The Reform of the Seimas in 1936
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##
Abstract
The Constitution of Lithuania of 1922 has established a state ruling system that guaranteed a clear hegemony of the parliament and the subordination of the executive institutions (the President and the Cabinet of Ministers) to the parliament. However, the powers that came after the revolt of 1926 have started to reorganize the system by making the government a central power.
From the legal point of view, these efforts have been firstly reflected in the Constitution of 1928 which has divided the formerly essential functions of the Seimas – the legislative function, approval of the budget and its execution, initiation of criminal proceedings for treason or professional offences of ministers – between the Seimas and the President of the Republic. In the absence of the Seimas or between its sessions all these functions were allowed to be performed by the President of the Republic. At the same time, the continuous work of the Seimas was replaced with sessions, whereas the President retained his power to release the Seimas prematurely and, most importantly, it was announced that no term was applicable for elections of the first Seimas under the Constitution. Based on the latter provision, during the period of 1927– 1936 the Seimas was not assembled at all.
When the Seimas had finally been assembled as a result of political circumstances, as a matter of priority the executive took care of the total loyalty of its members to the executive by passing a new Law on Elections to the Seimas. In addition, the initiative rights and parliamentary powers were reduced to an even greater extent. For this purpose a new law by the President of the Republic which was passed on the eve of the assembly to the Seimas abolished the old Seimas Statute, since the latter was based on the classical rules on democratic parliamentary activities. The new rules on the drafting of the Seimas Statute have significantly limited the initiative and the possibilities of the Seimas. In this case the specifics of the Seimas Statute that distinguished it among other legal acts were not taken in to account.
This article discusses the rules established by this law of the President and their application in practice which was not in compliance with some of the provisions of the Constitution. The novelties of the new Seimas Statute are also discussed. The new Seimas Statute has not only completely eliminated fractions from the Seimas, but it has also fostered the tendency of the Constitution to decrease the role of the Seimas and make it subordinate to the executive power. This tendency was reflected in the provisions governing the procedure of the execution of the main parliamentary functions in the Seimas.
From the legal point of view, these efforts have been firstly reflected in the Constitution of 1928 which has divided the formerly essential functions of the Seimas – the legislative function, approval of the budget and its execution, initiation of criminal proceedings for treason or professional offences of ministers – between the Seimas and the President of the Republic. In the absence of the Seimas or between its sessions all these functions were allowed to be performed by the President of the Republic. At the same time, the continuous work of the Seimas was replaced with sessions, whereas the President retained his power to release the Seimas prematurely and, most importantly, it was announced that no term was applicable for elections of the first Seimas under the Constitution. Based on the latter provision, during the period of 1927– 1936 the Seimas was not assembled at all.
When the Seimas had finally been assembled as a result of political circumstances, as a matter of priority the executive took care of the total loyalty of its members to the executive by passing a new Law on Elections to the Seimas. In addition, the initiative rights and parliamentary powers were reduced to an even greater extent. For this purpose a new law by the President of the Republic which was passed on the eve of the assembly to the Seimas abolished the old Seimas Statute, since the latter was based on the classical rules on democratic parliamentary activities. The new rules on the drafting of the Seimas Statute have significantly limited the initiative and the possibilities of the Seimas. In this case the specifics of the Seimas Statute that distinguished it among other legal acts were not taken in to account.
This article discusses the rules established by this law of the President and their application in practice which was not in compliance with some of the provisions of the Constitution. The novelties of the new Seimas Statute are also discussed. The new Seimas Statute has not only completely eliminated fractions from the Seimas, but it has also fostered the tendency of the Constitution to decrease the role of the Seimas and make it subordinate to the executive power. This tendency was reflected in the provisions governing the procedure of the execution of the main parliamentary functions in the Seimas.
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##
Section
Articles
Authors contributing to Jurisprudence agree to publish their articles under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public (CC BY-NC-ND) License, allowing third parties to share their work (copy, distribute, transmit) and to adapt it, under the condition that the authors are given credit, and that in the event of reuse or distribution, the terms of this licence are made clear.
Authors retain copyright of their work, with first publication rights granted to the Association for Learning Technology.
Please see Copyright and Licence Agreement for further details.
Authors retain copyright of their work, with first publication rights granted to the Association for Learning Technology.
Please see Copyright and Licence Agreement for further details.
