Social Rights in the Jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court of Lithuania

Abstract

In the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania, the doctrine of human rights occupies a particular place; there is hardly a Constitutional Court ruling (act) which would not include statements on the doctrine of human rights. This doctrine is being developed and its new features constantly come into being. The institutions of the constitutional control–the constitutional courts–constantly interpret the rights and freedoms which are enshrined in the constitutions, thus, the final limits of law are drawn by the constitutional jurisprudence. The recognition of the evolution of the official constitutional doctrine, i.e. the recognition that the process of the creation of the constitutional doctrine is continuous and may not be finite, is an important feature of the formation of the jurisprudential constitution which influences the concept of the constitutional freedoms of a person. Constitutional case law (and not the formal amendment procedure) assumes the task of adjusting constitutional norms to changing political and social contexts and of developing those norms beyond the originally intended scope. The recognition of the jurisprudential constitution not only broadens the concept of the constitutional rights, but also increases the possibilities to recognize other rights as constitutional rights.