Lietuviškai
                                      Case No. 16/97

                   THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF                   
                    THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA                    

                         D E C I S I O N                         

         On the request of a group of Seimas members to          
        investigate whether Government of the Republic of        
            Lithuania Resolution No. 841 "On the Land            
        Returning" of 30 July 1997 is in compliance with         
        the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and        
                            the Laws                             

                     Vilnius, 25 March 1998                      
  
     The  Constitutional  Court  of  the  Republic  of Lithuania,
composed  of  the  justices  of the Constitutional Court Egidijus
Jarašiūnas,   Kęstutis  Lapinskas,  Zigmas  Levickis,  Augustinas
Normantas,    Vladas   Pavilonis,   Jonas   Prapiestis,   Teodora
Staugaitienė, and Juozas Žilys,
     the secretary of the hearing-Daiva Pitrėnaitė,
     in  the  procedural sitting has discussed the request of the
petitioner-a  group  of  Seimas  members-to  investigate  whether
Government  of  the  Republic of Lithuania Resolution No. 841 "On
the  Land  Returning"  of 30 July 1997 is in compliance with Item
2   of  Article  94  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Republic  of
Lithuania,  as  well  as  the  Republic  of  Lithuania Law on the
Restoration  of  Citizens'  Rights  of  Ownership to the Existing
Real  Property,  the  Republic  of  Lithuania Law on Land Reform,
the   Republic   of  Lithuania  Law  on  Land,  the  Republic  of
Lithuania  Law  on the Leasing of Land, the Republic of Lithuania
Law  on  Agricultural Companies, the Republic of Lithuania Law on
the  Governing  of  the County, and the Republic of Lithuania Law
on the Government.

     The Constitutional Court
                        has established:                         

     On  30  July 1997, the Government adopted Resolution No. 841
"On  the  Land Returning" (Official Gazette Valstybės žinios, No.
73-1871,  1997).  By  Item  1.2  of  the  said resolution, county
chiefs  were  commissioned  to  mark  out  the land in the places
where  citizens  wished  to  recover  it  in kind no later than 1
September  1997,  as  well  as to prepare a provisional statement
of  the  marking  of the plot, as well as its plan, while by Item
1.4   of   the   said   resolution-to  ensure  that  agricultural
companies  would  not  carry  out autumn agricultural work on the
land  plots  which citizens wished to recover in kind that autumn
without  the  consent  of  the  latter. The petitioner-a group of
Seimas  members-appealed  to  the  Constitutional  Court with the
petition  requesting  to investigate whether Items 1.2 and 1.4 of
the  aforesaid  Government  resolution  were  in  compliance with
Item  2  of  Article  94  of  the Constitution of the Republic of
Lithuania,  as  well  as  the  Republic  of  Lithuania Law on the
Restoration  of  Citizens'  Rights  of  Ownership to the Existing
Real  Property,  the  Republic  of  Lithuania Law on Land Reform,
the   Republic   of  Lithuania  Law  on  Land,  the  Republic  of
Lithuania  Law  on the Leasing of Land, the Republic of Lithuania
Law  on  Agricultural Companies, the Republic of Lithuania Law on
the  Governing  of  the  County, the Republic of Lithuania Law on
the Government.

     The Constitutional Court
                           holds that:                           

     On  21  January  1998, the Government adopted Resolution No.
80  "On  Recognising  of  Government of the Republic of Lithuania
Resolution  No.  841  'On  the Land Returning' of 30 July 1997 as
Null  and  Void"  (Official  Gazette Valstybės žinios, No. 9-214,
1998)   whereby  Government  Resolution  No.  841  "On  the  Land
Returning" of 30 July 1997 was recognised as null and void.
     The  fact  that  the  contested  Government  resolution  was
recognised  as  null  and void constitutes the grounds to dismiss
the initiated legal proceedings.

     Conforming  to  Part  4  of Article 69 and Article 28 of the
Law  of  the  Republic  of Lithuania on the Constitutional Court,
the Constitutional Court has adopted the following

                            decision:                            
  
     To dismiss the initiated legal proceedings in the case.
  
Justices of the Constitutional Court:
  
Egidijus Jarašiūnas 
Kęstutis Lapinskas 
Zigmas Levickis
Augustinas Normantas 
Vladas Pavilonis 
Jonas Prapiestis
Teodora Staugaitienė 
Juozas Žilys