Kaip Lietuvoje atsirado pirmasis konstitucinis įstatymas

Abstract

The Constitutional Law “On the State of Lithuania” that was adopted on 11 February, 1991 is the first constitutional law in the history of Lithuania’s law. The author describes the circumstances in which this constitutional law was adopted and discloses the relation of this law to the general poll (plebiscite) held on 9 February, 1991. The article shows how this constitutional law is different from the institute of constitutional laws established in the Constitution that is in force at present. The Constitutional Law “On the State of Lithuania” has been included into the Constitution of 1992 as its constituent part (Article 150 of the Constitution), therefore, its legal power is the same as that of the entire Constitution, i.e., the constitutional law in question has the supreme legal power as the rest provisions of the Constitution do. The Constitution also consolidates constitutional laws of a different type, i.e., the constitutional laws that must be included into the list of constitutional laws (Paragraph 3 of Article 69 of the Constitution), as well as the laws that are referred to as the constitutional ones in separate articles of the Constitution (Paragraph 3 of Article 47 of the Constitution). One is not allowed to identify the constitutional laws included into the list of constitutional laws and the constitutional law specified in Paragraph 3 of Article 47 of the Constitution, on the one hand, with the constitutional laws (constitutional acts) specified in Article 150 of the Constitution, on the other hand, since the legal power of the constitutional laws included into the list of constitutional laws and the constitutional law specified in Paragraph 3 of Article 47 of the Constitution is lower than the legal power of the Constitution. The arguments of the article are critical of the opinion found in the scientific legal literature that the general poll (plebiscite) was held “in order to grant the constitutional status to the provision regarding the sovereignty and form of the State of Lithuania”.