 71 of this Statute.
\n
3.An Ad Hoc Control or Investigation commission may invite the assistance of experts in various areas.
\n
Article 73Initiative to Form an Ad Hoc Control or Investigation Commission
\n
1.The Seimas authorities, committees, parliamentary groups and a group of at least one-fourth of the Members of Seimas shall have the right of initiative to form Ad Hoc Control or Investigation Commissions, if in certain instances, this has not been established in this Statute.
\n
2.Initiators must submit to the Seimas a draft proposal of the decision on forming an Ad Hoc Control of Investigation Commission, which shall indicate the aim in forming such a commission, its tasks and powers.
\n
3.If a group of at least one-fourth of the Members of Seimas shall submit a written demand to form an Ad Hoc Control or Investigation Commission, the Seimas must form such a commission in the course or its nearest sitting.
\n
Article 74Operating Procedure of Commissions
\n
1.The chairman or deputy chairman of a standing commission shall be elected and approved according to established procedure for committees. A member of the Board of the Seimas or a Government member, may not become a commission chairman or his deputy. The Seimas shall appoint the chairman of an ad hoc commission.
\n
2.Usually, the Board of the Seimas shall approve the estimate of the commission’s expenses and other issues relevant to its activity.
\n
1.If the Seimas does not decide otherwise, commissions shall follow the regulations of committee work procedure, during the course of its authorisation.
\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 its prepared or edited draft or conclusion, which the Seimas shall approve by passing a resolution .
\n
6.Ad Hoc Control and Investigation Commissions shall act in accordance with the work procedure established by Articles 75 - 76 of this Statute.
\n
Article 75The Powers 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 excepting those who have been invited, whose list shall be compiled in accordance with the commission member desires. In other instances the Ad Hoc Control or Investigation Commission may hold closed meetings only upon receiving concurrence from the Seimas.
\n
2.The data collected in the course of work by an Ad Hoc Control or Investigation Commission, that is relevant to a state secret, shall not be published.
\n
3.The law shall establish the powers of Ad Hoc Control and Investigation Commissions.
\n
Article 76Decisions of the Ad Hoc Control and Investigation Commission
\n
1.Having completed the assigned operation the Ad Hoc Control and Investigation Commission shall submit to Seimas the collected and summarised data, conclusion and prepared draft decision.
\n
2.A resolution is passed at the Seimas sitting regarding the issue examined by the Ad Hoc Control and Investigation Commission.
\n
3.A Seimas resolution may express no confidence in the Government, minister or head of another State institution, who is appointed by the Seimas or conclusions are presented regarding the proposed impeachment process.
\n
4.In instances 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 on Ethics and Procedures
\n
1.A standing Commission on Ethics and Procedures shall be set up in the Seimas. All parliamentary 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 parliamentary groups shall be set. Proposals of the Seimas parliamentary groups regarding candidates to the Commission on 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 parliamentary group, it shall not be voted separately for the third candidate nominated for membership in the Commission by this parliamentary group.
\n
3.The Seimas shall approve a chairman and deputy chairman of this Commission from the members of the Commission on Ethics and Procedures.
\n
Article 78Activity Trend and Powers of the Commission on Ethics and Procedures
\n
Trend of activities of the Commission on Ethics and Procedures shall be:
\n
1)to prepare drafts, as well as proposals of legal acts which are related to the activities and ethics of the Seimas Members;
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2)by observing ethical norms, to assist the Seimas, Seimas divisions, and Members of the Seimas in fostering democracy, to co-ordinating various points of view and convictions, to striving for moral harmony, and to humanising relations between the Members of the Seimas;
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3)to supervise the observance of the Statute of the Seimas and other legal acts which regulate the activities of the Seimas Members. Upon the proposal of the Speaker of the Seimas, his deputies, chairmen of committees and commissions, other Seimas Members, or on its own initiative, to examine violations of these legal acts or ethics, to consider conflicts which arise between the Seimas Members, and if 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 disagreements upon the instruction of the Seimas, the Speaker of the Seimas, the Board of the Seimas, the officer presiding over a Seimas sitting, parliamentary group;
\n
5)to examine information presented by the law enforcement bodies of the Republic of Lithuania concerning personal activities of the Seimas Members which contradict the laws, and to present conclusions to the Seimas thereon;
\n
6)to control whether the funds allocated from the state budget to cover Seimas Members’ expenses related to their parliamentary activities are used for their intended purpose;
\n
7)to analyse the reasons for which Seimas Members have failed to attend sittings of the Seimas and meetings of the Seimas committees and commissions, 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 institutions, and public organisations on issues concerning the activities of the Seimas Members;
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9)to check whether the Seimas Members submit private interest declarations properly and on time, and to keep them;
\n
10)based upon annual private interests declarations of Seimas Members or a request by a Seimas Member, to prepare written recommendations for the Seimas Members what measures should be employed by a Seimas Member in order to co-ordinate his activity with the Law on the Adjustment of Public and Private Interests in Civil Service and requirements of Article 18 of this Statute;
\n
11)on its own initiative, on the instructions of Chief Official Ethics Commission or on the receipt of a statement to the effect that a certain Seimas Member does not fulfil the requirements of the Law on the Adjustment of Public and Private Interests in Civil Service and Article 18 of this Statute, may conduct an investigation into the activities of the said Seimas Member. The Speaker of the Seimas, the person who submitted the statement, the Seimas Member, whose activity was investigated and the Chief Official Ethics Commission shall be notified of the received statements, decision to conduct an investigation and results of the investigation. Should it be established, in the course of an investigation, that the Seimas Member did not fulfil the requirements of the Law on the Adjustment of Public and Private Interests in Civil Service and Article 18 of this Statute, the Seimas shall be informed thereof;
\n
12)to deliberate every Seimas Member’s appeal regarding a violation of his rights, as established by this Statute and to furnish a justified reply.
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Article 79The Office of the Seimas
\n
1.The Office of the Seimas shall ensure the activities of the Seimas and resolve Seimas Members’ 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, 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 Bylaws of the Petitions Commission shall determine the procedure of submitting and examining of petitions.
\n
5.Complaints addressed to the Seimas regarding the decisions of the Petitions Commission of the Seimas shall be presented by the Chairman 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 is submitted by the Chairman of the Petitions Commission.
\n
Article 801Setting-up of the Commission for the Parliamentary scrutiny of Operational Activities, and Its Objectives
\n
1.The Commission for the Parliamentary scrutiny of Operational Activities (hereinafter referred to as “the Commission”) shall be set up according to the procedure established by Article 71 of the Seimas Statute, by the decision of the Seimas, preserving a principle of proportional representation of the parliamentary groups. The Commission shall consist of 7 Seimas members and shall be a standing commission.
\n
2.The objectives and rights of the Commission, decisions adopted by the Commission and the rights and duties of its members shall be established by the Law on Operational Activities.
\n
Article 81Parliamentary Delegations and Inter-parliamentary Relations Groups
\n
1.The Seimas parliamentary delegations in international organisations and forums shall be formed in the same manner as ad hoc commissions.
\n
2.Inter-parliamentary relations groups shall be formed on the basis of self-determination by Seimas Members.
\n
3.Having received the recommendation of the initiators, the Speaker of the Seimas shall inform the Seimas Members regarding the commencement and end of joining inter-parliamentary 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 chairman, deputy or assistants shall be elected, the group chairman shall announce formation of the inter-parliamentary group. Based upon a statement by the chairman of the group, the group shall be registered at the Seimas.
\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 workload of a concrete working group, importance of economic, political or moral aspects, shall support the activities of parliamentary groups: appoint the secretary of the group, finance the reception of guests invited by the group or visits of group’s members on the invitation of parliamentary groups from other states.
\n
7.The Committee on Foreign Affairs shall co-ordinate activities of inter-parliamentary groups. The Chairmen 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 chairman’s report during the Committee meeting.
\n
PART IV
\n
SESSIONS OF THE SEIMAS
\n
Chapter XIII
\n
The First Session of the Seimas
\n
Article 82Convocation 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 Seimas Members 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 Seimas Members shall themselves convene on the day after the expiration 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 12 o’clock noon in the Seimas Building.
\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 has been 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 84The Work 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 parliamentary groups and the Assembly of Elders.
\n
2.Thereafter, as a rule, the Seimas, in the following order, shall:
\n
1)approve or reject the candidature for Prime Minister nominated by the President of the Republic;
\n
2)form the committees of the Seimas and approve their respective Chairmen;
\n
3)consider the Programme of the Government submitted by the Prime Minister and decide whether or not to approve it; and
\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 March 10 and shall close on June 30.
\n
3.The autumn session shall open on September 10 and close on December 23.
\n
4.The Seimas may resolve to prolong a session.
\n
5.If the day of the opening of a session is a non-work day, only one sitting shall be held on that day.
\n
6.. The Members of the Seimas shall convene into 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 Seimas members.
\n
3.The Board of the Seimas must notify all of the Seimas Members of an extraordinary session at least 2 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 the 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 10 days, except for urgent cases.
\n
Article 87Location of Seimas Sittings
\n
1.Sessions of the Seimas shall be held in the Seimas Building in Vilnius.
\n
2.In the event that the Seimas cannot convene in the Seimas Building, 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 place of the sitting.
\n
Article 88The Secretariat of Seimas Sittings
\n
1.The Secretariat of Seimas sittings shall be a structural subdivision which shall provide services during sittings of the Seimas and the Assembly of Elders, and shall fulfil the related assignments of the Speaker of the Seimas and his Deputies.
\n
2.The Secretariat of Seimas sittings shall:
\n
1)register all submitted drafts of laws and other legal acts, as well as their updated versions, findings and proposals;
\n
2)accept proposals of the Seimas Committees, Seimas Members 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 officer presiding over a sitting, Seimas Members, Seimas Committees, parliamentary groups and the President of the Republic and the Government;
\n
4)register all the Seimas Members participating in a sitting, receive applications of the Seimas Members concerning their inability to take part in a sitting during voting which has been scheduled beforehand, and inform the Commission on Ethics and Procedures about this;
\n
5)accept requests of the Seimas Members to pose questions to a reporter, to participate in discussions, to advance an opinion on motives of voting, and refer them to the presiding officer of a sitting;
\n
6)register questions and interpellations of the Seimas Members addressed to the members of the Government, heads of the State institutions, transfer them to appropriate officials;
\n
7)assist the presiding officer of 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, arrange for the interpretation of sittings;
\n
9)provide information on sittings to the Seimas Members, Seimas Committees, parliamentary groups, President of the Republic and the Government, divisions of the Office of he Seimas;
\n
10)carry out other assignments of the Speaker of the Seimas, his Deputies 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 Seimas Members may obtain said drafts at the Secretariat of the Seimas Sittings 2 working days in advance of 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 Assembly of Elders upon receiving the written proposals of the Government and the President of the Republic. The Assembly 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 Assembly of Elders, 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 vote at the Seimas according to the same procedure as the articles of laws during their passing.
\n
9.The Seimas may later revise the work programme in accordance with the procedure established in this Statute.
\n
Article 90Preparation of an Agenda of Week’s Sittings
\n
1.In accordance with the approved work programme of the session, the Speaker of the Seimas, together with the Seimas Deputy Chairmen, shall draw up a detailed draft agenda of the week’s sittings and submit it to the Assembly of Elders for debate. Proposals shall be submitted by the members of the Assembly of Elders, committees, other Members of the Seimas, and the Government.
\n
2.The time of the sittings, the issues under discussion, the draft registration number, the stage of debate, and the speakers and extra speakers must be specified in the agenda. The Seimas must also be informed of the proposals which were not adopted.
\n
3.If the time limit proves insufficient for analysing any of the issues during a week’s sittings, said 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 with regard to which, in accordance with the requirements set forth in Chapter 19 of this Statute, drafts of laws, resolutions or other acts have been adequately drawn up shall be included in the week’s agenda.
\n
5.The Assembly of Elders shall decide at its sitting whether or not to approve each item of the presented agenda in accordance with the procedure established in of Article 37 of this Statute.
\n
6.If a decision is passed to work one day a week, the Assembly of Elders 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 an agenda of a week’s sitting.
\n
Article 91Approval of the Agenda of Week’s Sittings
\n
1.The Draft agenda of a week’s sittings approved at the Assembly of Elders shall be put to the vote at the Seimas sitting without preliminary discussion thereon.
\n
2.These items of the agenda presented as recommendations by the Assembly of Elders, as well as the entire draft agenda, provided that it was not approved by vote at the Seimas, may be discussed at the sittings of the Seimas. In such a case, proposals may be submitted by the Board of the Seimas Members, committees, parliamentary groups, and the Government.
\n
3.If, for some reason, the Assembly of Elders could not approve the draft agenda of a week’s sittings, the Speaker of the Seimas may submit it to a sitting of the Seimas. In such an event, the procedure established in Part two hereof shall be applied.
\n
Article 92Mandatory Inclusion of Issues on the Agenda
\n
1.At the written request of a group of at least one-third of the Seimas Members, inclusion of an issue in the session work programme or in the agenda of the week or the next day shall be mandatory, provided that the issue has been prepared and adequate 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 prolong the discussion period.
\n
2.Should the Republic President request this, the questions and reports recommended by him shall be included in the sitting agenda on a mandatory basis (without a vote).
\n
3.The Government shall have the right to request inclusion of a Government report concerning an important issue on the Seimas sitting agenda. Upon the decision of Seimas, a discussion may follow such a report.
\n
4.At the written request of more than one-tenth of all of the Seimas Members, inclusion of the discussion concerning an especially important problem 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 prolong this discussion. After the consideration, the Seimas may instruct one of the committees or commissions to examine that problem. Only one such discussion may be carried on in the course of a single meeting.
\n
Article 93Agenda of Day Sittings
\n
1.The Speaker of the Seimas shall, together with his deputies, draw up, on the basis of the approved agenda of the week’s sittings, a detailed draft agenda of every day of the sitting in which the speaker and the time of debate or voting on every issue must be provided separately.
\n
2.The above draft agenda shall be considered and adopted at the Seimas on the day preceding the sitting.
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3.In the event that the draft agenda of a day’s sitting is approved at the Assembly of Elders, it shall not be discussed at the Seimas sitting, and it shall be immediately be put to the voter on the approval of the agenda.
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4.Should the draft agenda of the day’s sitting not be approved at the Assembly of Elders, additional proposals may be presented by members of the Board of the Seimas, committees, parliamentary groups, and the Government may present additional proposals but on condition they adhere to the approved agenda of a week’s sittings.
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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 Assembly of Elders, the Government and Seimas parliamentary group shall have the right to propose at a Seimas sitting to include additional issues in the adopted agenda of a week’s or a day’s sittings or to remove issues from the said agendas.
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2.A proposal to include additional issues on the agenda or to remove issues from the agenda may be adopted, provided that it is voted for by the majority of the Seimas Members present at the sitting.
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3.In the event that the proposal to include additional issues on the agenda or to remove issues from the agenda is not approved, it may be repeatedly presented only the next day.
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Chapter XVI
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SITTINGS OF THE SEIMAS
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Article 95The Language of the Seimas Sittings
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The sittings of the Seimas shall be held in the Lithuanian language. Guests, experts or witnesses who do not know the language shall have the right to speak in another language, provided they notify the Secretariat of the Seimas sittings thereof no later than six hours in advance; the Secretariat must see to it that translation is provided.
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Article 96Frequency of the 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, whereas every three weeks plenary sittings of the Seimas shall be adjourned for a week.
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2.On other days of the week and in the week when no plenary sittings are held, sittings of the Board of the Seimas, the Assembly of Elders, parliamentary groups, committees and commissions, as well as meetings of the Members of the Seimas with electors or representatives of local governments shall be held.
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3.The preliminary schedule of the 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 assigned for the statements of the Seimas Members on urgent State problems. This shall be broadcast by the National Radio Station.
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2.Those desiring to speak shall prior to the morning sitting submit to the Secretariat of the Seimas sittings a written request. The Secretariat of the Seimas sittings shall present the received requests to the officer presiding over the sitting.
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3.No discussion shall be held on the opinions expressed in Seimas Members statements. The Seimas may without discussion approve the Seimas Member’s proposal to charge an appropriate Seimas committee or commission to investigate the problem. The Seimas committee or commission must start investigating this problem not later than within a week.
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4.The thirty minutes of the Tuesday evening sitting is given to the Government half hour, individual Government Members, Seimas officials, heads of the State institutions appointed by the Seimas, except judges of the Constitutional Court and Supreme Court, and also to replies by heads of other State institutions to the Seimas Members' questions, while the segment of the Thursday morning sitting is usually allotted to the Government hour.
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5.The agendas of every third Thursday evening sitting shall be drawn up by the parliamentary groups of the Opposition. The Board of the Seimas, taking into consideration the principle of proportional representation of the parliamentary groups of the Opposition, shall appoint a parliamentary group or a coalition of parliamentary groups prior to the beginning of the regular Seimas session who shall be responsible for the agenda of such sittings. In such an event, the agenda shall not be approved at the Seimas sitting, however must be submitted along with the draft agenda for the week.
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6.Every Thursday, except the Thursdays indicated in paragraph five 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 Seimas Members. Such drafts shall be put on the agenda in accordance with the order of their registration if more than one third of the Seimas Members do not object. A Seimas Member may request the Seimas to postpone consideration of the draft registered by him, however in this case, it may only be included on the agenda only at such a time when its turn has come up once again.
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Article 98Time of Seimas Sittings and Seimas Member Registration
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1.The morning sitting of the Seimas shall as a rule be held from 10:00 a.m. and the afternoon sitting - from 3: 00 p.m.
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2.The Seimas Members 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 officer presiding over a Seimas sitting or at the request of a parliamentary group which is supported by at least a half of the Seimas Members participating in the sitting, the Seimas sitting may be prolonged 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 unscheduled Seimas sitting must be held provided that it is requested in writing by the President of the Republic, at least one-third of the Seimas Members, 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 meeting is held shall be considered at such a sitting.
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3.The Board of the Seimas shall not less than 6 hours before the opening of that sitting inform the Seimas Members of the extraordinary sitting and issues proposed for discussion either in the course of an ordinary meeting or through the mass media.
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Article 100Officer 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 his Deputy.
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2.The officer presiding over a Seimas sitting:
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1)shall, by word and by the banging of the gavel, announce the opening and closing of a sitting, and as necessary, may also announce a recess not provided for in the agenda;
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2)shall attend to the order of work of the Seimas sittings, supervise that this Statute be adhered to at the sittings, control the performance of their respective duties by the group of tellers and the Secretariat of sittings;
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3)shall not take part in discussions and may not in any other way influence the Seimas Members as regards the decisions which are being adopted;
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4)shall grant the floor to the Seimas Members, direct the discussions, when specifying the essence of proposals may pose questions to the Seimas Members;
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5)shall watch over the duration of speeches, and, if the time limit is exceeded, shall warn the speaker, and may cut him or her off after the second warning;
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6)may prolong 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 speaker or cut him or her off after the second warning in the event that the speaker is speaking not to the point;
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8)may also grant the floor to other persons provided that the Seimas does not object;
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9)on the basis of discussion results, shall formulate questions to be put to the vote; pursuant to this Statute shall establish the voting procedure, shall announce the beginning of voting, and, in accordance with the information presented by the group of tellers or electronic voting machines, shall announce the results of the voting;
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10)shall call to order the Seimas Members if they do not adhere to the Statute, make noise in the chamber, publicly insult the President of the Republic, the Seimas, the Chairman, the Seimas Members, 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 on Ethics and Procedures or elimination of the Seimas Member from the chamber;
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11)shall take a decision to expel from the chamber the invited persons or the correspondents if they interfere with the sitting;
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12)when adopting decisions, at the request of the Seimas Members, shall announce the article of the Statute he or she is acting in pursuance of; and
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13)shall sign an official report on the Seimas sitting, the minutes of the sitting, and shall also endorse the laws and other acts passed at the sitting.
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Article 101Open and Closed Sittings of the Seimas
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1.As a rule, the sittings of the Seimas shall be open.
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2.On the decision of the Seimas as well as 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 which, in addition to the Seimas Members, may be attended only by persons specially invited to the sitting and, as necessary, by the personnel of the Secretariat of sittings.
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3.The Board of the Seimas, the Government, parliamentary groups and committees shall have the right to propose to hold a closed sitting; a justification of the proposal shall be requisite.
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4.Without consent by the Seimas, neither the Seimas Members nor other participants at a closed sitting hall have the right to disseminate information regarding content of a closed sitting.
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Article 102Guests and Observers of the Seimas Sittings
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1.The Speaker of the Seimas or the Board of the Seimas may invite the most prominent guests of the Republic of Lithuania: heads of foreign states, members of governments, heads of parliamentary delegations and international organisations, chairmen of Lithuanian emigrant organisations, to speak at the sittings.
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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 judges 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 connected with 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 Building. The Board of the Seimas shall establish the procedure of observation of sittings in the sitting hall.
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5.Only Members of the Seimas, employees of the Secretariat of sittings and persons who have been granted the floor may be present in the front of the chamber.
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Article 103Meeting of the Seimas Members
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1.The Seimas may convene a meeting of all the Seimas Members 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 Seimas Members shall elect officer presiding over the meeting and may establish provisional rules of procedure of the meeting.
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Article 104Reports, Speeches and Answers to Questions
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1.All reports shall be read at Seimas sittings from the dais.
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2.In the cases set forth in Article 106 of this Statute, the Seimas Members may speak from their seats or into the microphones installed in the chamber.
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3.Speaking during sittings shall be allowed only on the permission of the presiding officer.
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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 presiding officer in co-ordination with the person delivering the report. Ordinarily, reports should not exceed thirty minutes.
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6.Additional reports shall be allotted a duration of up to fifteen minutes; final words and commentary on behalf of the Government or a committee shall be granted up to ten minutes; speaking on behalf of a parliamentary group - up to seven minutes, and speeches said on behalf of the speaker himself shall be given up to five minutes. If, prior to the start of a Seimas discussion a decision shall be adopted to limit the duration of discussion, the time allotted to parliamentary groups shall be divided in proportion to the size of the parliamentary groups and the parliamentary group elders shall inform the presiding officer of the sitting, which member of the parliamentary group shall speak and for how long.
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7.During the presentation of the draft, a report shall be allotted ten minutes, and answers to the questions of the Seimas Members, up to ten minutes.
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8.An answer 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 to ask a question.
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10.On the decision of the Seimas, question and answer sessions 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 Discussions
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1.Registration of persons wishing to take the floor shall begin an hour before the first sitting of the day the issue is slated for discussion and shall close by the commencement of discussion of the issue. Upon completion of registration, the officer 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 sittings.
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2.Speakers shall be granted the floor during discussions in the order in which they have registered to speak. The presiding officer may change the order for the reason of ensuring proportional representation of parliamentary groups and Committees, and for presenting arguments “for” and “against”.
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3.A speaker may waive his or her right to take the floor. If the speaker leaves the chamber without giving prior notice to the presiding officer and is not present when called upon to speak, he or she shall be deemed to have waived his or her right to take the floor. The Seimas Members may not transfer to one another the speaking time allotted them.
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Article 106Speeches Regarding Procedure and Other Issues
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1.During debates, the Seimas Members 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 motives or procedure of voting, issues related to the termination of debate, and proposals to reject or postpone the issue under consideration shall constitute an exception.
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3.In said cases no advance registration shall be required. However, every member of the Seimas shall have the right to make an inquiry, speech, or remark only once on each given issue on the agenda, and concerning the motives of voting - once before every voting.
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4.Remarks shall be made in reaction to someone’s speech or asking for an explanation, of something. The officer presiding over the sitting shall decide whether to yield the floor for the purpose of making a remark.
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5.Speaking on issues concerning procedure, termination of debate, or postponement or rejection and remarks of an issue shall have precedence over the issue under consideration. In said cases, members shall be granted the floor for no longer than two minutes after the speaker has finished his or her speech. In the cases specified in the Statute, a vote may be taken after such speeches.
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6.If the speaker speaks on an issue other than the one for which he or she was granted the floor, the presiding officer may revoke his or her right to speak.
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Article 107Debates on Voting Motives
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1.One may comment on voting motives after the presiding officer of the sitting announces what the vote will be taken on, and inquires, whether there are any persons present who wish to debate voting motives. The duration of debate may not exceed 2 minutes.
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2.When a vote is taken regarding an entire issue or adopting of a draft law, not more than four Seimas Members each, may take the floor both “in favour” and “against” the voting motives. The presiding officer at the sitting shall extend priority to parliamentary group elders and those speaking on behalf of parliamentary groups.
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3.In other instances, only one Seimas Member may take the floor “in favour” and “against” voting motives.
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Article 108Termination and Limitation of Debates
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1.Debates shall be terminated on the decision of the Seimas, with the exception of the cases where this Statute provides for a different procedure for termination of a debate.
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2.Proposals to terminate a debate 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 other Member of the Seimas supports the proposal. Prior to that, the presiding officer must announce how many persons are registered to speak and how many have already spoken.
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3.Upon resolving to terminate a debate, the presiding officer must grant the floor, according to order, to one more member of the Seimas, as well as to everyone who still has the right to be granted the floor pursuant to paragraph four of this Article. In addition, the speaker may be granted the floor for concluding remarks.
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4.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, in a discussion.
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5.Should members of the Government, as well as one representative of a parliamentary group or a committee notify the Secretariat of the sittings of their wish to be granted 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 debate.
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6.The Seimas may in advance limit the general duration of debates on each issue or the number of speakers. In such cases, proposals to terminate a debate shall not be accepted.
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7.Should the opposition parliamentary group object to debate termination and should its proposal be supported by one-third of the Seimas Members participating at the sitting, the debate will be continued.
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Article 109Recess in Discussion of Issue and Postponement of Debate
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1.In discussing each issue, the Seimas shall take an unscheduled recess of no less than half an hour and no more than an hour, prior to the commencement of voting or the discussion of the issue may be postponed to the next sitting if the presiding officer, the principal committee, or a parliamentary group so requests and the request is supported by at least one-third of the Seimas Members present at the sitting, or the request of the opposition parliamentary group and the request is supported by at least one-fifth of the Seimas Members present.
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2.In discussing an issue, such recesses and debate postponements may only be done twice. Only one unscheduled recess in the discussion of same issue may be taken during the same sitting.
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3.If the Statute has been expressly violated during discussion of an issue, the committee which prepared the draft of the law or other legal act, a parliamentary group, or the Commission on Ethics and Procedures shall have the right to request that the discussion of the issue be postponed, but for no longer than one week.
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Article 110Words of a Seimas Member on a Personal Issue
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1.If the conduct or words of a Seimas Member are presented in a distorted manner by other speakers, he or she shall have the right to request that the presiding officer grant him or her the floor to speak on a personal issue for up to two minutes.
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2.If the presiding officer does not oblige the request, the Seimas Member shall have the right to request that the issue of whether or not he or she should be granted the floor to speak on a personal question, be put to the vote.
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3.The Seimas Member shall be granted the floor to speak on personal issues at the end of the debate on the issue.
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Chapter XVII
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VOTING AND VOTE TALLYING
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Article 111Voting Methods and Procedure
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1.Open ballot voting is conducted on issues debated in the Seimas sittings, except in instances stipulated by this Statute.
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2.Laws and resolutions of the Seimas shall be adopted through voting by means of the electronic vote calculation system. Voting also takes place on individual provisions of an issue under consideration, individual articles or assertions of law, protocol decisions and session work programme, sitting agenda and other issues. Data regarding the vote of each Seimas Member is public. Upon decision by the presiding officer of the sitting, these issues may be voted upon by a 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 calculation apparatus.
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4.The Seimas Members shall vote personally. The right to vote may not be transferred to other persons.
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Article 112Voting Procedure
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1.The presiding officer of the sitting shall announce the commencement of voting procedure.
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2.The presiding officer of the sitting must inform the Seimas Members how many votes are needed to adopt the decision.
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3.There should not be any walking about while the vote is being taken.
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4.No issues shall be debated prior to conclusion of the voting procedure. The floor is given only for voting motive and mode of voting, except the period when roll call vote or ballot results are being tallied.
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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 Seimas Members present at the sitting, with the exception of special instances stipulated by the Constitution and this Statute. Laws shall be adopted when not less than half of all Seimas Members attend a Seimas sitting.
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2.Decisions on protocol (included in the protocol) Seimas decisions, individual provisions of the issue being debated, individual articles of law or assertions, questions on the sitting’s agenda procedure, are adopted by majority vote, these decisions may also be adopted without a vote (by consensus) i.e., following the presiding officer’s question: “Are there any against?” with no one answering, and he announces: “Adopted.”
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3.At every sitting the presiding officer must, prior to the first voting and also prior to voting on an entire law or adoption of another legal act, must verify how many Seimas Members are in attendance.
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4.Should the presiding officer or any parliamentary group fail to request before any voting, verification of how many Seimas Members are in attendance at the sitting, this may not be questioned later. The last count established at the sitting shall be considered the number of the Seimas Members in attendance at 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 personnel issues, provided that one of the parliamentary groups shall request this and support it by at least one-third of the Seimas Members present at the sitting.
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2.Such a request may be set forth by the representative of a parliamentary 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 Seimas Members prior to the commencement of voting; upon receipt of the said ballot papers, the Seimas Members shall sign the record of the issued ballot papers.
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4.The presiding officer shall announce the time of commencement and completion of roll call voting. Information regarding this shall be announced throughout the Seimas Building.
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5.Prior to the commencement of roll call voting, the elder of any parliamentary group may request a postponement of the vote. In this case the presiding officer shall accurately indicate for how long the voting has been postponed, and this voting must take place not any later than the end of the next day of sittings. In this manner the voting may only be postponed once.
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6.Upon announcement of voting commencement, every Seimas Member shall fill in the ballot paper, sign it, and hand it over to the tellers’ group.
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7.The ballot papers shall be no longer issued or accepted after the expiry of the time set for voting.
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8.Upon tallying the votes, the presiding officer shall announce the vote of every Seimas Member.
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Article 115Secret Balloting
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1.Issues concerning the election of the Speaker of the Seimas, Deputy Chairmen, decision on non-confidence in the Government, the Prime Minister or an individual minister, non-confidence in any official of the Seimas or dismissal of the head of a State institution appointed by the Seimas, as well as when a vote shall be taken on formulations of the charge during the impeachment proceedings shall be voted on only by secret ballot.
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2.Issues concerning the appointment and dismissal of Justices of the Constitutional Court, Judges of the Supreme Court and Presidents of the said Courts, Chairmen of the Divisions of the Supreme Court, state officials specified by the Constitution and laws, the appointment of heads of state institutions who are appointed by the Seimas, as well as issues concerning the approval of the appointment and dismissal of Chairman and Judges of the Court of Appeal and chairmen of the divisions of this Court shall also be voted upon by secret ballot.
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3.On the decision of the Seimas, other personal issues may also be voted on by secret ballot.
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4.Secret balloting shall be done during recess of sitting.
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5.Ballot papers shall be stamped and distributed by the tellers’ group. Upon receiving their ballot papers, the Seimas Members shall sign the record of issued ballot papers.
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6.There must be a secret voting booth and ballot box in the voting place. The ballot box must be put in such a way that, upon approaching it, the members casting their votes would have to cross the secret voting booth.
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Article 116Open Ballot Voting
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1.Voting shall be done by open ballots when it is necessary to elect several candidates to some 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 open voting, the procedure for voting and establishing the results shall be the same as in voting by secret ballot except that secret ballot voting booths shall not be used, and ballot papers shall be filled out in the chamber.
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3.It is not necessary to sign the ballot papers.
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Article 117Ballot-papers
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1.A standard ballot-paper for secret and open voting shall be approved by the Seimas prior to voting.
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2.Issues concerning the dismissal of some official or declaration of non-confidence in an official shall be voted on with ballot-papers on which the propositions of: “Confidence” and “Non-confidence” or “To relieve of his post” and “Not to relieve of his post” shall be inscribed.
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3.With one ballot-paper it is only possible to vote on either the dismissal of one official or the declaration of non-confidence in a collective institution or one of its members, or the removal of an official from his post.
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4.On one ballot-paper it is only possible to write the surnames, in alphabetical order, of candidates to the same post.
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5.In all cases, ballot-papers must have a heading which clearly indicates the issue being voted upon.
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6.On the ballot-paper, the member casting his or her vote shall cross out the surname of the candidates against whom he or she is voting or the proposition which he or she does not accept.
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7.Ballot-papers which are not of the approved sample or unstamped, as well as ballot-papers on which more surnames than the number of officials being elected or more than one proposition given for election remains, shall be deemed invalid.
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8.Additional surnames and propositions which are written in shall not be counted.
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9.The record of calculation of votes by ballot-papers shall be signed by the chairman of the tellers’ group and the presiding officer.
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10.Voting 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.One proposition or two alternative propositions may be presented to be voted upon. In the first instance, the vote shall be taken “for”, “against” or “abstain”. In the second instance, the vote shall be taken “for the first proposition” or “for the second proposition”.
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2.Alternative propositions shall be voted upon in the order in which they were presented for discussion. Should there be more than two propositions, the presiding officer must group them according to purport so that they are all decided upon after several votes for one or two propositions.
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3.The proposition which collects the most votes shall be adopted provided the necessary majority of votes is collected; otherwise, it shall be presented for additional voting to confirm the decision.
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4.Should this fail to be accomplished, the Seimas Members may either propose a compromise or postpone the issue.
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5.At his or her own initiative or at the request of at least two Seimas Members, the presiding officer shall divide the issue being 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 main point of the issue.
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7.Numbers shall be voted on in increasing order. If necessary, the presiding officer may change the order of voting provided those who made the proposals do not object.
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Article 119The Vote Tellers Group
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1.When the electronic tallying system is not being used, the tellers’ group shall organise the voting and count the votes.
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2.The tellers’ group shall also assist the presiding officer in checking how many Seimas Members are present in the chamber, and in revising 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 alphabetically appoint the tellers’ group for the period of one month upon the proposal of the presiding officer of a Seimas sitting. The group may not be made up solely of the members of one parliamentary group.
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5.The Members of the Board of the Seimas, chairmen of committees and commissions, elders of parliamentary 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 chairman from its members.
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7.The Seimas may declare non-confidence in the tellers’ group or one of its members by majority vote of the Seimas Members present at the sitting. In such an event, a new group or group member shall be appointed.
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8.Upon the decision of the presiding officer or the request of a parliamentary group which is supported by no less than 1/3 of the Seimas Members present at the sitting, the voting which took place before the declaration of non-confidence may be repeated.
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Article 120Announcement of Voting Results
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The results of voting shall be announced by the presiding officer based on the information provided by the tellers’ group or by the indicators of the electronic tallying system.
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Article 121Repeat Voting and Postponement
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1.Before another item on the agenda has begun to be discussed, voting carried out by raising hands or by using the electronic system may be repeated if doubts have arisen regarding vote tallying accuracy and if so requested by the Speaker of the Seimas, presiding officer or a parliamentary group and at least five Members of the Seimas participating at the sitting. The decision to repeat the voting shall be adopted by the presiding officer.
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2.The vote calculation group shall also have the right to request that voting be repeated, if it admits that it has miscalculated votes in tallying them.
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3.Voting shall be also repeated when exactly a half of the voting Seimas Members has voted for the submitted proposal. If after a repeat voting the result remains the same, the presiding officer of a Seimas sitting shall make a at least one-hour length break in the voting process.
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4.Should one obvious violation of individual voting be established, the vote shall be repeated per request of the presiding officer or a parliamentary group, even after deliberation of another agenda issue has been started.
\n
5.The elder of any parliamentary group may request the postponement of a repeat vote, prior to its commencement. In this case, the presiding officer shall adjourn the voting for not more than 30 minutes or less than 15 minutes.
\n
6.Voting on procedural issues may not be postponed.
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7.The voting on issues under deliberation may only be postponed once.
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Chapter XVIII
\n
OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND PUBLICATION OF SEIMAS DOCUMENTS
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Article 122Minutes of the Seimas Sittings
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1.Minutes of the Seimas sittings shall be compiled and published by the Documentation Department of the Seimas, and shall be signed by the presiding officer. The minutes of closed sitting shall not be published and shall be kept in accordance with the procedure established by the Seimas Board.
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2.Issues which are discussed, speakers, adopted resolutions, and voting results shall be recorded in the minutes. The full texts of protocol resolutions adopted during sittings shall be recorded in the minutes.
\n
3.Supplementary materials (data concerning the registration of the Seimas Members, results of voting by roll call and results of a vote on the adoption of legal acts, statements of the Seimas Members, etc.) shall be appended to the minutes.
\n
4.Minutes shall be distributed to Committees and parliamentary groups no later than the next workday after the sitting.
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5.The Seimas Members may state their claims concerning the minutes at the end of the morning sitting on the next day of the Seimas sittings. If there are disputable questions, the Seimas shall adopt a decision thereon by simple majority vote of the voting members after a brief explanation by the officer who presided over the previous sitting.
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Article 123Verbatim Records of Seimas Sittings
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1.The Documentation Department of the Seimas Office shall compile and publish verbatim records of the Seimas sittings. Their originals shall not be edited and shall be preserved in the Documentation Department and subsequently transferred to the Seimas Archives. Verbatim records shall be recorded on computer record media.
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2.Members of the Seimas and other persons who were granted the floor during a sitting shall have the right to check, within 2 days after the Seimas sitting, the verbatim records of their speeches edited for publication. Upon checking the text against the tape-recording, they may revise the edited version of the verbatim record of their speech provided that they do not change the essence of the speech. If the speaker does not present any claims concerning the text of the verbatim record, it shall be assumed that he or she agrees with the text.
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3.In the event of disputes or misunderstandings concerning the edited text of a prepared for publication verbatim record, a decision thereon shall be adopted by the presiding officer of the respective sitting.
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4.Verbatim records of closed sittings shall not be published and will be kept in accordance with the procedure established by the Seimas Board.
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5.Mass media representatives may obtain texts of speeches given during Seimas sittings through the Press Service no later than within a 24-hr- period from the sitting during which the speech was given. Verbatim records of Seimas sittings shall be printed in a special issue and publicly disseminated.
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Article 124Minutes of Board of the Seimas and Assembly of Elders Sittings
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1.Minutes shall be taken at sittings of the Board of the Seimas and Assembly of Elders; no verbatim records shall be taken of the above sittings.
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2.Participants in the sitting, issues which are discussed, speakers, adopted resolutions, and voting results shall be listed in the minutes.
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3.The minutes shall be signed by the officer presiding over that sitting.
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4.Seimas Members shall familiarise themselves with said minutes through Committees and parliamentary groups.
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Article 125Minutes of Seimas Committees and Commissions
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1.Seimas committees and commissions shall take minutes at their own sittings according to the regulations established by the Seimas Board.
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2.Committee and commission resolutions, conclusions, and minutes of sittings shall be signed by committee and commission chairmen.
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3.The minutes of sittings of committees and commissions, except those of closed sittings, shall be public.
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4.Upon the completion of the calendar year, the minutes of sittings and other documents of committees and commissions shall be transferred to the Seimas archives according to the procedure established by the Seimas Board.
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5.All documents of the ad hoc commission must be transferred to the Seimas archives within 10 days of the expiration of the authorised period of said commission.
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Article 126Submission of Drafts for Public Consideration
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1.Draft laws submitted for public consideration shall be published in the press using State funds.
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2.In publishing such drafts, the names of the persons who prepared and initiated them must be indicated.
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3.Draft laws given over to be published must be signed by the chairman of the principal committee.
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Article 127Signing and Endorsement of Acts Adopted by Seimas
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1.Adopted laws of the Republic of Lithuania prior to being given to the President of the Republic to be signed, and other acts of the Seimas prior to being given to the Speaker of the Seimas to be given endorsements or signed within 7 days of their adoption, shall be presented together with the endorsements of the chairman of the principal committee, as well as of the speaker who participated at the moment of the adoption and of the authors of the adopted amendments and supplements.
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2.Adopted laws which have an endorsement from the Speaker of the Seimas shall be given to the President of the Republic within 24 hours to be signed.
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3.The Speaker of the Seimas or his deputy, empowered by him, shall sign acts adopted by the Board of the Seimas.
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4.Upon signing an act, the Speaker of the Seimas shall transfer said act to the Secretary General of the Seimas to be promulgated.
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Article 128Publication and Coming into Force of Seimas Adopted Acts
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1.Laws and other documents of the Seimas shall be promulgated and shall become effective pursuant to the Law “On the Procedure of Publication and Coming into Force of the Laws and other Legal Acts.”
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2.Laws signed by the President of the Republic as well as resolutions of the Seimas shall be sent to the Government, the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the Auditor General, and as necessary, to heads of other State institutions as well as to local governments at least within 3 working days after their signing.
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Article 129Seimas Seals
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1.The Seimas shall have the Great Seal which is 38 mm in diameter and the small 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 preservation of the Seimas seals.
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3.The Great Seal of the Seimas with the Lithuanian State Emblem shall be imprinted on the laws, resolutions and other official documents of the Seimas, as well as on documents, international treaties and other documents signed by the Speaker of the Seimas which are sent to institutions of State power and government of foreign states.
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4.The Small Seal of the Seimas with the Lithuanian State Emblem shall be imprinted on the certificates of employment and other official documents signed by the Speaker of the Seimas, his deputies, or the Secretary General of the Seimas.
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Article 130The Right to Speak on Behalf of the Seimas, Seimas Committees and Seimas Commissions
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1.The Speaker of the Seimas and his Deputies 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 the international organisations who are appointed by the Seimas and a Seimas Spokesperson for the press to speak on behalf of the Seimas.
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3.Chairmen of Seimas committees or commissions, their deputies, and authorised committee members may speak on behalf of their respective committees or commissions.
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Article 131Broadcasts 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 broadcasts of Seimas sittings by the Lithuanian Radio and Television shall be established by an agreement between the Seimas Board and Lithuanian Radio and Television.
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Article 132Press Conferences
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1.The Seimas Press Service shall organise press conferences of Seimas Members for journalists.
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2.Usually press conferences of the Seimas Members who represent the Opposition parliamentary groups shall be held not less than 2 times a week.
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3.The Seimas Office shall supply the journalists accredited in Seimas with work-related documents.
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Article 133Official Reports on Seimas Activity
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Official reports on the activity of the Seimas, Seimas Board, Assembly of Elders, committees and commissions shall be prepared and published according to the procedure established by the Seimas Board.
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Article 134Registration of Documents and Information Material on Seimas Activity
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1.Documents prepared by Seimas Members (or received from elsewhere) and proposed to be distributed, which are intended for all Members of the Seimas, committees or parliamentary groups shall be distributed by the Secretariat of the sittings.
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2.The documents must be registered at the Secretariat of the sittings and must be 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 standard acts shall be established in Chapter 19 of this Statute.
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4.Information concerning the activities of the Seimas shall be prepared and, as necessary, presented to the Seimas Members by the Seimas Information and Analysis Service.
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5.In order to better inform 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 Seimas Members’ statements, directives of the Speaker of the Seimas, decisions of the Board of the Seimas, committees and parliamentary 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 of a Draft Submitted for Registration
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1.Drafts of laws and other acts, as well as 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 law.
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3.An explanatory note shall be submitted together with a 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 have taken 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 procedure in accordance with which the issues considered in the draft law are being regulated;
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4)what new provisions of legal regulation are planned, the positive qualities of the newly regulated issues, and the positive results which are foreseen;
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5)possible negative consequences of the enacted law and the measures which should be applied in order to avoid said consequences;
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6)what influence the enacted law would have on the crime situation, corruption;
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7)how the implementation of the law would influence business conditions and business development;
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8)the incorporation of the law into the legal system, which legal acts in said sphere remain valid (a list of said acts shall be presented), and which of the valid legal acts must be amended or repealed upon adoption of the submitted draft;
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9)whether the draft law is drawn up in compliance with the requirements of the Law on the State Language, the Law on Procedure for Drawing up Laws and Other Regulations and is in conformity with the norms of the standard Lithuanian language, and the definitions used in the draft as well as the terms naming the definitions are assessed in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law on the Term Bank and legal acts implementing the said Law;
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10)whether the draft law is in conformity with the provisions of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the documents of the European Union;
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11)in the event that the subordinate legislation is required for the implementation of the law, who should prepare it and when, as well as the guidelines of said subordinate legislation;
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12)amount of funds the implementation of the law will require, or will allow to save, from the budget (assessments to be supplied for next year and subsequent future);
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13)the evaluation and findings of specialists obtained during the period that the law was drafted;
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14)author or group of authors of the draft law, draft law initiators: institution, persons or representatives authorised by citizens;
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15)significant words of the draft law which are necessary for the to inclusion of this draft in the computer search system, including the significant words according to the Thesaurus Eurovoc;
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16)other substantiations 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, in which the essence of the amendments is set forth. New amendments in the text of a new version of an article (its paragraph or subparagraph) shall be printed in boldface, and the words proposed to be struck out shall be crossed out with a thin line. Provided that an article (its paragraph or subparagraph) is proposed to be basically amended, the text of the former version (crossed out with a thin line) and the new version of an article (its paragraph or subparagraph) shall be presented. Provided that the whole article (its paragraph or subparagraph) is proposed to be declared invalid, the number of the article (its paragraph or subparagraph) proposed to be declared invalid shall be specified in the essence of the amendments, and the whole text (crossed out with a thin line) of such article (its paragraph or subparagraph) shall be presented. Provided that the draft law is followed by an annex containing references to legal acts of the European Union, a conformity table shall be appended which shall present the conformity by articles of the legal acts of the European Union specified in the annex and the draft law.
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5.A draft law or resolution on the implementation procedure of this law shall, when necessary, be submitted with the draft law. The draft law shall be accompanied by other drafts of legal acts being adopted by the Seimas which amend or repeal the effective legal acts 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 be applied to all drafts of laws and other regulations of the Seimas (further in this chapter - draft laws), except in the special instances stipulated by this Statute.
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7.A draft law amending or supplementing a law may be presented at a plenary sitting of the Seimas not earlier than after 6 months following the enactment of the law. This requirement shall not apply when implementing rulings of the Constitutional Court in the manner prescribed by Article 1812 of the Seimas Statute or when a draft law amending or supplementing a law is submitted by the Government or at least 1/5 of all Seimas Members.
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Article 136Registration of 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 the Seimas sittings where all authors and initiators of a draft and all the submitted documents are indicated.
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2.Drafts of laws and other legal acts together with an explanatory note shall, not later than within 3 working days, be referred to the Speaker of the Seimas, Committees, parliamentary groups, Government, Office of the President of the Republic, and when 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 date of receipt thereof, draw up conclusions on whether or not the draft is in conformity with the Constitution, laws, principles of legislation and technical rules of law-making, and whether or not the submitted documents conform to the requirements of this Statute. If this is a large-scale draft, the Director of the Legal Department shall have the right to appeal to the Assembly of Elders for the extension of this period.
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4.If a draft law is submitted by Seimas Members, the President of the Republic or citizens, it shall be transferred to the European Law Department under the Ministry of Justice which shall, within 10 working days of receipt thereof, work out conclusions whether or not this draft is in conformity 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 1 working day prior to the presentation thereof at a Seimas sitting.
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6.When considering a draft and further preparing it, the Secretariat of Sittings shall be presented with and register all updated versions of the draft, submitted conclusions, amendments and supplements, and indicate the persons who have presented them.
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7.Publications Seimo kronika and Valstybės žinios shall also announce about a draft law.
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Article 137Consideration of Several Draft Laws Concurrently and 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 Constitutional amendments in accordance with the procedure for amending the Constitution.
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2.Drafts of laws on the amendment, supplement or repeal of other law requisite upon the adoption of the proposed draft law shall also be discussed together with said draft law.
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3.If several alternative drafts of one law have been received, they shall be concurrently considered during the discussion in the Seimas Committee and at the sitting of the Seimas, and one of said drafts shall be selected.
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4.If several draft laws amending or supplementing 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 principal 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 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 preliminary consider this draft.
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3.As necessary, the Speaker of the Seimas, 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 instances 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 of a law is not in conformity with the Constitution and no draft of amendments of the Constitution have been presented in the established manner, 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 Legal Affairs Committee by a majority of the votes of all Seimas members, a draft of an appropriate law may be considered even without a draft of amendments of the Constitution.
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2.In the event that the same draft law or another draft law of analogous content has been rejected by the Seimas within the last 6 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 the sittings; at the Secretariat, the draft shall be recorded in the register of rejected draft laws and proposals and shall thereafter be sent to the Seimas archives. An announcement to this effect must be made in the Seimo kronika, and the person who presented the draft must be notified thereof.
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5.In instances when a draft law is presented to the Seimas by citizens, the Speaker of the Seimas must submit this draft before the Seimas, without considering all of the requirements listed therein.
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Article 140Initiators’ Right to Recall Draft Law
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1.The initiators of a draft law shall have the right to recall said draft before it is considered at a sitting of the Seimas. Said persons must immediately notify the Secretary General of the Seimas about the decision in writing, and the Secretary General of the Seimas must notify the Seimas.
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2.The recalled draft law shall be returned to the Secretariat of Sittings along with the Secretary’s General endorsement, where it shall be registered in the returned draft and proposal register and transferred to Seimas Archives.
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3.However, in the event that the draft law recalled by the initiators is officially supported and submitted no later than the next day by another entity vested with the right of legislative initiative, the consideration procedure of such draft shall be continued. The above provision shall not be applied to drafts of laws submitted by the President of the Republic or the Government.
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Chapter XX
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Presentation of Drafts of Laws and other Standard Acts at seimas Sittings
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Article 141Procedure of Presenting a Draft
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1.A draft of a law or any other Seimas act shall be presented at the 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 give a brief (maximum of 10 minutes) characterisation of the draft and shall answer questions of the Seimas Members (up to 10 minutes).
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2.Thereafter, the presiding officer shall familiarise the members with the conclusions of the Legal Department of the Seimas Office, as well as with the conclusions of the Seimas committees, the Government and the European Law Department under the Ministry of Justice, if such conclusions have been received, and shall put proposals to the vote.
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Article 142Drafts Presented by Citizens
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A draft law presented by citizens must be submitted at a Seimas sitting no later than one week following registration thereof during a session of the Seimas and, if registered between Seimas sessions, during the initial sitting of the other session.
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Article 143Decisions on Submitted Draft
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1.The Seimas shall adopt one of the following decisions concerning the submitted draft of a law or any other standard act:
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1)to commence the procedure of consideration of the draft;
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2)to postpone the procedure of submitting the draft and to specify the actions to be taken by the initiators prior to repeatedly submitting the draft to the Seimas; and
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3)to reject the draft specifying the motives of rejection.
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2.If the Seimas decides to commence the procedure of consideration, a decision may be taken on whether to publish this draft for public consideration.
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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 vote of those present and voting, with the exception of decisions to reject a draft, or to publish a draft for public consideration, which shall be adopted provided that the majority voting in favour thereof comprises at least 1/4 of all the Seimas Members..
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4.If the Seimas decides to commence the procedure of consideration, a decision may be taken whether to apply the urgency procedure or the special urgency procedure.
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5.Application for the urgency or special urgency procedures shall be established in Chapter 24 of this Statute.
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Article 144Activities Following Decision to Commence Procedure of Draft Consideration
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1.The consideration procedure shall consist of the following: consideration at the principal committee, consideration at the sitting of the Seimas, and passage.
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2.Upon deciding to commence the procedure of consideration of a draft law, the Seimas must at the same sitting set an approximate date of consideration at the sitting of the Seimas (no earlier than after a week, and no later than by the end of the session), and the principal committee and additional committees for further consideration or improvement of the draft. The proposal concerning the date of the preliminary consideration, the principal committee and additional committees shall be deliberated and approved and submitted to the Seimas by the Assembly of Elders.
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Article 145Mandatory Conclusions Regarding 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 the Budget and Finance and the Government concerning the possible sources of funding must be presented during further consideration of the draft and the draft law of the amendment on the State Budget which is being considered, must be submitted as well.
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2.If essential change of the legal regulation (to lay down, change or exclude the rights or duties of subjects of law, to formulate trends of the reform or strategy of the development of particular spheres) is proposed by a draft law and the principal committee or at least 1/5 of all Seimas Members (but not later than 72 hours prior to the end of consideration in the principal committee) support this initiative, when it is decided to commence the procedure for considering a draft law the independent expert evaluation of a draft law shall be commissioned in the manner prescribed by the Seimas Board.
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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 Referendum
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If an initiative group for the announcement of a referendum on the provisions of the law has been formed, the issue shall be considered at the next Seimas sitting during the Seimas session after it has been 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 Principal Committee
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Article 147Preparedness of Principal Committee to Consider the Draft of a Law
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1.The committee which has been appointed by the Seimas as the principal committee for the consideration of the draft of a law, in respect whereof the consideration procedure has been commenced, must, within one week, discuss at a sitting the preparedness to examine the draft in the committee.
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2.For the above purpose, the committee shall assign responsible committee members - persons in charge of drafting committee 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 up to when other interested persons may submit remarks, proposals and amendments to the committee, when conclusion preparers must submit a first draft of conclusions to the committee, shall make other preliminary decisions.
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3.Persons having the right of legislative initiative for publication of laws, may submit remarks and proposals up to at least 2 hours time prior to the principal committee meeting, wherein the consideration of the draft of the committee’s conclusions shall commence.
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4.Should the principal committee decide to return the draft law to the initiators for revision, persons having the right of legislative initiative, may submit remarks and proposals for revision of draft law, according to the same procedure.
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5.If the committee is charged to revise the draft, a working group may be formed for said purpose.
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6.As necessary, the committee may also discuss issues concerning the preparedness to consider the draft at other sittings.
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7.The principal committee must publish in the press according to the procedure established by the Seimas Board, the information regarding up to what time the committee shall await proposals and remarks of interested persons and how it would be possible to acquaint oneself with the text of the draft law. The principal committee must send the draft law to all interested State institutions and, as necessary, to public organisations, local governments, political parties and organisations, in order that said institutions and organisations could send their evaluations. The Seimas Board or Assembly of Elders may establish to which institutions or persons the draft must be sent, or may relieve the principal committee of the principal committee’s obligations established in this paragraph.
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8.All of the material received concerning the draft law shall be evaluated and summarised by the principal committee.
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9.If a draft law has been presented to the public for consideration, the proposals received shall be referred to the principal committee.
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Article 148Hearings during Draft Law Deliberation in the Committee
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1.Following the expiration of the time limit for submitting remarks and proposals on a draft law, all of the remarks obtained from interested persons and experts may be deliberated in principal committee hearings, to which participation of all remark and proposal presenters shall be invited. The hearings shall be organised by preparers committee conclusions. Results of deliberations shall be marked in conclusions of the draft.
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2.After the deliberation of the remarks and proposals of interested persons shall be completed in hearings, if many remarks, proposals and amendments are received from persons who have the right of legislative initiative, there may be hearings designated by the committee, in which shall be discussed the remarks and proposals regarding the draft law, of Seimas designated additional Seimas Committees, Seimas Members, the Government and Republic President. These remarks and proposals may be presented by the authors thereof with no less than 2 hours remaining before the meeting of this committee.
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3.It shall be possible not to hold hearings during draft law deliberations in the committee if the amendments and remarks which have been received shall only be a few in number, in which eventuality all the authors of amendments and remarks shall be invited to attend the committee meeting, in which the draft law is being deliberated in accordance with Article 149 of this Statute.
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Article 149Deliberations in the Principal Committee of Draft Law
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1.The draft law and the committee conclusion draft must be considered by the principal committee no later than 4 workdays prior to the consideration thereof at a sitting of the Seimas. The time and place of such deliberations must be publicly announced to the Seimas Members, Government and Republic President’s Office at least 2 working days prior to the committee meeting. Concurrently, the Secretariat of the sitting must be supplied the draft law and a draft of the committee’s conclusions amended and signed by the preparers of committee conclusions, in accordance with the results of the deliberation hearings, which shall include an indication of what amendments and proposals have been received from additional committees, experts, interested persons and persons having the right of legislative initiative, and which remarks and proposals are being considered and which are not and why and how is the draft law proposed to be amended.
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2.Only those submitted proposals and remarks regarding the draft law of persons having the right of legislative initiative, which had been submitted no later than 2 hours prior to the committee meeting will be deliberated at the committee meeting.
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3.Representatives of the initiators of the draft, representatives of the committees which are preparing additional conclusions, and experts confirmed by the committee as well as persons having the right of legislative initiative who have submitted amendments to the draft law shall be invited to the deliberations by the principal committee. Said persons must be granted the floor at the meeting of the committee.
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4.Other Seimas Members present at the committee sitting shall be, as a rule, allowed to have the floor to discuss the draft under consideration.
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5.Representatives of other interested state institutions, local governments, political parties and organisations and public organisations may also be invited to the sitting. Upon the consent of the presiding officer, they may also be granted the floor.
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6.In the event that the principal committee fails to examine the draft law within the established time period, it must address the Assembly of Elders with a request to prolong the period.
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Article 150Decisions of Principal Committee
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1.During deliberations in the principal committee one of the following decisions must be adopted, which shall be 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 revised by the committee and committee conclusions;
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2)to approve or not to approve the amendments of the draft law received from persons having the right of legislative initiative (amendments which have been approved, shall be included in the draft law revised by the committee; all of the amendments received from these persons shall be included in conclusions of the committee);
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3)to call a recess to deliberations in the committee and to return the draft law and conclusions for revision by those who prepare the conclusions and must implement the actions indicated by the committee;
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4)to announce the draft to the public for consideration;
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5)to return the draft to its initiators for revision; or
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6)to reject the draft.
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2.Should the principal committee adopt a decision to return the draft to initiators for revision or to reject the draft, this committee shall have to submit its conclusions to the Seimas nevertheless.
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3.If the committee had been given several alternative drafts, the committee shall have to decide in the course of one of the meetings held in the nearest future, which of the alternative drafts it should approve and begin the deliberation procedure thereof in the committee.
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4.After deliberations by the principal committee, the draft which has been approved by the committee and the committee’s conclusions shall be forwarded to the Documentation 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 (preparers of conclusion).
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5.When possible, a tape recording shall be made during the deliberations in the principal committee, and minutes shall be kept of the speeches which are made.
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6.If during deliberation of the draft in the principal committee, at least three committee members fail to agree with the decision of the majority, they may present their own separate opinion to the Seimas, which must be included in the committee's conclusions and discussed as alternative during the consideration at the Seimas sitting.
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Chapter XXII
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Consideration of Draft Laws at Seimas Sittings
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Article 151Procedure of Draft Law Consideration
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1.The draft law and conclusions of the committee shall be distributed among Seimas Members no later than 72 hours before the commencement of the Seimas sitting during which this draft shall be deliberated.
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2.During consideration at a sitting of the Seimas, 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 which due to the law approved by the committee, with at least 48 hours remaining prior to the time limit stipulated in the Seimas schedule for commencement of the draft law, has been submitted by the Republic President, Government, or a Member of the Seimas. During deliberation of the draft law at the Seimas sitting, a Seimas decision shall be adopted with respect to the amendments and supplements by the Seimas.
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3.At a meeting of the Seimas a draft law shall be deliberated as follows:
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1)report of the principal committee which is examining the draft law, at which time conclusions shall be presented concerning the results of draft consideration in the principal committee;
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2)a vote, should the principal committee propose to return the draft to its initiators or to reject it. If the Seimas does not approve the principal committee’s proposal, the Seimas may appoint another principal committee or create a special Seimas commission to revise the draft law. In this eventuality, this committee shall perform the functions of a principal committee and work in accordance with the work procedure of such committee. Should a decision be adopted to appoint another principal committee or special commission to revise the draft, a Seimas routine decision must be concurrently adopted, which should contain a formulation of principal provisions as to what the principal committee or special commission must correct in the draft. A Seimas Member, who is presenting a proposal to transfer the draft to another principal committee for revision must submit a draft of this routine decision;
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3)reports by representatives of initiators of alternative drafts if there happen to be such, should such be presented;
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4)additional reports by other committees;
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5)a general discussion of the basic provisions of the draft law - statements of the Government, other committees, parliamentary group members, and individual Seimas Members;
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6)following a general discussion, should the authors of an alternative draft fail to agree with the principal committee’s decision not to approve the alternative draft, to take a vote on whether to approve or not to approve the committee’s decision;
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7)a vote also, if such is requested by a Seimas Member, after a general discussion, regarding whether to approve the draft law approved by the principal committee;
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8)a recess to be called in the Seimas sitting, should the Seimas fail to approve the draft submitted by the principal committee or should the Seimas decide to approve an alternate draft, which has not been approved by the principal committee, and the draft shall either be returned to the same principal committee for revision or the Seimas may appoint another principal committee or a special Seimas commission to be created to edit the draft. In this eventuality, such a commission shall perform the functions of a principal committee and carry on according to the work procedure of such committee;
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9)decisions deliberated and adopted with respect to the amendments and supplements of the draft law which have been presented during deliberation in the principal committee by persons having the right of legislative initiative and those which have not been approved by the principal committee;
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10)decisions deliberated and adopted with respect to the amendments and supplements of the draft law, which have been presented by the President of the Republic, the Government or a Seimas Member, if the amendment or supplement being submitted by him is supported by at least ten Seimas Members, at least 48 hours prior to draft deliberation in the Seimas sitting.
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4.The time allotted to the general discussions in the Seimas sitting agenda shall be proportionately divided for parliamentary group representatives. If the representatives of the Seimas parliamentary groups have not fully used the time allotted for discussion, the discussion shall be completed prior to expiration of the allotted time.
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Article 152Presentation and Adoption Amendments of Draft Law during Deliberation in Seimas Sitting
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1.The President of the Republic, the Government or a Member of Seimas must forward all of the proposed amendments, deletions and supplements of the draft law to the Secretariat of the sittings at least 48 hours prior to the time established in the agenda of the sitting for commencement of draft law deliberation.
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2.The Secretariat of the sittings shall submit amendments to the draft law to the principal committee which is examining the law, make copies and distribute them to all of the Seimas Members. The conclusions of the principal committee in which must be indicated what the amendments by persons having the right of legislative initiative are, whether or not the amendments have been presented in the course of the principal committee meeting, and which of these amendments and supplements have not been approved by this committee, shall also be distributed.
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3.If new amendments, supplements and deletions have been received according to the procedure established in paragraph 1 of this Article, which have until then not been examined by the principal committee, a meeting of the principal committee must be held prior to the consideration of the draft law at a Seimas sitting, in which the received proposals must be considered.
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4.New amendments, supplements and deletions may not be presented and accepted during draft consideration at a Seimas sitting, except for editorial amendments which shall be not considered and not voted upon, but submitted in writing to the principal committee examining the draft law.
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5.The amendments and supplements of the Seimas Members which have been presented in accordance with the procedure in paragraph 1 of this Article, shall not be presented by the presiding officer for consideration and voting if these are supported by less than ten Seimas Members after the presiding officer announces them during the sitting.
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6.During consideration of amendments and supplements at a sitting of the Seimas, only authors and reporters of amendments and supplements shall be permitted to take the floor (up to 2 minutes for each proposal, except the proposals referred to in paragraph 5 of this Article) and a reporter shall not be questioned regarding voting motives.
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7.Having taken the floor in connection with an amendment or supplement their author may not speak on voting motives.
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8.Amendments to individual Article of a law shall be considered and adopted according to the following procedure:
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1)the reporter shall read the received written proposals to amend an entire article, amend certain propositions to supplement the article, and delete certain propositions; he also might briefly comment on them (up to 2 minutes);
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2)decisions on the presented proposals shall be adopted by vote. When there exist several proposals for the same article, the vote is taken in the order of proposals indicated in item 1 of this paragraph, in the stipulated order according to the procedure of presenting proposals. Supplements or amendments of a correction shall be voted upon prior to voting on the correction itself;
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3)the presenter may retract his proposal prior to a vote being taken;
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4)the presiding officer shall refrain from submitting to a vote proposals, which contradict those adopted earlier;
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5)when a reporter informs that the principal committee has considered a proposal and shall adopt it, it is possible not to vote upon it, provided no Members of Seimas oppose this;
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6)the entire article shall be voted upon.
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9.Presented additional articles of draft laws shall be considered and adopted according to the same procedure as all of the other amendments or supplements of the draft law.
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Article 153Seimas Decisions Following Consideration of a Draft Law in Seimas Sitting
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After consideration the Seimas shall decide:
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1)whether or not to approve the draft law approved by the committee with the amendments adopted during a Seimas sitting and to appoint the date of passage of the law after at least 2 working days;
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2)whether or not to announce the draft for public consideration. In such a case the procedure shall be repeated beginning from the consideration in the principal committee;
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3)whether or not to return the draft for revision to the principal committee. If such a decision shall be adopted, a routine decision by the Seimas, in which the principal provisions must be expressed, and that which the principal committee must correct in the draft must be adopted concurrently. A Seimas Member, who shall present the proposal to return the draft to the principal committee for revision must prepare a draft of this routine decision. In this instance the procedure shall be repeated from the beginning of consideration in the principal committee. Such a decision may only be adopted once in the course of draft deliberation;
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4)whether or not to adjourn the consideration of the draft, should consideration not be completed at the same sitting or if it becomes clear that the Seimas Members require additional information necessary for draft consideration, 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 fundamental revision. In this event, the procedure of deliberation of the draft law shall be repeated from its presentation at the Seimas sitting;
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6)whether or not to reject the draft and if necessary, charge the preparation of a new draft.
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Article 154Additional Adjournments during Draft Law Consideration
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1.Should the reporter require and think that one more additional sitting is necessary in order to co-ordinate the adopted amendments and supplements, following the vote on all of the amendments and supplements an adjournment may be called, but not to extend beyond the closest sitting of Seimas day.
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2.The amendments and supplements made by the committee, which must not contradict the essence of already adopted amendments shall be considered after adjourning, and voted upon. In the course of said consideration other proposals of amendments and supplements shall not be accepted.
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3.If in the course of draft law deliberation by the Seimas some amendments have been adopted, which had abrogated the articles decisive of the principles and structure, and also individual chapters and sections, the reporter may propose postponement of draft revision until the end of consideration at Seimas sitting.
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4.Should the Seimas accept this proposal, the procedure shall be repeated from the consideration of draft law in the principal committee. This possibility may only be used one time in the course of the consideration of a draft law.
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Chapter XXIII
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THE PASSAGE OF A DRAFT LAW AT A SEIMAS SITTING
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Article 155Presentation of Amendments and Supplements of Draft Law
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1.The principal committee must submit to the Seimas for adoption a draft law newly edited by the Documentation Department of the Office of the Seimas. The Legal Department of the Office of the Seimas shall also submit conclusions with respect to this draft. Drafts must be forwarded to these Departments at least 4 working days prior to the passing thereof.
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2.The edited draft law and the conclusions of the Legal Department must be distributed to the Seimas Members and delivered to the Government and the President of the Republic at least 3 working days before the sitting.
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3.At the time of passing only those amendments, supplements and deletions shall be considered which shall be supported by at least one fifth of the Seimas Members during the sitting following the presiding officer’s announcement thereof. All proposed amendments, supplements and deletions of the draft law must be submitted by the persons having the right of legislative initiative to the Secretariat of the Sitting at least 48 hours before the time indicated in the time schedule of commencement of the procedure of passing the law.
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4.The Secretariat of the Sitting shall refer the amendments, supplements and deletions to the principal committee examining the draft law, make copies thereof and distribute them to all Seimas Members. The principal committee must assess the received amendments, supplements and deletions as well as the conclusions of the Legal Department prior to the passing of a draft law.
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5.If some new amendments, supplements or deletions are received in accordance with the procedure established in paragraph 3 of this Article, which have not been previously considered by the principal committee, an adjournment of at least 24 hours shall be made in the passage of a draft, during which the said proposals and the conclusions of the Legal Department thereon must be considered in the principal committee.
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6.During the passage of the law, new amendments, supplements or deletions which do not correspond to the requirements of paragraph 4 of this Article shall not be passed.
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Article 156Time and Procedure for Accepting a Draft Law
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1.During a regular session draft laws shall be usually passed on Thursdays, at a morning sitting.
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2.During the passage of the law, the reporter shall briefly discuss the received additional proposals and amendments, indicating their presenters.
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3.Subsequently, individual draft law sections shall be put to the vote. Unless the Seimas decides otherwise, articles shall be adopted in sequence.
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4.The presiding officer may submit to a vote earlier those articles which decide the principles and structure of the draft law.
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5.Those articles, for which there are no proposals, may be passed all at the same time by consensus, provided no Seimas Member shall be opposed to this. Only those articles for which there are proposals or disagreements shall be put to the vote separately.
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6.New amendments, supplements and deletions, presented in accordance with the procedure established in paragraph 4 of Article 155, shall not be put to the vote by the presiding officer, if upon announcing thereof by the presiding officer, they shall be supported by less than 1/5 of the Members of Seimas.