Jurisprudencinė konstitucija

Abstract

The author sees the constitution as an inseparable combination of two elements of the constitutional normative real- ity-the legal act of the highest power, called the constitution, and constitutional jurisprudence, wherein this act is construed and developed. In the life of the state, the constitutional principles and norms are understood only in the way the Constitutional Court has construed them. After the court has formed sufficient jurisprudence, when it is possible to refer to the constitutional official doctrine of most provisions while applying the constitution, one may talk about jurisprudential constitution. The official constitutional doctrine, which is formed in the acts of the constitutional court, is binding on both subjects, those who create law, and those who apply it. This means the quality of the new legal life.
The author raises two questions: first, when is it possible to state that the jurisprudential constitution is formed in the country? Second, is the jurisprudential constitution formed in Lithuania?
While answering to the first question, it is important to know how much and what kind of official constitutional doctrine must be collected in order to say that the constitutional system is construed enough and that the constitution, such as is revealed by the constitutional court, is a functioning constitution? The whole system of the quality and quantity parameters describes the jurisprudential constitution as a functioning system.
The essential thing is the level of the development of the verification rules. The interpretations of the constitutional court must create such “net” of verification, which would “catch” verified unconstitutional provisions. The broader such system, the less unconstitutional gaps remain in the legal system.
The constitution is a possibility and through the practice of the Constitutional Court becomes a constantly applied constitution. Thus, the existence of the jurisprudential constitution is best marked by the fact that while construing the constitution in the life of the state it is referred to the official constitutional doctrine, formulated in the constitutional jurisprudence, which includes the most important fields of the constitutional regulation.
What is necessary for such jurisprudential constitutional system to appear? The recognition of the new role of the constitution, activeness of the constitutional court and deliberate decision of this institution to create a developed system of the constitutionality review. The jurisprudential constitution means that the constitutional legal order has assumed the new quality, the legal imperatives have started to correct the activity of the state power institutions and the functioning of the legal system acquires clear framework.
The analysis of the activity of the Constitutional Court of Lithuania while construing the Constitution allows us to draw a conclusion that the jurisprudential constitution of Lithuania has been formed, that the contents of most of the constitutional norms and principles has been revealed, that the requirements consolidated therein are applied and that the Constitution is interpreted while consistently following the system of the values entrenched in the Constitution.