Lietuviškai
THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF
THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
D E C I S I O N
27 June 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,
in the procedural sitting of the Constitutional Court
examined the issue pertaining to the dismissal of the initiated
legal proceedings of case No 14/94-15/94
The Constitutional Court
has established:
The petitioners - the Panel of Civil Cases of the Supreme
Court and Vilnius 2nd District Court - request to investigate
if item 1, Part 1, Article 26 of the Code of Civil Procedure of
the Republic of Lithuania is in compliance with the first part
of Article 109 of the Constitution of the Republic of
Lithuania.
The Panel of Civil Cases of the Supreme Court, while
investigating the civil case in cassation procedure pursuant to
the suit of stock-company "Transferas" lodged against the
Panevėžys city board, faced the issue of the jurisdictional
dependence of the case. The Panel of Civil Cases of the Supreme
Court has stated that, under item 1, Part 1, Article 26 of the
Code of Civil Procedure, this case as well as other cases
pertaining to the disputes, the subjects of which are state,
public, co-operative enterprises, establishments and
organizations, are not within the jurisdiction of courts. The
material, gathered for the suspended case, can prove, that the
issue of falling of said dispute under the jurisdiction of
State Arbitration was raised. Meanwhile, in accordance with the
first part of Article 109 of the Constitution of the Republic
of Lithuania, the courts shall have the exclusive right to
administer justice. Besides, Article 124 of the Constitution
establishes, that acts adopted by local governments in
violation of the rights of citizens and organizations, may be
appealed against in court. Due to the above mentioned reasons,
the investigation of the case was suspended and it was decided
to address the Constitutional Court of the Republic of
Lithuania.
Vilnius 2nd District Court, while investigating the civil
case pursuant to the suit of the plaintiff - stock-company
"TELE-3" - brought against the defendant - Radio and TV Centre
of Lithuania - , also faced the issue of the jurisdictional
dependence of the case. The representatives of the defendant
have specified, that in conformity with Article 26 of the Code
of Civil Procedure of the Republic of Lithuania, the case is
not within the jurisdiction of the court, and said dispute
among parties should be settled by State Arbitration.
Therefore, Vilnius 2nd District Court suspended said civil case
and passed the ruling to apply to the Constitutional Court.
In the first part of Article 109 of the Constitution of
the Republic of Lithuania it is determined, that the courts
shall have the exclusive right to administer justice. While
realizing this constitutional provision, the Seimas of the
Republic of Lithuania on 12 April 1994 adopted the Provisional
Law on Economic Court". In the first part of Article 1 of this
Law it was set forth that: "A specialized court of the Republic
of Lithuania, called the Economic Court of the Republic of
Lithuania, is established instead of State Arbitration of the
Republic of Lithuania, to ensure the court investigation of
economic disputes arising from commercial activity". In the
second part of this Article it is determined, that "Economic
Court shall start its activity on the next day after the oath,
taken by the appointed judges to the Republic of Lithuania".
On 25 May 1994, the President of the Republic of
Lithuania, by Decree No 300 appointed judges of the Economic
Court. On 26 May 1994 these judges to be faithful to the
Republic of Lithuania. Taking the fact, that State Arbitration
of the Republic of Lithuania was liquidated by said acts,
establishing the Economic Court instead, into consideration,
the case under investigation is actually left without the
subject matter of the dispute. The Constitutional Court holds
that this is a ground for the dismissal of the initiated legal
proceedings. Conforming to the fourth part of Article 69 of the
Law on the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania,
the Constitutional Court has taken the following
decision:
to dismiss the initiated legal proceedings of case No
14/94-15/94.