Lietuviškai

                   THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF                   
                    THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA                    

                           R U L I N G                           

     On  the  compliance  of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania
'On  the  Procedure  for  the  Implementation  of  the Law of the
Republic  of  Lithuania "On Amending and Appending the Law of the
Republic  of  Lithuania  on  Referendum" ' of 4 July 1994 and the
Seimas   Resolution   'On   Referendum  on  the  Promulgation  of
Provisions  of  the Law of the Republic of Lithuania "On Unlawful
Privatization,    Devaluated    Accounts    and    Shares,   also
Transgressions  of  Legal  Protection" ' of 12 July 1994 with the
Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania
  
                    1 December 1994, Vilnius                     

     The  Constitutional  Court  of  the  Republic  of Lithuania,
composed  from  the Justices of the Constitutional Court Algirdas
Gailiūnas,    Kęstutis   Lapinskas,   Zigmas   Levickis,   Vladas
Pavilonis,   Pranas   Vytautas  Rasimavičius,  Stasys  Stačiokas,
Teodora Staugaitienė, Stasys Šedbaras and Juozas Žilys,
     the secretary of the hearing - Rolanda Stimbirytė,
     the   petitioner  -  Seimas  members  Kęstutis  Skrebys  and
Vidmantas   Žiemelis,   representatives  of  a  group  of  Seimas
members,
     the  party  concerned - deputy Chairman of the Seimas Juozas
Bernatonis, representative of the Seimas,
     pursuant   to   the   first   part,   Article   102  of  the
Constitution  of  the Republic of Lithuania and Part 1, Article 1
of  the  Law  on  the  Constitutional  Court  of  the Republic of
Lithuania,  in  its  public  court  hearing  of  29 November 1994
conducted  the  investigation  of Case No 23/94 subsequent to the
petition  submitted  to  the  Court  by a group of Seimas members
requesting   to  investigate  if  the  Law  of  the  Republic  of
Lithuania  'On  the  Procedure  for the Implementation of the Law
of  the  Republic of Lithuania "On Amending and Appending the Law
of  the  Republic  of  Lithuania  on Referendum" ' of 4 July 1994
and  the  Seimas Resolution 'On Referendum on the Promulgation of
Provisions  of  the Law of the Republic of Lithuania "On Unlawful
Privatization,   Devaluated   Accounts  and  Shares  as  well  as
Transgressions  of  Legal  Protection"  '  of 12 July 1994 are in
compliance with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania.
  
     The Constitutional Court
     has established:

                               1.                                
     On  4  July  1994  the  Seimas adopted Law 'On the Procedure
for  the  Implementation  of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania
"On  Amending  and Appending the Law of the Republic of Lithuania
on   Referendum"   '  (Official  Gazette  "Valstybės  Žinios"  No
51-953,  1994),  and  on  12  July  1994  passed  Resolution  'On
Referendum  on  the  Promulgation of Provisions of the Law of the
Republic  of  Lithuania  "On  Unlawful  Privatization, Devaluated
Accounts   and   Shares   as  well  as  Transgressions  of  Legal
Protection"  '  (Official  Gazette "Valstybės Žinios" No 54-1023,
1994).
     The  petitioner  -  a  group  of  Seimas members request the
Constitutional  Court  to  examine  if  the Law 'On the Procedure
for  the  Implementation  of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania
"On  Amending  and Appending the Law of the Republic of Lithuania
on  Referendum"  '  of  4 July 1994 and the Seimas Resolution 'On
Referendum  on  the  Promulgation of Provisions of the Law of the
Republic  of  Lithuania  "On  Unlawful  Privatization, Devaluated
Accounts   and   Shares   as  well  as  Transgressions  of  Legal
Protection"  '  of  12  July 1994 are in conformity with Articles
3, 9, 33 and 67 of the Constitution.

                               2.                                
     The   petitioner's   request   is  based  on  the  following
arguments.
     The   initiative  group  of  citizens  of  the  Republic  of
Lithuania,  conforming  to  then  valid  Law  of  the Republic of
Lithuania  on  Referendum (Official Gazette "Valstybės Žinios" No
33-445,  1989;  No  4-86,  No  31-755, 1990; No 18-515, 1992) and
procedure   and  terms  prescribed  by  this  Law,  realized  the
initiative  right  to  announce  a referendum vested in citizens:
filed  requisite  documents  for  the submittal for referendum of
the  Constitutional  Law  "On  Unlawful Privatization, Devaluated
Accounts   and   Shares   as  well  as  Transgressions  of  Legal
Protection".  This  had been done prior to the enforcement of the
Law  "On  Amending  and  Appending  the  Law  of  the Republic of
Lithuania  on  Referendum"  of  15  June  1994  (Official Gazette
"Valstybės  Žinios"  No  47-870,  1994).  This fact has been also
confirmed   in  the  resolving  part  of  the  decision  "On  the
conclusions  concerning  the  documents  of  the initiative group
for  the  announcement  of  referendum"  passed on 7 July 1994 by
the  Central  Electoral  Committee which had been commissioned to
check  the  documents submitted by the initiative group under the
Seimas  Resolution  of  21  June  1994  "On the documents for the
announcement  of  referendum  submitted by the initiative group",
which  reads:  "to  confirm  the  conclusion  that  the documents
submitted  by  the initiative group containing the requirement to
call  a  referendum  on the constitutional Law of the Republic of
Lithuania  "On  Unlawful  Privatization,  Devaluated Accounts and
Shares  as  well  as  Transgressions  of  Legal  Protection",  is
consistent   with  the  Law  of  the  Republic  of  Lithuania  on
Referendum ..."
     The  petitioner  maintains  that the Seimas by Resolution of
12   July   1994  'On  Referendum  on  the  Promulgation  of  the
Provisions  of  the Law of the Republic of Lithuania "On Unlawful
Privatization,   Devaluated   Accounts  and  Shares  as  well  as
Transgressions  of  Legal  Protection"  '  ignored the initiative
right  to  call  referendum  vested in the citizens by the first,
third    and    fourth    parts    of    Article    9    of   the
Constitution,"...because,   according  to  said  Resolution,  the
referendum  was  announced  on  another  issue  than  it had been
requested  by  the citizens. Under item 1 of the mentioned act, a
referendum  shall  be  announced 'on the provisions of the Law of
the   Republic   of   Lithuania   "On   Unlawful   Privatization,
Devaluated  Accounts  and  Shares  as  well  as Transgressions of
Legal  Protection"',  whereas  in  item  3 thereof it is resolved
'to  submit  for  referendum  eight  provisions of the Law of the
Republic  of  Lithuania  "On  Unlawful  Privatization, Devaluated
Accounts   and   Shares   as  well  as  Transgressions  of  Legal
Protection" ' .
     Furthermore,  by  item 2 of said Resolution the Seimas "also
resolved  to  hold  that  the  proposal  of  the initiative group
concerning  a  constitutional  law  or  constitutional provisions
was  not  in  conformity  with  Article 69 of the Constitution of
the  Republic  of  Lithuania".  Although  this  question  was not
considered  at  a sitting, the Seimas decided that "provisions of
the  law  of  the  Republic  of  Lithuania shall be submitted for
referendum".  In  the  petitioner's  opinion, this "restricts the
sovereign  right  of  the  People  to directly participate in the
government  of  their  State,  established  in  Article 33 of the
Constitution  which  forbids  to restrict the sovereign powers of
the  People.  It  should also be noted that legal acts enumerated
in  Article  150  of  the Constitution have already been ascribed
to  constitutional  laws  by  the  direct  manifestation  of  the
People's will..."
     The   above  mentioned  Resolution  of  the  Seimas  "...has
established   additional  conditions  for  the  conduction  of  a
referendum  -  item  3 of said Resolution has determined that the
provisions  of  the law shall be submitted for referendum "unless
these  provisions  of  the  law  are adopted by the Seimas of the
Republic of Lithuania until the referendum day." '
     The  petitioner  also  maintains  that  the  Seimas,  "while
adopting   items  2  and  3  of  said  Resolution,  violated  the
provisions  of  the  second  and third parts of Article 12 of the
specified  in  the preamble Law on Referendum to which the Seimas
members  had  conformed  in  the  adoption  of this act and which
regulated  the  procedure for the adoption of a Seimas resolution
on the requirement to call a referendum.
     On  15  June  1994  the  Seimas adopted the Law "On Amending
and   Appending   the   Law  of  the  Republic  of  Lithuania  on
Referendum",   which   entered   into  force  on  22  June  1994.
Following  the  petitioner,  "upon  the  enforcement of new legal
norms   regulating   the   procedure   for   realization  of  the
initiative  right  to  call  a referendum, also the procedure for
the  announcement  and  execution of a referendum, the legal fact
had  already  occurred - the citizens' initiative right to call a
referendum   had   already   been   realized   in  the  procedure
prescribed  by  the  law.  Therefore,  the  application  of newly
adopted   legal   norms  to  the  citizens'  demands  to  call  a
referendum  which  had  been already been realized, implies their
application  to  facts  and  legal consequences that had appeared
prior to the enforcement of a normative act.
     In  the  petitioner's  opinion,  the  Law of 4 July 1994 'On
the  Procedure  for the Implementation of the Law of the Republic
of  Lithuania  "On Amending and Appending the Law of the Republic
of  Lithuania  on  Referendum"  ',  "...according to the scope of
regulation,  contradicts  Articles 3 and 9 of the Constitution as
it   restricts   the   People's   sovereign   powers  to  call  a
referendum.   The   above   mentioned  Law  prescribes  that  the
provisions  of  the  first,  second,  third  and  fourth parts of
Article  9  as well as third part of Article 11 of said Law shall
not   be   applied  for  the  citizens'  initiatives  to  call  a
referendum  the  realization  of  which had been started prior to
the  enforcement  of  the  15  June  1994  Law  "On  Amending and
Appending  the  Law  of the Republic of Lithuania on Referendum".
However,  the  provisions  of part 1, Article 1; parts 2 and 3 of
Article  3;  part 4 of Article 4; part 1 of Article 7; Article 8;
parts  1  and 2 of Article 9; parts 1, 2 and 3 of Article 10; and
part  2  of  Article  13  of  then  valid  Law of the Republic of
Lithuania  on  Referendum  -  had already been realized until the
specified  date,  therefore  the preliminary investigation of the
citizens'   proposal   had   to   be  started  in  the  procedure
prescribed   by   Article   11  of  the  mentioned  Law  and  the
referendum  had  to  be announced in the procedure established in
Articles 12 and 13 of the same Law."
     During  the  court  hearing the petitioner's representatives
actually repeated these motives specified in the petition.
     Conforming  to  the  above mentioned motives, the petitioner
and  his  representatives  request  the  Constitutional  Court to
examine  if  the  4  July  1994  Law  'On  the  Procedure for the
Implementation  of  the  Law  of  the  Republic  of Lithuania "On
Amending  and  Appending  the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on
Referendum"  '  and  the  Seimas  Resolution  of 12 July 1994 'On
Referendum  on  the  Promulgation of the Provisions of the Law of
the   Republic   of   Lithuania   "On   Unlawful   Privatization,
Devaluated  Accounts  and  Shares  as  well  as Transgressions of
Legal  Protection"  '  are  in  compliance with Articles 3, 9, 33
and 67 of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania.

                               3.                                
     During  the  court  hearing,  a  representative of the party
concerned  explained  that,  in  his  opinion,  the  petitioner's
request is not justified.
     By  way  of answering to the petitioner's statement that the
Law  according  to the scope of regulation contradicts Articles 3
and 9 of the Constitution he submitted the following arguments.
     First,   the   Law  in  dispute  was  not  adopted  for  one
particular  referendum  because  signatures for the referendum on
pre-term  elections  to  the  Seimas were already being collected
at that time.
     Second,  the  Law specified that these amendments concerning
the  collection  of  signatures  and their verification would not
be applied to already started initiatives for referenda.
     Third,   although   the  Constitutional  Court  had  already
investigated  the  petition of Seimas members and on 22 July 1994
passed  the  ruling on the compliance of the 15 June 1994 Law "On
Amending  and  Appending  the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on
Referendum"  with  the  Constitution,  the petitioner however has
doubts  as  to  the  constitutionality of the application of this
Law.
     Fourth,  the  legislation process concerning the adoption of
laws  in  the Seimas as well as by referendum consists of several
stages  the  main  of  which  are  as follows: realization of the
initiative  right  of  legislation,  consideration  of  a  draft,
adoption   of  a  draft,  promulgation  and  enforcement  of  the
adopted  law.  The  Law  on  Referendum  not only establishes the
procedure  for  expressing  initiative,  collection of signatures
and   their   presentation,   but  also  the  procedure  for  the
announcement  of  a  referendum,  consideration  of the submitted
draft  and  its  adoption  as  well  as the enforcement of an act
adopted  by  referendum. That is why the Seimas passed the Law in
dispute  -  in  order new norms would not be applied to the stage
of expressing initiative.
     Fifth,  the  petitioner's  statement  that the provisions of
part  1,  Article  1;  parts  2  and  3  of  Article 3; part 4 of
Article  4;  part  1  of  Article  7; Article 8; parts 1 and 2 of
Article  9;  parts  1,  2  and  3  of  Article  10; and part 2 of
Article  13  could  not  be  applied  is not justified in any way
because said provisions had already been realized.
     The   representative   of   the  party  concerned  has  also
explained   the   essence   of  the  amendments  to  the  Law  on
Referendum;
     The  first  sentence  of  the  first  part of Article 1 only
echoes  the  constitutional  norms  that were valid already prior
to its amendment;
     Parts  2  and  3  of  Article  3 establish the procedure for
referendum  campaign.  These  norms  have  been particularized by
specifying  that  the  procedure  for  the campaign in mass media
shall be determined by the Central Electoral Committee;
     The  norms  of  the fourth part of Article 4 are not related
to  the  realization  of  the  initiative  right  vested  in  the
citizens,  they  only  prescribe rights and duties for mass media
during referendum;
     Article  7  has  been  recognized null and void, whereas the
norm  of  the first part of Article 7 mentioned by the petitioner
has been repeated in Article 1;
     Only  two  notions  from  Article 8 have undergone amending,
namely:  the  notion  "for  the  deputies of the Supreme Council"
has  been  replaced  by  "for Seimas members" and the notion "for
citizens" has been used instead of "for the People";
     In   the   first   part   of  Article  10  the  non-existing
institution  "Supreme  Council"  was  superseded  by  the  notion
"Chairman  of  the Seimas", whereas the second part was subjected
to  no  changes;  in  the third part the notion "Presidium of the
Supreme  Council"  was  substituted  by  the  "Central  Electoral
Committee";
     The  second  part  of Article 13 establishes that initiators
of  referendum  shall  make  amendments  to  the  draft and shall
publicize  them  within  15  days  before  referendum.  Under the
earlier   valid  norm,  the  signatures  could  be  collected  in
support  of  one  draft whereas another draft could be announced,
which  was  not  in  compliance  with  the  Constitution  of  the
Republic of Lithuania.
     Sixth,  the  situation  was  such  that  some  norms  of the
earlier  Law  on  Referendum  were  no  longer valid and could no
longer  be  applied.  Realizing  that,  the  legislators  adopted
amendments to the Law on Referendum.
     In   the   opinion   of  the  representative  of  the  party
concerned,  many  of  the  petitioner's statements concerning the
Seimas  Resolution  'On  Referendum  on  the  Promulgation of the
Provisions  of  the Law of the Republic of Lithuania "On Unlawful
Privatization,   Devaluated   Accounts  and  Shares  as  well  as
Transgressions  of  Legal  Protection" ' of 12 July 1994 are also
not justified.
     On  22  June  1994,  the initiative group submitted the last
draft  to  the  Seimas.  The  initiators  proposed  to submit for
referendum  a  draft  constitutional  law,  however it would have
contradicted  Article  69  of the Constitution, in the third part
of  which  it  is established: "The Seimas shall establish a list
of  constitutional  laws  by  a three-fifths majority vote of the
Seimas  members".  The  Constitutional  Court  in its Ruling of 8
November  1993  on  the  compliance of the Law of the Republic of
Lithuania  "On  Partial  Amending and Appending of the Law of the
Republic  of  Lithuania  on  Elections  to  the  Seimas" with the
Constitution  of  the  Republic  of  Lithuania  stated that: "The
constituent  parts  of  the  Constitution shall primarily be laws
established  in  Article 150 of the Constitution. Only the Seimas
is empowered with enumerating other constitutional laws."
     Since  such  a  list  did  not  exist at the moment when the
draft   was   submitted,   the  legislator  could  not  call  the
submitted   for  referendum  draft  constitutional.  The  Seimas,
conforming  to  the  second  part  of  Article  12  of the Law on
Referendum,  maintained  that  "the  proposal  of  the initiative
group  concerning  the  constitutional  law  of  the  Republic of
Lithuania  or  constitutional  provisions was not consistent with
Article  69  of  the  Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania".
Such   right   of   the   Seimas   was  also  recognized  by  the
Constitutional  Court  Ruling  of  22  July  1994. Therefore, the
petitioner's  statement  that  another question was submitted for
referendum, does not fit to reality.
     The   representative   of   the  party  concerned  has  also
acknowledged   that  the  provision  of  item  3  of  the  Seimas
Resolution  in  dispute  stating  that  the  provisions  shall be
proposed  for  referendum  "unless they are adopted by the Seimas
until  the  referendum  day",  is  not  in  compliance  with  the
Constitution.
     Conforming  to  these  arguments,  the representative of the
party  concerned  requests  the Constitutional Court to recognize
that  the  4  July  1994 Law of the Republic of Lithuania 'On the
Procedure  for  the  Implementation of the Law of the Republic of
Lithuania  "On  Amending and Appending the Law of the Republic of
Lithuania   on  Referendum"  '  and  the  Seimas  Resolution  'On
Referendum  on  the  Promulgation of Provisions of the Law of the
Republic  of  Lithuania  "On  Unlawful  Privatization, Devaluated
Accounts  and  Shares, also Transgressions of Legal Protection" '
of  12  July  1994  are  consistent  with the Constitution of the
Republic of Lithuania.

	The Constitutional Court
                           holds that:                           

     1.  On  the  compliance  of  the  4  July  1994  Law  of the
Republic  of  Lithuania  'On the Procedure for the Implementation
of  the  Law  of  the  Republic  of  Lithuania  "On  Amending and
Appending  the  Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Referendum" '
with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania.
     The  Constitutional  Court  in  its  Ruling of 16 March 1994
stated  that  "in  the  sphere of legal regulation a general rule
is  valid:  a  law  has  no  retroactive validity. The essence of
this  rule  is  that  laws, except some particular cases, usually
"do  not  go  to  the  past", i. e. they are not applied to legal
facts,  that  have  already occurred, and legal consequences that
existed  prior  to the enforcement of the newly adopted normative
act"  (Official  Gazette  "Valstybės  Žinios")  No 22-366, 1994).
This  provision  was  once  again  repeated in the Constitutional
Court  Ruling  of  15  July  1994  (Official  Gazette  "Valstybės
Žinios" No 56-1103, 1994).
     First  of  all,  it  must  be noted that, at the time of the
adoption  of  the  law in dispute, the legal relations concerning
initiation  and  organization  had  not  finished  yet, therefore
there  were  no grounds for speaking about the legal consequences
that  appeared  then.  This  is  concerned  with  the  fact  that
relations  regarding  organization  of  referendum are continuous
legal  relations.  Besides,  in  the  case  in  question, certain
amendments  to  the  Law on Referendum had to be made in order to
ensure  the  positive  run,  i. e. continuity, of said relations.
Such  objective  necessity was preconditioned by the Constitution
and  new  structure of the Parliament. Consequently, the adoption
of  such  amendments  by  itself  did  not  imply the retroactive
validity  of  new  norms,  because  at  the  moment  in  question
concrete legal consequences did not actually exist yet.
     Secondly,  the  statement  that  making  one's initiative to
organize   a  referendum  already  implies  the  beginning  of  a
referendum,  is  not  justified.  The  formation of an initiative
group,  collection  of  citizen's  signatures  for  organizing  a
referendum,  filing  of  documents  and  their  verification  and
consideration   -  these  are  only  obligatory  actions  in  the
process  of  referendum  oranization.  The  Seimas  resolution to
announce  a  referendum  may  be  adopted  only  after  the above
mentioned  actions  have  been  performed  (with the exception of
cases  when  a referendum is announced on the Seimas initiative).
It  should  be  noted, that failing to perform the most important
preliminary  actions  (e.  g.  failing  to  collect the necessary
number  of  citizens' signatures within the established period of
time)   would  mean  the  breach  of  organizational  process  of
referendum.  After  the  Seimas passes a resolution to announce a
referendum,  direct  preparation  for  a referendum shall start -
committees  for  referendum  and  electoral  districts  shall  be
formed,  voter  lists  shall  be  verified,  referendum  campaign
shall  take  place.  Referendum  (i.  e. citizens' vote) shall be
conducted  on  the  day specified in the Seimas resolution and at
the  time  prescribed  by  the  law.  Only in cases and procedure
provided  by  law when voting takes place by post, citizens shall
participate in referendum earlier than the appointed day.
     Thirdly,  the  Law  in  dispute  itself  prescribed that the
norms   which  might  change  already  existing  legal  relations
concerning   referendum   organization   could  not  be  applied.
Namely,  it  was  established that "the provisions of parts 1, 2,
3  and  4  of  Article  9,  also part 3 of Article 11 of this Law
would  not  be applied to the citizens' initiatives to announce a
referendum  the  implementation  of which had been started before
the  enforcement  of  amendments  to  the  Law on Referendum". It
should  be  noted,  that  this  is all the contents of the Law in
dispute.  Therefore,  the  petitioner's statement that "this Law,
according  to  the  scope  of  regulation, contradicts Articles 3
and  9  of  the  Constitution  as  it  restricts the power of the
People  to  call  a referendum" is not grounded on legal motives.
By  the  Law in dispute the Seimas only realized the right vested
therein  to  establish  the  procedure for the enforcement of the
already  adopted  law.  Therefore,  the  4  July 1994 Law 'On the
Procedure  for  the  Implementation of the Law of the Republic of
Lithuania  "On  Amending and Appending the Law of the Republic of
Lithuania   on   Referendum"   '   is   in  conformity  with  the
Constitution.
     2.   On   the   compliance  of  the  Seimas  Resolution  'On
Referendum  on  the  Promulgation of Provisions of the Law of the
Republic  of  Lithuania  "On  Unlawful  Privatization, Devaluated
Accounts  and  Shares, also Transgressions of Legal Protection" '
of  12  July  1994  with  the  Constitution  of  the  Republic of
Lithuania
     2.  1.  The petitioner maintains that under items 1 and 3 of
said  Resolution  "the  referendum  was announced on another than
required  by  the  citizens  issue".  The  petitioner  bases  his
statement  on  the  fact  that  the  title  of  the draft law was
specified  by  adding  the  word  "provisions" (i. e. "provisions
...  of  the  law").  The  representative  of the party concerned
explained  that  the  concretization  of  the  title  of  the law
conformed  to  the  norm  of the fourth part of Article 69 of the
Constitution  which  reads  that  "provisions of the laws ... may
also  be  adopted  by referendum". This question has already been
resolved  in  the Constitutional Court Ruling of 22 July 1994 'On
the  compliance  of  the  provisions  of items 1, 9, 12 and 39 of
the  Law  "On  Amending  and Appending the Law of the Republic of
Lithuania  on  Referendum"  of 15 June 1994, by which Articles 1,
9,  12  and  32  of  the  Law  on Referendum have been amended or
appended,  with  the  Constitution  of the Republic of Lithuania'
(Official  Gazette  "Valstybės  Žinios"  No  57-1120,  1994). The
second  paragraph  of  item 2 of the argumentation of said Ruling
runs:   "...   the  notion  "provisions  of  laws"  used  in  the
Constitution  may  be  understood  equally  as an integral law as
well  as  separate  norms  of  a  law.  A  law  as  well  as  its
constituent  parts  always  consist  of  certain  provisions that
become  legal  norms only in the process of legislation. However,
it  does  not  mean,  that  a  law  and  provisions  of laws have
different  legal  power  in  the  stage  of  their  submittal for
referendum  as  well  as after their adoption by referendum". The
Constitutional  Court  did  not  establish  that  the  Seimas had
changed  the  contents of the draft law submitted for referendum,
i.  e.  concrete  norms of said draft law. Thus, the petitioner's
statement   that   "referendum  was  announced  on  another  than
required by the citizens' question" is not justified.
     The  petitioner  argues  that  item  2  of the Resolution in
dispute  has  unlawfully changed the form of the act proposed for
referendum:  i.  e.  "provisions  of  the laws of the Republic of
Lithuania   were   submitted"   for   referendum   instead  of  a
constitutional law (or constitutional provisions).
     Constitutional  laws  are mentioned in Articles 69 and 72 of
the  Constitution.  Said laws differ from other laws primarily by
the  procedure  of  their  adoption and amendment. Constitutional
laws  shall  be  deemed  adopted  if  more  than  half of all the
members  of  the  Seimas  vote  in the affirmative; they shall be
amended  by  at  least  a  three-fifths  majority vote of all the
Seimas   members.   Meanwhile,   other   laws   (including  their
amendments)  shall  be  deemed  adopted  if  the  majority of the
Seimas   members   participating  in  the  sitting  vote  in  the
affirmative.  Furthermore,  said  procedure  for the adoption and
amendment  of  laws  is  concerned  with the peculiar place these
laws  occupy  in  the  legal  system  and  specific relations the
norms of constitutional laws are in with constitutional norms.
     In  Article  69  of  the  Constitution it is set forth: "The
Seimas  shall  establish  a  list  of  constitutional  laws  by a
three-fifths   majority   vote   of   the  Seimas  members."  The
Constitution   does  not  prescribe  another  procedure  for  the
establishment  of  constitutional  laws  than the above mentioned
one   and   the   procedure   for   making   amendments   to  the
Constitution.  Constitutional  norms  are  equally binding to all
legal  persons,  including  groups for initiating a referendum as
well  as  citizens'  groups  of  any  size.  The later may not be
either  identified  with  the  People  or  speak on behalf of the
People.  The  People  usually  express  their  will  directly  by
referendum  or  during  direct  universal  elections,  i. e. only
after  referendum  or  direct  universal  elections People's will
with  regard  to  concrete  issues  becomes  known.  Parliament -
democratically  elected  People's representative shall indirectly
express the People's will.
     Thus,  according  to the Constitution, only the Seimas shall
establish  a  list  of  constitutional laws. Consequently, in the
above  mentioned  case  the  Seimas,  while crossing out the word
"constitutional"  from  the  title  of the draft law proposed for
referendum,  acted  in compliance with the powers vested therein.
This  fact  has  already  been stated in the Constitutional Court
Ruling  of  8  November 1993 'On the compliance of the Law of the
Republic  of  Lithuania "On Partial Amending and Appending of the
Law  of  the  Republic  of  Lithuania on Elections to the Seimas"
with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania'.
     2.  3.  The  petitioner maintains that the provision of item
3  of  the  Resolution  in dispute "unless the provisions of this
Law  are  adopted by the Seimas until the referendum day" implies
the  establishment  of additional conditions for the execution of
referendum, which contradicts the Constitution.
     This  question  has  been  resolved  on  its  merits  in the
Constitutional  Court  Ruling  of 22 July 1994 'On the compliance
of  the  provisions  of  items  1,  9,  12  and 39 of the Law "On
Amending  and  Appending  the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on
Referendum"  of  15  June 1994, by which Articles 1, 9, 12 and 32
of  the  Law  on  Referendum  have been amended or appended, with
the  Constitution  of the Republic of Lithuania.' Under item 7 of
this  Ruling  it  has  been  recognized that "the norm of item 12
which  appended  Article 12 of the Law on Referendum by the third
part",  contradicts  the  Constitution.  In  said  Constitutional
Court  Ruling  it was noted that "the Constitution, however, does
not  prescribe  that  the  Seimas  may do any other activities or
accept  for  consideration  the  draft  legal  act  submitted for
referendum,  thus  restricting  the citizens' right to initiate a
referendum  and  voice  their  will  with regard to the submitted
draft  law  or  a draft of any other legal act." The provision in
dispute  of  the  Seimas resolution in essence echoed the norm of
the  15  June  1994 Law "On Amending and Appending the Law of the
Republic    of    Lithuania   on   Referendum"   which   by   the
Constitutional    Court    Ruling    has   been   recognised   as
contradicting  the  Constitution.  According to Article 72 of the
Law  on  the  Constitutional  Court,  this  provision is null and
void and may not be applied.
     Pursuant    to    the    above    mentioned   motives,   the
Constitutional  Court  has  drawn  the conclusion that the Seimas
Resolution  of  12  July  1994 'On Referendum on the Promulgation
of  Provisions  of  the  Law  of  the  Republic  of Lithuania "On
Unlawful  Privatization,  Devaluated  Accounts and Shares as well
as  Transgressions  of Legal Protection" ', with the exception of
the  provision  of item 3 "unless these provisions of the law are
adopted  by  the  Seimas  of  the Republic of Lithuania until the
referendum  day"  which  under the Constitutional Court Ruling of
22   July  1994  is  null  and  void,  does  not  contradict  the
Constitution.

     Conforming  to  Article  102  of  the  Constitution  of  the
Republic  of  Lithuania  as well as Articles 53, 54, 55 and 56 of
the   Law   on  the  Constitutional  Court  of  the  Republic  of
Lithuania, the Constitutional Court has passed the following
     ruling:

     1.To  recognize  that  the  Law of the Republic of Lithuania
'On  the  Procedure  for  the  Implementation  of  the Law of the
Republic of Lithuania
     "On  Amending  and  Appending  the  Law  of  the Republic of
Lithuania  on  Referendum" ' of 4 July 1994 is in conformity with
the Constitution.
     2.   To  recognize  that  the  Seimas  of  the  Republic  of
Lithuania  Resolution  'On  Referendum  on  the  Promulgation  of
Provisions  of  the Law of the Republic of Lithuania "On Unlawful
Privatization,    Devaluated    Accounts    and    Shares,   also
Transgressions  of  Legal Protection" ' of 12 July 1994, with the
exception  of  the  provision  of item 3 "unless these provisions
of  the  law  are  adopted  by  the  Seimas  of  the  Republic of
Lithuania   until   the   referendum   day"   which   under   the
Constitutional  Court  Ruling  of  22 July 1994 is null and void,
does   not   contradict  the  Constitution  of  the  Republic  of
Lithuania
  
     This  Constitutional  Court  ruling is final and not subject
to appeal.
     The  ruling  is  promulgated  on  behalf  of the Republic of
Lithuania.