Individual Access to Constitutional Justice in Lithuania: the Potential within the Newly Established Model of the Individual Constitutional Complaint

Abstract

On 1 September 2019 amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania came into effect, establishing for the first time in the Lithuanian legal system the right of an individual to apply to the Constitutional Court directly. Lithuania has opted for the limited model of individual constitutional complaint. The Constitution only allows for the review of constitutionality of acts based on which an individual decision has been adopted, possibly breaching the constitutional rights and freedoms of a natural or legal person. Accordingly, direct individual access to the Constitutional Court is an extraordinary measure of defense of constitutional rights and freedoms and is only available following the exhaustion of all effective legal remedies, while judicial decisions adopted by ordinary courts are not an object of constitutional control. The article concludes that the preconditions of effective individual constitutional justice are created by the following elements of the constitutional complaint. First, a broad definition of subjects able to launch a constitutional complaint, constituting natural persons and all legal persons of private and public law. Second, a broad definition of the object of review, it being all laws and other acts which fall within the scope of control of constitutionality carried out by the Constitutional Court (normative and individual acts; all acts adopted not only by the Parliament, President, Government, but also by referendum). Third, the retroactive inter partes effect of the rulings adopted following the examination of constitutional complaints. The article concludes that although sustainable conclusions regarding the efficiency of the newly established mechanism are yet to be made, it is expected that the individual constitutional complaint will become an effective domestic measure of last resort for the protection of human rights and freedom with regard to practices based on unconstitutional acts.

Summary:

Introduction. I. The potential of the individual constitutional complaint. I.1. The right of political actors to initiate constitutional proceedings. I.2. The right of ordinary courts to initiate constitutional proceedings. Indirect individual access to the CCL. II. Direct individual access to constitutional justice. II.1. Essential elements of the Lithuanian Model of the Individual Constitutional Complaint. II.1.1. Subjects of the individual constitutional complaint. II.1.2. Object of the individual constitutional complaint. II.1.3. Essential admissibility criteria. II.2. First practices of admissibility. III. Preconditions for enhanced protection of constitutional rights and freedoms through the individual constitutional complaint. III.1. Protection of individual constitutional rights or freedoms. III.2. Protection of constitutional rights and freedoms through the development of constitutional jurisprudence. Conclusions