Official translation
SEIMAS OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
STATUTE
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17 February 1994 No.I-399
Vilnius
PART 1
STATUS OF THE SEIMAS MEMBER
Chapter 1. The Powers and Oath of the Seimas Member
Article 1. The main rights and duties of a member of the
Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania shall be defined by the
Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and by this Statute,
and other rights and duties of a Seimas member shall also be
established by other laws of the Republic of Lithuania.
In carrying out his duties, a Seimas member shall act in
compliance with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania,
the interests of the State, and his own consciences, and may not
be restricted by any mandates.
Article 2. The term of office of a Seimas member shall
commence from the day that the newly-elected Seimas convenes for
the first sitting. The powers of the previously elected Seimas
member shall expire upon commencement of said sitting.
Elected Seimas member shall only acquire all of the rights
of a representative of the nation upon taking an oath in the
Seimas to be loyal to the Republic of Lithuania. A Seimas member
who has not taken an oath shall not be entitled to the rights
provided for in Chapter 2 of this Statute, shall not be provided
with maintenance and guarantees of his activities under Chapter
3, and shall not receive the salary of a Seimas member.
Article 3. The text of the oath of the Seimas member of the
Republic of Lithuania shall read as follows:
"I (full name)
swear to be faithful to the Republic of Lithuania;
swear to respect and observe its Constitution and laws, and
to protect the integrity of its territory,
swear to the best of my ability to strengthen the
independence of Lithuania, and to conscientiously serve my
Homeland, democracy, and the well-being of the people of
Lithuania.
So help me God!
The oath may be taken omitting the last sentence.
Article 4. The oath of the Seimas member shall be
administered by the Chairperson of the Constitutional Court of
the Republic of Lithuania, or, in the absence of the Chairperson
or in the event that the Chairperson is temporarily unable to
discharge his or her duties, by the acting judge of the
Constitutional Court.
Each Seimas member shall take the oath while standing in
front of the person who is administering the oath and reading the
oath, holding his or her hand on the Constitution of the Republic
of Lithuania.
Upon reading the entire text of the oath, each Seimas member
shall sign the nominal oath sheet.
Nominal oath sheets shall be handed over to the officer of
the Constitutional Court who administered the oath. Upon checking
the nominal oath sheets, said officer shall read the list of
those Seimas members who have acquired all of the rights of a
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representative of the nation.
Article 5. The Seimas member who does not take the oath in the
manner prescribed by law, or who take a conditional oath, shall
lose the mandate of the Seimas member. The Seimas shall adopt a
resolution thereon.
The text of the oath may not be amended or changed with the
exception of the omission of the last sentence. The Seimas member
who do not comply with this provision, who refuse to sign the
nominal oath sheet, or who sign the sheet with a stipulation,
shall not be considered to have taken the oath. In such cases,
the Seimas member shall lose the mandate pursuant to Article 59
of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania.
The Seimas member whose powers were terminated pursuant to
the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Lithuania and who
has again become a Seimas member must take the oath again.
A Seimas member must take an oath not later than within a
month from the first sitting attended by him.
Article 6. The duties of a Seimas member, with the exception
of his/her duties in the Seimas, shall be incompatible with any
other duties or jobs in State institutions and organisations as
well as in business, commercial and other private institutions
and enterprises. For the term of office, a Seimas member shall be
exempt from the duty to perform national defence service.
A Seimas member may be appointed only as Prime Minister or
Minister.
Article 7. A Seimas member shall have a certificate and a
Seimas member badge which shall be presented to him/her after the
oath and which shall be used by him/her during the period of
his/her term of office.
Samples of the Seimas member certificate and badge shall be
approved by the Seimas Board.
Article 8. The powers of a Seimas member shall be
terminated:
1) upon the expiration of the term of his/her powers, or
when the Seimas elected in preterm elections convenes for its
first sitting;
2) upon his/ her death;
3) upon his or her resignation;
4) if he or she is declared legally incapable by the court;
5) if the Seimas revokes his or her mandate in accordance
with impeachment proceedings;
6) if the election is recognised as invalid, or if the law
on election is grossly violated;
7) if he or she takes a job, or does not resign from a job
which is incompatible with the duties of a Seimas member within 3
months;
8) if he or she is deprived of citizenship of the Republic
of Lithuania.
Chapter 2. The Activities of the Seimas Member
Article 9. A member of the Seimas of the Republic of
Lithuania shall have the right to:
1) vote on all issues considered at the sittings of the
Seimas or the committee of which he/she is a member;
2) elect and be elected to any institution of the Seimas
according to the procedure established by this Statute;
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3) participate in discussions concerning all issues under
consideration, and express his/her opinion, vocally or in
writing;
4) submit the texts of their speeches to the chair of the
sitting for inclusion into the shorthand record of the sitting;
5) propose the consideration of an issues to the Seimas;
6) prepare and submit for consideration adequately prepared
drafts of laws and other legal acts as well as to propose motions
relative to the laws which are to be debated in the Seimas;
7) pose, during sittings of the Seimas, questions to
reporters and supplementary reporters;
8) make statements and remarks, speak on voting motives,
propose motions relative to the conduct of the sitting, the
procedure, prejudicial questions.
9) obtain, directly or through an assistant, copies of laws
and bills, as well as copies of laws and other documents passed
by the Seimas, the Seimas Speaker, the Board, or the meeting of
Spokespersons.
10) participate in the sittings of all committees and
commissions of the Seimas and as necessary to participate in the
sittings of the state power and government institutions at which
issues submitted by him/her are discussed, as well as upon
advance notice, in the sittings of the Government without the
right to vote, except the sittings associated with state secrets,
the procedure for the consideration thereof shall be established
by laws;
11) submit inquiries to the members of the Government and
the heads of other state institutions, and to submit questions to
them and to the Seimas officers;
12) no more frequently than once in a month make use of
state radio and television on issues of his activities free of
charge.
The procedure for the implementation of these and other
rights shall be established by other Articles of this Statute.
Article 10. The Seimas member must participate in Seimas
sittings during votings which were planned in advance. A voting
which was announced at least two days prior to the day of the
voting shall be considered to have been planned in advance.
Each member of the Seimas, with the exception of the members
of the Seimas Board and the Government, must be a member of a
committee and must participate in the work thereof, and must also
be an alternate member of another committee. The Speaker of the
Seimas may not be a member or alternate member of a committee. A
single Seimas member may be a member of only one committee.
Article 11. While participating in sittings of the Seimas
and the committees, Seimas members must adhere to this Statute.
If a Seimas member cannot attend a sitting of the Seimas
during which a voting has been planned for in advance, he/ she
must inform the secretariat of the sittings thereof, stating the
reason for absence.
If a Seimas member cannot attend a sitting of the committee
or commission, he/she must inform the chairperson of the
committee or commission, and in the chairperson's absence -- the
deputy chairperson.
During a session Seimas members must notify the chairperson
(in the absence of the chairperson -- the deputy chairperson) of
the committee of which they are members of all of their trips
beyond the boundaries of the Republic of Lithuania, and during
the sittings of the Seimas -- of their trips within the territory
of the Republic of Lithuania.
Upon returning from a business trip, a Seimas member must
present a report to the Seimas Board or the committee on which
he/she is a member concerning the fulfillment of assignments.
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Article 12. The Seimas member must regularly hold meetings
with his/her constituents. He/she shall have the right to invite
officials of state institutions and local government bodies and
deputies to participate in the meetings.
A Seimas member shall consider proposals, appeals and
complaints and, as necessary, shall refer them to appropriate
state institutions for consideration.
Officials to whom a Seimas member's appeal was addressed
including proposals, appeals and complaints of citizens must
consider said appeals within 20 days of the receipt thereof.
Chapter 3. Maintenance and Guarantees of the Activities of Seimas
Members
Article 13. Local governments and their executive bodies, as
well as heads of state enterprises, institutions and
organisations, must provide Seimas members with conditions
enabling them to meet with constituents, must notify them of the
time and place of such meetings, and must provide them with other
necessary assistance and information.
Respective local governments must allot and maintain
permanent premises for Seimas members elected in a single-
candidate areas to receive constituents. As necessary, local
governments must allot properly arranged premises for Seimas
members elected in multi-candidate electoral areas to receive
constituents and hold meetings
The Seimas member shall have the right to demand to be
received without delay at state enterprises, institutions and
organisations concerning issues which pertain to his/her
activities, as well as the right to be provided with necessary
information.
The Seimas member shall have the right to unrestricted
access of all enterprises, institutions and organisations. The
visitation procedure for enterprises, institutions and
organisations whose activities are associated with state secrets
shall be established by laws.
Article 14. Upon establishing that civil rights and laws
have been violated, a Seimas member shall have the right to
directly demand that the violation be corrected, or may address
the appropriate institutions and officers. Violations shall be
indicated in the minutes taken together with the representatives
of law enforcement or control body.
If the legitimate demands of a Seimas member are not carried
out, a disciplinary punishment may, according to the procedure
established by law, be imposed on the officer who is responsible;
Article 15. Compensation for the work of the Seimas member,
as well as expenses related with their parliamentary activities,
shall be covered by the State Budget.
The salary of Seimas members and the procedure for payment
thereof shall be established by the Seimas. Resolutions of the
Seimas concerning changes in the salaries of Seimas members shall
become effective only from the day that the newly-elected Seimas
convenes for the first sitting.
Seimas members who at the same time hold office at the
Seimas shall be paid supplemental salaries, the amount of which
shall be established by the Seimas, for their work. The Seimas
member may not receive any other salary, with the exception of
payment for creative activities. Payments made to Seimas members
for creative activities shall include royalties for works of art
and literature, for radio and television programmes as well as
hourly salaries for educational, scientific and consultative work
performed by Seimas members not during the sittings of the
Seimas, its committees and commissions.
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Article 16. The Seimas member shall be entitled to have
personal secretary-assistants or joint secretary-assistants with
other members of their respective parliamentary groups, whose
salaries shall be paid from the State Budget; they are also
entitled to have assistants who work on a voluntary basis.
Seimas members shall be allocated additional funds for the
reimbursement of office, postal, telephone, telegraph,
transportation, and other expenses incurred from parliamentary
activities -- the amount and the procedure for payment thereof
shall be established by the Seimas Board.
Seimas members who do not have a place of residence in
Vilnius or who have the right to state support for the
acquisition of a place of residence in Vilnius, shall be
provided, free of charge and together with their families, with a
place of residence in Vilnius for the term of office. At the same
time said members shall retain the right to use rented quarters
in their permanent place of residence.
Seimas members who have the right to state support for the
acquisition of a place of residence shall retain this right and
may remain on the list to acquire state support.
Seimas members shall have the right to use all forms of
state transportation within the territory of the Republic of
Lithuania, with the exception of taxis, free of charge; they
shall also have the right to acquire hotel rooms out of turn.
The Seimas member shall use diplomatic passports on trips
abroad and Lithuanian diplomatic missions abroad must provide him
with necessary assistance.
Article 17. Upon expiration of the term of office and in the
cases specified in paragraphs 1 and 3 of Article 8 of this
Statute, Seimas members must be provided with the job or office
which they held in state institutions, enterprises and
organisations prior to the elections, except to be elected to
governmental institutions and be a member of the Government, and
if such is not possible due to the abolition of former office or
the liquidation of the enterprise, institution, or organisation,
the Seimas member shall be provided with another equivalent job
or office in the same institution, enterprise, or organisation,
or, if the Seimas members agrees, in another enterprise,
institution, or organisation.
The period of parliamentary activity of Seimas members shall
be included in the total length of service.
The election of Seimas members shall not interrupt
membership in creative unions or in unions of free professions.
Article 18. Persons and officers who prevent a Seimas member
from carrying out his or her powers, or who encroach upon the
life health, honor, or dignity of a Seimas member as a
representative of the people, shall be liable according to laws.
Chapter 4. Discipline and Immunity of Seimas Members
Article 19. It shall be prohibited to use the mandate of the
Seimas member for purposes other than the interests of the
Nation, State and the constituents.
This provision violating the activities of the Seimas member
must be analysed by the Commission of Ethics and Procedures or a
special investigation commission set up for this purpose and for
the preparation of findings.
Article 20. The Commission of Ethics and Procedures shall
analise the reasons for which the Seimas members are not
participating during planned voting or voting taking place at a
planned time and shall decide whether such reasons are
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justifiable; The salaries of such Seimas members may be decreased
according to the procedure established by the Seimas, and upon
the decision of the Commission of Ethics and procedure, their
names may be announced in the press.
Article 21. If during a sitting a Seimas member begins to
argue with Seimas members or other participants in the sitting or
creates a disturbance in the hall, he or she may be called to
order by the officer presiding over the sitting.
If said persons does not heed the warning of the officer
presiding over the sitting, the warning may be recorded in the
minutes of the sitting. Warnings recorded in the minutes of the
sitting may be immediately administered to the Seimas member as a
public threat to colleagues, as assault of a Seimas member or a
group thereof, or as dishonesty in voting or violation of the
principle of personal voting.
Such warnings shall be administered by the officer presiding
over the Seimas sitting or on the motion of the Commission of
Ethics and Procedures without debate and by simple majority vote
of the Seimas members participating in the sitting. A Seimas
member to whom administration of such warning is proposed, shall
have the right to explain his or her actions to the Seimas for a
maximum of 3 minutes prior to the voting.
Article 22. The Seimas may temporarily dismiss a Seimas
member from the chamber if he or she:
1) continues, after being called to order, to interrupt the
work of the Seimas;
2) during a sitting, calls for the use coercion or uses it
personally;
3) publicly assaults or threatens the President of the
Republic, the Seimas, the Speaker of the Seimas, Seimas members,
the Government, or the Prime Minister during a sitting.
Decisions concerning the expulsion of a Seimas member from
the chamber shall be adopted without debate and by simple
majority vote of the members of the Seimas participating in the
sitting on the proposal of the officer presiding over the sitting
or of the Commission of Ethics and Procedures.
The term of temporary expulsion from the chamber shall be
established by the Seimas in each case, but may not be more than
2 day of a sitting. If the term is not indicated, it shall be
assumed that the Seimas member is expelled until the end of the
sitting.
During the period of expulsion from the chamber, the
expelled Seimas member may not participate in voting.
If a Seimas member who has been dismissed from the chamber
refuses to heed the order, the sitting shall be temporarily
interrupted and security officers shall escort said Seimas member
to the chamber door. In such a case, the term of expulsion from
the chamber may be extended for the period of 5 sittings.
Article 23. The person of a Seimas member shall be
inviolable.
A Seimas member may not be persecuted for his or her voting
or speeches in the Seimas, however, legal actions may be
instituted against Seimas members according to the general
procedure if they are guilty of personal insult or slander.
A Seimas member may not be found criminally responsible, may
not be arrested, and may not be subjected to any other
restrictions of personal freedom without the consent of the
Seimas, except in cases when he or she is caught in the act of
committing a crime (in flagranti). In such cases the Prosecutor
General must immediately notify the Seimas thereof.
A Seimas member who refuses to give evidence in a criminal
case, shall, on the decision of the Seimas, be brought to court
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to give evidence.
Article 24. For the consideration of motions of the
Prosecutor General concerning the deprivation of the
inviolability of the person of a Seimas member, an investigatory
commission shall be formed according to the procedure provided
for in Article 77 of this Statute. When investigating issues
concerning the deprivation of the inviolability of the person of
a Seimas member, the commission must hear said Seimas member or
other Seimas member authorised thereby and a representative from
the Prosecutor's Office.
After the investigatory commission has prepared and
announced its note and the draft resolution, issues concerning
the deprivation of the inviolability of the person of a Seimas
member shall be included on the agenda of the next Seimas
sitting.
Consideration of this issue, as well as of the submitted
resolution, shall be limited only to the interpretation,
assessment or definition of facts provided for in the motion.
Discussions concerning draft resolutions shall be attended by the
reporter of the commission, the concerned Seimas member or
another Seimas member representing him, and no more than two
Seimas members who speak out "in favour" and two members who
speak out "against" the draft resolution. If the draft resolution
provides for the satisfaction of the motion of the Prosecutor
General, it may be adopted if more than half of the Seimas
members vote in favour of the draft.
Upon the receipt of the consent of the Seimas to institute
criminal proceedings against a Seimas member, said Seimas member
may not be arrested within the house of the Seimas.
PART 2
STRUCTURE OF THE SEIMAS
Chapter 5. General Issues of Structure
Article 25. Sittings of the Seimas shall be presided over by
the Speaker of the Seimas or a Deputy Speaker. There shall be
three Deputy Speakers. The competence of the Seimas Speaker and
Deputy Speakers shall be defined by the Constitution and this
Statute. The drafting of the Seimas documents and consideration
of drafts shall be monitored by the Chancellor of the Seimas.
If a member of the Seimas who is elected Speaker or is
serving as acting Speaker he or she must suspend all
parliamentary group activities.
Article 26. The Seimas shall form committees from among its
members for the consideration of draft laws and other issues
assigned to its competence by the Constitution. The list of the
committees shall be established by this Statute.
A Commission of Ethics and Procedure and an Administrative
Commission shall be formed in the Seimas. For resolving short-
term issues or issues of narrower scope and for carrying out
concrete assignments, the Seimas may, from among its members,
form investigative, control, auditing, preparatory, drafting and
other ad hoc commissions.
The work of the committees and commissions shall be directed
by the respective chairpersons thereof.
Article 27. Members of the Seimas may form parliamentary
groups according to the procedure established by this Statute for
implementing their political goals. Parliamentary groups shall be
headed and represented in the Seimas by Spokespersons or deputy
Spokespersons; every member of the Seimas authorised by a
parliamentary group may speak out on behalf of the group. The
rights of parliamentary group members shall be established by
this Statute. 8
Seimas members who have not been registered in parliamentary
groups shall be considered as members of one mixed group of
Seimas members. The mixed group of Seimas members shall be
granted all of the rights of a parliamentary group provided for
in this Statute.
Article 28. The Seimas shall have a Board, the principle
task whereof shall be to settle organisational issues of the work
of the Seimas.
The Board of the Seimas shall consist of the Speaker, three
Deputy Speakers, and the Chancellor of the Seimas.
Article 29. An Assembly of Spokespersons, comprising of the
members of the Seimas Board and representatives of the
parliamentary groups, shall be formed in the Seimas. Each
parliamentary group shall appoint one representative for every
ten members of the group. Groups consisting of less than ten
members shall each appoint one representative to the Assembly of
Spokespersons.
The principle task of the Assembly of Spokespersons shall be
to consider and approve the work programmes of the Seimas session
and the agendas of sittings, to coordinate issues concerning the
organisation of the work of the Seimas Committees and groups, and
to submit drafts of the decisions of said issues to the Seimas
and the Board.
Chapter 6. The Seimas Speaker, Deputy Speakers, Chancellor,
and Board
Article 30. The Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of
Lithuania shall:
1) direct the work of the Seimas and represent the Seimas;
2) certify with his or her signature the authenticity of
laws passed by the Seimas and referred to the President of the
Republic; sign the resolutions of the Seimas, the Statute of the
Seimas and amendments thereto, the minutes of sittings of the
Seimas, the resolutions of the Seimas Board, other acts of the
Seimas, as well as laws of the Republic of Lithuania which are
not signed by the President of the Republic and not returned to
the Seimas for repeat consideration within 10 days from the date
on which they were submitted to the President of the Republic;
3) temporarily carry out the duties of the President of the
Republic and temporarily fill in for the President of the
Republic in the cases specified in Article 89 of the
Constitution;
4) propose candidates to the posts of Deputy Speakers and
the Chancellor of the Seimas to the Seimas;
5) propose candidates to Constitutional Court judges to the
Seimas in accordance with the procedure established by the
Constitution;
6) nominate to the Seimas the candidatures of the Seimas
ombudsmen and the head of the Seimas ombudsmen's office for
appointment;
7) submit candidates for appointment to the posts of heads
of State institutions to the Seimas, unless the Constitution and
laws provide otherwise;
8) preside over the sittings of the Seimas and the Seimas
Board;
9) submit drafts of the work programmes of a session and
draft agendas of week- or day-long sittings to the Assembly of
Spokespersons; and
10) submit draft agendas of the sittings of the Seimas
Board.
Article 31. In carrying out his or her duties, the Speaker
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of the Seimas shall issue decrees.
The Speaker of the Seimas, or, in the absence of the
Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, may voice his or her opinion or the
opinion of the Seimas Board on the issue under consideration out
of turn, provided that he or she is not presiding over the
sitting.
The Speaker of the Seimas, the Deputy Speakers and the
Chancellor of the Seimas shall, during a session at least once a
month, answer questions submitted in writing beforehand by
members of the Seimas concerning the performance of their duties.
Article 32. At the behest of the Speaker of the Seimas,
Deputy Speakers shall perform certain functions of the Speaker.
The Seimas Speaker may charge the Deputy Speaker to perform
certain functions of the Seimas Chancellor in his or her absence,
but for no longer than one week. The Seimas Board may determine
the guidelines of the activities of the Deputy Speakers.
In the event that the Speaker of the Seimas is temporarily
absent or has fallen ill and by reason thereof is unable to
fulfill his or her duties of office, the duties of the Speaker of
the Seimas, at the behest of the Seimas, shall be performed by
one of the Deputy Speakers for a specified period.
If, in the cases specified in Article 89 of the
Constitution, the Speaker of the Seimas is temporarily carrying
out the duties of the President of the Republic, and as a result
thereof has lost his or her powers in the Seimas, the duties of
the Speaker of the Seimas shall be temporarily carried out by a
Deputy Speaker at the behest of the Seimas.
Resolutions (preliminary or adopted for a concrete case)
concerning the temporary performance of the duties of the Speaker
of the Seimas or substituting the Speaker of the Seimas shall be
adopted by the Seimas on the motion of the Seimas Speaker.
Article 33. The Seimas Chancellor shall:
1) supervise the consideration of draft laws submitted to
the Seimas and the drafting of the documents of the Seimas and
the Board thereof;
2) supervise the consideration of issues, inquiries and
interpellations submitted to the Government and the heads of
other State institutions;
3) consider the issues raised by members of the Seimas
concerning the functioning of the Seimas apparatus; supervise the
implementation of the decisions of the Seimas Board by the
divisions of the Seimas apparatus as well as their compliance
with the provisions and internal rules which regulate the
functioning thereof;
4) assist the Speaker of the Seimas in preparing the draft
of the session work programme as well as draft agendas for week-
and day-long sittings;
5) assist the Speaker of the Seimas in preparing draft
agendas for sittings of the Seimas Board as well as the material
on issues subject to consideration;
6) work out draft agendas for the Assembly of Spokespersons;
7) visa official documents prior to their being submitted to
the Speaker of the Seimas for signing and, within the limits of
his or her competence, sign official documents;
8) be responsible for the use and keeping of the Seimas Seal
bearing the State Emblem;
9) propose members to the tellers' group in accordance with
the procedure provided for in this Statute;
10) regularly submit information summaries to the Seimas
concerning proposals, wishes and letters received from voters;
11) in conjunction with representatives of the parliamentary
groups, arrange the seats in the chamber for the members of the
parliamentary groups and for those members of the Seimas who do
not belong to any parliamentary group and allocate premises for
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the sittings of the parliamentary groups; and
12) consider issues concerning the employment or dismissal
of assistants/secretaries of Seimas members.
Article 34. The sittings of the Seimas Board shall be
convened and presided over by the Speaker of the Seimas.
Other members of the Seimas, as well as permanent
representatives of the President of the Republic and the
Government, may participate in the sittings of the Board as
observers. Other individuals may also be invited to sittings of
the Board.
Issues for consideration may be submitted to the Seimas
Board by the Board members, committees, parliamentary groups,
Administrative commission, Commission of Ethics and Procedure and
the Head of Seimas Personnel.
Draft documents of the Seimas Board which are submitted for
consideration shall be signed by their initiators and handed over
to the Chancellor of the Seimas who shall prepare the agenda of
the sitting based thereon.
Article 35. Decisions of the Seimas Board shall be adopted
by ordinary vote and simple majority of those in attendance,
provided that the sitting of the Seimas Board is attended by at
least three Board members. A tie vote shall be decided by the
vote of the Speaker or, in the absence of the Speaker, of the
Deputy Speaker who is presiding over the sitting.
The members of the Seimas shall be informed of the decisions
of the Seimas Board through the committees and parliamentary
groups within three working days from the day on which the
decision was adopted during a session or within a week of the
beginning of the next session.
Committees and parliamentary groups may submit proposals to
the Seimas concerning the consideration of resolutions adopted by
the Seimas Board which they disapprove of.
Article 36. The Seimas Board shall:
1) distribute funds; discuss and approve estimated expenses
of the Seimas;
2) on the motion of the committees, consider and send the
Seimas members on business trips with tasks of the Seimas, the
Board, and committees;
3) on the motion of parliamentary committees and groups,
consider and either approve or disapprove of trips of Seimas
members during session which are not financed from the funds of
the Seimas;
4) when necessary, consider draft work programmes of the
Seimas session and draft agendas for forthcoming week- or day-
long sessions, and submit recommendations to the Assembly of
Spokespersons or the Seimas;
5) when necessary, form working groups for drafting laws and
carrying out the instructions of the Seimas or the Seimas Board;
6) submit draft laws and other draft acts of the Seimas to
committees for consideration and presentation of findings and
proposals thereon;
7) assist in organising the joint work of committees on
issues which fall within the competence of several committees;
8) appoint and dismiss the Head of Seimas Personnel, who
shall be responsible and accountable to the Board;
9) approve the structure of the Seimas apparatus, draw up a
list of the staff of the Seimas apparatus, and fix the salaries
thereof;
10) on the motion of the Head of Seimas Personnel, appoint
and dismiss the heads and deputy heads of all the structural
units of the Seimas;
11) approve the bylaws of the structural units of the
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Seimas, the regulations of internal activities and the
instructions for office-work; and
12) settle other issues related to the organisation of the
activities of the Seimas which are not ascribed to other
institutions or officials of the Seimas by virtue of this
Statute.
Chapter 4. Assembly of Seimas Spokespersons
Article 37. During session, the sittings of the Assembly of
Spokespersons shall be organised regularly, usually twice a week
at a time specially allocated for this purpose. Extraordinary
sittings of the Assembly of Spokespersons shall be organised at
the request of the Speaker of the Seimas, the Board, the
Chairperson of the Assembly of Spokespersons, or at least 1/3 of
the members of the Assembly of Spokespersons. The members of the
Assembly of Spokespersons shall be given notice of the time and
agenda of extraordinary sittings at least 6 hours prior to the
beginning thereof.
Sittings of the Assembly of Spokespersons shall be chaired
by the chairperson; the duties of the chairperson, according to
the schedule approved by the Assembly of Spokespersons, shall be
discharged in turn by the spokespersons of each parliamentary
group for one week. The opening sitting of the Assembly of
Spokespersons held during the first session shall be presided by
the eldest parliamentary group spokesperson.
Article 38. During its sittings, the Assembly of
Spokespersons shall:
1) consider and coordinate rising contradictions related to
the work programme of a session;
2) consider and approve the agendas of the forthcoming week-
or day-long sittings;
3) consider and coordinate contradictions concerning other
organizational issues of the work of the Seimas;
4) hear the proposals of the chairpersons of committees and
Spokespersons of the parliamentary groups on mutual relations
between committees and parliamentary groups and submit proposals
thereon to the Seimas or the Board;
5) submit recommendations to the Seimas Board concerning the
resolution of issues which are ascribed to its competence; and
6) perform the function of a coordinative (conciliatory)
committee in the event of principal disagreements concerning top
priorities considered in the Seimas.
Article 39. With the exception of resolutions concerning the
agendas of the forthcoming week- or day-long sittings, the
resolutions of the Assembly of Spokespersons shall be
consultative with regard to the Seimas and the Seimas Board.
Consultative resolutions of the Assembly of Spokespersons as
well as resolutions concerning the organisation of the work of
the Assembly itself shall be adopted by simple majority vote of
the members of the Seimas taking part in the sitting. Resolutions
concerning the draft work programme of the Seimas session, as
well as draft agendas of the forthcoming week- or day- long
sittings shall be adopted provided that they are opposed by no
more than 1/3 of the member of the Assembly of Spokespersons
participating in the sitting of the Assembly of Spokespersons. If
any item of the agenda is adopted by majority vote, but is
opposed by more than 1/3 of the members of the Assembly of
Spokespersons, they shall be submitted to the Seimas as
recommendations.
Resolutions of the sittings of the Assembly of Spokespersons
shall be recorded in the minutes of the sitting, which shall be
signed by the chairperson of the sitting of the Assembly of
Spokespersons. 12
Questions for consideration ascribed to the competence of
the Assembly of Spokespersons may be proposed and submitted to
the Seimas Chancellor by the members of the Assembly of
Spokespersons, the Government, as well as other members of the
Seimas who submit draft laws. The draft agenda of sittings of the
Assembly of Spokespersons shall be drawn up by the Chancellor of
the Seimas according to such proposals.
Other members of the Seimas as well as permanent
representatives of the President and Government may attend
sittings of the Assembly of Spokespersons with the right of
observers. Other individuals may also be invited to sittings of
the Assembly of Spokespersons.
Chapter 8. Parliamentary Groups of the Seimas
Article 40. Seimas members shall form parliamentary groups
voluntarily, not restricted by any mandates. Parliamentary groups
may not be established on the basis of professional or internal
interests.
A parliamentary group shall consist of at least three Seimas
members. A member of the Seimas may be a member of only one
parliamentary group.
The spokesperson of the parliamentary group, deputy
spokesperson or the member of the parliamentary group authorized
by it shall have the right to represent in the Seimas such a part
of the Seimas members, established by this Statute, which their
parliamentary group forms in the Seimas.
Parliamentary groups shall establish their own working
procedure, provided that it does not contradict this Statute.
Parliamentary groups may join into coalitions which may act
as one parliamentary group.
Article 41. Seimas members who wish to form a parliamentary
group shall present an application signed by them to the Seimas
Speaker during the session. The name of the parliamentary group,
as well as the names of the spokesperson and deputy spokespersons
must be stated in this application.
If a parliamentary group formed by Seimas members complies
with the requirements of this Statute, the Seimas Speaker must
within one week announce the establishment of this parliamentary
group at the Seimas sitting.
The Seimas Speaker shall be notified in writing of any
changes in the composition, leadership, or name of a
parliamentary group, of the termination of the activities of a
parliamentary group or of its breakts
-up, as well as of formation of the coalition of the
parliamentary groups no later than on the following working day;
the Seimas Speaker shall announce such information at the next
Seimas sitting.
Article 42. Parliamentary groups or their coalitions which
disagree with the Governmental programme may declare themselves
opposition parliamentary groups.
To this effect, opposition parliamentary groups or their
coalitions shall proclaim in the Seimas political declarations
where the provisions distinguishing them from the parliamentary
majority shall be set forth. Opposition parliamentary groups or
their coalitions shall announce alternative Governmental
programmes.
Opposition parliamentary groups or their coalitions shall be
guaranteed all the rights of parliamentary groups or coalitions
which are provided for in this Statute. No reason may provide for
the restriction of such rights.
The spokesperson of one parliamentary group constituting a
part of an opposition coalition may be elected the leader of the
13
opposition coalition; the Seimas shall be given a public notice
of such election.
PART 3
COMMITTEES and COMMISSIONS of the SEIMAS
Chapter 9. Seimas Committees and the Procedure for
the Establishment thereof
Article 43. Committees of the Seimas of the Republic of
Lithuania shall be formed during the first session.
At the beginning of each regular session, reports on the
work of the committee shall be heard, and, as necessary, changes
in the membership of the committee shall be made by adhering to
the principle of proportional representation of the majority and
the minority ( opposition and other parliamentary groups other
than the Seimas majority and mixed parliamentary groups) or
committees shall be formed anew.
Article 44. Committees shall be made up of no less than 7
and no more than 17 members of the Seimas according to the
proportional principle of representation. The exact number of
members of each committee shall be determined by a decision of
the Seimas. Seats in the committees shall be distributed among
parliamentary groups during the Assembly of the Spokespersons.
The minority ( the opposition and parliamentary groups other than
the Seimas majority and mixed parliamentary groups) shall
distribute among themselves seats in the committees, according to
the number of seats approved by Assembly of the Spokespersons.
Parliamentary groups, taking into consideration the requests
and competence of their members, shall recommend to the
committees as many members as they are accorded seats as well as
the same number of alternate committee members. Applications of
parliamentary groups bearing the signatures of recommended Seimas
members shall be submitted to the Seimas Chancellor.
Each parliamentary group shall submit its candidates to the
alternate members of the committees having registered them in
numerical order.
The members and alternate members of committees shall be
approved by the Seimas by voting for the entire list of the
members and alternate members of the committee. If the list is
not approved, the entire procedure shall begin anew.
Article 45. When a member of a committee does not
participate in a sitting of the committee, all of the said
member's rights shall be given to the alternate member of the
committee of the same parliamentary group who is the first in the
list of alternate members.
The Seimas member who is substituting for a member of his
parliamentary group in a given committee may not serve as the
chairperson or vice-chairperson of that committee while doing so.
Article 46. Committees shall elect their chairpersons and
deputy chairpersons. Committee chairpersons and deputy
chairpersons shall be approved by the Seimas.
In the event that the Seimas does not approve the proposed
candidate, the committee must select another candidate. Usually
the committee chairperson and deputy chairperson are elected from
the representatives of different parliamentary groups, and the
total number of chairpersons and deputy chairpersons of the
committees accorded to the majority and the minority must be in
proportion to the number of Seimas members belonging to them.
Members of the Seimas Board, members of the Seimas and the
Government, and commission chairpersons and deputy chairpersons
may not serve as a committee chairpersons or deputy chairpersons.
When a committee is being reorganised, the chairperson and
14
deputy chairperson of the committee shall be reelected. A
committee may reelect the chairperson or deputy chairperson at
any other time by applying to the Seimas for approval of the new
chairperson or deputy chairperson. In the event that the Seimas
does not approve the new chairperson or deputy chairperson, the
former chairperson shall remain, and the committee may only apply
to the Seimas concerning the same issue during the next regular
session.
Article 47. For the execution of their main duties,
committees may form subcommittees from their members.
Subcommittee must comprise at least 5 members. Subcommittee
chairpersons shall be elected by the committee.
The regulations of the subcommittees shall be approved by
the committees.
Article 48. The following committees shall be appointed in
the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania:
1) Agriculture;
2) Budget and Finance;
3) Economics;
4) Environmental Protection;
5) National Security;
6) Municipal Government
7) Health, Social Affairs and Labour
8) Education, Science and Culture
9)Foreign Affairs
10) State and Law
11) Human and Civil Rights and Nationality Affairs.
Chapter 10. Powers and Procedure of the Seimas Committees
Article 49. The trends of activities of committees of the
Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, as well as their powers and
procedure shall be established by this Statute and other laws of
the Republic of Lithuania.
Seimas committees shall report and be accountable to the
Seimas.
During the time established to discuss and present findings
on matters given to them for consideration, committees must
perform other tasks assigned to them by the Seimas.
The activities of the committees shall be coordinated by the
Chairperson and Chancellor of the Seimas in accordance with the
session work programmes and committee work plans.
Article 50. The main powers of the committees with respect
to issues within their competence are:
1) to debate bills, prepare conclusions, and consider issues
referred to the committee;
2) on its own initiative or at the behest of the Seimas, to
prepare drafts of the Laws of the Republic of Lithuania and of
other legal acts, and to establish in due time the necessity of
new laws or the amendments to laws in effect;
3) seeking to improve the laws, to prepare and consider
issues related to state, economic, social and cultural matters,
and to present proposals subject to debate in the Seimas;
4) to consider the Government Programme;
5) to discuss candidates for heads of state institutions
which are appointed by the Seimas or for the appointment of which
the approval of the Seimas is necessary, as well as to consider
their dismissal from office;
7) to preliminarily discuss the chapters of the State draft
budget of the Republic of Lithuania and accounts on budget
performance;
8) while performing parliamentary supervision, to hear
15
information and reports furnished by ministries and other state
institutions on the manner by which the laws are being
implemented;
9) to consider proposals of individual persons and public
organisations and, as necessary, to refer them alongside with
recommendations to state institutions;
10) to prepare work plans of the committee coordinated with
the session work programme;
11) prepare the estimate of the committee expenditures
within the amount appropriated for the committee;
12) to take part in the inter-parliamentary relations of the
Seimas.
Article 51. In discussing issues that are within their
competence, the committees shall have equal rights and
responsibilities, and shall be responsible for the timely
discussion of certain laws, for the initiation of the preparation
of these laws, and the commission of detailed conclusions
relative to draft laws.
Issues which are within the competence of several committees
may be prepared and discussed by these committees jointly on
their own initiative or at the behest of the Seimas or its Board.
For this purpose they may set up joint working groups, hold joint
committee sittings which shall be presided over by the
chairpersons of these committees in succession.
Committees shall have the right to submit proposals to the
Seimas or its Board concerning the passing over of the issues
under discussion to another committee for consideration.
Committees shall have the right to present their comments on
issues discussed by another committee, as well as to ask another
committee to present its conclusions, which must be submitted
within 15 days.
Article 52. The committees of the Seimas of the Republic of
Lithuania shall work according to committee-approved plans which
must be coordinated with the work program of the session of the
Seimas. Responsible executers and the terms of implementation
shall be indicated in these work plans. Committee work plans and
the agenda of the sittings shall be publicly announced and
distributed to the Chairperson of the Seimas, the Chancellor, and
the subdivisions of the Seimas apparatus.
Committees may confirm the rules of their procedure provided
that they do not contradict this statute.
Article 53. Committee members shall have the right of a
decisive vote on all issues within the committee's jurisdiction.
Committee members shall also have the right to propose
issues for consideration, and to participate in the preparation
and consideration thereof; to propose to invite necessary persons
to committee sittings; to submit proposals concerning the
inspection of state institutions and the hearing of their
information. Committee members shall have the right to get
acquainted with all documents and material belonging to the
committee and, as necessary, to make use of them in their work.
Article 54. The chairperson of the committee shall:
1) convene sittings of the committee and see that necessary
documents and other material be prepared for them;
2) assign, according to the approved work plans and
decisions of the committee, tasks to the committee members, and
provide them with material and documents relating to the
activities of the committee;
3) for the execution of the work plan of the committee,
organise members of the committee to work in preparatory
commissions and working groups, and to discharge other tasks of
the committee; 16
4) invite necessary persons to participate in the sittings
of the committee;
5) preside over sittings of the committee;
6) sign the resolutions of the committee, the findings and
minutes of the sittings, as well as the draft laws prepared by
the committee which are submitted to the Seimas or the public for
consideration, and shall visa adopted laws and other legal acts
of the Seimas prepared by the committee;
7) represent the committee in its work with other state
institutions and public organisations;
8) organise the implementation of the committee's
resolutions;
9) regularly notify members of the committee of received law
drafts, new assignments for the committee, the execution of the
resolutions of the committee, consideration of their
recommendations, and work in representing the committee.
10) notify the Commission of Ethics and Procedure of members
who do not attend sittings of the committee and who are not
fulfilling the assignments set forth in paragraph 2 of this
Article;
11) coordinate the activities of the subcommittees of the
committee.
At the behest of the chairperson of the committee, a vice-
chairperson shall discharge certain functions of the chairperson.
The vice-chairperson shall fill in for the chairperson when the
chairperson cannot discharge his or her functions because of
temporary absence or illness.
Article 55. Committee sittings shall be organized as
necessary during sessions, but at least once a week and normally
on Wednesdays. Committee sittings shall not be organized during
sittings of the Seimas. Between ordinary sessions of the Seimas,
there shall normally be one-month adjournments in the work of the
committees, although committees may have sitting between sessions
as necessary.
Committee sittings shall be called on the initiative of the
committee chairperson or of more than one third of the committee
members, or upon the instruction of the Seimas or the Board.
Committees may have closed sittings.
Article 56. Committee sittings shall be presided over by the
chairperson of the committee or by a deputy chairperson upon the
instruction of the chairperson. Prior to the Seimas's approval of
a committee chairperson, sittings shall be presided over by the
eldest member of the committee. In committee sittings, including
closed sittings, members of the Seimas who are not members of the
committee may participate with the right of deliberative vote.
The committees may invite to their sittings other members of
the Seimas, as well as members of municipal councils,
representatives of ministries, other state institutions, public
organisations and other necessary persons having coordinated it
with heads of these institutions.
Article 57. The sittings of the Committee shall be deemed
17
lawful when more than half of the committee members are present
at the sitting.
Committee decisions shall be adopted by open, simple
majority vote of the committee members participating in the
sitting. In the event of a tie vote, the vote of the chairperson
of the committee shall be decisive.
If the committee minority, which consists of at least three
Seimas members, expresses a separate opinion concerning an issue
discussed by the committee, this opinion must be announced
together with the decision of the committee.
Decisions shall be adopted in joint sittings of several
committees if each committee expresses their support for the
decision.
Committee decisions and conclusions shall be presented to
the Seimas in writing.
Article 58. For state institutions, decisions adopted by
Committees shall be recommendatory. When sending their
recommendations and proposals to state institutions, Committees
shall inform the Seimas Board about this and, if necessary - the
Government.
Upon receipt of recommendations and proposals of Seimas
Committees, state institutions, except courts, shall have to
consider them. The Committees must be informed about the results
of such consideration and measures which have been taken within
15 days from the receipt of the proposals or within other period
of time established by the Committees.
Article 59. The Committees shall have the right to control
due to their competence how laws of the Republic of Lithuania are
observed and recommendations and proposals of the Committees are
taken into consideration.
They shall also have the right to invite heads or
representatives of state institutions, except courts, to their
sittings at a time coordinated with them and to hear their
information.
If a Committee decides that it is necessary to hear the
information of a Government representative, it shall address the
Seimas Speaker who informs the Prime Minister about it. In this
event, a Government representative shall have to participate in
the Committee sitting.
The Committees shall have the right due to their competence
to demand and obtain from state institutions, except courts, and
officers documents, conclusions in writing, as well as reports
and other necessary material.
Article 60. The Committee shall make reports during sittings
of the Seimas on issues which it prepared or was the principal
Committee while examining them and shall make supplemental
reports on issues which were referred to the Committee for
examination. For this purpose, the Committee shall appoint, from
among their members, speakers or supplementary speakers.
Committee members shall participate in discussions on all other
issues according to general procedure.
Concerning issues which were jointly prepared and examined
by several committees, committees may either make joint reports
and supplementary reports or may present observations and
proposals separately.
Article 61. For the preparation of issues under
consideration committees may, from their members, form
preparatory working groups. Included in these working groups may
be other Seimas members, representatives of state institutions
and public organizations, experts and scholars, upon the consent
thereof. Funds for the activities of such groups shall be
allotted from an approved estimate of expenditure of the
18
committee. If funds are not sufficient, the committee shall apply
to the Seimas Board.
The Committees shall have the right to propose to make
contracts with employees who assist in Committee activities, but
not exceeding the estimate of expenditure allotted to them.
Chapter 11. Trends of Activities of the Seimas Committees
Article 62. The trends of activities of the Committee on
Agriculture shall be:
1) to prepare draft laws and other legal acts regulating the
activities of the agricultural and food industry and to present
findings on drafts referred to the committee for preliminary or
additional consideration;
2) to prepare and consider proposals relative to the
formation of the agrarian policy, the determination of the trends
of agricultural science and training, and the drawing up of legal
acts necessary for that purpose;
3) to discuss and present findings relative to the drafts of
laws and programmes presented by the Government, as well as
chapters of the State draft budget pertaining to the agriculture
and food industry, their material- technical supply, and the
development of social basis in the countryside;
4) to carry out the examination of draft laws regulating the
Lithuanian economy from the standpoint of the agrarian policy and
to submit recommendations and findings;
5) to carry out parliamentary control of agrarian
institutions and the food industry;
6) to coordinate the work of state institutions and
organisations concerned in preparing draft laws regulating the
activities of agricultural and food industry.
Article 63. The trends of activities of the Committee on
Budget and Finance shall be:
1) to consider the draft budget of the Republic submitted by
the Government to the Seimas for its approval and to present
summarised findings of all the committees relative thereto;
2) to carry out general and continuous review of the budget
performance;
3) together with other committees, to prepare findings
relative to the State budget performance accounts;
4) to prepare drafts of laws and other legal acts relative
to budget and finance;
5) to prepare and submit findings concerning the draft laws
which have an effect on the State budget revenue and expenditure;
and
6) to discuss and prepare findings as well as to present
proposals concerning the draft laws on taxes and special funds,
the review of the State budget performance, the financing
procedure of institutions and organisations maintained from the
budget, the norms of their expenditure, the norms of the
formation of the local government budgets, the budget allocations
for the implementation of various programmes, as well as for the
financing of the Seimas and its staff;
7) to carry out parliamentary control of the use of state
property and the activities of the Bank of Lithuania, and to
present proposals and recommendations relative thereto.
Article 64. The trends of activities of the Committee on
Economics shall be:
1) to consider and submit findings related to draft laws of
economic reform, other legal acts, and Government's programmes;
2) to prepare and consider proposals concerning the
formation of a policy for the development of the Lithuanian
economy and technical progress;
3) to prepare drafts of laws, other legal acts, and
19
proposals concerning the planning of economic and social
development;
4) to consider draft programs for anti-monopoly actions,
improvement of the economic mechanism, and the development of
foreign relations, and submit findings to the Seimas; and
5) to perform parliamentary control of administrative
institutions of energy, communications and transport; to submit
proposals and recommendations concerning improvement of the
activities of said institutions,; and to participate in the
preparation of draft laws relative thereto.
Article 65. The trends of activities of the Committee on
Environmental Protection shall be:
1) to prepare drafts of laws and other legal acts and submit
proposals on issues concerning environmental protection, the use
of resources, forestry, fisheries, and wildlife;
2) to coordinate the work of interested state institutions
and other organizations in preparing draft laws on issues that
are in the capacity of the committee;
3) to consider, from an environmental protection standpoint,
draft laws and other legal acts which are referred to the
committee;
4) to prepare and consider proposals concerning the
formation of an environmental protection policy in Lithuania; and
5) to carry out parliamentary control of the state
institutions of environmental protection, and to present
proposals and recommendations for the improvement of the
activities of theses institutions and organisations which are
related to environmental protection and the use of resources.
Article 66. The trends of activities of the Committee on
National Security shall be:
1) to consider and prepare drafts of laws and other legal
acts on issues of national defense, State security and internal
affairs;
2) to coordinate the work of interested state institutions
in preparing draft laws on issues that are in the capacity of the
committee;
3) to consider and present proposals concerning the
formation of a national defense policy and the creation and
improvement of appropriate structures;
4) to prepare proposals concerning the implementation of the
reform of the system of internal affairs;
5) to carry out parliamentary control of the institutions of
national defense, State security, and internal affairs, and to
present proposals and recommendations concerning the improvement
of their activities.
Article 67. The trends of activities of the Committee on
Local Governments shall be:
1) to prepare and consider draft laws and other legal acts
on issues concerning the organization of work of local
governments, and to present findings thereon;
2) to prepare recommendations concerning the administrative
and territorial division of the Republic of Lithuania;
3) to submit proposals concerning the dissolution of local
government councils and the organisation of elections thereto;
4) in conjunction with other committees, to resolve issues
of economic, social and organisational activities of local
governments; and
5) to provide methodological assistance to local government
councils.
Article 68. The trends of activities of the Committee on
Health, Social Affairs and Labor shall be:
1) to prepare drafts of laws and other legal acts which
20
regulate individual health protection, sanitary environmental
condition, employment, labor relations, social care and provision
of living space, and to present findings relative to these draft
laws and other legal acts which are referred to the committee;
2) to coordinate the work of interested institutions and
organizations in preparing draft laws on issues that are in the
capacity of the committee;
3) to consider and present proposals concerning the
formation of the health protection policy; and
4) to carry out parliamentary control of institutions of
health care and social security, and to submit proposals and
recommendations for the improvement of the activities thereof.
Article 69. The trends of activities of the Committee on
Education, Science and Culture shall be:
1) to prepare and consider drafts of laws, directives and
other legislation which regulates education, science, culture and
public information, and to present proposals relative thereto;
2) to consider and present findings on draft legislation
related to education, science, culture and public information
which are referred to the committee, as well as other projects,
while keeping the compliance thereof with the government policy
related to these issues in mind;
3) to prepare proposals and recommendations for the
Government and local governments concerning education, science,
culture and public information; and
4) to provide support to persons, organisations and
institutions engaged in cultural activities.
Article 70. The trends of activities of the Committee on
Foreign Affairs shall be:
1) to prepare conclusions concerning the ratification and
denouncement of international agreements of the Republic of
Lithuania as well as other issues of foreign policy which are
considered in the Seimas;
2) to prepare and consider drafts of laws and other
legislative acts related to foreign affairs, to consider them
from the standpoint of the foreign policy of the Republic of
Lithuania and international law, and to submit the conclusions
thereon;
3) to review the activities of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania, as well as of state and
public organizations which maintain relations with foreign
countries, to submit proposals and recommendations, and to notify
the Seimas thereof;
4) to coordinate and discuss the activities of the
delegations of the Seimas in international organizations and
forums and the activities of inter-parliamentary relations
groups, and to submit recommendations and proposals thereto;
5) to analyse and submit proposals relative to information
and propaganda activities of mass media and other state
organizations meant for foreign countries;
6) in conjunction with government and public organizations,
to maintain and develop relations with Lithuanian emigrants and
their organisations, as well as with the Lithuanians autochtons
residing beyond the boundaries of the Republic of Lithuania;
7) together with other committees, to consider the
regulation of migration problems and to submit proposals and
conclusions thereon;
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 embassies abroad;
9) to consider proposals and submit conclusions related to
the appointment of diplomatic representatives in foreign states.
21
Article 71. The trends of the activities of the Committee on
State and Law shall be:
1) to consider and make proposals concerning the formation
of state legal policy;
2) to prepare and help carry out reform of the legal system;
3) to consider and present conclusions concerning project
proposals for the supplementation and amendment of the
Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania as well as the
compliance of drafts of laws which are under discussion with the
Constitution;
4) to prepare proposals and drafts of laws which are related
to issues concerning the realization of justice and the
strengthening of legality and law and order;
5) to consider and present conclusions and suggestions
concerning institutional reforms;
6) to present legal findings concerning drafts of laws
prepared by other committees and other legal acts;
7) to coordinate the preparation of draft laws which are
related to the realization of justice and the strengthening of
legality and law and order;
8) to consider candidacies to judges and chairpersons of the
Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, and other courts which
are appointed by the Seimas or whose nomination requires the
approval of the Seimas, as well as issues concerning the
dismissal of said judges;
9) to carry out parliamentary control of the activities of
law enforcement institutions, with the exception of the courts,
and to prepare conclusions and proposals related thereto;
10) to prepare and present conclusions and recommendations
to the Seimas concerning the activities of the Ministry of
Justice, General Office of the Prosecutor and other law
enforcement bodies;
11) to prepare draft laws and suggestions concerning the
improvement of the system of state control; and
12) to supervise, without interfering in operational
activities, the work of the State Control Department.
Article 72. The trends of activities of the Committee on
Human and Citizens' Rights and Nationalities Affairs shall be:
1) to prepare and consider drafts of laws and other legal
acts as well as proposals which are related to the guarantees of
civil rights and the regulation of ethnic relations among the
nationalities living in Lithuania;
2) to present recommendations and proposals to ministries,
government institutions, other organizations, and Seimas
committees on issues concerning the protection of civil rights
and the improvement of ethnic relations;
3) to submit proposals in the established manner concerning
the structure, staff and funding of the Seimas ombudsmen
institution;
4) to consider complaints and proposals referred to the
Seimas concerning the work of the Seimas ombudsmen;
5) as necessary, to prepare draft resolution on the vote of
non-confidence in the Seimas ombudsmen and to submit it to the
Seimas for consideration as well as to submit findings concerning
such resolutions to the Seimas when such resolutions are prepared
by other committees; and
6) to consider the material submitted by the Seimas
ombudsmen concerning the breach of law by ministers and other
officers answerable to the Seimas and submit its findings to the
Seimas for consideration.
Chapter 12. Seimas Commissions
22
Article 73. A standing Commission on Ethics and Procedure
shall be formed in the Seimas to which at least 1/10 of the
Seimas members may recommend one representative. Proposals
relative to the candidates to that commission shall be submitted
in writing to the Chancellor of the Seimas. Upon rejecting the
first and second candidate proposed by the same Seimas members,
the third shall become a commission member without approval from
the Seimas.
The Seimas shall approve the chairperson and deputy
chairperson of the Commission on Ethics and Procedure from among
its members.
Article 74. The trend of activities of the Commission on
Ethics and Procedure shall be:
1) to prepare drafts of legal acts and proposals which
are related to the activities and ethics of Seimas members;
2) in observance of ethic norms, to help the Seimas, Seimas
divisions, and Seimas members foster democracy, to coordinate
various points of view and convictions, to strive for moral
harmony, and to humanize relations between Seimas members;
3) to supervise the observance of the Statute of the Seimas
of the Republic of Lithuania and other legal acts which regulate
the activities of Seimas members. Upon the proposal of the
Speaker of the Seimas, deputy Speakers of the Seimas,
chairpersons of committees or commissions, or other Seimas
members, or on its own initiative, to examine violations of these
legal acts or ethics, to consider conflicts which arise between
Seimas members, and, if necessary, to present conclusions to the
Seimas, the Seimas Speaker, or the Seimas Board;
4) to examine and present conclusions concerning procedural
disagreements upon the instruction of the Seimas, the Seimas
Speaker, or the Seimas Board;
5) to examine information presented by the law enforcement
bodies of the Republic of Lithuania concerning personal
activities of Seimas members which contradict the laws of the
Republic of Lithuania, and to present conclusions to the Seimas
thereon;
6) to analyse the reasons for which Seimas members are not
participating in sittings of the Seimas and the Seimas committees
and commissions and to provide information to the press
concerning Seimas members who have missed sittings without
justified reason, who did not participate in voting which was
announced beforehand, or who did not carry out instructions; and
7) to examine the letters and proposals of citizens,
government institutions, and social organizations on issues
concerning the activities of Seimas members.
Article 75. In the Seimas a standing administrative
commission shall be formed dealing with working and living
conditions of the Seimas members and other matters relative
thereto.
Administrative commission shall be formed according to the
provisions set forth in Article 77 of this Statute.
The Seimas Chancellor shall be on this commission and shall
head it ex officio.
Article 76. The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, having
acknowledged the necessity to do so, may form research, control,
auditing, preparatory, editing, and other temporary commissions
to investigate or prepare any given issue or to carry out other
assignments of the Seimas.
If a commission's authorization period is not clearly
defined during the time of formation, the activities of the
commission shall be discontinued by a resolution of the Seimas
once the given tasks have been carried out.
23
The Seimas shall also form inter-parliamentary relations
groups and parliamentary delegations in international
organizations and forums which shall have the same rights
thereof.
Article 77. In forming an ad hoc commission, first the
number of members of the commission shall be established.
Thereafter, the norms for proportional representation of
parliamentary groups shall be established, as well as the term
for candidacy proposals of commissions members. The minority
shall distribute among themselves the number of seats assigned to
them. If the compiled list of committee members is not
sufficient, committees may each orally propose one additional
candidate during the sitting, and after them each Seimas member
may do so until the number of candidates is sufficient.
Each of the proposed candidates must give oral consent to
participate in the work of the commission. The Seimas shall vote
for the entire list of commission members formed in such a way.
If the list is not approved, the procedure shall be repeated.
When candidates are nominated to a commission during a
Seimas sitting not according to the norms allocated to
parliamentary group, those for whom at least two Seimas members
express doubt shall be voted for individually. If the number of
candidates nominated to a commission during a sitting is greater
than the established number of commission members and all of the
nominated candidates agree to work in the commission, there shall
be an open-ballot vote with the list of candidates.
In certain cases, the Seimas may establish another procedure
for the formation of commissions, although commissions may never
be formed by representatives of one parliamentary group or one
region.
Article 78. If the term of office of a commission is more
than six months, a commission chairperson and deputy chairperson
shall be elected and approved according to the procedure
established for the committees. The chairperson and deputy
chairperson of a commission may not be members of the Seimas
Board, members of the Government, or chairpersons or deputy
chairpersons of any other commission or committee. This
restriction is not applicable to inter-parliamentary relations
groups or parliamentary delegations.
As a rule, the Seimas Board shall o approve the estimate of
expenditure of a commission and to resolve other issues which are
related to its activities.
If the Seimas does not resolve otherwise, commissions,
during their period of authorization, shall observe the rules of
committee procedure. If the authorization period of a commission
is longer than six months, it shall have all of the rights and
duties of a committee, with the exception of the right to
consider candidatures of Seimas officials or propose that they be
cancelled.
PART 4
SESSIONS OF THE SEIMAS
Chapter 13. The First Session of the Seimas
Article 79. The Seimas shall be deemed elected after the
Central Electoral Commission announces that at least 3/5 of
Seimas members have been elected. 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. If the opening sitting of the Seimas is not
convened by the President of the Republic, the Seimas members
shall themselves convene on the next day after the expiration of
the 15-day period. 24
As a rule, the opening sitting of the newly-elected Seimas
shall open at 12 o'clock noon in the building of the Seimas.
Article 80. The opening sitting of the Seimas shall be
commenced by the eldest 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 eldest member of the Seimas. He or she shall
preside over the meeting until the Speaker is elected.
Three Deputy Speakers and the Chancellor of the Seimas shall
thereafter be elected.
Article 81. Upon the commencement of the first session of
the Seimas, time shall be assigned for the formation of
parliamentary groups and the Assembly of Spokespersons.
Thereafter, as a rule, the Seimas, in the following order, shall:
1) approve or reject the candidature for Prime Minister
nominated by the President of the Republic;
2) form the Committees of the Seimas and approve their
respective Chairpersons;
3) consider the Programme of the Government submitted by the
Prime Minister and decide whether or not to approve it; and
4) draw up a work programme for the session in accordance
with the procedure established by the Statute of the Seimas.
Chapter 14. General Issues of Session Organisation
Article 82. The Seimas shall meet biannually in two regular
sessions (spring and autumn). The spring session shall open on
March 10 and shall close on June 30. The autumn session shall
open on September 10 and close on December 23. The Seimas may
resolve to prolong a session. If the day of the opening of a
session is a non-working day, the session shall open on the first
working day following the scheduled commencement. The members of
the Seimas shall convene into ordinary sessions without a
separate invitation.
Article 83. Extraordinary sessions shall be convened by the
Speaker of the Seimas on the written proposal of at least 1/3 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. The Seimas Board must notify all of the Seimas members
of extraordinary sessions at least 2 days before the opening of
the session. Only issues submitted by the Seimas members on whose
initiative the extraordinary session was convened shall be
considered at the session. The work programme of extraordinary
sessions shall be approved by the Seimas. The duration of
extraordinary sessions may not exceed 15 days. Between
extraordinary sessions the Seimas shall adjourn for at least 10
days.
Article 84. Sessions of the Seimas of the Republic of
Lithuania shall be held in the Seimas building in Vilnius. In the
event that the Seimas cannot convene in the building of the
Seimas, the Seimas Board may temporarily assign another place for
sittings to be held. All members of the Seimas must be notified
of such a decision. Having convened in a place designated by the
Seimas Board for a sitting, the Seimas shall hear the information
of the Seimas Board concerning the reasons which compelled them
to change the place of the sitting.
In sittings, sessions shall open and close with the State
anthem.
Article 85. The Secretariat of Seimas sittings shall provide
technical services during sittings and shall fulfil the related
assignments of the Seimas Speaker, his or her deputies and the
Chancellor. The Secretariat shall be formed of Seimas staff
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members.
The Secretariat of Seimas sittings shall:
1) attend to adequate technical preparation of the sittings
and provide assistance to Seimas members during sittings;
2) be responsible that material required for a sitting be
presented to Seimas members and the officer presiding over the
sitting in adequate time;
3) register all of the Seimas members participating in a
sitting, receive applications of Seimas members concerning their
inability to take part in a sitting during voting planned in
advance and held according to schedule, and inform the presiding
officer and the Seimas Speaker thereof;
4) accept written requests of Seimas members asking to be
given the floor and deliver said requests to the officer
presiding over the sitting;
5) accept and register questions and interpellations of
Seimas members addressed to heads of State institutions, hand
them over, as required, either to the Seimas Speaker or the
Chancellor;
6) during a session, accept from Seimas members other
written statements, proposals, protests or requests and deliver
them to the addressees;
7) see that translations of the work of the sitting be
provided;
8) provide divisions of the Seimas apparatus with
information concerning the sitting;
9) register drafts of laws which are submitted; and
10) carry out other assignments of the Seimas Speaker or the
presiding officer.
Chapter 15. Session Work Programmes and Sitting Agendas
Article 86. The preparation of sessions, with the exception
of the first session, shall be organised by the Seimas Speaker.
Together with the Seimas Chancellor, the Speaker shall prepare
drafts of the work programme of the session and of the agenda of
sittings held during the first week. Seimas members may obtain
said drafts at the Secretariat of Seimas sittings 2 working days
before the opening of the session. 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. The
draft work programme shall be delivered to the President of the
Republic and the Government.
The draft of the session work programme shall be considered
by the Assembly of Spokespersons 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 Part 2 of Article 39 of this Statute. The draft,
along with the amendments and supplements and the recommendations
made by the Assembly of Spokespersons, shall be submitted to the
Seimas for debate.
At the first session after the election, the Seimas shall,
as a rule, consider and approve the work programme at the time
specified in Article 81 of this Statute. Other sessions shall
open with the discussion and approval of the work programme. The
Seimas may later revise the work programme in accordance with the
procedure established in this Statute.
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.
Article 87. In accordance with the approved work programme
of the session, the Seimas Speaker, together with the Chancellor,
shall prepare a detailed draft agenda of the week's sittings and
26
submit it to the Assembly of Spokespersons for debate. Proposals
shall be submitted by members of the Board, members of the
Assembly of Spokespersons, committees, other members of the
Seimas, and the Government. 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 proposals which
were not accepted. 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 next week.
With the exception of cases specified in this Statute, only
issues which are on the session work programme and 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.
The Assembly of Spokespersons shall decide at its sitting
whether or not to approve each item of the presented agenda in
accordance with the procedure established in Part 2 of Article 39
of this Statute. In the event that any of the items are adopted
only by majority vote, they shall be presented to the Seimas as
recommendations.
If a decision is passed to work one day a week, the Assembly
of Spokespersons 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.
Article 88. Draft agenda of a week's sittings approved at
the Assembly of Spokespersons shall be put to the vote at the
Seimas sitting without preliminary discussion thereon.
The items of the agenda presented as recommendations by the
Assembly of Spokespersons as well as the entire draft agenda,
provided that it was not approved by vote at the Seimas, may be
discussed at sittings of the Seimas. In such a case, proposals
may be submitted by the Seimas Board members, committees,
parliamentary groups, and the Government.
If, for some reason, the Assembly of Spokespersons could not
approve the draft agenda of a week's sittings, the Seimas Speaker
may submit it to a sitting of the Seimas. In such an event, the
procedure established in Part 2 hereof shall be applied.
Article 89. At the written request of a group of at least
1/3 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 1.5 hours shall be assigned for debating such issues
unless the Seimas decides to prolong the discussion period.
Article 90. In conjunction with the Seimas Chancellor, the
Seimas Speaker shall prepare, 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.
The above draft agenda shall be considered and adopted at
the Seimas on the day preceding the sitting. In the event that
the draft agenda of a day's sitting is approved at the Assembly
of Spokespersons, the agenda shall be considered in accordance
with the procedure established in Article 88. In the contrary
case, members of the Seimas Board, committees, parliamentary
groups and the Government may present additional proposals but on
condition they adhere to the approved agenda of a week's
sittings. 27
Article 91. The Seimas Board, the Assembly of Spokespersons
and the Government shall have the right to propose to include
additional issues in the adopted agenda of a week's or a day's
sittings. Such a proposal may be adopted provided that it is
voted for by the majority of the Seimas members present at the
sitting. In the event that such a proposal is not approved, it
may be repeatedly presented only the next day.
Article 92. At the request of the President of the Republic,
the issues and reports presented by him shall be included in the
agenda of a sitting in the mandatory manner (without voting).
The Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall have the
right to request that the Government's report on an urgent issue
be included in the agenda of the week's sittings. On the decision
of the Seimas, a discussion may follow such a report.
Chapter 16. Sittings of the Seimas
Article 93. The sittings of the Seimas and its committees
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 Seimas sittings thereof no later than before 6 hours; the
Secretariat must see to it that translation is provided.
Article 94. As a rule, 4 sittings a week -- 2 on Tuesday and
2 on Thursday -- shall be held during the Seimas session, whereas
every 3 weeks plenary sittings of the Seimas shall be adjourned
for a week.
On Thursday, the evening sitting shall be assigned to the
Government, interpellations, as well as to replies to the
questions of Seimas members given by Seimas officers, heads of
State institutions, with the exception of the Constitutional
Court and the Supreme Court.
On other days of the week and in the week when no plenary
sittings are held, sittings of the Seimas Board, the Assembly of
Spokespersons, parliamentary groups, committees and commissions
as well as meetings of members of the Seimas with electors or
representatives of local governments shall be held; members of
the Seimas may also go on business trips.
Article 95. The last half hour of every day's evening
sitting shall be assigned for the statements of the Seimas
members on urgent issues of electoral areas or state or
international problems. Persons desiring to speak shall submit to
the Seimas Chancellor a written request during the sitting of the
previous days giving a brief characterisation of the issue they
would like to speak about. The Secretariat of Seimas sittings
shall generalise the requests and present them to the Chancellor.
The Chancellor shall prepare a supplement to the agenda of the
sitting specifying those wishing to speak and the problems put
forward by them. No discussion shall be held on the statements.
The Seimas may without discussion approve the speaker's proposal
to charge an appropriate Seimas committee or commission to
investigate the problem.
The agendas of every third Thursday evening sitting shall be
drawn up by the parliamentary groups of the opposition. A week
before the opening of such sitting the Seimas Board, 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 who
shall be responsible for the agenda of such sitting. In such an
event, the agenda shall not be approved at the Seimas sitting.
Article 96. The morning sitting of the Seimas shall as a
28
rule be held from 10.00 a.m. and the afternoon sitting -- from
3.00 p.m..
The Seimas members shall be registered at the beginning of
every sitting and before the voting planned in advance.
Article 97. A sitting which is not provided for in the
week's work programme must be held provided that its is requested
by the President of the Republic or 1/3 of the Seimas members or
the Seimas Board.
The issues submitted by the persons on whose initiative the
meeting is held shall be considered at such a sitting. Said
persons shall no later than 6 hours before the opening of the
sitting inform the Seimas members in the manner established by
the Seimas Board of the sitting and the issues proposed for
discussion.
Article 98. Sittings of the Seimas shall be presided over by
the Seimas Speaker or a Deputy Speaker.
The person presiding over the Seimas sitting:
1) shall, by word and by the banging of the gavel, announce
the opening and closing of a sitting, as necessary, he or she may
also announce a recess not provided for in the agenda;
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;
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;
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;
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;
6) may prolong the time of a speech delivered on an urgent
issue provided that the Seimas does not object;
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;
8) may also grant the floor to other persons provided that
the Seimas doe not object;
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; by word and by the banging of the
gavel 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;
10) shall call to order the Seimas members if they do not
adhere to the Statute, make noise in the chamber, insult the
President of the Republic, the Seimas, the Speaker, 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 hall;
11) shall take a decision to expel from the chamber the
invited persons or the correspondents if they interfere with the
sitting;
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
13) shall sign the minutes of the Seimas sitting and the
official report on the sitting, and shall also visa the laws and
other acts passed at the sitting.
29
Article 99. As a rule, the sittings of the Seimas shall be
public. The President of the Republic, members of the Government,
the Chairperson of the Constitutional Court, the Chairperson of
the Supreme Court and heads of 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. Signatories of the Act "On the
Re-establishment of the State of Lithuania" of 11 March 1990,
permanent representatives of the President of the Republic and
the Government may attend the sittings as observers.
Participation of other persons in the sittings is established in
Articles 100 and 101 of this Statute.
On the decision of the Seimas as well as at the request of
Seimas Speaker, the President of the Republic or the Prime
Minister, a closed sitting may be held by way of exception which,
in addition to Seimas members, may be attended only by persons
specially invited to the sitting and, as necessary, by the
personnel of the Secretariat of sittings. The Seimas Board, the
Government, parliamentary groups and committees shall have the
right to propose to hold a closed sitting; a substantiation of
the proposal shall be requisite.
Article 100. The Seimas Speaker or the Seimas Board may
invite the most prominent guests of the Republic of Lithuania -
heads of foreign states, members of governments, heads of
parliamentary delegations, chairpersons of Lithuanian emigrant
organisations - to speak at the sittings. Other distinguished
guests may invited as observers of the sittings of a session.
Article 101. Open sittings of the Seimas shall be public.
They may be attended by the assistants secretaries of Seimas
members, employees of the Seimas apparatus, representatives of
public organisations who have received invitations, as well as
radio, television and press journalists accredited to the Seimas.
The procedure for issuing invitations and accrediting shall be
established by the Seimas Board.
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.
Article 102. 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. The Seimas
members shall elect the chairperson of the meeting and may
establish provisional rules of procedure of the meeting.
Article 103. All reports shall be read at Seimas sittings
from the dais. In the cases set forth in Par. 2 of Article 93 of
this Statute, Seimas members may speak from their seats or into
the microphones installed in the chamber.
Speaking during sittings shall be allowed only on the
permission of the presiding officer.
Article 104. As a rule, one principal report and one
additional report shall be made on every issue on the agenda. The
duration of a report shall be fixed by the presiding officer in
coordination with the person delivering the report. Ordinarily,
reports should not exceed 30 minutes. Additional reports shall be
allotted a duration of up to 15 minutes; final words and
commentary on behalf of the Government or a committee shall be
granted up to 10 minutes; speaking on behalf on a parliamentary
group - up to 7 minutes, and speeches said on behalf of the
speaker himself shall be given up to 5 minutes.
After reports, during the presentation of the draft, time
for answering questions shall be allocated in the manner
30
established in this Statute. An answer to a single question may
not exceed 3 minutes, whereas the question itself may not take
longer than 1 minute. Only one question shall be permitted at a
time. A person shall be allowed to ask a second question only
once it is again his or her turn to ask. 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.
Article 105. Registration of persons wishing to speak shall
begin an hour before the first sitting of the day the issue is
planned to be discussed 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.
Article 106. Time allotted for discussion on each issue on
the agenda shall be, as a rule, divided in half to the members of
the majority and minority. In the event that representatives
either of the majority or the minority do not use up the time
allotted to them, the discussion shall be shortened.
Speakers shall be granted the floor during discussions
according to the order in which they registered to speak. The
presiding officer may change the order for reason of ensuring
proportional representation of parliamentary groups and
Committees, and for presenting arguments "for" and "against". The
Seimas members may change the order of speaking.
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.
Article 107. The President of the Republic, the Seimas
Speaker, and the Prime Minister shall have the right to take the
floor out of turn one time in a discussion.
If members of the Government or no less than 1/5 of the
Seimas members or a representative named by a Committee notify
the Secretariat of the sittings of their wish to be granted the
floor prior to the termination of a discussion, they shall retain
the right to take the floor even if it is resolved to terminate
the debate.
Article 108. During debates, the Seimas members shall have
the right to take the floor not more than once for every item on
the agenda.
Questions, remarks, and speeches concerning the motives or
procedure of voting, prejudicial issues or issues related to the
termination of debate, and proposals to reject or postpone the
issue under consideration shall constitute an exception. 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.
Speaking on issues concerning procedure, termination of debate,
or postponement or rejection of an issue shall have precedence
over the issue under consideration. In said cases, members shall
be granted the floor for no longer than 2 minutes after the
speaker has finished his or her speech. In the cases specified in
the Statute, a vote must be taken after such speeches. 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.
31
Article 109. Debates shall be terminated on the decision of
the Seimas, with the exception of cases where the Statute
provides for a different procedure for the termination of a
debate. 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.
Upon resolving to terminate a debate, the presiding officer
must grant the floor, according to the 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 Article 107 of this Statute. In
addition, the speaker may be granted the floor for concluding
remarks.
The Seimas may in advance limit both the general duration of
debates on each issue and the number of speakers. In such cases,
proposals to terminate a debate shall not be accepted.
Article 110. 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
no less than 1/3 Seimas members present at the sitting. In
discussing an issue, such recesses and debate postponements may
only be done twice. Only one unscheduled recess may be taken in
the same sitting.
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 Procedure shall have the right to request that the
discussion of the issue be postponed, but for no longer than one
week.
Article 111. 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 2
minutes. 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.
Seimas members shall be granted the floor to speak on
personal issues at the end of the sitting.
Chapter 17. Voting and Vote Calculation
Article 112. Voting on issues under debate shall be open, by
raising voting cards, with the exception of cases provided for in
this Statute.
On the decision of the Seimas or the presiding officer, a
vote may be taken either by standing up or by using an electronic
vote tallying system rather than by raising a card. As a rule,
the electronic vote tallying system shall be used when taking a
vote on separate provisions of the issue under debate, on
separate articles or statements of a law, and on resolutions of
the sitting and issues concerning the work procedure of a
session. A separate instruction approved by the Seimas Board
shall establish the procedure for using the electronic vote
tallying system.
Seimas members shall vote personally. The right to vote may
not be delegated to other persons. 32
Article 113. After the discussion, the presiding officer
shall announce the commencement of the voting procedure by word
and while adopting a law or other act of the Seimas - by banging
the gavel as well. The presiding officer must also inform the
Seimas members of the number of votes required for the decision
to be adopted.
Walking in the chamber during voting shall be prohibited. No
issues shall be discussed until the voting procedure is
completed, the floor shall be granted only on the motives and
methods of voting, except for the time that the results of the
voting by roll call or by ballot are being counted.
Article 114. Laws of the Republic of Lithuania, resolutions
of the Seimas, and other decisions of the Seimas shall be adopted
at sittings of the Seimas by simple majority vote (i.e. more than
half) of the Seimas members participating in the sitting, with
the exception of special cases provided for in the Constitution
and this Statute.
In voting on the resolutions of the Seimas (which are
recorded in the minutes), separate provisions of the issue under
debate, separate articles or statements of a law, or questions
concerning the work procedure of the session, decisions shall be
adopted by majority vote of all the voting Seimas members, or may
also be passed without voting (by unanimous consent), i.e., if no
member responds to the presiding officer's question "Is there any
objection to...?", the presiding officer shall announce
"Adopted."
Prior to the first voting of every sitting, the presiding
officer must check the number of Seimas members present. If,
prior to a voting, the presiding officer or any parliamentary
group has not requested to check the number of the Seimas members
present at the sitting, no doubts may later be raised concerning
this. The last number of Seimas members determined at a sitting
shall be considered the number of Seimas members present at the
sitting.
Article 115. In adopting laws of the Republic of Lithuania,
resolutions of the Seimas, or other acts, with the exception of
personnel issues, roll call voting is permitted if it is so
requested by a parliamentary group and this requirement is
supported by no less than 1/3 of all Seimas members present at
the sitting. Such a request may be submitted by the
representative of a parliamentary group only upon the closing up
of a debate on the issue and prior to voting on the entire draft.
In such a case, ballot papers shall be distributed to the
Seimas members prior to the commencement of voting for roll call
voting; upon receipt of said ballot papers, the Seimas members
shall sign the record of issued ballot papers. Upon announcement
of the commencement of voting, every Seimas member shall fill in
the ballot paper, sign it, and hand it over to the tellers'
group. Upon tallying the votes, the presiding officer shall
announce the vote of every Seimas member.
Article 116. Issues concerning the election of the Seimas
Speaker, deputy Speakers, Seimas Chancellor, non-confidence in
the Government, the Prime Minister or an individual minister,
non-confidence in any officer of the Seimas or dismissal of the
head of a state institution appointed by the Seimas shall be
voted on only by secret ballot. On the decision of the Seimas,
other personnel issues may also be voted on by secret ballot.
In this manner, voting shall be done during recess. Ballot
papers shall be stamped and distributed by the tellers' group.
Upon receiving their ballot papers, Seimas members shall sign the
record of issued ballot papers. 33
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 can cross the
secret voting booth.
Article 117. 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.
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. It is not
necessary to sign the ballot papers.
Article 118. A standard ballot paper for secret and open
voting shall be approved by the Seimas prior to voting.
Issues concerning the dismissal of an officer or declaration
of non-confidence in an officer shall be voted on with ballot
papers on which the propositions "Dismiss" and "Not dismiss" or
"Confidence" and "Non-confidence" shall be inscribed. With one
ballot paper it is only possible to vote on either the dismissal
of an officer or the declaration of non-confidence in a
collective institution or one of its members, or the removal from
his post of an officer.
On one ballot paper it is only possible to write the
surnames, in alphabetical order, of candidates to the same post.
In all cases, ballot papers must have a heading which clearly
indicates the issue being voted on. On the ballot paper, the
member casting his or her vote shall cross out the surname of the
candidates against which he or she is voting or the proposition
which he or she does not accept.
Ballot papers which are not of the approved sample, as well
as ballot papers on which more surnames than the number of
officers being elected or more than one proposition given for
election is left, shall be deemed invalid. Additional surnames
and propositions which are written in shall not be counted.
The record of calculation of votes by ballot papers shall be
signed by the chairperson of the tellers' group and the presiding
officer.
Voting ballot papers shall be preserved in the Seimas
archives until the end of the term of office of the Seimas.
Article 119. One or two alternative propositions may be
presented to be voted upon. If one proposition is presented, it
shall be voted "for", "against" or "abstain". If two propositions
are presented, voting shall be "for the first proposition" or
"for the second proposition".
Alternative propositions shall be voted for in the order
that they were presented for discussion. If there are 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. The proposition which collects the
most votes shall be adopted if the necessary majority is
collected; otherwise, it shall be presented for additional voting
to confirm the decision. If this fails to be done, the Seimas
members may either propose a compromise or postpone the issue.
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.
Article 120. The decision of whether to postpone or reject
an issue shall be voted on before voting on the main point of the
issue. Numbers shall be voted on in increasing order. If
necessary, the presiding officer may change the order of voting
34
if those who made the proposals do not object.
Article 121. Votes may be explained after the presiding
officer announces what is being voted on and asks if anyone would
like to explain his or her vote.
In voting for an entire issue or the passing of a draft law,
no more than four Seimas members may explain their votes "for"
and no more than four -- "against". In other cases, no more than
one Seimas members may explain their votes "for" and no more than
one -- "against".
Article 122. When the electronic tallying system is not
being used, the tellers' group shall organise the voting and
count the votes. The tellers' group shall also assist the
presiding officer in checking how many Seimas members are present
in the chamber and in revising their registration.
Members of the tellers' group shall vote according to the
general procedure.
Article 123. The Seimas shall alphabetically appoint the
tellers' group for the period of one month upon the proposal of
the Seimas Chancellor. The group may not be made up solely of
members of one parliamentary group. Members of the Seimas Board,
chairpersons of Committees and commissions, Spokespersons of
parliamentary groups, and members of the Government shall not be
assigned to the tellers' group. The tellers' group shall elect a
chairperson from its members.
The Seimas may he 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. Upon the decision of the
presiding officer or the request of a parliamentary group which
is supported by no less than 1/3 of Seimas members present at the
sitting, the voting which took place before the declaration of
non-confidence may be repeated.
Article 124. 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.
Article 125. Before another item on the agenda has begun to
be discussed, voting carried out by raising cards or by using the
electronic system may be repeated once if so requested by the
presiding officer or a parliamentary group and the request
thereof is supported by no less than 1/3 of Seimas members
present at the sitting. This may be requested if the issue put up
to vote was not properly and clearly formulated.
Chapter 18. Official Registration and Announcement of Seimas
Documents
Article 126. Minutes of Seimas sittings shall be compiled
and announced by the Documentation Department of the Seimas and
shall be signed by the presiding officer. Issues which are
discussed, speakers, adopted resolutions, and voting results
shall be recorded in the minutes. The full texts of resolutions
adopted during sittings shall be recorded in the minutes.
Supplementary materials (data concerning the registration of
Seimas members, results of voting by roll call, statements of
Seimas members, etc.) shall be appended to the minutes.
Minutes shall be distributed to Committees and parliamentary
groups no later than the next workday after the sitting.
Seimas members may state their claims concerning the minutes
at the end of the first Seimas sitting of the next day. If there
35
are disputable questions, the Seimas shall adopt a decision
thereon by simple majority vote of the voting members after a
short explanation has been given by the officer who presided over
the previous sitting.
Article 127. The Seimas Documentation Department shall
compile and publish verbatim records of the Seimas sittings.
Their originals shall not be edited and shall be preserved in the
Documentation Department. Tape-recordings of the Seimas sittings
shall be preserved in the Documentation Department for a period
of at least one month.
Members of the Seimas and other persons who were granted the
floor during a sitting shall have the right to check, within a
fortnight 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.
In the event of disputes or misunderstandings concerning the
edited text of a verbatim record, a decision thereon shall be
adopted by the presiding officer of the respective sitting.
Article 128. Verbatim records of closed sittings shall not
be published; only members of the Seimas shall have access
thereto. The Seimas Chancellor shall preserve the verbatim
records of closed sittings and shall create conditions for Seimas
members to familiarize themselves with said records. A speech of
a Seimas member may be publicly quoted or comment on from the
verbatim record of a closed sitting only with his or her consent.
Article 129. Minutes shall be taken at sittings of the
Seimas Board and Assembly of Spokespersons; no verbatim records
shall be taken of the above sittings. Participants in the
sitting, issues which are discussed, speakers, adopted
resolutions, and voting results shall be listed in the minutes.
The minutes shall be signed by the chairperson of that sitting.
Seimas members shall familiarize themselves with said
minutes through Committees and parliamentary groups.
Article 130. Seimas Committees and commissions shall takes
minutes at their own sittings. Committee and commission
resolutions, conclusions, and minutes of sittings shall be signed
by the respective chairperson.
The minutes of sittings of committees and commissions are
official internal documents which may only be used by members of
the Seimas. Other persons may use these minutes only with the
consent of the chairperson of the Committee or commission. Upon
the completion of the calendar year, the minutes of sittings and
other documents of Committees and commissions shall be preserved
in the Committees or commission for the period of a year;
thereafter they shall be transferred to the Seimas archives.
All documents of ad hoc commissions must be transferred to
the Seimas archives within 10 days of the expiration of the
authorized period of said commission.
Article 131. Draft laws of the Republic of Lithuania
submitted for public consideration shall be published in the
press using State funds. In publishing such drafts, the names of
the persons who prepared and initiated them must be indicated.
Draft laws given over to be published must be signed by the
chairperson of the Committee to which the draft was given for
preparation as well as by the Seimas Chancellor.
36
Article 132. Before being given to the President of the
Republic to be signed, adopted laws of the Republic of Lithuania
and other acts of the Seimas shall, together with the visas of
the chairperson of the Committee which prepared the draft and of
the Seimas Chancellor, as well as of the officer who presided
over the sitting whereat the act was adopted if the sitting was
not presided over by the Seimas Speaker, be presented to the
Seimas Speaker to be given a visa or to be signed.
Adopted laws which have a visa from the Seimas Speaker shall
immediately be given to the President of the Republic to be
signed.
The Seimas Speaker shall sign acts adopted by the Seimas
Board after they have been given a visa by the Seimas Chancellor.
Upon signing an act, the Seimas Speaker shall transfer said
act to the Seimas Chancellor to be promulgated.
Article 133. Laws of the Republic of Lithuania and other
documents of the Seimas shall be promulgated and shall become
effective pursuant to the Law "On the Procedure for Promulgating
and Enforcing the Laws of the Republic of Lithuania and other
Legal Acts."
Laws of the Republic of Lithuania 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 State Controller, and, as necessary, to heads of other State
institutions as well as to local governments within 3 working
days after their signing.
Article 134. The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania shall
have two seals with the Lithuanian State emblem - the great seal
which is 38 mm in diameter, and the small seal which is 27 mm in
diameter. The Seimas Chancellor shall be responsible for the use
and preservation of the Seimas seals.
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 Seimas
Speaker which are sent to institutions of State power and
government of foreign states.
The small seal of the Seimas with the Lithuanian State
emblem shall be imprinted on the identification certificates and
other documents signed by the Seimas Speaker, his or her
deputies, or the Seimas Chancellor.
Article 135. The Seimas Speaker, his or her deputies, and
the Seimas Chancellor shall have the right to speak on behalf of
the Seimas. The Seimas may also authorize heads of delegations to
the international organizations who are appointed by the Seimas
and a Speaker's Spokesperson for the press appointed by the
Seimas Board to speak on behalf of the Seimas.
Chairpersons of Seimas Committee, their deputies, and
authorised Committee members may speak on behalf of their
respective Committees.
Article 136. The Lithuanian Radio and Television shall
regularly prepare coverage of open sittings of the Seimas. On the
resolution of the Seimas, separate sittings shall be broadcast in
full on the radio and television at a time acceptable by the
Lithuanian Radio and Television. In disputable cases, issues
shall be resolved by the Seimas at the request of parliamentary
groups.
Accredited journalists shall be supplied with documents
which are necessary for their job by the Seimas information and
analysis service.
37
Article 137. Official information concerning sittings of the
Seimas, the Seimas Board, and the Assembly of Spokespersons shall
be prepared and announced by the Seimas information and analysis
service and shall be signed by the presiding officer.
The state mass media, when publishing or broadcasting
coverage of Seimas sittings, shall also announce an official
report on these sittings. (Amended 12 October 1993)
Article 138. After important sittings, Committees shall, as
a rule, prepare reports for the mass media on the decisions
adopted by the respective committee and shall present said
reports to the Seimas information and analysis service. Broad
casting or coverage of sittings of the Seimas Board, the Assembly
of Spokespersons, Committees, commissions and parliamentary
groups shall be made only with the consent of the chief officer
of the respective group.
Article 139. Documents intended for all members of the
Seimas, Committees or parliamentary groups shall be distributed
by the Secretariat of the sittings. The documents must be
registered at the Secretariat of the sittings and must be signed
by at least one member of the Seimas. The procedure for
submitting, registering and distributing drafts of laws and other
standard acts shall be established in Chapter 19 of this Statute.
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.
PART 5
LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE
Chapter 19. Registration of Drafts of Laws and other Standard
Acts
Article 140. Drafts of laws of the Republic of Lithuania and
of other acts of the Seimas, as well as the proposals concerning
the enactment thereof, shall be submitted to the Seimas for
consideration by the institutions and persons who, pursuant to
the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, have the right of
legislative initiative. Submitted drafts and proposals must be
signed by representatives of the initiators thereof.
A supporting explanation shall be submitted together with
the draft law wherein, as a rule, the following shall be set
forth:
1) the objectives and goals of the draft law;
2) the current legal procedure in accordance with which the
issues considered in the draft law are being regulated;
3) what new provisions of legal regulation are planned, the
positive qualities of the newly regulated issues, and the
positive results which are foreseen;
4) possible negative consequences of the enacted law and the
measures which should be applied in order to avoid said
consequences;
5) the incorporation of the draft law into the legal system,
which legal acts in said sphere shall 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 draft;
6) in the event that executive acts are required for the
implementation of the draft law - who should prepare them and
when, as well as the guidelines of said executive acts;
7) the evaluation and findings of specialists obtained
38
during the period that the law was drafted;
8) the author or group of authors of the draft law;
9) the notional words of the draft law required for the
inclusion of the draft into the computerised search system; and
10) other substantiations and explanations which the authors
believe to be necessary.
If the initiators of the draft law cannot present a
supporting explanation, they may apply to the Seimas Chancellor
with a request that the Legal Department assist in the drawing up
of the explanation or that they be permitted to submit the draft
without a supporting explanation.
Findings of criminological examinations concerning the
possible influence of the adoption of the law on the criminogenic
situation shall be submitted together with the draft law. The
preparation of the findings of criminological examination shall
be organised by the Ministry of Justice at the request of the
initiators of the draft.
As a rule, draft laws concerning the amendment, supplement,
or repeal of other laws which are requisite upon the enactment of
the proposed draft law as well as, if necessary, the draft
resolution regarding the procedure of implementing the law, shall
be submitted together with the draft law.
The requirements set forth in this Chapter, with the
exception of the requirement concerning the supporting
explanation, shall apply to the drafts of all laws and standard
acts of the Seimas (in this Chapter all of the above drafts shall
hereinafter be referred to as draft laws), with the exception of
special cases provided for in this Statute.
Article 141. 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. When registering, a
standard title page of the draft and a form shall be filled in,
all of the persons who prepared or initiated the draft shall be
specified, and the documentation presented thereby shall be
itemised. The draft shall be indexed in accordance with the
classifier of the areas of legislation.
During the consideration and further preparation of a draft,
all new versions thereof as well as the conclusions, amendments
and supplements which have been put forward and the names of the
persons who submitted them, shall be presented to and registered
by the Secretariat of the sittings. All of the above shall be
executed as a cover letter of the draft and shall be distributed
together with the draft and the supporting explanation.
The Legal Department shall furnish conclusions on the
registered draft law, stating whether or not the draft is in
conformity with the laws which are already in effect, and whether
or not it corresponds to the technical rules of law-making. If
the scope of the draft is broad, the Seimas Chancellor shall have
the right to extend this term. Together with the above
conclusions, the registered draft law shall be handed over to the
Seimas Chancellor.
The Seimas Chancellor shall, within 3 days, refer the draft
law together with the supporting explanation and conclusions of
the Legal Department to the committees, parliamentary groups, the
Government and the Office of the President of the Republic and,
as necessary, to appropriate local governments. All members of
the Seimas shall also be notified of the draft by a special
bulletin.
Article 142. 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. Drafts of laws on the amendment,
supplement or repeal of other laws requisite upon the adoption of
39
the proposed draft law shall also be discussed together with said
draft law.
If several alternative drafts of one law have been received,
they shall be concurrently considered prior to and during the
discussion at the sitting of the Seimas, and one of said drafts
shall be selected.
Article 143. As necessary, the Seimas Board may charge other
Committees to make a preliminary analysis of the draft law or to
propose that the Government prepare its conclusions. The Seimas
Board may also form a special working group of Seimas members,
representatives of State institutions, experts, and scientists to
prepare a draft law for consideration in the Seimas.
Article 144. The committee to which a draft law has been
referred for preliminary consideration and for presenting
conclusions, must establish:
1) whether or not the draft is in conformity with the
Constitution and other laws of the Republic of Lithuania, and, if
it is not in conformity therewith, whether or not the committee
approves of the amendment of said laws;
2) the approximate amount of the State budget resources
required for the implementation of the law;
3) the expediency of the draft from political, economic, and
social points of view;
4) whether or not the concept of the draft corresponds to
the approved programme of the Government;
5) whether or not the draft is in conformity with the
international obligations of the Republic of Lithuania;
6) whether or not the draft is analogous to other drafts
which have been rejected within the last 6 months; and
7) whether or not the draft corresponds to the criteria of
efficiency, specific character, and completion, and whether or
not it is acceptable from the points of view of legal culture and
the technical rules of law-making.
Article 145. The committee to which a draft law has been
referred for consideration and which must present conclusions
shall present a written evaluation thereof in accordance with the
criteria set forth in Article 144 of this Chapter. Refusal to
approve a draft must be substantiated.
Approval may be expressed in the three ways: without any
comments, with specific comments, or on the condition that
certain amendments shall be made to the draft. In the last case,
concretely formulated amendments may be proposed.
During a session of the Seimas, the committees must prepare
their conclusions within 10 days. The initiators of the draft
shall be notified of the conclusions.
The Committee which is performing additional examination of
a draft law may also express its opinion at the sitting of the
principal committee which is conducting the examination of the
draft law upon delegating its representative to the sitting.
Article 146. The Seimas Chancellor shall not present draft
laws for consideration in the Seimas if the Seimas Committee on
State and Law comes to the conclusion that the laws are not in
conformity with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and
no draft amendments to the Constitution have been presented in
the established manner. 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, the draft shall not be accepted
for repeat consideration.
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 familiarized therewith. 40
In all of the above cases, drafts with a corresponding visa
of the Seimas Chancellor 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 archives. An announcement to this
effect must be made at the Seimas sitting, and the person who
presented the draft must be notified thereof.
Article 147. 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 Seimas
Chancellor of the decision, and the Chancellor must notify the
Seimas. In such an case, a copy of the draft law shall be left
with the principal Committee and the Legal Department.
However, in the event that the recalled draft law 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 or Government of the Republic.
Chapter 20. Presentation of Drafts of Laws and other Standard
Acts at Sittings of the Seimas
Article 148. The initiator of a draft law or
representative thereof shall be invited to attend the sitting of
the Seimas where the draft is presented. Said representative
shall give a brief (maximum of 10 minutes) characterisation of
the draft and shall answer questions of the Seimas members.
Thereafter, the presiding officer shall familiarize the members
with the conclusions of the Legal Department and also of the
Government, provided that such conclusions have been received,
and shall propose that a vote be taken on the proposals.
The Seimas must decide whether or not to include in the work
programme of the session the draft laws which have not yet been
included therein and to commence the procedure of consideration
and commence the procedure of consideration, whether or not to
reject the draft, and whether or not to postpone consideration.
If the Seimas decides to commence the procedure of
consideration, a decision may be taken on whether to apply the
urgency procedure or the special urgency procedure.
Article 149. 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 announce
a draft for public consideration, which shall be adopted provided
that at least 1/3 of all the Seimas members vote in favour
thereof.
Application for the urgency or special urgency procedures
shall be established in Chapter 24 of this Statute.
Article 150. The procedure for consideration may be
commenced only concerning drafts which are included in the work
programme of the session. The consideration procedure shall
consist of the following stages: consideration at the principal
Committee, consideration at the sitting of the Seimas, and
passage.
Upon deciding to commence the procedure of consideration of
a draft law, the Seimas must at the same sitting appoint 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 for further
consideration or revision of the draft.
A decision to propose that a draft law be made available to
41
the public may also be adopted at the sitting.
Article 151. In the event that State funding is required for
the implementation of a law, the proposals of the initiators of
the draft and the conclusions of the Committee on Budget and
Finance and the Government concerning the possible sources of
funding must be presented during further consideration of the
draft.
If amending the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania is
required to enact the draft law, the conclusions of the Committee
on State and Law must be presented during further consideration
of the draft.
Article 152. If an initiative group for the announcement of
a referendum on the draft 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.
Should the Seimas establish that the draft of the provisions of
the law presented for the referendum is not in conformity with
the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, the issue of
amending the Constitution must be considered first.
If the Seimas decides to discuss and enact a submitted
provisions of the law, the announcement of the referendum may be
postponed; however, the referendum must be announced at the
sitting at which the Seimas rejects the submitted provisions of
the law.
Chapter 21. Consideration of Draft Laws in the Principal
Committee
Article 153. The committee which has been appointed by the
Seimas as the principal committee for the examination 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. For the
above purpose, responsible committee members and experts must be
assigned, additional conclusions may be requested of other
committees and State institutions, and other preliminary
decisions may be adopted. If the committee is charged to revise
the draft, a working group may be formed for said purpose. As
necessary, the Committee may also discuss issues concerning the
preparedness to consider the draft at other sittings.
Article 154. The principal committee must send the draft law
to all interested State institutions and, as necessary, to public
organisations, so that said institutions and organisations can
send their evaluations.
All material which has been received concerning a draft law
shall be evaluated and summarized by the principal committee. If
it has been resolved in the Seimas to consider the text of the
draft presented by the initiators, the principal committee shall
be entitled to present alongside its own version for
consideration at the Seimas sitting.
If a draft law has been announced to the public for
consideration, the received proposals shall be referred to the
principal committee.
Article 155. Each draft law must be considered by the
principal committee no later than 5 workdays prior to the
consideration thereof at a sitting of the Seimas. The time and
place of such deliberations must be announced at a sitting of the
Seimas.
Representatives of the initiators of the draft,
representatives of the committees which are preparing additional
42
conclusions, and experts shall be invited to the deliberations by
the principal committee. Said persons must be granted the floor
at the sitting of the committee.
Representatives of other interested State institutions and
public organisations may also be invited to the sitting. Upon the
consent of the presiding officer, they, as well as members of
other committees present at the sitting, may also be granted the
floor.
In the event that the principal committee fails to examine
the draft law within the established time period, it must address
the Seimas Speaker with a request to prolong the period.
Article 156. One of the following decisions must be adopted
during deliberations in the principal committee:
1) to approve of a draft law submitted by the initiators, or
of a draft law revised by the committee;
2) to approve of an alternative draft law;
3) to approve of a draft with stipulations;
4) to announce the draft to the public for consideration;
5) to return the draft to its initiators for revision; or
6) to reject the draft.
The adopted decision shall be presented for consideration of
the draft at the Seimas sitting.
After deliberations by the principal committee, the draft
which has been submitted by the initiators or revised by the
committee shall be forwarded to the Documentation Department for
editing. The edited draft shall be coordinated with a
representative of the initiators thereof.
The edited text of the draft must be distributed among the
Seimas members and delivered to the Government no later than 2
days prior to deliberations at the Seimas sitting. Additional
data together with a cover letter shall be distributed among the
Seimas members no later than 1 workday prior to above
deliberations.
The Seimas Speaker must be notified of the principal
committee reporter no later than 2 workdays prior to the
consideration of the draft law at the sitting of the Seimas.
When possible, a recording shall be made during the
deliberations in the principal committee, and minutes shall be
kept of the speeches which are made.
Chapter 22. Consideration of Draft Laws at Seimas Sittings
Article 157. During consideration at a sitting of the
Seimas, the expediency, conception and the basic provisions and
principles of the draft law shall be discussed and all the
received amendments and supplements shall be presented. At the
Seimas sitting, the draft law shall be considered according to
the following procedure:
1) report of the principal Committee which is examining the
draft law;
2) a vote, should the principal Committee propose to return
the draft to its initiators or to reject it;
3) reports by representatives of initiators of alternative
drafts, should such be presented;
4) additional reports by other Committees;
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;
6) a special discussion of the structure, individual
sections, paragraphs, and articles of the draft. Should there be
no proposals to hold a special discussion, the Seimas may abandon
said discussion or hold it together with the general discussion;
and
7) a concluding word by the principal speaker and
representatives of the initiators of alternative drafts.
43
The time allotted to the special and general discussions in the
Seimas sitting agenda shall be divided into two parts for
representatives of the majority and minority. If the
representatives of the Seimas majority or minority have not fully
used the time allotted for discussion, the discussion shall be
completed prior to expiration of the allotted time.
Article 158. After consideration, the Seimas shall decide:
1) whether or not to approve the draft prepared by the
initiators or revised by the Committee, or one of the alternative
drafts, and whether or not to appoint the date of passage of the
law after at least 4 workdays. If necessary, the principal
Committee shall be charged to make the necessary amendments and
supplements in accordance with the comments voiced during the
discussion. In this case, the passage of the law shall be
prepared no sooner than after 8 days;
2) whether or not to announce the draft for public
consideration provided that the proposals specified in Par. 1
hereof have been adopted. The results obtained from the above
consideration shall be summarised by the principal Committee and
the entire procedure shall be repeated beginning from the
consideration in this Committee. As a rule, the draft of one and
the same law shall not be announced for public consideration
twice;
3) whether or not to return the draft for revision to the
principal Committee examining it. In such a case, the procedure
shall be repeated beginning from the consideration in the
principal Committee. The above decision may be adopted only once
during the consideration of the draft;
4) whether or not to adjourn the consideration of the draft
in the event that the consideration has not been completed at one
sitting, if it transpires that the Seimas members require
additional information for the passage of the law, or in the
cases provided for in Article 110 of this Statute;
5) whether or not to return the draft to its initiators for
fundamental revision. In such a case, the full procedure of
considering the revised draft law shall be repeated; and
6) whether or not to reject the draft or charge the
preparation of a new draft.
Upon adopting a decision specified in Pars. 2 or 3, the
Seimas may charge the principal Committee or other Committees to
examine the draft additionally.
Chapter 23. The Passage of a Draft Law at a Seimas Sitting
Article 159. If the Committee presents a newly revised
version of a draft for adoption, said draft must be distributed
among the Seimas members and delivered to the Government at least
2 workdays before the sitting.
If there are essential amendments and supplements in the
draft, the criminological examination provided for in part 4 of
Article 140 must be carried out.
The Seimas members, parliamentary groups, Committees and the
Government must present all proposed deletions, amendments and
supplements to the draft law with their respective signatures to
the Secretariat of the sittings at least 24 hours before the
commencement of the sitting whereat the passage of the draft law
is planned. The Secretariat of the sittings shall hand the above
amendments, supplements and deletions over to the principal
Committee which is examining the law, shall make copies thereof,
and shall distribute them to all of the Seimas members.
An amendment or supplement must be adequately formulated and
conform to the substance of the draft, and may not exceed one
article in volume.
During the passage of the law, new amendments, supplements
44
and deletions shall not be accepted, with the exception of
editorial corrections which shall be neither discussed nor put to
vote, but which shall be submitted in writing to the principal
Committee which examined the draft law.
Article 160. During the passage of a draft law the reporter
shall give a brief notification of the amendments made by the
Committee and shall discuss the additional proposals and
amendments which have been received, naming the persons who
submitted them.
Thereafter, separate parts of the draft law shall be
considered and voted on. The sections, chapters and articles of
the draft shall be discussed and voted on according to their
sequence, unless the Seimas decides otherwise. The officer
presiding over the sitting may put the articles which condition
the principles and structure of the draft to vote before voting
on other articles. Articles to which no proposals have been
submitted may be passed without vote, provided that not a single
member of the Seimas objects thereto. In other cases, a vote
shall be taken on each article, chapter, and section.
During passage, the floor may only be granted to the authors
of the submitted amendments and supplements (for up to 3 minutes
on each proposal), the reporter, and the members speaking on the
motives of voting; the reporter shall not be asked any questions.
Upon being granted the floor concerning an amendment or
supplement, the author thereof may not speak on the motives of
voting.
Article 161. A separate article of the law shall be
considered and passed in accordance with the following procedure:
1) the reporter shall announce the proposals received in
writing -- either to amend the entire article, to alter some
statements of the article, to supplement the article, to delete
some statements of the article, as well as may briefly comment on
each proposal (for a maximum of 2 minutes each);
2) during voting, alternative proposals shall be chosen.
When several proposals concerning one article have been received,
voting shall be conducted according to the sequence specified in
Par.1 hereof, and in the case of the specified sequence --
according to the sequence in which the proposals have been
submitted. Amendments or supplements to the amendment shall be
voted on prior to voting on the amendment itself. Proposals
contradicting those previously adopted shall be rejected without
voting by the officer presiding over the sitting. When the
reporter announces that the principal Committee is adopting the
proposal, a vote is not necessary, provided that no members of
the Seimas object thereto. Before voting, the person who
submitted the proposal may retract it; and
3) the entire article shall be put to vote.
Additional articles of the draft law which are submitted
shall be considered and adopted according to the same procedure
as for all the other articles of the draft law.
Article 162. If the reporter believes that it is necessary
to hold one more sitting of the Committee for the coordination of
the adopted proposals and so demands, passage may be adjourned
after voting on all articles, but for no longer than until the
next day of the Seimas sitting. After adjournment, amendments and
supplements made by the Committee which must not contradict the
content of the adopted articles shall be discussed and put to the
vote. During the discussion, other proposals concerning
amendments and supplements shall not be accepted.
In the event that the articles which condition the
principles and structure of the law, as well as separate sections
or chapters, are not adopted during voting, the reporter may
propose to amend the draft prior to voting on the entire draft
45
law. If the Seimas adopts said proposal, the procedure shall be
continued from the consideration of the draft law at the
principal Committee. During consideration of a draft law, the
above alternative may only be used once.
When voting for articles of the draft law on taxes or other
laws which regulate taxes or due to which the State revenue can
change immensely, the passage shall be adjourned till the next
day of the sitting if the member of the Government, a
representative of the Government at the Seimas or a person
authorized by the head or member of the Government demands so
during the passage of a law.
When continuing passage of the law, the procedure of
adopting the last article before the adjourn shall be repeated.
Article 163. During the passage of a law, proposals to
reject the draft shall not be accepted. The draft may be rejected
only if it does not receive the required number of votes.
After all the articles of the law have been considered, the
entire draft law shall be put to the vote. If the law is not
passed, the Seimas may charge the initiators of the draft or the
principal Committee to work out a new draft.
As necessary, a resolution concerning the enforcement of the
law shall be considered and passed, and laws on amendment,
supplement and repeal of other laws or their articles related to
the enacted law shall be considered and adopted during the
passage of the law.
Article 164. The Seimas Speaker, a Committee or no less than
1/5 of Seimas members may address the Seimas with a justified
petition concerning the violations of the Statute of the Seimas,
committed, in their opinion during the passage of a law, as long
as the law has not yet been signed by the President of the
Republic. Should such a petition be received, the Commission on
Ethics and Procedures must present its conclusions and proposals
to the Seimas within 5 workdays. Until the Commission on Ethics
and Procedures presents such conclusions, the Seimas Speaker
shall not hand the law over to the President of the Republic for
signing.
In the event that the Commission on Ethics and Procedures
states that the legislative procedure or any other significant
provisions of this Statute have been grossly violated, and that
this conditioned the decision of the Seimas, the Seimas shall
decide by vote whether to revoke the disputed law or to leave it
in effect.
Should the Seimas revoke its former decision concerning the
draft, the consideration thereof may be continued from the stage
when the violation was committed.
Article 165. If the draft law or the proposal concerning the
passing thereof is rejected at any stage of consideration, it may
be submitted again, but no sooner than 6 months thereafter.
Chapter 24. Consideration of Draft Law according to Procedures of
Urgency or Special Urgency
Article 166. Projects of Seimas resolutions and, should the
Seimas so decide, draft laws, shall be considered according to
the procedure of urgency.
The above procedure shall be used upon the justified
proposal of the President of the Republic, the Seimas Speaker,
the Seimas Board, the principal Committee, parliamentary groups,
or the Government. The decision to consider a draft law according
to the procedure of urgency may as a rule be adopted during the
presentation of a draft law by a majority of voting members,
provided that said majority is more than 1/4 of all the Seimas
members. 46
Article 167. If the urgent procedure of consideration is
applied, the time period between the stages of consideration--
consideration in the principal Committee, consideration in the
Seimas sitting, and passage -- shall be shortened. Said time
periods must not be shorter than 1 workday or longer than 3
workdays. The Seimas shall establish the concrete terms in each
case separately, however, in each case, the draft law under
consideration must be distributed to the Seimas members at least
1 day prior to the sitting at which it will be considered or
passed.
Article 168. On the proposal of the President of the
Republic, the Seimas Speaker or the Government, drafts of laws
and resolutions of the Seimas may be considered according to the
procedure of special urgency. The decision to apply the above
procedure shall be adopted by a majority vote of all the Seimas
members participating in the sitting, provided that said majority
is more than 1/3 of all the Seimas members.
According to the above procedure, if the draft has been
distributed to the Seimas members and the requirements prescribed
in Chapter 19 of this Statute have been implemented, the
procedure of passage may be commenced immediately and the
requirements of parts 1, 2 and 3 of Article 159 of the Statute
shall not be applied, however, all amendments must be presented
in writing not later than 2 hours prior to the commencement of
the passage procedure.
Chapter 25. Consideration at Seimas Sittings of the Law which has
been Returned by the President of the Republic
Article 169. If, pursuant to Par. 1 of Article 71 of the
Constitution, the President of the Republic returns a draft law
which has been passed by the Seimas to the Seimas for repeat
consideration, the Seimas Speaker shall notify the Seimas thereof
at the next sitting.
The Seimas must decide by voting whether to consider the
returned law anew, or whether to deem the law as not having been
passed. In the latter case, the Seimas may charge one of the
Committees to prepare a new draft of the law or form a working
group for the above purpose. A discussion may precede voting.
Should the decision be made to consider the draft law anew,
the Seimas must decide at the same sitting which Committees the
returned draft law as well as the amendments and supplements
submitted by the President of the Republic shall be referred to
for examination.
Article 170. Consideration of the returned law in the
Committees and at the Seimas sitting shall be prepared in
accordance with the requirements set forth in Part 5 of this
Statute. However, said law may not be considered according to the
procedure of special urgency, and constitutional laws may also
not be considered according to the procedure of urgency.
During the above consideration a decision shall be passed on
whether to accept all of the amendments and supplements submitted
by the President of the Republic or whether to vote on the entire
draft law without amendments.
Article 171. During passage of the returned law, a vote
shall first of all be taken on whether to pass the entire law
without amendments or whether to adopt all of the amendments and
supplements submitted by the President of the Republic.
A law which has been repeatedly considered by the Seimas
shall be deemed passed provided that more than half (in the case
of a constitutional law -- at least 3/5) of all of the Seimas
members voted in favour thereof. 47
If during consideration the Seimas adopts all of the
amendments and supplements submitted by the President of the
Republic, the repeatedly considered law shall be deemed to have
been passed provided that the majority of the Seimas members
participating in the sitting (in the case of a constitutional law
-- more than half of all the Seimas members) voted in favour
thereof.
Chapter 25. Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of
Lithuania and Consideration of Draft Constitutional Laws
Article 172. The following shall be deemed to be
constitutional laws:
1) laws provided for in Article 150 of the Constitution as
well as Constitutional amendments. The procedure of their
consideration and passage shall be established in Chapter 14 of
the Constitution and this Chapter of the Statute of the Seimas;
and
2) laws which are directly specified in the Constitution as
well as other laws which give concrete expression to
constitutional norms and are set forth in the Law on the list of
constitutional laws. The procedure of their consideration and
passage shall be defined in Article 69 of the Constitution and in
this Chapter of the Statute.
The list of constitutional laws shall be established by the
Seimas by a 3/5 majority vote of the Seimas members. Laws which
have already been passed may also be included in the list if the
Seimas arrives at the conclusion that said laws are, according to
their content and significance, constitutional.
Article 173. Consideration of the draft Law on Amendment of
the Constitution shall commence consideration in the Seimas only
in cases when the draft is submitted by a group of at least 1/4
of the Seimas members or at least 300,000 electors who have
expressed their will by putting their signatures under the text
of the proposed amendment, with the exception of cases provided
for in the Constitution which provide for Constitutional
amendment only by referendum.
The Constitution may not be amended during a state of
emergency or martial law.
Article 174. Drafts of constitutional amendments and other
constitutional laws shall be registered, submitted, considered,
and passed according to the procedure established in Chapters 19-
25 of this Statute, with the exception of provisions set forth in
this Chapter. Said drafts may not be considered according to the
procedures of urgency or special urgency.
Before commencing consideration of such a draft at a Seimas
sitting, the draft must be considered by the principal Committee
which is examining said draft within the 10-day period prior
thereto, and distributed to the Seimas members and delivered to
the Government within the 7-day period prior thereto. After
consideration at the Seimas sitting, the procedure of passing the
law shall commence no sooner than 10 days thereafter.
The Committee on State and Law shall be the principal
Committee examining drafts of laws on amendment of the
Constitution.
It shall be prohibited to restrict discussions on the
constitutional law which is under consideration, with the
exception of cases when such a decision is adopted by a majority
vote of at least 1/3 of all of the Seimas members.
Article 175. Laws on constitutional amendments shall be
considered and voting in the Seimas thereon shall be held twice,
with an adjournment of at least 3 months between voting.
A law on amendment of the Constitution shall be deemed to
48
have been passed by the Seimas provided that at least 2/3 of all
the Seimas members voted in favour thereof during each voting,
and that the same text of the amendment was put to the vote each
time.
A constitutional amendment which has not been passed may be
submitted to the Seimas for repeat consideration no sooner than 1
year thereafter. Other constitutional laws shall be deemed to
have been passed if more than a half of the Seimas members vote
in favour thereof.
Amendments to said constitutional laws or laws which repeal
or amend the laws which have been in effect prior thereto must be
passed by a 3/5 majority vote of all the Seimas members by taking
a single vote thereon.
Chapter 27. Adoption of Resolutions
Article 176. A resolution shall be a non-standard act of the
Seimas which shall be adopted when it is required to confirm in
writing the opinion of the Seimas on any issue which is of
national importance. Other non-standard acts of the Seimas
(appeals, declarations, etc.) shall be adopted in the same manner
as resolutions.
The right of initiative to submit a resolution shall be
vested in the President of the Republic, members of the Seimas,
Committees, parliamentary groups. Proposals to consider a
resolution may be submitted during the discussion of the agenda
of a week's or a day's sittings.
Article 177. The text of the draft of a resolution must be
presented to the Seimas members at least one day prior to the
consideration thereof.
During consideration, a representative of the initiators of
the draft of the resolution shall be granted the floor and shall
answer questions; thereafter, a discussion shall be held
according to the general procedure.
Article 178. After consideration the Seimas shall resolve
whether:
1) to adopt the resolution without amendments. Said proposal
may not be adopted if more than 1/3 of all of the Seimas members
object thereto;
2) to edit the draft of the resolution; or
3) to reject the draft of the resolution or to charge the
preparation of a new draft.
Article 179. Should it be decided to edit the draft of the
resolution, the Seimas shall assign the date and time of its
consideration and shall form a drafting commission. No more than
9 members of the Seimas may be on the commission. The drafting
commission must include at least one initiator of the draft of
the resolution. Other members of the Seimas shall submit their
written proposals to the drafting commission.
Article 180. After the drafting commission announces the
revised text, new proposals may be considered only on the
decision of the Seimas.
Should the drafting commission reject the proposals which
have been submitted in advance, the Seimas shall take a vote on
said proposals at the request of the submitters thereof. Upon
completion of the voting on alternative proposals, the entire
text of the resolution shall be voted on.
Chapter 28. Approval of State Budget
Article 181. Upon drawing up the draft State Budget for the
following year, the Government shall submit said draft to the
49
Seimas Chancellor by the 17th of October. Upon receipt of the
draft, the Chancellor shall forward copies thereof to the
Committees and parliamentary groups within 2 workdays.
The report of the Government on the draft Budget shall be
heard at the next sitting of the Seimas. Thereafter, at least 10
days shall be assigned for consideration of the draft Budget in
Committees and parliamentary groups. Sittings of the Seimas shall
not be held during the above-specified period.
Article 182. The Committees shall examine the chapters of
the draft State Budget in accordance with their competence, and
shall formulate their conclusions and amendments and submit them
by the 10th of November to the Committee on Budget and Finance.
Representatives of the Government and the Committee on
Budget and Finance shall be invited to the sittings of Committees
during which the draft State Budget is to be examined. The
Government must furnish the Committees with all the data whereon
the draft Budget is based.
Article 183. At all stages of consideration of the draft
State Budget, Committees, parliamentary groups, and individual
members of the Seimas may propose an increase in the expenditures
provided for in the draft only on condition that they specify the
sources of financing said expenditure.
It shall not be permitted to propose a decrease in the
expenditures included in the draft Budget pursuant to laws, other
standard acts adopted by the Seimas, and international
obligations of the Republic of Lithuania. Should the Seimas
desire to reduce said expenditure, it must first of all amend the
appropriate standard acts.
Article 184. Upon receipt of the conclusions of other
Committees and of the opinions and proposed amendments of
parliamentary groups, the Committee on Budget and Finance shall,
together with the representatives of the Government,
parliamentary groups, and other Committees, consider the draft
State Budget and formulate conclusions thereon.
The Committee on Budget and Finance must either adopt the
amendments to the Budget Law proposed by another Committee if
said amendments are within the competence of the respective
Committee, or reject said amendments, presenting a justified
response.
All Committees of the Seimas shall also be entitled to
submit proposals to amend those chapters of the Budget which are
not within their competence. In such an event, the Committee on
Budget and Finance shall not be obligated to notify the Committee
of the adopted decision.
Article 185. The draft State Budget must be considered at
the Seimas sitting no later than by the 20th of November. At the
sitting, a report of the Committee on Budget and Finance shall be
heard, and conclusions of other Committees as well as opinions
and commentaries of parliamentary groups and individual Seimas
members, which have been rejected by the Committee on Budget and
Finance shall be submitted.
Article 186. The second deliberation of the draft State
Budget shall be conducted within 10 days after the primary
deliberation of the draft; at the second deliberation the
Government shall present the draft revised in accordance with the
received proposals and commentaries. During the sitting, a
representative of the Government shall announce which proposals
and amendments submitted by Committees, parliamentary groups, and
individual members of the Seimas have been included in the draft
Budget and which have been rejected, shall give reasons for said
rejections, and shall answer questions of the Seimas members.
50
After the discussion, a vote shall be taken on assigning at
one of the next Seimas sittings the passage of a law which
approves the State Budget. Prior to the commencement of the
sitting, new proposals and amendments shall be submitted to the
representative of the Government according to the procedure
established in Article 159 of this Statute. Should there be a
great number of significant comments concerning the draft Budget,
said draft may be returned to the Government for revision. No
more than 10 days shall be allotted therefor; thereafter, the
procedure of second deliberation shall be resumed.
Article 187. Alternative proposals and amendments which are
objected to by the Government but which meet the conditions set
forth in Article 183 of this Chapter may be adopted only after
more than half of all the Seimas members vote in favour thereof.
Upon considering and adopting decisions concerning the
proposals and amendments, the Seimas must vote on the entire
draft State Budget.
The Budget shall be approved pursuant to the indices
established in the Law on Budgeting of the Republic of Lithuania.
The appropriations according to the chapters of budget
expenditure shall also be concurrently approved. The
appropriations shall be mandatory to all executors of the Budget.
Article 188. In the event that the Seimas rejects the draft
State Budget, one more deliberation shall be assigned to be held
no sooner than 5 days, and no later than 10 days after, during
which a draft revised by the Government in accordance with the
comments of the Committees, parliamentary groups, and members of
the Seimas shall be presented. The deliberation shall be
conducted according to the procedure provided for in Article 186
of this Chapter.
Should the Government resign by reason of non-approval of
the State Budget, the draft Budget submitted by the new
Government shall be considered and approved according to the
procedure provided for in Articles 181-187 of this Statute. The
time of consideration shall be fixed by a resolution of the
Seimas which shall be adopted no later than on the next day of
sittings after the new Government has been granted authorization
to act.
In the event of failure to approve the State Budget within
the established time limits, the monthly budgetary expenditure in
the beginning of the budget year may not exceed 1/12 of the State
Budget expenditure of the preceding year.
Article 189. The Seimas may revise the Budget during the
budget year. The Budget shall be revised in the same procedure it
is drawn up, adopted and approved. As necessary, the Seimas may
approve an additional budget.
In the event that funds which cannot be allocated from the
Government Reserve Fund or additional funds which are obtained
during the performance of the Budget are required, the Government
shall submit to the Seimas a draft law on supplementary
appropriations. The purpose and amount of the required funds as
well as the source of the financing thereof shall be specified in
the draft.
Adhering to the conditions stipulated in Article 183 of this
Chapter, Committees, parliamentary groups or individual members
of the Seimas may propose a draft law on the revision of certain
budget expenditure clauses.
In the above case, a law shall be passed by a majority vote
of the Seimas members participating in the sitting provided that
the Government has no objections thereto. Otherwise, the
affirmative vote of more than a half of all the Seimas members
shall be required for passing the law.
Chapter 29. Ratification and Denunciation of International
51
Treaties
Article 190. Resolutions of the Seimas concerning the
ratification of a international treaty shall be adopted if no
less than 2/5 of all of the Seimas members vote in favour
thereof, and denunciation of international treaties shall be
adopted if no less than 3/5 of all of the Seimas members vote in
favour thereof. International treaties concerning the realignment
of the state borders of the Republic of Lithuania shall be
ratified by 4/5 of all of the Seimas members.
PART 6
ELECTION, APPOINTMENT, AND APPROVAL OF OFFICERS
Chapter 30. The Procedure for Electing Members
to the Seimas Board
Article 191. The Seimas Speaker, Deputy Speakers and the
Seimas Chancellor shall be elected from among the Seimas members
at the first session of the Seimas for the entire term during
which the Seimas is in office.
Upon the resignation, demise, or dismissal by the Seimas of
any of the above officers from office, or upon the election or
appointment thereof to another office, elections for an officer
to fill the post shall be held during the next sitting of the
Seimas in accordance with the procedure provided for in this
Statute.
Article 192. The Seimas Speaker shall be elected by secret
ballot at the first sitting of the Seimas following the
elections.
Candidates to the office of Seimas Speaker may be nominated
by written application by at least 1/10 of the Seimas.
Candidates to the offices of deputy of the Seimas Speaker
and the Seimas Chancellor shall be nominated by the Seimas
Speaker. Said officers shall be elected by secret ballot.
Article 193. After being nominated to a post, candidates
must, prior to the elections, state whether or not they agree to
run for election.
Each candidate, in alphabetical order, shall be granted the
floor for 15 minutes; candidates to the office of Seimas Speaker
shall be entitled to 30 minutes; corresponding amounts of time
shall be allotted for said persons to answer questions.
Thereafter, a debate shall commence if the Seimas members so
desire.
Article 194. Voting for each candidate shall be done
separately. If more candidates than necessary are nominated for
election to one office, voting shall be done by ballot with a
list of candidates.
A candidate shall be deemed elected if more than half of the
voting Seimas members vote for him or her, with the exception of
repeat voting as provided for in this Chapter, in which case the
candidate who has received a relative majority of votes shall be
deemed elected.
In the event that no candidate receives the required
majority of votes, or if it is impossible to determine which of
the candidates have been elected due to a tie, a repeat vote
shall be held.
Article 195. In voting for an empty post when there are more
than two candidates, all of the candidates, with the exception of
those who received the lowest number of votes, shall remain on
the ballot for repeat balloting. If several candidates have tied
for the least number of votes and two or more candidates received
more votes, the candidates with the least number of votes shall
52
be removed from the next ballot. Otherwise, all of the candidates
shall remain on the next ballot. If the situation remains
unchanged after the repeat vote, the election shall be postponed
to another day. If two candidates receive the required number of
votes, the provisions of Par. 2 hereof shall apply.
If there are two candidates for an empty office during a
repeat vote, the Seimas member who received more votes shall be
deemed to have been elected. In the event of a tie, a repeat vote
shall be held the next day; if no candidate is elected during the
repeat vote, a new election shall be held.
When elections to several unfilled offices are held
simultaneously and the number of candidates exceeds the number of
offices, the names of all of the candidates who were nominated
but not elected shall be entered on the ballots for repeat
voting. After the repeat vote, the candidates who received the
most votes shall be deemed to have been elected. When necessary,
balloting shall be repeated on another day.
Chapter 31. Consideration of the Prime Minister's Candidature
and the Government Programme
Article 196. In the cases provided for in the Constitution,
the Seimas shall, upon receiving a nomination for the candidature
of the Prime Minister from the President of the Republic, give
the President of the Republic an opportunity to present the
candidate during the next sitting. Upon presenting the
candidature of the Prime Minister, the President of the Republic
shall not be asked any questions. After the President of the
Republic has presented the candidature of the Prime Minister, the
candidate shall be granted the floor (for up to 30 minutes);
thereafter the candidate shall answer questions posed by the
members of the Seimas (for up to 40 minutes).
Thereafter, the candidature of the Prime Minister shall be
referred to parliamentary groups of the Seimas for consideration.
Parliamentary groups shall have the right to invite the candidate
to their sittings for a question and answer session at a time
coordinated with the candidate.
Parliamentary groups must consider the candidature of the
Prime Minister within 2 work days.
Article 197. Another sitting of the Seimas must be organised
within 5 work days from the presentation of the candidature of
the Prime Minister in order to adopt a decision concerning the
proposed candidacy.
During this sitting, the conclusions of parliamentary groups
shall be heard first. Thereafter, a discussion shall be held, at
the end of which the candidate shall be granted the floor (for up
to 20 minutes), and shall also be given the opportunity to answer
questions posed by members of the Seimas (for up to 30 minutes).
Once the candidate finishes answering questions, a vote
shall be taken on whether or not the candidature of the Prime
Minister should be approved.
The President of the Republic has the right to revoke the
nominated candidature at any time up until the beginning of the
vote for approval.
Article 198. The Prime Minister shall, within 15 days of
being appointed, present a Government which has been approved by
the President of the Republic to the Seimas and submit the
Government programme for consideration. Members of the newly-
formed Government must attend the presentation. The Government
programme must be distributed among the Seimas members at least
24 hours prior to the sitting.
When explaining the programme, the Prime Minister may speak
for up to 40 minutes. A total of one hour shall be allotted for
answering questions. Questions may be posed to the Prime Minister
and any of the ministers. 53
Article 199. After being presented, the Government programme
shall be considered by the Seimas parliamentary groups, while
appropriate Seimas Committees shall consider the individual
sections thereof.
Committees and parliamentary groups shall have the right to
invite the Prime Minister or other minister, at a time
coordinated therewith, to answer questions concerning the
Government programme.
Seimas Committees and parliamentary groups must prepare
their conclusions concerning the Government programme within 10
days after it is presented.
Article 200. The Seimas must consider the Government
programme during a sitting within 15 days after it is presented.
Conclusions of the Committees and parliamentary groups shall
first be heard at the sitting. Thereafter, a debate shall be
held, at the termination of which the Prime Minister shall be
granted the floor (for up to 20 minutes); the Prime Minister and
ministers shall also be given the opportunity to answer questions
posed by the Seimas members one more time (for a total period of
up to one hour).
The debate concerning the Government programme may be
terminated by majority vote of more than half of the voting
members of the Seimas. Such a proposal shall be put to vote
without discussion provided that at least one other member of the
Seimas expresses support therefor.
When the question and answer session has been completed, the
Seimas must adopt a decision concerning the Government programme.
The wording of the decision shall be presented in the conclusions
of the Committees and parliamentary groups. In the event that the
Government programme is not approved or is returned to the
Government for improvement thereof, a revised version of the
Government programme must be presented to the Seimas within 10
days, and the procedure for discussion thereof shall be repeated
in the manner established in Articles 198, 199, and 200.
Article 201. The new Government shall be granted
authorisation to act after the Seimas approves its programme by
majority vote of the Seimas members present at the sitting.
In the event that the Seimas refuses to approve the
programme of the newly-formed Government two times in succession,
the Government must resign.
Article 202. When more than a half of the ministers are
changed, the Government must be regranted authorisation by the
Seimas. Otherwise the Government must resign.
If more than half of the ministers have been replaced, the
Prime Minister must, within 7 days of the appointment of the last
new minister, present the newly appointed ministers, as well as
the amendments to the Government programme if amendments have
been made, during a sitting of the Seimas in order to be granted
new authorisation; in the event that said changes were made
between sessions, the Prime Minister must make said presentations
during the first 7 days of the next Seimas session.
During the presentation, the Seimas members may pose
questions to the Prime Minister and the newly appointed ministers
(for a total of 30 minutes).
In the event that amendments to the Government programme are
presented, discussion shall be continued according to the
procedure established in Articles 198 and 199 of this Statute.
Otherwise, a discussion shall be held immediately after the
presentation, whereafter the Seimas may take a vote concerning
the granting of authorisation or may decide to refer the issue to
the Committees and parliamentary groups for consideration, but
for no longer than 7 days. In the latter case, a discussion shall
54
be held after the conclusions of the Committees and parliamentary
groups have been presented, and a vote concerning the granting of
authorisation shall be taken upon hearing an additional speech by
the Prime Minister (not exceeding 15 minutes).
Chapter 32. Consideration of Candidatures of other State
Officers, Constitutional Court Judges, and Supreme Court Judges
and their Appointment
Article 203. The Seimas shall appoint the judges of the
Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court as well as the
chairpersons of these Courts and shall also appoint officers of
the State and appoint or form collegiate institutions (in
corpore) which are provided for in the Constitution and laws of
the Republic of Lithuania. The persons who shall nominate
candidates to the above offices shall be established by the
Constitution and other appropriate laws.
The Seimas shall also decide whether or not to approve of
the candidatures of the judges and officers appointed by the
President of the Republic if this is provided for in the
Constitution and laws of the Republic of Lithuania.
Article 204. Candidates to offices whereto officers are
appointed by the Seimas or offices for the appointment whereto
approval of the Seimas is required shall be presented at Seimas
sittings by the person who nominated said candidate or proposed
the composition of a collegiate institution (in corpore). A
maximum of 10 minutes shall be allotted for the presentation of
individual candidates, whereas a maximum of 20 minutes shall be
allotted for the presentation of members of a collegiate
institution. The biographical data of the candidates must be
distributed to the Seimas members prior to the presentation.
Information concerning candidatures of Constitutional Court
and Supreme Court judges must be published in the press at least
two weeks before their presentation in the Seimas.
Said candidates, including cases when collegiate
institutions (in corpore) are being formed, must attend the
Seimas sitting at which they are presented.
After being presented, candidates to Constitutional Court
and Supreme Court judges as well as candidates to heads of State
institutions shall be granted the floor (for a maximum of 10
minutes). All candidates must, without exception, answer
questions put to them by members of the Seimas: up to 15 minutes
shall be allotted to each candidate to the Constitutional Court
and the Supreme Court judge as well as to every other individual
candidate, and up to 30 minutes shall be allotted to all of the
candidates to a collegiate institution.
Article 205. After being presented, candidatures shall be
considered by the Seimas parliamentary groups and appropriate
Committees.
Parliamentary groups and Committees shall have the right to
invite candidates, at a time coordinated therewith, to attend
their respective sittings in order to pose questions to them.
Parliamentary groups and Committees must present their
conclusions concerning candidatures to the Seimas within 7 days
from the presentation of the candidature.
Article 206. Proposed candidatures must be considered in a
sitting of the Seimas within 10 days from their presentation.
This sitting must be attended by the person who presented the
candidatures as well as the candidates, including candidates to
collegiate institutions (in corpore).
The conclusions of parliamentary groups and Committees shall
be heard first. Thereafter a discussion shall be held, during the
55
end whereof members of the Seimas shall be given the opportunity
to pose questions to the candidates and the person who presented
the candidatures (up to 20 minutes shall be allotted to
individual candidates and up to 30 minutes shall be allotted to
collegiate institutions). Furthermore, candidates to the
Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court judges, and heads of
State institutions shall be granted the floor (for a maximum of
10 minutes) prior to being questioned.
Thereafter the Seimas shall take a vote concerning the
appointment of judges to the Constitutional Court and the Supreme
Court and of other officers, the appointment or formation of a
collegiate institution (in corpore), or the approval of a
candidature appointed by the President of the Republic.
Article 207. Prior to the commencement of work, judges of
the Constitutional and Supreme Courts shall take an oath in the
Seimas to be loyal to the Republic of Lithuania and its
Constitution, and to administer justice only in accordance with
the laws. The State Controller, Chairman of the Board of the Bank
of Lithuania, as well as other newly-appointed officers of the
State shall publicly take an oath during a sitting of the Seimas
if it is so provided in the laws regulating the activities of
their respective State institution.
Article 208. If an officer of the State or a court judge is
dismissed, resigns, or for some other reason cannot continue to
carry out his or her duties, another person must, during a
session of the Seimas, be appointed or approved to said post
within one month of the beginning of the vacancy or the beginning
of the session.
PART 7
SUPERVISORY ACTIVITIES OF THE SEIMAS
Chapter 33. Accountability of the Government and other State
Officers to the Seimas
Article 209. Within 2 workdays after every sitting of the
Government of the Republic of Lithuania, copies of the decrees
adopted by the Government must be delivered to the Seimas for
distribution among all of the Committees and parliamentary
groups.
Article 210. At the request of the Seimas, the Government or
individual ministers must account to the Seimas for their
respective activities. The above shall also apply to heads of
other State institutions who are either appointed by the Seimas
or for whose appointment the approval of the Seimas is required,
with the exception of courts.
Persons who are invited shall answer questions posed by the
Seimas members, and shall furnish other information concerning
their own activities and the activities of the institutions
subordinate to them.
When drawing up the week's work programme of the Seimas, it
shall be established which State institution head shall answer
the questions and interpellations of the Seimas members that
week.
Article 211. During a session of the Seimas, members of the
Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall, as a rule, answer
questions of the Seimas members submitted through the Secretariat
of the sittings for a period of one hour and no later than 2
workdays prior to the sitting. The list of questions which are
planned to be answered and the sequence of their presentation
shall be established by the Seimas Speaker and shall be
56
distributed among the Seimas members before the sitting.
Time permitting, members of the Seimas may pose questions to
the members of the Government participating in the sitting either
orally or in writing.
Article 212. At least once a month, the State Controller and
other heads of State institutions who are either appointed by the
Seimas or whose appointment requires the approval of the Seimas,
with the exception of judges, must answer the questions of the
Seimas members during a sitting of the Seimas; said questions
must be submitted in advance in written form. The procedure for
submitting and registering the questions shall be as specified in
Article 211.
Time permitting, the Seimas members may ask the above
officers other questions either orally or in writing.
Article 213. Criminal action may not be taken against the
Prime Minister, ministers, or judges; said officials may not be
arrested, or their liberty may not be in any other way restricted
without the prior consent of the Seimas or, in the period between
the sessions of the Seimas, without the prior consent of the
President of the Republic.
Should a motion be submitted by the Procurator General of
the Republic of Lithuania to institute criminal proceedings
against the Prime Minister, an individual minister or a judge, a
commission of inquiry shall be formed and other acts shall be
performed pursuant to Article 24 of this Statute.
Chapter 34. Interpellations
Article 214. A member or group of members of the Seimas
shall address a written interpellation to members of the
Government or any other heads of State institutions who are
appointed by the Seimas or whose appointment requires the
approval of the Seimas, with the exception of courts, requesting
that said officers present information concerning their
activities and adopted decisions.
Only a question of national or public significance, in
respect whereof a member or group of members of the Seimas have
applied to State institutions and have not, in their opinion,
been given due consideration or have been given a negative reply,
shall be considered as an interpellation. Questions, the national
or public significance whereof is recognised by the Seimas or the
Seimas Board or a Committee or a parliamentary group, may also be
considered as interpellations.
Article 215. The Secretariat of the sittings shall register
interpellations and hand them over to the Chancellor, who shall
notify the Seimas thereof and shall deliver the interpellation to
the appropriate officer.
Persons who submit interpellations must name the officer
whom they are addressing and specify whether they expects an oral
or written reply. In the event that the form of reply is not
specified, it shall be given in writing, shall be distributed to
the Committees and parliamentary groups, and shall not be
considered in a sitting of the Seimas.
Persons who submit interpellations shall have the right to
withdraw them at any time.
Article 216. The period within which a reply to a written
interpellation must be given may not be longer than 2 weeks and,
during its consideration in the Seimas sitting during a session,
no longer than 3 weeks from the day of its lodging.
In the event that the officer to whom the interpellation is
addressed cannot reply within the established period, he or she
57
must give a written substantiation thereof and propose a new
date, but no later than within one month from the day of the
lodging of the interpellation; however, should the interpellators
object to the substantiation, the consideration of the
interpellation must be held at the fixed date.
Article 217. During sessions, interpellations shall be
considered at least twice a month at the sittings of the Seimas.
Should at least 1/5 of the Seimas members request consideration
of an interpellation, the interpellation shall be considered in
the mandatory procedure.
The list of interpellations shall be presented to the Seimas
members no later than one day before the consideration thereof.
The interpellators (at least one representative thereof)
must participate in the consideration of the interpellation. If
the interpellator is absent from the sitting, consideration of
the interpellation shall be postponed. If the interpellator is
absent from the sitting without prior notice, the interpellation
shall be annulled.
Interpellator may not preside over sittings in which their
interpellations are considered.
Article 218. An interpellation shall be considered at the
sitting of the Seimas according to the following procedure:
1) a speech delivered by the interpellator (for up to 5
minutes);
2) a reply given by the officer to whom the interpellation
is addressed (for up to 15 minutes); and
3) a discussion, should it be requested by any Committee or
parliamentary group. During the discussion, the floor shall, as a
rule, be granted in turn to those members of the Seimas who
approve of the reply to the interpellation and to those who
object thereto. No more than 4 members of the Seimas shall be
granted the floor, unless the Seimas decides to prolong the
discussion.
In the event that the interpellators are dissatisfied with
the reply to the interpellation, they may submit a draft
resolution for consideration in the Seimas; the Seimas shall
evaluate the reply and the draft therein.
Chapter 35. Removal from Office of Seimas Officers and Heads of
other State Institutions
Article 219. Proposals to dismiss a Seimas officer or a head
of a State institution who is appointed by the Seimas, with the
exception of cases of impeachment proceedings as provided for in
the Constitution, must be considered when they are presented by a
justified letter from the Seimas Board, a committee, or at least
1/5 of the Seimas members. A committee may not propose to remove
the chairman of another committee from office.
Article 220. Petitions concerning the removal of an officer
from office shall be filed with the Seimas Speaker; petitions to
remove the Seimas Speaker from office shall be lodged with the
Seimas Chancellor. Such petitions must be announced in the next
sitting of the Seimas.
The same members of the Seimas may not request to remove the
same officer from office more than once during a single session.
Article 221. The officer of the Seimas whose removal from
office is under discussion may not preside over that sitting.
During discussions concerning the dismissal of an officer of
the Seimas or head of a State institution, the first person to be
granted the floor shall be the representative of the initiators
of the issue concerning removal from office (for up to 10
58
minutes); thereafter, the floor shall be granted to the officer
whose removal from office is under consideration (for up to 30
minutes). The latter shall then be given up to 30 minutes to
answer questions. The subsequent discussion shall be continued
according to the general procedure.
Article 222. Decisions concerning the dismissal of Seimas
officers or heads of State institutions shall be adopted by
majority vote of more than a half of all Seimas members. Said
voting shall be done by secret ballot.
Chapter 36. Interpellations and Non-Confidence in the
Government
Article 223. During a session, a group of at least 1/5 of
the Seimas members may submit an interpellation to the Prime
Minister or an individual minister requesting that said officers
elaborate on the motives of the decisions they have adopted.
No signature may be cancelled after the interpellation has
been filed with the Seimas Chancellor, who shall immediately
register the interpellation and refer it to the appropriate
member of the Government.
The same group of the Seimas members may not repeatedly
interpellate the same member of the Government during one
session.
Article 224. Upon receipt of an interpellation, a member of
the Government must deliver a written reply to the Seimas Speaker
within two weeks; the Seimas members shall be familiarised with
said reply.
Upon receiving a reply to an interpellation, the Seimas must
consider said reply during a sitting within 5 workdays.
Article 225. Interpellations shall be considered at sittings
of the Seimas according to the following procedure:
1) a speech by the representative of the persons who
submitted the interpellation (for up to 10 minutes);
2) a reply by the officer who received the interpellation
(for up to 30 minutes);
3) answers to questions posed by the Seimas members to the
officer who received the interpellation (for up to 30 minutes);
4) a discussion during which, as a rule, the floor shall be
granted in turn to the members of the Seimas who approve of and
to those who object to the reply to the interpellation;
5) the final speech of the officer who has received the
interpellation; and
6) the formation of a drafting commission according to the
requirements set forth in Article 77 of this Statute for drawing
up the draft resolution of the Seimas concerning the
interpellation. The members who submitted the interpellation must
constitute at least 1/3 of the commission members.
Article 226. Draft resolutions of the Seimas concerning
interpellations must be presented to the Seimas for consideration
no later than on the next day of sittings. The Seimas' approval
or disapproval of the reply of the Prime Minister or individual
minister may be stated in the draft of the resolution of the
Seimas concerning the interpellation.
In the event that non-confidence in the Prime Minister or an
individual minister is declared in a draft resolution of the
Seimas, said draft may be adopted by majority vote of more than a
half of all the Seimas members; said voting shall be done by
secret ballot. Should such resolution be adopted, the Government
in corpore or the individual minister in whom non-confidence has
been declared must resign.
59
Article 227. During a session of the Seimas, a group of at
least 1/5 of the Seimas members may submit a draft of a justified
resolution wherein non-confidence in the Government is declared.
Such draft resolution shall be considered in the same manner as
an interpellation to the Prime Minister.
Chapter 37. Ad Hoc Commissions of Control or Inquiry
Article 228. Ad hoc commissions of control or inquiry shall
be formed for exercising control over the implementation of the
decisions of the Seimas, for collecting and presenting to the
Seimas information and conclusions required for dealing with a
pending problem and adopting a decision thereon, as well as in
other cases provided for in this Statute.
Ad hoc commissions of control or inquiry shall be formed
according to the procedure set forth in Article 77 of this
Statute and shall consist of at least four members and a
chairperson. The chairperson of the commission shall be appointed
by the Seimas.
For its work the commission may enlist the specialists of
appropriate spheres.
The period of work of the ad hoc commissions of control or
inquiry shall be up to 6 months.
Article 229. The right of initiative to form ad hoc
commissions of control or inquiry shall be vested in the Seimas
Board, Committees, and parliamentary groups, unless in special
cases this Statute provides otherwise. The initiators must
present to the Seimas a draft resolution concerning the forming
of an ad hoc commission of control or inquiry, in which
resolution the objective of forming the commission as well as its
tasks and powers shall be specified.
As necessary, the Seimas Speaker must notify the Prosecutor-
General and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of the
initiative to form an ad hoc commission of control or inquiry. If
the Prosecutor-General notifies in writing that criminal
proceedings have been instituted in connection with the facts
which determined the initiative of forming the commission, such
commission shall not be formed; in the event that it has already
been formed, its activities must be terminated by a decision of
the Seimas.
Article 230. The sittings of ad hoc commissions of control
or inquiry shall be closed to all persons, with the exception of
those persons who are invited; a list of said persons shall be
drawn up according to the requests of the commission members. The
information collected by the commission during its work period
shall not be made public.
Ad hoc commissions of control or inquiry shall have the
right to request that enterprises, institutions and organisations
present the required information concerning their respective
activities, that the officers of the law enforcement bodies and
the prosecutor's office present documents and give evidence, and
that any citizen of the Republic of Lithuania give evidence.
Article 231. Upon completing the work it was charged with
and collecting and summarizing the data, the ad hoc commission of
control or inquiry shall present their conclusions and the
prepared draft resolution to the Seimas.
A resolution shall be adopted at the sitting of the Seimas
concerning the issue which has been considered by the ad hoc
commission of control or inquiry. Non-confidence in the
Government, a minister or any other head of State institution
appointed by the Seimas may be declared or motions concerning the
proposed impeachment proceedings may be presented in the
resolution. In the case of non-confidence, the requirements set
60
forth in Articles 222 or 226 of this Statute shall apply in
adopting the resolution.
Chapter 38. Control of the State Budget Statement
Article 266. The general permanent control of State Budget
performance shall be exercised by the Committee on Budget and
Finance. Other Committees of the Seimas may control the
performance of the Budget chapters which are within their
competence.
The State Budget performance shall be considered at the
sitting of the Seimas at least once every 6 months. In such an
event, the Government shall present the State Budget performance
statement for consideration.
Article 233. The Government shall prepare and, by March 31,
present to the Seimas Speaker the State Budget performance
statement for the previous year. The State Controller must
present to the Seimas Chancellor a report on the State Budget
performance statement within a month from the date on which the
Government presented the statement to the Seimas Speaker.
The Seimas Chancellor shall, within 2 workdays, present
copies of the above statement and of the State Controller's
report to the Committee on Budget and Finance, as well as to
other committees and parliamentary groups.
Upon receipt of the State Controller's report, the report of
the Government on the State Budget performance statement as well
as an additional report of the State Controller shall be heard at
the next sitting. Within 3 weeks from the sitting, the Committees
shall consider the State Budget performance statement and prepare
conclusions.
Article 234. The State Budget performance statement and the
State Controller's report must be considered at the sitting of
the Seimas by June 1.
A report of the Committee on Budget and Finance as well as
the conclusions of other committees shall be heard at the
sitting. Upon the completion of discussions, a resolution of the
Seimas concerning the performance of the State Budget shall be
adopted.
In the event that the statement is not approved, the Seimas
shall resolve the issue concerning the restoration of legality of
revenues or expenditures. An appropriate resolution shall be
drafted for that purpose, and a vote on non-confidence in the
Government or an individual member thereof may be taken according
to the procedure established in Article 226 of this Statute.
PART 8
IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS
Chapter 39. The proposal to Initiate Impeachment Proceedings
and the Preliminary Investigation
Article 235. Impeachment proceedings shall be the
parliamentary procedure which shall be applied by the Seimas to
members of the Seimas as well as to State officials of the
highest rank who are specified in Article 74 of the Constitution
of the Republic of Lithuania for their actions which discredit
the authority of powers, in order to solve the question of the
responsibility of such individuals. In the event that a concrete
individual is found guilty during this procedure, the person
shall be dismissed from his or her post or his or her mandate as
a Seimas member shall be abolished. 61
Article 236. Legal action, in accordance with the
impeachment proceedings, may be instituted against the President
of the Republic, the Chairperson and judges of the Constitutional
Court, the Chairperson and judges of the Supreme Court, the
Chairperson and judges of the Court of Appeals, and the members
of the Seimas.
Article 237. There shall be grounds for initiating
impeachment proceedings in the event that an individual specified
in Article 236 of this Statute has:
1) grossly violated the Constitution;
2) breached an oath; or
3) committed a felony.
Only one of the grounds specified in this Article shall
suffice to initiate impeachment proceedings.
Article 238. The right to request the initiation of
impeachment proceedings against a concrete for reasons specified
in Article 237 individual shall be granted to, any group of
Seimas members consisting of at least 1/4 of all of the Seimas
members, the President of the Republic and the Judges' Court of
Honour if the case concerns the Chairperson or judges of the
Constitutional Court or the Court of Appeals.
The proposal to the Seimas to initiate impeachment
proceedings against a concrete person shall not be related to the
norms of the Article 239 of this Statute.
Article 239. Upon establishing that persons referred to in
Article 236 of this Statute are suspected of having committed a
felony, the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Lithuania shall
immediately inform the Seimas thereon and submit appropriate
material thereto.
In the event that the President of the Republic is suspected
of having committed a felony, the Seimas shall carry out
preliminary impeachment proceedings provided for in Article 244
of this Statute.
Upon hearing the Prosecutor General's report on a felony
committed by other persons, the Seimas shall decide whether to
give its approval to institute legal action against the concrete
person (according to the procedure provided for in this Statute)
or to initiate preliminary impeachment proceedings.
Article 240. While bringing a charge concerning a committed
felony, the statutes of limitation provided for in criminal laws
shall be applicable. In other cases, no statutes of limitation
shall be applicable notwithstanding when the misdemeanor has been
committed with which an individual is charged with, however, the
committed misdemeanor must have been committed while he or she
was in office referred to in Article 236 of this Statute.
Article 241. Proposal to initiate impeachment proceedings
must be submitted to the Seimas in writing - in the form of a
motion, while proposals made by the President of the Republic
shall be presented in the form of appeal by indicating the
concrete person, the charge formulated against said person,
arguments, major facts, and evidence or sources thereof.
Article 242. Normally the proposal to initiate impeachment
proceedings is submitted during sessions of the Seimas. The
Seimas Speaker or Deputy Speaker shall immediately present such
proposals to the Seimas members and shall, no later than within
one week during the session or within one week from the beginning
of the session, submit a proposal to the Seimas to consider the
issue.
Article 243. Upon hearing a proposal made by the initiators
specified in Article 238 or their representative concerning the
initiation of impeachment proceedings against a concrete
62
individual, the Seimas shall form a commission to investigate the
validity and seriousness of the submitted charges and to prepare
the finding concerning the proposal to initiate impeachment
proceedings. In its work the commission shall be governed by the
provisions provided for in Chapter 37 of this Statute.
Article 244. A special investigation commission shall be
formed from the Seimas members, representatives of the initiators
of the impeachment proceedings, and lawyers who are employed at
courts, investigative structures, or prosecutor's office. Such
lawyers must comprise no more than one half of the commission
members. While working on the commission, the lawyers shall enjoy
equal rights with other members of the commission, but they must
strictly comply with the principle of political impartiality.
There may be no more than 12 members on the commission. Members
of the commission shall be proposed by the Seimas majority or the
minority and initiators of the impeachment proceedings according
to the principles set forth in Article 77 of this Statute which
shall be entitled to propose 1/3 of all the commission members.
Along with the formation of the commission, the Seimas shall
appoint the commission chairperson and deputy chairperson, and
shall fix the dates for the execution of investigation. At least
one of the heads of the commission must be a professional lawyer.
Article 245. Sittings of the special Seimas investigation
commission concerned with impeachment proceedings shall normally
be closed. Only the chairperson of the commission or a member
authorised by the chairperson shall inform the press and other
mass media about the course of investigation.
Article 246. The commission's sittings shall be recorded in
the minutes. Minutes shall be kept by a secretary appointed by
the commission, according to the regulations of keeping minutes
of court sittings. The minutes of the sitting shall be signed by
the chairperson and secretary of the commission.
During sittings, explanations as well as arguments of the
initiators of impeachment proceedings and defendants (or their
representatives) shall be heard, witnesses shall be questioned,
the list of whom shall be made up according to the proposals
submitted by all the members of the special investigation
commission and the defendant, and other evidence shall be
accumulated, examined and evaluated; when necessary, experts and
specialists shall be invited and discussions shall be held. The
defendant's lawyer may also take part in the sittings.
Article 247. Witnesses and experts shall be summoned and
questioned in accordance with the rules of the criminal code:
they shall be warned of their responsibility for avoiding or
refusing to give evidence as well as for giving knowingly false
evidence; the giving of such warnings shall be confirmed by
witnesses' signatures. Minutes concerning the questioning of
witnesses shall be recorded and, after a witness has read them,
may be supplemented or amended, and then must be signed by the
witness. Experts shall present their findings in writing after
having signed them.
Article 248. If the special investigation commission by
majority vote so proposes, the Seimas may pass a decision to
appeal to the Constitutional Court concerning the conclusion
whether concrete actions of the Seimas members or state officials
against whom impeachment proceedings are initiated are in
conformity with the Constitution.
Article 249. Upon the conclusion of the investigation, the
special investigation commission shall present its findings which
shall contain: 63
1) the essence of the charge, the place, time, means,
motives and other essential circumstances of the committed
felony;
2) the established facts and evidence;, and
3) the explanations of the defendant.
In the event that the presented charges have not been
proved, it shall be indicated in the findings and the actions of
investigation which have been carried out shall be described in
brief. Taking into account the results of the investigation, it
shall be summarised at the end of the findings whether there are
grounds to institute impeachment proceedings in the Seimas or
whether such grounds do not exist.
More than half of majority votes of all the commission
members are necessary for the approval of the findings. The
results of the voting shall be recorded in the minutes of the
sitting. The findings shall be signed by the chairperson or
deputy chairperson of the commission.
The commission shall prepare a draft resolution on the basis
of approved findings.
Article 250. Upon coming to the conclusion that there are
grounds for initiating impeachment proceedings in the Seimas, the
special investigation commission must also formulate concrete
charges. This may be done at the end of the commission's findings
or in a separate document.
The investigation commission shall also decide who on behalf
of the committee shall substantiate the charge and carry out other
functions of the prosecutor in the Seimas during the impeachment
proceedings. The commission may appoint up to 7 prosecutors --
members of the Seimas. The commission shall inform the Seimas of
their names and powers in writing.
Article 251. The commission shall submit the prepared
findings along with a draft Seimas resolution and other documents
to the Speaker, who shall submit these documents for the Seimas
consideration at its next sitting.
Chapter 40. Impeachment Procedure in the Seimas
Article 252. In the event that the special investigation
commission reaches the conclusion that there are no grounds for
the initiation of impeachment proceedings, the Seimas shall
consider the validity of motives and arguments which have been
formulated in the findings and shall decide whether said findings
shall be assented. If the Seimas approves the findings by a
majority vote of the Seimas members who attend the sitting, it
shall be held that there was no assent to initiate impeachment
proceedings. Impeachment proceedings based on the same charges
may only be instituted against the same person only after one-
year period , and only under the condition that new circumstances
have become evident.
In the event that the Seimas does not approve the
commission's conclusion that there are no grounds for the
initiation of impeachment proceedings, the Seimas must decide who
shall be charged with the execution of a repeat investigation -
the same investigation commission or a new one.
Article 253. Upon hearing the findings of the special
investigation commission according to which there are grounds to
initiate impeachment proceedings, the Seimas shall carry out
necessary arrangements and shall adopt the following decisions
necessary for the execution of this procedure:
1) shall adopt a resolution to initiate impeachment
proceedings in the Seimas against a concrete person;
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2) shall establish of the commencement of the impeachment
proceedings no later than after 15 days and schedule of
sittings;
3) shall adopt a resolution to invite the Chairperson of the
Supreme Court or another judge thereof to preside over this
procedure, and in the event the impeachment proceedings are
instituted against the Chairperson of the Supreme Court or a judge
thereof - to invite the Chairperson of the Constitutional Court or
another judge thereof to preside over this procedure;
4) as necessary, shall request the Constitutional Court to
provide findings whether concrete actions of a Seimas member or
other state official comply with the Constitution; and
5) shall perform other necessary preparatory actions.
Article 254. Impeachment proceedings shall start in the
Seimas on the fixed date. They shall be presided over by the
Chairperson of the Supreme Court or another judge thereof, or the
Chairperson of the Constitutional Court or another judge thereof.
One more judge of the Supreme Court or Constitutional Court must
take part in all sittings, from the first to the last, of the
impeachment proceedings, and, as necessary, shall act for the
Chairperson of the hearing.
Upon announcing the commencement of the impeachment
proceedings, the Seimas shall become an impeachment institution
in which investigation shall be carried out in compliance with
the principles and rules of criminal procedure if this Statute
does not provide otherwise.
The minutes of the hearing shall be kept by the secretary
appointed by the Chairperson according to the rules of recording
court hearings.
Impeachment proceedings in the Seimas shall be public. They
may be broadcast by television and radio.
Article 255. Impeachment proceedings in the Seimas shall be
comprised of the following major parts: the preparatory part, the
court investigation, court disputes, and the defendant's final
word concerning the articles of impeachment and voting on the
presented charges.
Article 256. During the preparatory part of the hearing the
essence of the impeachment case under investigation, the
defendant, and the prosecutors and their representatives shall be
introduced, their rights and duties shall be explained, their
requests shall be heard and decisions thereon shall be passed,
and the possibilities to continue investigation of the case shall
be clarified.
Article 257. The court investigation shall be commenced by
reading the material of the charge aloud and hearing the
defendant's explanations. Then the defendant and witnesses shall
be questioned, the findings of the experts shall be heard, and
the evidence shall be examined.
Prior to the end of the court investigation, the prosecutors
shall have the right to define the formulation of the charge and
remove technical errors which have been found therein. While
defining the formulations of the charge, the formulations must be
delivered in writing to the defendant and the chairperson of the
hearing, who shall immediately announce them to the Seimas
members. Upon receiving the defined formulations of the charge,
the defendant or the defendant's defender shall have the right to
demand the continuation or renewal of the court investigation.
Article 258. Court disputes shall be the speeches and
remarks of the prosecutor, the defendant and their
representatives. The right to the final remark shall always
belong to the defender, and in the event of his or her absence -
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to the defendant.
In the end of court disputes the defendant shall be granted
the final word. It shall not be permitted to ask questions or
make remarks at that moment.
Article 259. Issues concerning procedure shall be settled by
the chairperson of the hearing. As necessary, the chairperson may
ask the Seimas to voice its opinion or request approval of his or
her decisions. Only upon the permission of the chairperson may
the members of the Seimas pose questions to the participants of
the proceedings. The members of the Seimas shall not be permitted
to speak about the essence of the case or to attempt to influence
the course of the proceedings in any other manner. However, they
may protest the chairperson's refusal to permit questioning or a
hasty decision to terminate interrogation, and may reject them by
voting.
Article 260. The defendant shall have the right to resign
from his office or to renounce the mandate of the Seimas member
by submitting an application in writing, in any stage of
impeachment proceedings but only prior to the beginning of
voting. Such applications must be immediately satisfied. In such
case, the impeachment proceedings shall be terminated and it
shall be made official by a resolution of the Seimas.
Article 261. The final part of the legal procedure - voting
for the articles of impeachment - shall start after the
defendant's final word.
Each article of impeachment shall be put on a separate
voting card. After the text of the charge, the alternative
variants of the response: "I charge" or "I do not charge" shall
be made thereon. Prior to distribution, voting cards shall be
marked by a special seal of the chairperson of the hearing.
Article 262. A commission for the calculation of votes shall
be made in compliance with the requirements set forth in Article
123 of this Statute.
Each article of impeachment shall be put to vote separately.
Only the Seimas members shall take part in the voting.
Upon calculating the votes, the chairperson of the hearing
shall announce the voting results on each article of impeachment
separately.
Article 263. If 3/5 of all the Seimas members vote for at
least one article of impeachment, it shall be considered that the
person has been impeached, i.e. the Seimas has found that the
person is guilty of the felony with which he or she has been
incriminated.
Following the report of the commission for the calculation
of votes, the chairperson of the hearing shall dictate the
following entry of the minutes:
"Upon the execution of impeachment proceedings in the Seimas
on ... (date), it has been found by a majority vote of all the
Seimas members that citizen ............(name, surname and post)
...(entry according to the text of the approved article of
impeachment)..., therefore, from this day the .... (date), (said
person) shall be removed from his (or her) post (or shall be
deprived of the mandate of Seimas member) by the decision of the
Seimas.
Then the chairperson shall sign this entry and publicly
announce it during the Seimas sitting.
Article 264. In the event that not a single article of
impeachment receives at least 3/5 of the votes of all the Seimas
members, it shall be considered that the Seimas has not approved
the impeachment. The chairperson of the hearing shall announce
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this publicly and an appropriate entry thereon shall be made in
the minutes of the sitting.
In cases where less than 3/5 but more than 1/2 of all the
Seimas members voted for the article of impeachment which
corresponds to the indications of a criminal offence, it shall be
considered that the Seimas has assented to bringing a legal
action against a concrete person with the exception of the
President of the Republic.
Article 265. The minutes of the Seimas sittings shall be
signed by the chairperson of the hearing and the secretary of the
hearing appointed by him or her.
Entries of the minutes concerning the voting results shall
be equaled to the resolutions of the Seimas. They shall enter
into effect from the moment of their announcement and must be
executed . Along with the voting results, they may not be
appealed against or subjected to review.
Article 266. When, according to the procedure of
impeachment, the Seimas finds that a concrete person is guilty,
he/she shall be considered to have been removed from his or her
post or to have been deprived of the mandate of Seimas member.
Legal liability may also be incurred on them for committed
felonies according to general procedure.
Individuals who have resigned from their posts of their own
accord or who have renounced mandates of a Seimas member shall
lose the right of inviolability established by the Constitution,
and shall therefore be subjected to legal liability according to
the general procedure.
FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 267. All issues concerning the procedure of the
Seimas activities, which are not provided for in this Statute and
the laws of the Republic of Lithuania, shall be proposed to
decide upon by the chairperson of the Seimas sitting. Such
decision shall be adopted without debate by majority vote of the
Seimas members who participated in the voting.
Article 268. Until 31 December 1994 amendments and
supplements of this Statute shall be adopted according to the
general procedure and in compliance with the requirements set
forth in Part 5 of this Statute.
Beginning from 1 January 1995, the Statute of the Seimas of
the Republic of Lithuania and its separate articles may be
repealed, supplemented or amended by majority vote of more than
half of all the Seimas members.
ČESLOVAS JURŠĖNAS
SPEAKER OF THE SEIMAS
OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA