Nutarimas paskelbtas: Žin

Nutarimas paskelbtas: Žin Official translation GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA Resolution No 728 of 11 August 1994 ON THE APPROVAL OF THE Rules of procedure of the government of the Republic of Lithuania , Vilnius (As amended by Resolution No 63 of 23 January 2006, Resolution No 1330 of 13 December 2005, Resolution No 1035 of 20 September 2005, Resolution No 476 of 29 April 2005, Resolution No 10 of 12 January 2005, Resolution No 1577 of 3 December 2004, Resolution No 741 of 14 June 2004, Resolution No 313 of 13 March 2003, Resolution No 1188 of 1 October 2001, Resolution No 314 of 20 March 2001, Resolution No 637 of 2 June 2000, Resolution No 1188 of 27 October 1999, Resolution No 1485 of 29 December 1997, Resolution No 435 of 8 May 1997) The Government of the Republic of Lithuania h a s  r e s o l v e d: 1. To approve the Rules of Procedure of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (as appended); 2. To instruct the Ministry of Justice to submit, within three months, to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania proposals for repelling or amending relevant decisions of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania given that the Rules of Procedure of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania have been approved.   Prime Minister                                                                         Adolfas Šleževičius Minister of Justice                                                                               Jonas Prapiestis ______________ approved by: Resolution No 728 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 11 August 1994 (as replaced by Resolution No 313 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 13 March 2003) Rules of Procedure of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania I. GENERAL PROVISIONS 1. The Rules of Procedure of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the Rules of Procedure) set forth working procedures of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the Government). 2. The Government shall act in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania, laws, the Programme of the Government and other legal acts, as well as with the Long-Term Development Strategy of the State. In formulating, consulting with institutions on and presenting the position of the Republic of Lithuania on the issues being discussed in the European Union institutions, and in transposing the EU law (acquis communautaire) and coordinating its implementation, the Government shall act in accordance with the Rules for Coordination of the European Union Affairs as approved by Resolution No 21 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 9 January 2004 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 8-184, 2004) (hereinafter referred to as the Coordination Rules) and these Rules of Procedure. 3. The Government’s activities shall be based on the principles of collegiality, democracy, lawfulness and publicity. The Government shall be jointly and severally accountable for its collective activity to the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the Seimas). Managing the spheres of administration assigned to them, ministers shall be accountable to the Seimas and the President of the Republic and directly subordinate to the Prime Minister. II. structure of the government and forms of work I. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE STRUCTURE AND FORMS OF WORK 4. The Government shall consist of the Prime Minister and ministers. 5. State administration matters shall be dealt with by the Government in Government sittings. 6. To settle disagreements that may arise during inter-institutional consultations regarding draft legal acts or to discuss the most important issues on the agenda of a Government sitting prior to the sitting, the Government or the Prime Minister may set up standing or ad hoc committees of the Government (hereinafter referred to as Government committees). 7. Where appropriate, the Government may set up standing or ad hoc commissions for drafting relevant legal acts, organising country-wide events, dealing with other relevant issues and making relevant proposals. 8. The Prime Minister may form working groups for dealing with various issues and drafting legal acts. 9. In carrying out their functions, the Government and the Prime Minister shall be assisted by the Office of the Government headed by the Government Secretary. In carrying out the task of formulating political positions and priorities and adopting and implementing decisions, the Prime Minister as the Head of the Government shall be assisted by civil servants of the Prime Minister’s political (personal) confidence whose activities shall be coordinated by the Chief Advisor to the Prime Minister. II. government sittings 10. Government sittings shall be convened and presided over by the Prime Minister or, in his absence, by the minister acting or deputising for the Prime Minister (hereinafter referred to as the Prime Minister). Government sittings shall normally be convened in the Government Building once a week, on Wednesdays, at the time designated by the Prime Minister. Where Government decisions are urgent, a Government sitting shall be convened at other time designated by the Prime Minister, overriding the provisions of Sections II and III of Chapter IV of these Rules of Procedure. 11. A Government sitting shall be deemed legal, if more than half of the members of the Government are present. If a member of the Government is unable to attend the sitting, he must notify the Prime Minister thereabout and obtain the Prime Minister’s consent. Members of the Government who are unable to attend the sitting may present their written opinion on the issues to be discussed, which shall be read out in the sitting. 12.  A Government sitting shall normally discuss those issues only that are covered in the relevant draft resolutions of the Government submitted in the manner prescribed by these Rules of Procedure. 13. An agenda of a Government sitting shall be drawn up and discussed in accordance with the provisions of Chapter IV of these Rules of Procedure (except in the case specified in the third indent of paragraph 10 of these Rules of Procedure). The Prime Minister shall have the right to propose during a Government sitting that a new issue be added to the agenda. A minister shall also have the right to propose to the Prime Minister that new issues be added to the agenda of the sitting; this proposal, however, must be made before proceeding to discuss the issues on the agenda as approved. In this case, the minister shall address the Prime Minister with a proposal to add a new issue to the agenda. Voting for the new issue to be added to the agenda shall be carried out in the manner prescribed in paragraphs 87 to 89 of these Rules of Procedure.  The issue shall be added to the agenda once the Prime Minister gives his consent to the minister’s proposal to add a new issue to the agenda. If the proposal to add a new issue in the agenda is not accepted, the issue shall be put forward for discussion in the manner prescribed by the Rules of Procedure of the Government. III. Prime Minister 14. The Prime Minister shall represent the Government and direct its activities. 15. The Prime Minister shall: 15.1. form the Government and propose its composition to the President of the Republic for approval; 15.2. submit the Programme of the Government to the Seimas for consideration; 15.3. submit proposals to the President of the Republic on the appointment and dismissal of ministers; 15.4. in the cases specified in the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, submit to the President of the Republic proposals to designate one of the ministers to deputise for the Prime Minister; 15.5. make decisions on the issues pertaining to the organisation of Government activities; 15.6. convene Government sittings and lead them (preside over them), and approve the agenda of a Government sitting; 15.7. with the consent of the President of the Republic, give powers to perform actions pertaining to the conclusion of international agreements (treaties) of the Republic of Lithuania referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 6 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on Treaties (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 60-1948, 1999; No 88-3295, 2005), on the recommendation of a ministry or a Government agency competent to draw up the international agreement (treaty) concerned and with the consent of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; 15.8. give powers to perform actions pertaining to the conclusion of international agreements (treaties) of the Republic of Lithuania referred to in paragraph 3 of Article 6 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on Treaties, on the recommendation of a ministry or a Government agency competent to draw up the international agreement (treaty) concerned and with the consent of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; 15.9. form government delegations for official visits to foreign states, as well as for the participation in international congresses, conferences, and sessions; 15.10. make proposals to the Government for the appointment and dismissal of county governors and their deputies; 15.11. give powers to represent the Government before the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania and other courts; 15.12. according to his competence, issue ordinances concerning organisational, personal and other matters or make prompt decisions - instructions in the form of resolutions; 15.13. perform other duties prescribed to him as the Prime Minister by the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, the Law on the Government and other laws. 16. The Prime Minister shall issue ordinances on the following matters: 16.1. organisation of activities of civil servants of political (personal) confidence of the Government and the Prime Minister; 16.2. granting of the powers to perform actions pertaining to the conclusion of international agreements (treaties) of the Republic of Lithuania; 16.3. formation of government delegations for official visits to foreign states, as well as for participation in international congresses, conferences, sessions and other international events; 16.4. representation of the Government in international organisations and international events; 16.5. representation of the Government before the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania and other courts; 16.6. holidays of ministers, the Government Secretary, heads of Government agencies and other agencies who are appointed by the Government or the Prime Minister, as well as county governors and representatives of the Government; 16.7. appointment of officials to deputise for ministers and for representatives of the Government; 16.8. disciplinary sanctions on heads of Government agencies and other civil servants appointed by the Prime Minister; 16.9. incentives to county governors, representatives of the Government, heads of Government agencies and other civil servants and officials appointed by the Prime Minister; 16.10. granting of relevant ranks to officials of the internal service; 16.11. organisation of various commemorative events; 16.12. other organisational issues. 17. The Prime Minister shall appoint and dismiss, by issuing ordinances, the following officials: 17.1. the Government Secretary; 17.2. civil servants of the Prime Minister’s political (personal) confidence; 17.3. heads of Government agencies. 18. Draft ordinances tabled to the Prime Minister for signature shall first be endorsed, on the original copy, by the head of the relevant unit of the Office of the Government or, upon his instruction, by an adviser, also by the director of the Legal Department of the Office of the Government (hereinafter referred to as the Legal Department) or, upon his instruction, by a lawyer, and by the Government Secretary (or, in his absence or upon his instruction, by the Deputy Government Secretary). Annexes to the Prime Minister’s ordinances shall be endorsed, on the original copy, by the head of the relevant unit of the Office of the Government or, upon his instruction, by an adviser. 19. Ordinances of the Prime Minister shall be deemed to have been adopted on the date of signature thereof and shall be sent to the institutions (civil servants) in charge of their implementation no later than on the next working day. 20. Ordinances of the Prime Minister shall become effective on the date of signature thereof, unless a later date of coming into force is set therein. Where appropriate, ordinances of the Prime Minister may be published in the Official Gazette Valstybės žinios. Ordinances of the Prime Minister published in the Official Gazette Valstybės žinios shall become effective on the next day of their publication therein, unless a later date of coming into force is set in such ordinances. Within three days of their coming into force, ordinances of the Prime Minister shall be posted, in the prescribed manner, on the Internet. Where appropriate, ordinances of the Prime Minister may be made public through other mass media. IV. ministerS 21. Ministers shall issue orders according to their competence. Where appropriate, several ministers may issue joint orders. Minister’s orders shall be registered by a unit of the ministry in charge of administration of documents. Minister’s orders shall be given a reference number using the general numbering running from the start to the end of the year. Within three days of its official publication in the Official Gazette Valstybės žinios, a regulatory enactment of a minister shall be posted, in the prescribed manner, on the website of the ministry which has adopted it. 22. A minister shall issue orders on the following matters: 22.1. approval of the structure of administration of the ministry and of the list of positions; 22.2. approval of regulations of units of the administration of the ministry and, upon the instruction of the Government, approval of regulations of agencies under the ministry; 22.3. appointment and dismissal of civil servants of the ministry and of heads of agencies under the ministry, their holidays, disciplinary sanctions, and incentives; 22.4. setting-up of commissions (working groups); 22.5. discharge of other functions prescribed to him by laws and Government resolutions. 23. Minister’s orders must be compliant with the Republic of Lithuania Law on the Procedure of Drafting of Republic of Lithuania Laws and Other Regulatory Enactments (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 87-2416, 1998; No 50-1923, 2002) and the Rules for the Preparation and Adoption of Documents as approved by Order No 19 of the Director General of the Lithuanian Archives Department under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 30 March 2001 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 30-1009, 2001). Draft minister’s orders which lay down the procedure for the use of support received from the state budget of the Republic of Lithuania or from the European Union support funds or which carry or increase financial, guarantee or other debt-related liabilities on the state budget of the Republic of Lithuania must first be agreed on with the Ministry of Finance. 231. Minister’s orders shall come into force in the manner prescribed in Article 11 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on the Procedure for Publication and Coming into Force of Republic of Lithuania Laws and Other Legal Acts (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 12-296, 1993, No 124-5626, 2002). V. government committees and commissionS set up by the government, And working groups formed by the Prime Minister 24. Upon the instruction of the Prime Minister, Government committees set up by the Government or the Prime Minister shall handle disagreements arising in the course of inter-institutional consultations regarding draft legal acts that fall within the spheres of administration of several ministers. Ministers shall have the right to propose that a conceptual framework of a new regulatory enactment being drafted by a Government committee, development strategies of economic sectors and other issues of relevance, also other most important issues, be discussed prior to a Government sitting. If efforts to settle disagreements over a draft legal act fail, the draft legal act shall be forwarded to the Prime Minister who shall take one of the following decisions: to discuss the draft legal act in a Government sitting or send it back to the relevant ministry for further examination and  amendment as appropriate. 25. Activities of Government committees shall be organised in the manner prescribed by the Regulations of the Standing Committee of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania as approved by Resolution No 1187 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 1 October 2001 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 84-2945, 2001). 26. The Government may set up standing or ad hoc commissions composed of members of the Government, civil servants of state and municipal institutions and agencies, also scientists and experts. Where appropriate, representatives of the relevant ministries, Government agencies, county governor administrations, municipal institutions and agencies, enterprises, organisations, also political parties and political organizations, trade unions and associations shall be invited to attend sittings of the commissions. The work of a commission shall be directed by a minister or other person designated by the Government. 27. Tasks, functions, powers, working arrangements and financing for such commissions shall be established by the Government. Decisions reached in the sittings of such commissions shall be documented in the minutes that shall be signed by the president of the commission. 28. The Prime Minister shall have the right to form working groups and appoint their leaders. A working group shall be formed by an ordinance of the Prime Minister which shall set out the specific tasks to be carried out. 29. Where appropriate, the Government shall decide on the issue of allocating funds for the activities of a working group. 30. Ministries, Government agencies, county governors, other state and municipal institutions and agencies must provide the commissions set up by the Government (or working groups formed by the Prime Minister), on request, with the requested information and other material on the issues being discussed (or underway) in the commissions (or working groups). 31. Representatives of ministries, Government agencies and county governor administrations in the commissions set up by the Government (or working groups formed by the Prime Minister) for the drafting of legal acts shall agree on the proposals made on behalf of the ministry, the Government agency or the county governor, also the ready draft legal act, with the relevant minister, head of the Government agency or the county governor. 32. Members and consultants of commissions set up by the Government or working groups formed by the Prime Minister shall be reimbursed for their work in the manner prescribed by the Government.  Members of the Government shall not be entitled to any reimbursement for their involvement in the work of commissions and working groups set up or formed for the drafting of legal acts. Heads of ministries and Government agencies must personally make sure that the procedure for reimbursing for the drafting of legal acts is followed. Commissions (or working groups) shall be hosted and technically supported by the Office of the Government or by Government agencies the heads or other civil servants of which have been designated presidents of such commissions (or leaders of working groups). 33. Working papers (minutes, correspondence, various drafts, memos, etc.) of standing or ad hoc commissions set up by the Government and presided over by ministers, heads of Government agencies or civil servants of ministries and Government agencies shall be stored in the ministries or Government agencies concerned. The Office of the Government shall normally store the working papers of those standing or ad hoc commissions which are presided over by the Prime Minister, civil servants of the Prime Minister’s political (personal) confidence or civil servants of the Office of the Government or which are hosted and technically supported by the Office of the Government. 34. Working papers of working groups formed by the Prime Minister shall, together with conclusions and proposals for the drafting of which such working groups have been formed, be sent (forwarded) for storage to the institution a representative of which is the leader of the working group concerned. VI. OFFICE OF THE GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL SERVANTS OF THE PRIME MINISTER’S POLITICAL (PERSONAL) CONFIDENCE 35. The Office of the Government is a budgetary agency which shall assist the Government and the Prime Minister in performing their functions. The Office of the Government shall be directed by the Government Secretary. The Government Secretary shall have the functions laid down in laws and other legal acts and shall carry out instructions of the Prime Minister. Career civil servants of the Office of the Government shall be subordinate to the Government Secretary. The structure and Regulations of the Office of the Government shall be approved by the Government. Civil servants of the Prime Minister’s political (personal) confidence, i. e. the Chief Adviser to the Prime Minister, advisers to the Prime Minister, Prime Minister’s press officer and other civil servants of the Prime Minister’s political (personal) confidence, shall be directly subordinate to the Prime Minister. III. PREPARATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAMME OF THE GOVERNMENT 36. The Programme of the Government is an action plan binding on the Government throughout its term of office which sets out the directions of activities of the Government for a certain period of time and which is approved by the Seimas. 37. The Programme of the Government shall be drawn up under the lead of the Prime Minister. The Office of the Government, Government agencies and county governors shall provide the Prime Minister and the designated ministers, on request, with information necessary for the drawing up of the Programme of the Government and shall contribute to the drawing up thereof. 38. Once the Seimas approves the Programme of the Government, the Government shall, within three months, develop and approve specific measures for the implementation thereof; it shall also set implementation deadlines and identify responsible ministries, Government agencies and other state administration institutions. Measures for the implementation of the Programme of the Government shall be developed under the lead of the Prime Minister or, upon the instruction of the Prime Minister, the Government Secretary. 39. The Government shall annually, by the 31st of March, submit its annual activity report to the Seimas. The Government’s annual activity report shall be prepared by the Office of the Government, on the basis of annual activity reports of ministries, Government agencies, agencies under ministries and county governors, and other relevant information. The Government’s draft annual activity report shall first be discussed and approved in a sitting of the Government. 40. Ministers, heads of Government agencies, heads of other state institutions and agencies accountable to the Government, also county governors, shall submit relevant activity reports to the Government by the dates and in the manner prescribed by these Rules of Procedure and other legal acts 41. Advisers to the Prime Minister shall give their opinion to the Prime Minister on the compliance of the draft legal acts tabled for a sitting of the Government with the Programme of the Government. IV.  LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE IN THE GOVERNMENT I. legislative initiative general provisions 42. The Government’s right of legislative initiative shall be vested in the Prime Minister and ministers. Ministers shall exercise this right by signing (endorsing), within the spheres of administration assigned to them, draft laws, resolutions of the Seimas or the Government and other legal acts or proposals for legislation made to the Government. Exercising the Government’s right of legislative initiative, the Prime Minister shall have the right to instruct a minister or the Office of the Government to draft a legal act. Upon the instruction of the Prime Minister, the Government Secretary shall have the right to instruct a ministry or a Government agency to draft a relevant legal act. Draft decisions of the Government and draft resolutions of the Government approving the position regarding proposals to adopt European Union legal acts and other European Union documents shall be submitted to the Government in the manner prescribed in Section VIII of Chapter IV of these Rules of Procedure. 43. If Government agencies, county governors and municipal councils are unable to decide, within their competence, issues related to their spheres of administration, they shall have the right to propose relevant draft legal acts to the Government; such proposals shall first be endorsed by the minister designated by the Government, where the proposal is made by a Government agency, or by the minister of the relevant sphere of administration, where the proposal is made by a county governor or a municipal council. 44. The draft legal act submitted to the Government shall be accompanied by a covering letter – referral (hereinafter referred to as the referral) of the relevant institution and by an impact assessment statement for the proposed decision, in the format specified in Annex 2 or Annex 4 of the Methodology for the Assessment of Impact of Proposed Decisions as approved by Resolution No 276 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 26 February 2003 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 23-975, 2003) (except where applicable legal acts do not require to provide an impact assessment statement), or by information on the likely impact of implementation of the proposed decision on public finances, in the format defined in Annex 3 of the said Methodology. A draft legal act transposing and/or implementing European Union directives, also a draft law with an annex giving a list of references to other legal acts of the European Union, shall be accompanied by a table showing the correlation between the directives (other legal acts of the European Union) and national legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania (draft legal acts) (hereinafter referred to as a correlation table), in the format defined in Annex 7 of the Coordination Rules. The Office of the Government shall additionally be provided with an electronic version of the draft legal act, either in a diskette or by e-mail. referral 45. The referral shall contain the following information: 45.1. name and address of the proposing institution; 45.2. date of submission; 45.3. title of the proposed draft legal act; 45.4. purpose of the proposed draft legal act (to implement a certain law or other legal act or to regulate certain public relations) and the substance of the issue targeted at by the proposed draft legal act; 45.5. full name, institution, position title and telephone number of the person who could make a presentation of the proposed draft legal act in a meeting of state secretaries of ministries; 45.6. compliance of the proposed draft legal act with the Programme of the Government; 45.7. whether the proposed draft legal act transposes and/or implements any legal acts of the European Union (if so, what legal acts (or their individual provisions) specifically, and what other legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania will be needed in order to ensure full transposition and/or implementation of the related European Union legislation); 45.8. impact assessment of the proposed draft legal act; 45.9. whether any new legal acts will have to be adopted or any existing legal acts will have to be amended or repelled (if so, whether such amending or repelling legal acts have been drafted yet); 45.10. ministries or other institutions concerned, with which the proposed draft legal act has been agreed on (if any comments made by the institutions concerned were not taken account of, fully or partially, the referral must indicate that a memo of comments is attached to the draft legal act); 45.11. other explanations as deemed necessary by the proposing institution; 45.12. the unit of the proposing institution, which has drafted the proposed legal act (or coordinated the drafting thereof), the name of the head of such unit, the name of the civil servant of such unit who has been directly involved in the drafting of the proposed legal act (or, where the author of the proposed legal act is a commission or a working group, the name and position title of the president of the commission or the leader of the working group), and their telephone numbers. 46. The referral of a ministry accompanying, as prescribed by these Rules of Procedure, the draft legal act submitted to the Government shall be signed by the minister or, upon his written instruction, by a vice minister or the state secretary of the ministry (if the minister has not instructed a vice minister or the state secretary of the ministry to sign the referral, the referral shall be signed, in the absence of the minister, by the deputising minister and shall be endorsed by a vice minister or the state secretary of the proposing ministry). A referral of a Government agency shall be signed by the head of the agency. A referral of a county governor shall be signed by the county governor, and that of a municipal council, by the mayor of the municipality. DRAFTING AND INTER-INSTITUTIONAL CONSULTING REQUIREMENTS 47. Draft legal acts proposed to the Government shall be compliant with the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Procedure of Drafting of Republic of Lithuania Laws and Other Regulatory Enactments, the Recommendations for the Drafting of Laws and Other Legal Acts as approved by Order No 104 of the Minister of Justice of 17 August 1998, and the Rules for Preparation and Adoption of Documents as approved by Order No 19 of the Director General of the Lithuanian Archives Department under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 30 March 2001. 48. Together with the draft legal act amending or supplementing an existing law, a resolution of the Government or any other legal act, the drafters shall submit a comparative version of the legal act amended or supplemented, as prescribed by the Recommendations for the Drafting of Laws and Other Legal Acts as approved by Order No 104 of the Minister of Justice of 17 August 1998. 49. Draft legal acts proposed to the Government, concerning not only the sphere of administration or competence of the institution which has drafted (or proposes) it, but also the sphere of administration or competence of other institutions, must be sent for comments to and agreed on with the following institutions: 49.1. Ministry of Finance, with respect to draft legal acts relating to the national budget, state monetary funds, other monetary resources of the state and international financial assistance; 49.2. Ministry of National Defence, with respect to draft legal acts relating to the implementation of international humanitarian law in Lithuania and to the standardisation of the defence system; 49.3. Ministry of Justice, with respect to conceptual frameworks of regulatory enactments and draft laws, draft legal acts of the Seimas proposed to the Government, conclusions requested from the Government by the Speaker of the Seimas or by the Board of the Seimas regarding draft laws being discussed in the Seimas, draft resolutions of the Government, draft legal acts related to international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania, and draft international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania; 49.4. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with respect to draft legal acts related to international agreements and other international legal acts, and draft international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania and other international legal acts after they have been agreed on with other relevant ministries and Government agencies; 49.5. Ministry of the Interior, with respect to draft legal acts by which the Government approves the maximum allowable number of positions of civil servants and of other workers employed under an unemployment contract and remunerated from the state budget of the Republic of Lithuania and state monetary funds, and draft legal acts relating to the establishment, liquidation, reorganisation or restructuring of public administration institutions and to changes in their functions; 49.6. (repelled); 49.7. Association of Local Authorities (municipalities), with respect to draft legal acts relating to general interests of local authorities. In other cases, draft legal acts shall be agreed on with those municipalities (or municipality) the activities, territory or economic relations of which the given draft legal act relates to; 49.8. Tripartite Council of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the Tripartite Council), with respect to draft legal acts on labour, social and economic issues as set forth in the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, Trade Unions and Employers’ Organisations on Tripartite Cooperation.If the draft legal act has been discussed in the Tripartite Council, the conclusions of the Tripartite Council shall be submitted to the Government together with the draft legal act concerned; 49.9. Lithuanian Archives Department under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, with respect to draft legal acts which have annexes defining the format of certain documents; 49.10. Competition Council of the Republic of Lithuania, with respect to draft legal acts relating to competition and state aid to economic entities; 49.11. Information Society Development Committee under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, with respect to draft legal acts relating to the system of public registries and to the development, reorganisation and liquidation of individual public registries; 49.12. ministries specified in items 49.1 to 49.5 of these Rules of Procedure and other ministries, Government agencies, county governors, other state institutions or agencies (hereinafter referred to as institutions concerned), with respect to draft legal acts relating to the sphere of administration or competence of the institutions concerned. Institutions concerned must give their conclusions or comments and suggestions concerning the draft legal act sent to them for comments no later than within ten working days of receipt of such draft legal act at the institution or no later than within 15 working days in the case of a voluminous and/or complex legal act, having notified in advance they deem the draft legal act voluminous and/or complex and will examine it as such. If the institutions concerned do not provide any comments within the period specified above, they shall be deemed to have agreed to the draft legal act as it is. A voluminous legal act is defined as a piece of legislation of five or more pages. A complex legal act is defined as a piece of legislation the legal regulation proposed wherein is related to human rights and liberties, codification of legal norms or different types of public relations. Institutions shall have the right to make a reasoned request to have the draft legal act agreed on as a matter of urgency. In this case, the institutions concerned must give their conclusions or comments and suggestions with respect to such draft legal act no later than within five working days of receipt of the draft legal act. In the case defined in paragraph 3 of Article 41 of the Law on the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (where the draft amending or supplementing resolution of the Government is proposed by one minister, and the original resolution of the Government adopted is signed by another minister), the proposing ministry shall agree on the draft resolution of the Government with the ministry the minister of which signs the  original resolution. 50. The letter accompanying the draft legal act sent out for comments shall contain information specified in items 45.1 to 45.4, 45.6 to 45.9, 45.11 and 45.12 of these Rules of Procedure.  The draft legal act sent out for comments to the institutions concerned shall also be accompanied by an impact assessment statement for the proposed decision and a correlation table (unless these are not required). The draft legal act sent out for comments (and annexes, if any, as well as the comparative version and the correlation table, unless these are not required) shall bear an endorsement of the minister (or, upon his written instruction, of a vice minister, the state secretary of the ministry or a secretary of the ministry in charge of the relevant sphere of administration assigned to him by the minister) and the head of the legal division of the ministry’s administration (or a lawyer acting in this capacity or authorised by the head of the legal division to endorse the draft legal act concerned).  The impact assessment statement for the proposed decision shall bear an endorsement of the minister (or, upon his written instruction, of a vice minister, the state secretary of the ministry or a secretary of the ministry in charge of the relevant sphere of administration assigned to him by the minister). A legal act drafted by a Government agency and sent out for comments (and annexes, if any, as well as the comparative version and the correlation table, unless these are not required) shall bear an endorsement of the head of the agency and the head of its legal division (or a lawyer acting in this capacity or authorised by the head of the legal division to endorse the draft legal act concerned).  The impact assessment statement for the proposed decision shall bear an endorsement of the head of the Government agency. A legal act drafted by a county governor and sent out for comments (and annexes, if any, as well as the comparative version and the correlation table, unless these are not required) shall bear an endorsement of the county governor and the head of the legal division of the county governor administration (or a lawyer acting in this capacity or authorised by the head of the legal division to endorse the draft legal act concerned).  The impact assessment statement for the proposed decision shall bear an endorsement of the county governor. A legal act drafted by a municipal council and sent out for comments (and annexes, if any, as well as the comparative version and the correlation table, unless these are not required) shall bear an endorsement of the mayor of the municipality and the head of the legal division of the municipal administration (or a lawyer acting in this capacity or authorised by the head of the legal division to endorse the draft legal act concerned).  The impact assessment statement for the proposed decision shall bear an endorsement of the mayor of the municipality. Voluminous draft legal acts may be sent out for comments to the institutions concerned by e-mail. In this case, the institutions concerned shall be sent a letter specified in the first paragraph of this item 50, including the impact assessment statement for the proposed decision and the correlation table (unless these are not required), and the draft legal act shall be e-mailed to the unit of the institution in charge of administration of documents. Before being e-mailed to the institutions concerned, the draft legal act must be endorsed in the manner prescribed in the second paragraph of this item 50 and forwarded for storage to the unit in charge of administration of documents, of the institution or agency which has drafted the legal act concerned. If the drafters of the legal act sent out for comments do not accept all the comments received, they shall have the right to arrange a meeting for the purpose of settling any disagreements; to this meeting they may invite civil servants of the Prime Minister’s political (personal) confidence and of the Office of the Government, Ministry of Justice, other institutions and agencies. A draft legal act shall be deemed agreed on, if the minister concerned (or a vice minister, the state secretary of the ministry and a secretary of the ministry) or the head of the Government agency or other state or municipal institution (or the acting head of the agency or institution) has endorsed the draft legal act (and annexes thereto, if any) without any comments or if they confirm in writing their agreement to the draft legal act without any comments. Letters received from the institutions concerned wherein they confirm their agreement to the draft legal act without any comments shall be forwarded to the Government together with the draft legal act concerned. If the endorsement (signature) confirming the fact of inter-institutional consultations is illegible, it must be made legible as follows: below his endorsement (signature) the civil servant shall indicate, in brackets, his position title, the initial letter of his first name, the family name and the date. The comparative version sent out for comments together with the draft legal act does not have to be endorsed by the institutions concerned. 51. If the draft legal act is substantially changed as a result of inter-institutional consultations, the institutions concerned must confirm the fact of consultations by their endorsements or by letters wherein they confirm their agreement to the draft legal act without any comments, within five working days or, in the case of a voluminous and/or complex draft legal act, within seven working days of their receipt at the institution concerned. If the institutions concerned do not provide any comments within the period specified above, they shall be deemed to have agreed to the draft legal act concerned. 52. In the failure to reach an agreement on the draft legal act, the institution that has drafted it shall draw up a memo of comments and send it to the Government. A memo of comments drawn up by a ministry must be signed by the minister (or, upon a written instruction of the minister, by a vice minister or the state secretary of the ministry) and endorsed by the head of the legal division of the ministry’s administration or a lawyer acting in this capacity. A memo of comments drawn up by a Government agency must be signed by the head of the agency and endorsed by the head of its legal division or a lawyer acting in this capacity. A memo of comments drawn up by a county governor must be signed by the county governor and endorsed by the head of the legal division of the county governor administration or a lawyer acting in this capacity. A memo of comments drawn up by a municipal council must be signed by the mayor of the municipality and endorsed by the head of the legal division of the municipal administration or a lawyer acting in this capacity. The memo of comments shall contain the following information: 52.1. the institutions concerned, which have not agreed to the draft legal act; 52.2. the provisions of the draft legal act which affect the sphere of administration of the institutions concerned and which have not been agreed on; 52.3. comments of the institutions concerned and their suggestions as to how the provisions of the legal act which they do not agree to should be formulated; 52.4. reasons for not accepting the suggestions made by the institutions concerned in relation to their spheres of administration; 52.5. institutions to which the draft legal act has been sent out for comments and which failed to give their comments within the set deadline (as well as the date and the reference number of the letter requesting the institution to give its comments). 53. A legal act (including annexes, if any, and the comparative version, if it is required in accordance with item 48 of these Rules of Procedure) drafted by a ministry and agreed on in the manner laid down in these Rules of Procedure shall, before being sent to the Government, be endorsed by the minister (or, in his absence, by the deputising minister and by a vice minister or the state secretary of the proposing ministry) and by the head of the legal division of the ministry’s administration or a lawyer acting in this capacity. A legal act drafted by a Government agency (and annexes, if any, as well as the comparative version, if it is required) shall be endorsed by the head of the agency and the head of its legal division or a lawyer acting in this capacity, as well as by a minister in the manner prescribed in paragraph 1 of Article 38 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on the Government.  A legal act drafted by a county governor (and annexes, if any, as well as the comparative version, if it is required) shall be endorsed by the county governor, the head of the legal division of the county governor administration or a lawyer acting in this capacity and by the minister of the relevant sphere of administration.  A legal act drafted by a municipal council (and annexes, if any, as well as the comparative version, if it is required) shall be endorsed by the mayor of the municipality, the head of the legal division of the municipal administration or a lawyer acting in this capacity and by the minister of the relevant sphere of administration. The process of drafting and consulting on legal acts to be submitted to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall be coordinated and monitored by the state secretary of the respective ministry. 54. Draft legal acts and other relevant information shall be submitted to the Government through the Office of the Government. II. examination of draft legal acts in the office of the government ORDINARY EXAMINATION 55. The unit of the Office of the Government to which the draft legal act is forwarded shall examine the draft legal act in the manner prescribed by these Rules of Procedure no later than within four working days (or within six working days, in the case of a voluminous and/or complex legal act). The head of this unit of the Office of the Government shall be responsible for ensuring that the examination of the draft legal act, including its examination in the Legal Department, does not take longer than eight working days, or 13 working days in the case of a voluminous and/or complex legal act. Having received a draft legal act, the said unit of the Office of the Government shall draw up a memo of the issue to be added to the agenda of a Government sitting and a memo of the substance of the issue, also a memo of comments. If the draft legal act meets the requirements of these Rules of Procedure, the head of the said unit of the Office of the Government (or, upon his instruction, an advisor) shall endorse the memo of the issue to be added to the agenda of a Government sitting and shall forward it, together with the memo of the substance of the issue and the memo of comments, to the Legal Department. If the draft legal act (and the referral) does not meet the requirements of these Rules of Procedure, i.e. is in contrary to the applicable laws and resolutions of the Government, or does not meet the requirements of the legal technique, or has not been agreed on with institutions in the manner laid down in item 49 of these Rules of Procedure, or has any other deficiencies, the said unit of the Office of the Government shall draw up a reasoned statement which shall be submitted, after having been signed by the head of that unit of the Office of the Government (or, upon his instruction, by an adviser), to the Legal Department. Having verified the compliance of the draft legal act (other than a conceptual framework of a regulatory enactment and a draft law) to the applicable laws and resolutions of the Government and to the requirements of the legal technique, the Legal Department shall, no later than within four working days (or within seven working days in the case of a voluminous and/or complex draft legal act) of receipt of the draft legal act at the Legal Department, endorse a memo of the issue to be added to the agenda of a Government sitting (if there are any comments and suggestions, these shall be set out on a separate page to be signed by the director of the Legal Department or, upon his instruction, a lawyer, and a reference to this page shall be made below the endorsement). 56. Heads of divisions of the Office of the Government shall, no later than within eight working days (or within 13 working days in the case of a voluminous and/or complex draft legal act) of receipt of the draft legal act at the Office of the Government, forward the draft legal act examined in the manner prescribed by these Rules of Procedure, together with the memo of an issue to be added to the agenda of a Government sitting (with endorsements, comments and suggestions referred to in item 55 of these Rules of Procedure), to the Government Secretary. 57. The Prime Minister shall, at the proposal of the Government Secretary, or the Government Secretary, upon the instruction of the Prime Minister, send, by resolution, the draft legal act (a copy thereof) back to the drafters with a request to examine the comments and suggestions made and to amend (supplement) it where appropriate and as appropriate, or re-send it out to institutions for further comments. A deadline not longer than that specified in item 51 of these Rules of Procedure shall be set for amending (supplementing) the draft legal act or for sending it out for further comments. Such draft legal act amended (supplemented) by a ministry or sent out for further comments and agreed on shall be submitted to the Government for a repeat consideration together with a referral signed by the relevant minister (or, upon his written instruction, by a vice minister or the state secretary of the ministry) and shall be endorsed by the minister (or, in his absence, by the deputising minister and by a vice minister or the state secretary of the proposing ministry) and by the head of the legal division of the ministry’s administration or a lawyer acting in this capacity. Such draft legal act amended (supplemented) by a Government agency or sent out for further comments and agreed on shall be submitted to the Government for a repeat consideration together with a referral signed by the head of the Government agency and shall be endorsed by him, by the head of its legal division or a lawyer acting in this capacity and by a minister in the manner prescribed in paragraph 1 of Article 38 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on the Government. Such draft legal act amended (supplemented) by a county governor or sent out for further comments and agreed on shall be submitted to the Government for a repeat consideration together with a referral signed by the county governor and shall be endorsed by him, by the head of the legal division of the county governor administration or a lawyer acting in this capacity and by a minister in the manner prescribed in paragraph 1 of Article 38 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on the Government. Such draft legal act amended (supplemented) by a municipal council or sent out for further comments and agreed on shall be submitted to the Government for a repeat consideration together with a referral signed by the mayor of the municipality and shall be endorsed by him, by the head of the legal division of the municipal administration or a lawyer acting in this capacity and by a minister in the manner prescribed in paragraph 1 of Article 38 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on the Government. If the drafters of the legal act do not accept the comments made by units of the Office of the Government where such comments would require to amend (supplement) the draft legal act or send it out for further comments, either a memo of comments shall be drawn up in the manner laid down in item 52 of these Rules of Procedure or a vice minister, the state secretary of a ministry, a secretary of a ministry, the head of a Government agency, a county governor or the mayor of a municipality shall address the Government Secretary (or, where appropriate, a minister shall address the Prime Minister) and propose a solution to the disagreement. Taking account of such proposals, the Government Secretary (or the Prime Minister) shall have the right to settle the disagreement in the manner prescribed in the second paragraph of item 58 of these Rules of Procedure. 58. If, despite the fact that the draft legal act (and the referral) meets the requirements of these Rules of Procedure, the memo of comments attached thereto indicates the existence of any disagreements related to the spheres of administration of several ministers, heads of units of the Office of the Government or, upon their instruction, advisers shall issue to the Government Secretary their opinion regarding the possible solution of the disagreement and the Government Secretary or the Deputy Government Secretary shall then, where appropriate, make proposals to the Prime Minister. Having examined the proposals for the solution of the disagreement, the Government Secretary may convene or instruct the Deputy Government Secretary (or the Prime Minister may instruct the Government Secretary) to convene a meeting of representatives of the institutions or agencies concerned. Such meeting shall be presided over by the Government Secretary or his deputy. The outcome of the meeting shall normally be recorded in the minutes to be drawn up by civil servants of the Office of the Government and signed by the presiding officer of the meeting (the minutes shall be appended to the draft legal act concerned and stored in the Office of the Government together with all other documentation pertaining to the draft legal act). If the outcome of the meeting is positive and the disagreements are settled, the draft legal act shall be amended (supplemented) accordingly, endorsed in the manner laid down in item 57 of these Rules of Procedure and examined in the Office of the Government in the manner laid down in item 55 of these Rules of Procedure (if no agreement is reached in the meeting of representatives of the institutions concerned convened by the Government Secretary, the Government Secretary or the ministers shall address the Prime Minister and propose a solution to the disagreement. The Prime Minister may, in this case, suggest that the draft legal act be duscussed in the relevant Government committee in the manner prescribed by these Rules of Procedure). urgent examination 59. At a ministers’ reasoned request and upon the instruction of the Government Secretary, units of the Office of the Government shall examine the draft legal act, and the head of the relevant unit of the Office of the Government shall endorse the memo of an issue to be added to the agenda of a Government sitting (if there are any comments or suggestions to take account of, these shall be set out on a separate page and a reference to this page shall be made below the endorsement) as a matter or urgency. The Government Secretary shall set the deadlines for such urgent examination by units of the Office of the Government; however, the draft legal act to be examined shall in any case be submitted to the relevant units of the Office of the Government at least two working days prior to the Government sitting in which the draft legal act is to be discussed. exceptionally urgent examination 60. If Government decisions are urgent immediately, draft Government decisions may be examined in the Office of the Government, at a ministers’ reasoned request and upon the instruction of the Prime Minister, as a matter of exceptional urgency. The Prime Minister shall set the deadlines for such exceptionally urgent examination; however, the draft legal act to be examined shall in any case be submitted to the relevant civil servants of the Office of the Government at least four working hours prior to the Government sitting in which the draft legal act is to be discussed. III. DISCUSSION OF A DRAFT LEGAL ACT IN A MEETING OF STATE SECRETARIES OF MINISTRIES 61. Normally, draft legal acts (other than those related to information constituting a state secret or an official secret) examined in the Office of the Government shall, before being added to the agenda of a Government sitting, be discussed in a meeting of state secretaries of ministries. 62. Meetings of state secretaries of ministries shall be convened and their agenda drawn up by the Government Secretary (or, in his absence, by the Deputy Government Secretary). The agenda of a meeting specifying the order of priority of the issues to be discussed and the speakers shall be sent out to state secretaries of ministries no later than two working days prior to the meeting, except for those issues on the agenda which concern the position of the Republic of Lithuania on the issues being discussed in the European Union institutions. The agenda of a meeting shall also be posted on the website of the Government. Apart from the Government Secretary (his deputies) and state secretaries of ministries (or, in their absence, undersecretaries), the meeting shall be attended by civil servants of the Office of the Government and a representative of the European Law Department under the Ministry of Justice (hereinafter referred to as the European Law Department). The meeting may also be attended by the drafters of the legal act proposed to be discussed in a Government sitting or by their representatives, also by the heads of legal divisions of ministries’ administrations or lawyers acting in this capacity.   63. The meeting shall be presided over by the Government Secretary (or, in his absence or upon his instruction, by the Deputy Government Secretary). Participants of the meetings shall have the right to ask questions and to make reasoned comments and suggestions to the relevant state secretaries of ministries (and, where appropriate, to the drafters, the heads of legal divisions of ministries’ administrations or lawyers acting in this capacity). The state secretary of the relevant ministry or, in his absence, an undersecretary of the ministry (also the drafters, the heads of legal divisions of ministries’ administrations or lawyers acting in this capacity) must take notes of and examine the reasoned comments and suggestions made by the participants of the meeting on the issue being discussed; if there are no disagreements referred to in the third paragraph of item 64 of these Rules of Procedure, they shall ensure that the draft legal act is amended (supplemented) accordingly or sent out to the institutions concerned or other bodies for further comments and agreed on with them no later than within five working days (or within seven working days in the case of a voluminous and/or complex draft legal act) of the meeting of state secretaries of ministries; in the case of a position of the Republic of Lithuania on an issue to be discussed in the nearest meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the European Union (COREPER), this period shall be one working day. If many comments and suggestions are made in the meeting, the state secretary of a ministry may ask that these comments and suggestions be made in writing (in this case, written comments and suggestions shall be delivered to the state secretary of a ministry (with a copy to the Government Secretary) no later than within one working day of the meeting). The state secretary of a ministry (or, where appropriate, the drafter, the head of the …