Lietuviškai
THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF
THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
R U L I N G
On the compliance of Part 4 of Article 11 of the
Republic of Lithuania Law on State Pensions, Item
2 of Part 3 of Article 8 of the Republic of
Lithuania Law on the Legal Status of Victims of
the Occupations of 1939-1990 with the Constitution
of the Republic of Lithuania and on the compliance
of Items 9 and 12 of the List "The 1939-1990
Occupations Repressive Structures, Services and
Positions for Serving in Which Persons Shall not
be Awarded State Pensions for Victims" as approved
by 3 July 1998 Government of the Republic of
Lithuania Resolution No. 829 "On the Approval of
the List of the 1939-1990 Occupations Repressive
Structures, Services and Positions for Serving in
Which Persons Shall not be Awarded State Pensions
for Victims" with the Constitution of the Republic
of Lithuania and Part 4 of Article 11 of the
Republic of Lithuania Law on State Pensions
Vilnius, 10 February 2000
The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania,
composed of the Judges of the Constitutional Court Egidijus
Jarašiūnas, Egidijus Kūris, Zigmas Levickis, Augustinas
Normantas, Vladas Pavilonis, Jonas Prapiestis, Vytautas
Sinkevičius, Stasys Stačiokas, and Teodora Staugaitienė,
with the secretary of the hearing-Daiva Pitrėnaitė,
in the presence of the representatives of the parties
concerned:
Antanas Napoleonas Stasiškis, a Seimas member, Jadvyga
Andriuškevičiūtė, Jurgita Meškienė and Pranas Petkevičius, who
are senior consultants to the Law Department of the Office of
the Seimas; all they are representatives of the Seimas of the
Republic of Lithuania,
Svetlana Černuševič, Head of the Pensions Division of the
Ministry of Social Security and Labour of the Republic of
Lithuania, and Arvydas Anušauskas, Director of the Department
for the Investigation of Population Genocide and Resistance of
Lithuania, both of them are representatives of the Government
of the Republic of Lithuania,
pursuant to Part 1 of Article 102 of the Constitution of
the Republic of Lithuania and Part 1 of Article 1 of the
Republic of Lithuania Law on the Constitutional Court, on 12
January 2000 in its public hearing conducted the investigation
of Case No. 25/98-31/98-10/99-14/99-20/99-21/99-22/99-28/99
subsequent to the following petitions:
The 22 September 1998 petition of the Vilnius City Court
of the First District requesting to investigate whether the
last sentence of Item 2 of Part 2 of Article 8 of the Republic
of Lithuania Law on the Legal Status of Persons Who Suffered
from the Occupations of 1939-1990 and Sub-item 12.5 of Item 12
of the List "The 1939-1990 Occupations Repressive Structures,
Services and Positions for Serving in Which Persons Shall not
be Awarded State Pensions for Victims" as approved by 3 July
1998 Government of the Republic of Lithuania Resolution No. 829
"On the Approval of the List of the 1939-1990 Occupations
Repressive Structures, Services and Positions for Serving in
Which Persons Shall not be Awarded State Pensions for Victims"
are in compliance with the Constitution of the Republic of
Lithuania.
The 10 December 1998 petition of the Druskininkai City
District Court requesting to investigate whether Part 4 of
Article 11 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on State Pensions,
Sub-item 12.5 of Item 12 of the List "The 1939-1990 Occupations
Repressive Structures, Services and Positions for Serving in
Which Persons Shall not be Awarded State Pensions for Victims"
as approved by 3 July 1998 Government of the Republic of
Lithuania Resolution No. 829 "On the Approval of the List of
the 1939-1990 Occupations Repressive Structures, Services and
Positions for Serving in Which Persons Shall not be Awarded
State Pensions for Victims" and Item 2 of Part 2 of Article 8
of the Republic of Lithuania Law on the Legal Status of Persons
Who Suffered from the Occupations of 1939-1990 are in
compliance with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania.
The 3 May 1999 petition of the Vilnius Regional
Administrative Court requesting to investigate whether Item 12
of the List "The 1939-1990 Occupations Repressive Structures,
Services and Positions for Serving in Which Persons Shall not
be Awarded State Pensions for Victims" as approved by 3 July
1998 Government of the Republic of Lithuania Resolution No. 829
"On the Approval of the List of the 1939-1990 Occupations
Repressive Structures, Services and Positions for Serving in
Which Persons Shall not be Awarded State Pensions for Victims"
is in compliance with Part 4 of Article 11 of the Republic of
Lithuania Law on State Pensions.
The 26 May 1999 petition of the Panevėžys City District
Court requesting to investigate whether Part 4 of Article 11 of
the Republic of Lithuania Law on State Pensions and Sub-items
12.3 and 12.5 of Item 12 of the List "The 1939-1990 Occupations
Repressive Structures, Services and Positions for Serving in
Which Persons Shall not be Awarded State Pensions for Victims"
as approved by 3 July 1998 Government of the Republic of
Lithuania Resolution No. 829 "On the Approval of the List of
the 1939-1990 Occupations Repressive Structures, Services and
Positions for Serving in Which Persons Shall not be Awarded
State Pensions for Victims" are in compliance with the
Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania.
The 17 June 1999 petition of the Klaipėda Regional
Administrative Court requesting to investigate whether Item 12
of the List "The 1939-1990 Occupations Repressive Structures,
Services and Positions for Serving in Which Persons Shall not
be Awarded State Pensions for Victims" as approved by 3 July
1998 Government of the Republic of Lithuania Resolution No. 829
"On the Approval of the List of the 1939-1990 Occupations
Repressive Structures, Services and Positions for Serving in
Which Persons Shall not be Awarded State Pensions for Victims"
and Item 2 of Part 2 of Article 8 of the Republic of Lithuania
Law on the Legal Status of Persons Who Suffered from the
Occupations of 1939-1990 are in compliance with the
Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and Part 4 of Article
11 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on State Pensions.
The 29 June 1999 petition of the Klaipėda Regional
Administrative Court requesting to investigate whether Item 12
of the List "The 1939-1990 Occupations Repressive Structures,
Services and Positions for Serving in Which Persons Shall not
be Awarded State Pensions for Victims" as approved by 3 July
1998 Government of the Republic of Lithuania Resolution No. 829
"On the Approval of the List of the 1939-1990 Occupations
Repressive Structures, Services and Positions for Serving in
Which Persons Shall not be Awarded State Pensions for Victims"
and Item 2 of Part 2 of Article 8 of the Republic of Lithuania
Law on the Legal Status of Persons Who Suffered from the
Occupations of 1939-1990 are in compliance with the
Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and Part 4 of Article
11 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on State Pensions.
The 2 July 1999 petition of the Klaipėda Regional
Administrative Court requesting to investigate whether Item 9
and its Sub-item 9.2 of the List "The 1939-1990 Occupations
Repressive Structures, Services and Positions for Serving in
Which Persons Shall not be Awarded State Pensions for Victims"
as approved by 3 July 1998 Government of the Republic of
Lithuania Resolution No. 829 "On the Approval of the List of
the 1939-1990 Occupations Repressive Structures, Services and
Positions for Serving in Which Persons Shall not be Awarded
State Pensions for Victims" are in compliance with the
Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and Part 4 of Article
11 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on State Pensions.
The 22 September 1999 petition of the Klaipėda Regional
Administrative Court requesting to investigate whether Item 12
of the List "The 1939-1990 Occupations Repressive Structures,
Services and Positions for Serving in Which Persons Shall not
be Awarded State Pensions for Victims" as approved by 3 July
1998 Government of the Republic of Lithuania Resolution No. 829
"On the Approval of the List of the 1939-1990 Occupations
Repressive Structures, Services and Positions for Serving in
Which Persons Shall not be Awarded State Pensions for Victims"
is in compliance with the Constitution of the Republic of
Lithuania and Part 4 of Article 11 of the Republic of Lithuania
Law on State Pensions and whether the provision "the Government
of the Republic of Lithuania shall approve the list of the
services and positions of the said institutions (structures)
for serving in which persons shall not be awarded state
pensions" of Part 4 of Article 11 of the Republic of Lithuania
Law on State Pensions is in compliance with the Constitution of
the Republic of Lithuania.
By the 22 December 1999 decision of the Constitutional
Court, all these requests were joined into one case.
The Constitutional Court
has established:
I
The petitioners investigated civil cases subsequent to
complaints of persons regarding termination of payment of state
pensions for victims to them which had been awarded pursuant to
Item 5 of Part 4 of Article 11 of the Republic of Lithuania Law
on State Pensions.
By their rulings the said courts suspended the
investigation of the cases and appealed to the Constitutional
Court with the petitions requesting to investigate whether Part
4 of Article 11 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on State
Pensions (Official Gazette Valstybės žinios, 1994, No.
101-2018; 1997, No. 104-2622) and Item 2 of Part 2 of Article 8
of the Republic of Lithuania Law on the Legal Status of Persons
Who Suffered from the Occupations of 1939-1990 (Official
Gazette Valstybės žinios, 1998, No. 66-1609) were in compliance
with the Constitution and whether Items 9 and 12 of List "The
1939-1990 Occupations Repressive Structures, Services and
Positions for Serving in Which Persons Shall not be Awarded
State Pensions for Victims" (hereinafter referred to as the
List) as approved by 3 July 1998 Government of the Republic of
Lithuania Resolution No. 829 "On the Approval of the List of
the 1939-1990 Occupations Repressive Structures, Services and
Positions for Serving in Which Persons Shall not be Awarded
State Pensions for Victims" (Official Gazette Valstybės žinios,
1998, No. 62-1781; 1999, No. 82-2432) were in compliance with
the Constitution and Part 4 of Article 11 of the Law on State
Pensions.
Upon amendment of Part 1 of Article 8 of the Law on the
Legal Status of Persons Who Suffered from the Occupations of
1939-1990 on 4 January 2000, this article has been supplemented
with new Part 2. Former Parts 2 and 3 became Parts 3 and 4
(Official Gazette Valstybės žinios, 2000, No. 5-129). The
content of the disputed part has not been changed, while merely
the sequence of the parts of this article was changed. At
present the disputed provision is contained in Part 3 of this
article, therefore in this Constitutional Court ruling Item 2
of Part 3 of Article 8 of the Law on the Legal Status of
Persons Who Suffered from the Occupations of 1939-1990 will be
investigated.
II
The requests are based on the arguments which may be
distributed into several groups:
1. Persons have been awarded state pensions for victims
under Item 5 of Part 4 of Article 11 of the Law on State
Pensions. This law did not prohibit to award such pensions to
certain groups of persons nor did it provide for any
restrictions. No other law provides for the right to terminate
payment of the awarded pension. It is possible to do so only in
cases when the guilt of the person is established by a court
but never on the grounds of the mere fact that he worked in
certain structures or held a certain position. In the opinion
of the petitioners, such termination of payment of state
pensions for victims is in conflict with the Constitution.
2. The state pensions for victims were awarded under the
Law on State Pensions, while their payment was terminated under
another law-the Law on the Legal Status of Persons Who Suffered
from the Occupations of 1939-1990. The petitioners are of the
opinion that neither the Republic of Lithuania Law on the
Status of the Participants of World War II Who Fought at the
Side of the Anti-Hitlerite Coalition and Who Reside in
Lithuania nor the Law on the Legal Status of Victims of the
Occupations of 1939-1990 provide for the deeds for which state
pension for victims shall not be awarded or its payment shall
be terminated.
3. In the provision "the Government of the Republic of
Lithuania shall approve the list of the services and positions
of the said institutions (structures) for serving in which
persons shall not be awarded state pensions" of Part 4 of
Article 11 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on State Pensions
the structures and employees of the Communist Party of the
Soviet Union (Communist Party of Lithuania) (CPSU (CPL)) are
not directly pointed out as responsible for the genocide of the
population of Lithuania. The payment of pensions is terminated
on the grounds of the governmental resolution, i.e. a
substatutory act, while it was held in the Constitutional Court
ruling of 3 March 1999 that "under the universally recognised
doctrine of protection of human rights and freedoms it is
possible to restrict the rights and freedoms only by law". The
petitioners doubt whether the Seimas was entitled to transfer
to the executive the right to restrict human rights and
freedoms and whether the Government, entering into the List
respective positions, did not overstep its competence
established by the law.
III
In the course of the investigation of the case, written
explanations of the representatives of the parties concerned,
i.e. A. N. Stasiškis, J. Andriuškevičiūtė and P. Petkevičius,
the representatives of the Seimas, and A. Anušauskas and S.
Černuševič, the representatives of the Government, were
received.
1. A. N. Stasiškis and J. Andriuškevičiūtė pointed out in
their explanation that the Constitution contains neither any
provisions regulating or creating pre-conditions for a
definition of the status of victims otherwise than in the
disputed law, nor for giving this status to the other persons,
i.e. other than those provided for in the disputed law. Thus to
decide what groups of persons should be given the legal status
of victims of the 1939-1990 occupations and what groups should
not is within the competence of the legislator.
The main provisions on the grounds whereof the Seimas
passed the disputed law are set forth in its preamble. It is
set down therein that a great many residents of Lithuania
suffered because of war crimes to humankind and humanity and
that they suffered great material and spiritual losses. It was
also recognised in the preamble that the right and duty of the
State is to take care of its citizens who are victims of the
crimes committed against them by the occupation regimes. On the
grounds of the provisions of the Convention for the Protection
of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and those of its
protocols, the Seimas also defined the groups of persons that
are recognised as those experienced repression and as victims
and the groups which are not given the legal status of victims
of the 1939-1990 occupations.
It is pointed out in the explanation that that the
Constitution provides that the State shall guarantee the right
of citizens to old age and disability pension, as well as to
social assistance in the event of unemployment, sickness,
widowhood, loss of breadwinner, and other cases provided by
law, however, the Constitution does not provide as to when and
under what conditions state pensions may be awarded. The nature
of state pensions is of different character than that of social
insurance pensions or social (benefit) pensions which are based
on the principles of social insurance or those of social
assistance.
The citizens of the Republic of Lithuania, particularly
those who have achieved merit in establishing and developing
the statehood, and also mothers who have given birth to and
have raised 10 or more children and have provided them with a
good upbringing, and the persons who are victims of the
occupations, are awarded state pensions. All state pensions
shall be paid from the State Budget of the Republic of
Lithuania (Part 1 of Article 2 of the Law on State Pensions)
regardless of the income of the person who receives a state
pension.
The status of the victim as defined in the disputed law
does not grant the person any privileges on the basis of his or
her sex, race, nationality, language, origin, social status,
religion, convictions, or opinions.
The right to the state pension for victims appears when a
person conforms to certain conditions and requirements provided
for in the law, therefore termination of the right to the
pension may not be assessed as an accusation or punishment. The
right to receive pension appears and disappears under
conditions provided for in the law.
It is maintained in the explanation that Part 4 of Article
11 of the Law on State Pensions, Item 2 of Part 2 of Article 8
of the Law on the Legal Status of Victims of the Occupations of
1939-1990 and Item 12 of the List are in conformity with the
Constitution.
2. P. Petkevičius pointed out in his explanation that the
Constitution does not regulate state pensions and that it does
not provide as to whom and under what conditions they may be
awarded. The nature of state pensions is of different character
than that of social insurance pensions, and their allocation is
determined by a special law. The citizens of the Republic of
Lithuania, particularly those who have achieved merit in
establishing and developing the statehood, and also those who
suffered from the occupations, repression and other violence,
are awarded state pensions. All state pensions are paid from
the State Budget of the Republic of Lithuania.
Thus it is within the competence of the legislator to
decide as to what groups of persons are to be ascribed to the
categories of victims of the occupations of 1939-1990 and what
persons are not to be ascribed to these categories. Deciding
this question, the legislator also had the right to commission
the Government to approve the list of repressive occupation
structures, services and positions for serving in which persons
shall not be awarded state pensions for victims. Taking account
of this, it is possible to assert that the provisions of Part 4
of Article 11 of the Law on State Pensions are in conformity
with the Constitution.
It is maintained in the explanation that the legal status
of victims was not defined in the Law on State Pensions,
therefore this gap was filled by the Law on the Legal Status of
Victims of the Occupations of 1939-1990. Part 2 of Article 8 of
the said law also provides as to what persons may not be given
the legal status of victims.
Following Part 4 of Article 11 of the Law on State
Pensions, the Government approved the List which is in
compliance with the provisions of the Law on State Pensions and
those of the Law on the Legal Status of Victims of the
Occupations of 1939-1990, therefore they are in compliance with
the Constitution.
3. A. Anušauskas pointed out in his explanation that the
courts, while investigating complaints regarding termination of
payment of state pensions for participants of World War II,
groundlessly link them with the Law on the Legal Status of
Victims of the Occupations of 1939-1990. The legal status of
the participants of World War II who fought at the side of the
anti-Hitlerite coalition is regulated only by the Law on the
Status of the Participants of World War II Who Fought at the
Side of the Anti-Hitlerite Coalition and Who Reside in
Lithuania. They are not mentioned in the Law on the Legal
Status of Victims of the Occupations of 1939-1990 at all,
therefore under this law they do not enjoy the legal status of
victims, thus the said law is not applicable to them.
When the questions of pensions of participants of World
War II are considered, one has to follow only the Law on the
Status of the Participants of World War II Who Fought at the
Side of the Anti-Hitlerite Coalition and Who Reside in
Lithuania and the Law on State Pensions.
In Chapter 3 of the Law on the Status of the Participants
of World War II Who Fought at the Side of the Anti-Hitlerite
Coalition and Who Reside in Lithuania it is noted that the
Government shall coordinate the questions of decision of social
guarantees for participants of World War II. Thus the
Government, implementing the provisions of Articles 2 and 3 of
this law and those of Part 4 of Article 11 of the Law on State
Pensions, confirmed the list of services and positions of the
said institutions (structures) for serving in which persons
shall not be awarded state pensions for victims.
4. S. Černuševič indicated in her explanation that until
the going into effect of the Law on State Pensions (i.e. until
1 January 1995) the victims pointed out in Parts 1 and 2 of
Article 11 of this law were awarded age and disability pensions
on the grounds of the 28 July 1990 Republic of Lithuania Law on
the Improvement of Pension Maintenance for Residents.
On 1 January 1995, in Lithuania the new Republic of
Lithuania laws on social insurance pensions and state pensions
went into effect. On their adoption, all the pensions awarded
prior to 1 January 1995 were re-calculated. For the victims,
whom pensions were awarded on the grounds of the Law on the
Improvement of Pension Maintenance for Residents, pensions were
re-calculated applying common principles of calculation of the
social insurance period and that of income.
As certain compensation for the victims who were paid
increased pensions until the pension reform, together with
state social insurance old age pensions, disability pensions
and widows' and orphans' pensions, from the same date (1
January 1995) one began to award and pay additional state
pensions for victims from the State Budget. State pensions for
victims are paid to the persons indicated in Parts 1 and 2 of
Article 11 of the Law on State Pensions: those who became
disabled as a result of aggression perpetrated during 11-13
January 1991; the rehabilitated political prisoners and
deportees; members of the resistance and participants in
opposition to the Soviet occupation; those who in the course of
World War II were deported for forced labour purposes; those
who in the course of World War II served in active armies,
partisan detachments or units of anti-Hitlerite coalition
states, and in case of their death, the said pensions shall be
paid to their family members.
By Item 3 of Article 5 of the 4 July 1995 Republic of
Lithuania Law "On the Supplementation and Amendment of the
Republic of Lithuania Law on State Pensions" it was established
that state pensions for victims shall be awarded and paid to
participants of World War II provided they did not serve in
anti-guerrilla squads and battalions.
On 11 July 1996, the Republic of Lithuania Law on
Supplementation and Amendment of Articles 11, 13, 14 and 15 of
the Law on State Pensions. By this law Article 11 was
supplemented with Part 4 providing that state pensions for
victims shall not be awarded to individuals listed in Parts 1
and 2 of Article 11 if during the period of 1939-1990 they
served or worked in penal, anti-guerrilla detachments or units,
structures of the State Security Committee of the former USSR
and other structures whose activity had been devoted to combat
against the resistance movement in Lithuania or perpetration of
the genocide of the Lithuanian population.
Article 2 of the 20 August 1996 Law on the Status of the
Participants of World War II Who Fought at the Side of the
Anti-Hitlerite Coalition and Who Reside in Lithuania stipulates
that "the status of participant shall not be given to persons
who committed crimes to humanity, who served in penal
(anti-guerrilla) detachments or units, who perpetrated actions
of genocide of their own or other peoples, and who took part in
massacre of civil population during the war and post-war
years."
On 30 June 1997 the Law on the Legal Status of Victims of
the Occupations of 1939-1990 was adopted. This law provides as
to what categories of persons the legal status of victims of
the occupations of 1939-1990 is given. Part 3 of Article 8 of
the law provides that this status shall not be given: to the
persons who perpetrated genocide crimes, crimes against
humankind and to humanity or war crimes; regular employees of
repressive structures of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany,
agents and informers of these structures, head employees of the
national-socialist and communist parties, and members of the
organisations and structures which acted against the
independence and territorial integrity of Lithuania and its
residents. To head employees of the Communist Party the
following persons are ascribed: secretaries of the CC of the
CPL, heads of its subdivisions down to the instructors of the
branches, secretaries of district committees, heads and
instructors of its subdivisions, regular party secretaries of
enterprises and organisations.
Persons who, on the grounds of the provisions of the
aforesaid laws may not be recognised as having the status of
victims, may not be awarded and paid state pensions for
victims, thus in October 1997 the Ministry of Social Security
and Labour commissioned the Board of State Social Insurance
Fund to check up whether in territorial social insurance
divisions the said provisions of laws are followed when state
pensions are awarded and paid.
Persons began to file applications with state institutions
whom payments of state pensions for victims were terminated due
to the fact that they formerly worked in the system of the
Ministry of Internal Affairs as firemen, watchmen, stokers
etc., therefore it was decided to specify the wording of Part 4
of Article 11 of the Law on State Pensions (the 4 November 1997
Republic of Lithuania Law on Supplementation and Amendment of
Articles 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 of the Law on State
Pensions), by commissioning the Government to approve the list
of repressive structures, services and positions for serving in
which persons shall not be awarded state pensions for victims.
This law came into force on 1 January 1998. The pensions
awarded prior to the coming into force of this law, under its
provisions, are re-calculated as of 1 January 1998.
By its resolution No. 829 of 3 July 1998, the Government
approved the list of services and positions of the said
institutions for serving in which persons shall not be awarded
state pensions for victims. When one conforms to this list,
this is not violation of laws, and vice versa, the Law on the
Legal Status of Victims of the Occupations of 1939-1990 and the
Law on State Pensions would be violated if state pensions for
victims were awarded and paid to persons who are not given the
legal status by the said laws.
Analogous explanations are set forth in the written
explanation of A. Nazarovas, vice-minister of social security
and labour.
IV
In the course of the preparation of the case for the
Constitutional Court hearing, a written note of Assoc. Prof.
Dr. R. Lazutka who works at the Social Labour Department of the
Faculty of Philosophy of Vilnius University was received.
A written note of the Republic Committee of the
Organisation of the Participants of World War II Who Fought at
the Side of the Anti-Hitlerite Coalition and Who Reside in
Lithuania was also received.
V
In the Constitutional Court hearing, the representatives
of the parties concerned A. N. Stasiškis, J. Andriuškevičiūtė,
J. Meškienė, P. Petkevičius, A. Anušauskas and J. Černuševič
virtually reiterated the arguments set forth in their written
explanations.
In the Constitutional Court hearing the specialist R.
Lazutka virtually reiterated the explanations set forth in his
written note.
In the Constitutional Court hearing P. Eidukas, Chairman
of the Republic Committee of the Organisation of the
Participants of World War II Who Fought at the Side of the
Anti-Hitlerite Coalition and Who Reside in Lithuania, and A. M.
Stankevičius, the secretary of the Republic Committee of the
said organisation, spoke as witnesses.
The Constitutional Court
holds that:
The petitioners request to investigate whether Part 4 of
Article 11 of the Law on State Pensions, Item 2 of Part 3 of
Article 8 of the Law on the Legal Status of Victims of the
Occupations of 1939-1990 are in conformity with the
Constitution and whether Items 9 and 12 of the List "The
1939-1990 Occupations Repressive Structures, Services and
Positions for Serving in Which Persons Shall not be Awarded
State Pensions for Victims" as approved by 3 July 1998
Government of the Republic of Lithuania Resolution No. 829 "On
the Approval of the List of the 1939-1990 Occupations
Repressive Structures, Services and Positions for Serving in
Which Persons Shall not be Awarded State Pensions for Victims"
are in conformity with Part 4 of Article 11 of the Law on State
Pensions and the Constitution.
I
On the compliance of Part 4 of Article 11 of the Law on
State Pensions with the Constitution.
1. Requesting to investigate the compliance of Part 4 of
Article 11 of the Law on State Pensions with the Constitution,
the petitioners do not point out any particular article of the
Constitution with which, in their opinion, the said law might
be in conflict. Taking account of the fact that the right of
citizens to receive pensions and social assistance is
established in Article 52 of the Constitution, the
Constitutional Court will investigate the compliance of Part 4
of Article 11 of the Law on State Pensions with Article 52 of
the Constitution.
2. Article 52 of the Constitution provides: "The State
shall guarantee the right of citizens to old age and disability
pension, as well as to social assistance in the event of
unemployment, sickness, widowhood, loss of breadwinner, and
other cases provided by law."
This article indicates types of pensions and social
assistance. The wording "the State shall guarantee" as employed
therein means that the pensions (those of old age and
disability) and the social assistance (in the event of
unemployment, sickness, widowhood, loss of breadwinner)
enumerated in this article must necessarily be provided for.
Alongside, Article 52 of the Constitution pre-supposes the fact
that the relations pointed out therein must be regulated by
laws.
Under Article 52 of the Constitution, laws may provide for
other types of pensions or social assistance, and not only
those pointed out in the said article. The Constitution
guarantees them for the subjects defined by the law. The bases,
as well as the size of these pensions must also be provided for
by the law. The state pensions provided for in the Law on State
Pensions are also to be attributed to such payments.
3. Part 1 of Article 1 of the Law on State Pensions
provides for the following state pensions:
1) state pension to the President of the Republic;
2) first and second degree state pensions of the Republic
of Lithuania;
3) state pension for victims;
4) state pensions to officials and military personnel;
5) state pensions to scientists.
It is provided in this article of the law that state
pension for victims is one type of state pensions. Virtually,
state pension for victims is social assistance given to the
persons who suffered certain losses. Under Article 52 of the
Constitution, the persons entitled to receive state pensions
for victims, the bases to receive them and their size, the
conditions of their award and payment must be established in
the law. Under the Law on State Pensions, state pensions for
victims shall be paid from the State Budget but not from the
Fund of Social Insurance.
4. Article 11 of the Law on State Pensions provides:
"Entitlement to state pensions for victims shall apply to
permanent residents of Lithuania who are not recipients of
similar pension payments from another state (with the exception
of social insurance pension) or other permanent compensation
payments:
1) those who became victims as a result of aggression
perpetrated during 11-13 January 1991 and subsequent events;
2) political prisoners and deportees, pursuant to
presentation of the documents (rehabilitation certificates)
issued by law protection institutions of the Republic of
Lithuania, attesting to restoration of political prisoners' and
deportees' rights, or certificates of the occupations victims
(those indicating the legal status of a political prisoner or
deportee) issued by the Centre for the Investigation of
Population Genocide and Resistance of Lithuania;
3) members of the resistance and participants of the
opposition to the Soviet occupation who have been certified
according to established procedure as resistance and opposition
participants;
4) those who in the course of World War II were deported
for forced labour purposes outside the former USSR boundaries
or were committed to ghettos and concentration camps;
5) those who in the course of World War II served in
active armies, partisan detachments or units of anti-Hitlerite
coalition states;
6) participants of the elimination of the consequences of
the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant;
7) those who became disabled as a result of compulsory
military service or military training in the Soviet Army (22
July 1945-31 December 1991), or were later certified as
disabled due to illnesses incurred in connection with military
service.
Also entitled to state pensions for victims, in accordance
with the conditions provided for by this Law, shall be the
parents, spouses and children of:
1) individuals who perished as a result of aggression
perpetrated during 11-13 January 1991 and subsequent events;
2) individuals who perished in the course of actions of
resistance and opposition to the Soviet occupation, and also,
those who were killed or who died in the course of unlawful
imprisonment or exile;
3) individuals who perished during or as a result of
activities in eliminating the consequences of the accident at
the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant;
4) individuals who perished during or as a result of
compulsory military service in the Soviet Army (22 July 1945-31
December 1991), or those who died subsequently as a result of
illnesses incurred in connection with military service.
The Centre for the Investigation of Population Genocide
and Resistance of Lithuania shall confirm the list of ghettos
and concentration camps.
State pensions for victims shall not be awarded to
individuals listed in Parts 1 and 2 of this Article if during
the period of 1939-1990, they served or worked in penal
(anti-guerrilla), or 'defenders of the people' detachments or
units, structures of the State Security Committee of the former
USSR and other structures whose activity had been devoted to
combat against the resistance movement in Lithuania or
perpetration of the genocide of the Lithuanian population. The
Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall approve the list
of the services and positions of the said institutions
(structures) for serving in which persons shall not be awarded
state pensions for victims."
Thus, in this article of the Law on State Pensions persons
are pointed out who are entitled to receive state pensions for
victims. In addition, conditions are established therein when
persons of the enumerated groups are not awarded state
pensions.
5. It is pointed out in the petitions of the petitioners
that they had doubt regarding the compliance of Part 4 of
Article 11 of the Law on State Pensions when they were
investigating cases concerning termination of state pension
payments to persons who in the course of World War II served in
active armies, partisan detachments or units of anti-Hitlerite
coalition states (hereinafter referred to as participants of
World War II).
Taking account of the fact that the articles of the Law on
State Pensions regulating the questions of awarding state
pensions to participants of World War II were amended and
supplemented with new legal norms, in the context of the
petitions at issue it is important to establish as to how the
legal regulation of the said relations was changed.
It was established in Item 5 of Part 1 of Article 11 of
the 22 December 1994 Law on State Pensions that participants of
World War II are entitled to receive state pensions for
victims.
In the 4 July 1995 Law on the Supplementation and
Amendment of the Republic of Lithuania Law on State Pensions a
reservation was provided for: the participants of World War II
who served in anti-guerrilla units and battalions are not
entitled to receive state pensions for victims. Thus, by this
amendment of the law it was established that persons who had
served in particular structures are not entitled to receive
state pensions for victims.
By the 11 July 1996 Law on Supplementation and Amendment
of Articles 11, 13, 14 and 15 of the Law on State Pensions
Article 11 was supplemented with Part 4: "State pensions for
victims shall not be awarded to individuals listed in Parts 1
and 2 of this Article if during the period of 1939-1954, they
served or worked in penal (anti-guerrilla), or 'defenders of
the people' detachments or units, structures of the former
State Security Committee of the USSR and other structures whose
activity had been devoted to combat against the resistance
movement in Lithuania or perpetration of the genocide of the
Lithuanian population." Thus, in this norm additional, formerly
not mentioned institutions (structures)-"defenders of the
people" detachments or units and the former State Security
Committee of the USSR, are established, the period is pointed
out (1939-1954) for the service or work in the said
institutions (structures) during which the persons are not
awarded state pensions for victims. It is also established
therein that state pensions for victims shall not be awarded to
individuals who during the said period served or worked in
other structures whose activity had been devoted to combat
against the resistance movement in Lithuania or perpetration of
the genocide of the Lithuanian population.
By the 4 November 1997 Law on Supplementation and
Amendment of Articles 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 of the
Law on State Pensions in Part 4 of Article 11 instead the
period of 1939-1954 another period was established, which is
1939-1990, and it was supplemented with the following sentence:
"The Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall approve the
list of the services and positions of the said institutions
(structures) for serving in which persons shall not be awarded
state pensions for victims." Thus, by this law the Government
was empowered to point out the institutions (structures),
services and positions for serving in which persons shall not
be awarded state pensions for victims. These powers of the
Government virtually mean that the Government has the right to
establish as to what persons the said pensions are not to be
awarded.
6. It needs to be noted that in Part 4 of Article 11 of
the Law on State Pensions the following main provisions are
established:
1) institutions (structures)-penal (anti-guerrilla), or
"defenders of the people" detachments or units, structures of
the former State Security Committee of the USSR-are established
for the service or work in which during the said period persons
are not awarded state pensions for victims, and its is provided
that the Government is empowered to approve the list of the
services and positions of the said institutions (structures)
for serving in which persons shall not be awarded state
pensions for victims;
2) it is established that state pensions for victims shall
not be awarded to persons who during the said period served or
worked in other institutions (structures), and that the
Government is empowered to point out services and positions in
these other institutions (structures) for the service in which
persons are not awarded state pensions for victims.
7. In the course of the investigation whether Part 4 of
Article 11 of the Law on State Pensions are in compliance with
the Constitution, it is important to establish if the titles of
the institutions (structures) sufficiently clearly define the
institutions (structures) for the work or service in which
during the said period persons are not awarded state pensions
for victims.
The notions "penal (anti-guerrilla), or 'defenders of the
people' detachments or units" clearly define the institutions
(structures) for the work or service in which during the said
period persons are not awarded state pensions for victims.
Part 4 of Article 11 of the Law on State Pensions employs
the notion Security Committee of the USSR. After the
independence of the Republic of Lithuania had been restored, in
the legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania the Security
Committee of the USSR was repeatedly assessed as a repressive
institution of the occupation government. It needs to be noted
that the notion Security Committee of the USSR employed in the
Law on State Pensions is to be interpreted as defining various
institutions, structures, services which belonged to the system
of the institutions of state security of the USSR. Thus, this
notion also embraces the NKVD, NKGB, MGB, KGB. It is such a
conception of the notion Security Committee of the USSR which
is given in the 16 July 1998 Law "On the Assessment of the USSR
Committee of State Security (NKVD, NKGB, MGB, KGB) and Present
Activities of the Regular Employees of This Organisation", and
which is construed in the Constitutional Court ruling of 4
March 1999.
As mentioned, Part 4 of Article 11 of the Law on State
Pensions clearly indicates institutions (structures)-penal
(anti-guerrilla), or "defenders of the people" detachments or
units and the Security Committee of the USSR-and provides that
for the service or work in which during 1939-1990 persons are
not awarded state pensions for victims. Thus by this legal norm
clear legal regulation and its limits are established. The
legal norm whereby the Government is empowered to determine the
services and positions in the clearly indicated institutions
(structures) by the law for the service or work in which during
the said period persons are not awarded state pensions for
victims is to be assessed as granting the right to the
Government precisely to point out particular positions and
services and as not providing the Government with the legal
grounds to change the limits of legal regulation established in
the law.
On the grounds of the arguments set forth, one is to
conclude that the provision of Part 4 of Article 11 of the Law
on State Pensions to the extent that the Government shall
approve the list of the services and positions for serving in
which during the period of 1939-1990 in penal (anti-guerrilla),
or 'defenders of the people' detachments or units, structures
of the State Security Committee of the former USSR persons
listed in Parts 1 and 2 of this article shall not be awarded
state pensions for victims is in conformity with the
Constitution.
8. It is established in the 4 November 1997 Law on
Supplementation and Amendment of Articles 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 11,
12, 13 and 14 of the Law on State Pensions that the Government
is empowered to approve the list of services and positions of
other institutions (structures) for serving in which persons
shall not be awarded state pensions for victims. The law does
not give a clear definition of these other institutions
(structures), i.e. the Government is commissioned to do it by a
substatutory act. Enjoying the powers to approve the list of
services and positions of other institutions (structures) for
serving in which persons shall not be awarded state pensions
for victims under the Law on State Pensions, the Government has
also the right to establish persons who shall not be awarded
these pensions.
As mentioned, under Article 52 of the Constitution,
persons who are entitled to receive state pensions for victims,
the bases to receive them, their size, the conditions of their
award and payment must by provided by the law. It needs to be
noted that the legislator has also the right to establish as to
what persons are not awarded state pensions for victims.
However, the legal regulation established in Article 52 of the
Constitution pre-supposes the fact that in cases when one
intends to establish that under certain conditions particular
groups of persons are not entitled to receive the said pension,
then such persons must be pointed out in the law.
On the grounds of the motives set forth, a conclusion is
to be drawn that the provisions of Part 4 of Article 11 of the
Law on State Pensions whereby state pensions for victims shall
not be awarded to individuals listed in Parts 1 and 2 of this
Article if during the period of 1939-1990 they served or worked
in other institutions (structures) clearly not indicated by the
law, and whereby the Government shall approve the list of the
services and positions of the other institutions (services) not
indicated in the law for serving in which persons shall not be
awarded state pensions for victims conflict with Article 52 of
the Constitution.
9. Construing the provision "The scope of powers shall be
circumscribed by the Constitution" of Part 2 of Article 5 of
the Constitution, as well as other provisions of the
Constitution, the Constitutional Court has held in its rulings
for many a time that in cases when the Constitution directly
provides for the powers of concrete institution of authority,
then no other institution may take over these powers, while the
institution whose powers are established in the Constitution
may neither transfer nor refuse these powers. Such powers may
not be changed or restricted by the law (rulings of 21 April
1998, 3 June 1999, 9 July 1999). Therefore, a conclusion is to
be drawn that the provision of Part 4 of Article 11 of the Law
on State Pensions whereby the Government shall approve the list
of the services and positions of the other institutions
(services) not indicated in the law for serving in which
persons shall not be awarded state pensions for victims
conflicts with Article 5 of the Constitution.
10. In all cases legal regulation must be clear and it
must not lead to ambiguities. Therefore in laws concepts must
be employed clearly and according to their real meaning.
The wording "pensions shall not be awarded" is employed in
Part 4 of Article 11 of the Law on State Pensions. In the
context of the legally regulated relations, the notion shall
not be awarded is employed in a legally improper manner as it
may be interpreted in different ways and this creates
pre-conditions differently to comprehend and apply the norms of
Part 4 of Article 11 of the Law on State Pensions. It needs to
be noted that in the course of the disclosure of the content of
the notion shall not be awarded this notion must be construed
by taking account of the whole-complex of the legal regulation
established in the law and its purpose. As mentioned, the Law
on State Pensions indicates the persons who are not awarded
this pension. Therefore, in the context of the Law on State
Pensions the notion shall not be awarded is to be construed as
meaning that state pensions for victims may not be awarded for
the persons pointed out in the law, while the persons to whom
these pensions were awarded lose the right to receive this
pension (i.e. the payment of the pension is terminated). A
different construction of the notion shall not be awarded would
not be in line with the content and purpose of the legal
regulation established in the Law on State Pensions.
II
On the compliance of Part 4 of Article 11 of the Law on
State Pensions with Article 31 of the Constitution.
Article 31 of the Constitution provides:
"Every person shall be presumed innocent until proven
guilty according to the procedure established by law and until
declared guilty by an effective court sentence.
Every indicted person shall have the right to a fair and
public hearing by an independent and impartial court. Persons
cannot be compelled to give evidence against themselves or
against their family members or close relatives.
Punishments may only be administered or applied on the
basis of law.
No person may be punished for the same offence twice.
From the moment of arrest or first interrogation, persons
suspected or accused of a crime shall be guaranteed the right
to defence and legal counsel."
These norms of the Constitution are designated for
guaranteeing the implementation of the principles of justice in
criminal proceedings. In the Law on State Pensions different
social relations are regulated. Thus, it is to be concluded
that Part 4 of Article 11 of the Law on State Pensions is in
compliance with Article 31 of the Constitution.
III
On the compliance of Items 9 and 12 of the List "The
1939-1990 Occupations Repressive Structures, Services and
Positions for Serving in Which Persons Shall not be Awarded
State Pensions for Victims" as approved by 3 July 1998
Government Resolution No. 829 "On the Approval of the List of
the 1939-1990 Occupations Repressive Structures, Services and
Positions for Serving in Which Persons Shall not be Awarded
State Pensions for Victims" with the Constitution of the
Republic of Lithuania and Part 4 of Article 11 of the Republic
of Lithuania Law on State Pensions.
1. Following the Law on State Pensions, on 3 July 1998,
the Government adopted Resolution No. 829 "On the Approval of
the List of the 1939-1990 Occupations Repressive Structures,
Services and Positions for Serving in Which Persons Shall not
be Awarded State Pensions for Victims" whereby the List "The
1939-1990 Occupations Repressive Structures, Services and
Positions for Serving in Which Persons Shall not be Awarded
State Pensions for Victims" (hereinafter referred to as the
List) was approved.
2. By its ruling of 2 July 1999, the Klaipėda Regional
Administrative Court requests to investigate whether Item 9 of
the List is in compliance with Part 4 of Article 11 of the Law
on State Pensions and the Constitution. The petitioner has
doubts that by Item 9 of the List one may have overstepped the
limits of legal regulation.
Item 9 of the List reads:
"Services of the militarised units subordinate to the
People's Interior Commissariat (NKVD)-Interior Ministry (MVD)
and the People's State Security Commissariat (NKGB)-Ministry of
State Security (MGB) (period of 1944-1954):
9.1. members of anti-guerrilla battalions;
9.2. members of the defenders of the people units."
Under Article 52 of the Constitution, persons entitled to
receive pension must be indicated in the law. Item 5 of Part 1
of Article 11 of the Law on State Pensions provides that
entitlement to state pensions for victims shall apply to
persons who in the course of World War II served in active
armies, partisan detachments or units of anti-Hitlerite
coalition states. Part 4 of Article 11 of the Law on State
Pensions provides that this pension shall not be awarded to
those participants of World War II who during the period of
1939-1990 served or worked in penal (anti-guerrilla) units or
"defenders of the people" units or detachments, and that the
Government shall approve the list of the services and positions
of these institutions (structures) for serving in which persons
shall not be awarded state pensions for victims. It has already
been held in the present Constitutional Court ruling, that this
provision of the law is in compliance with the Constitution.
Item 9 of the List points out the positions of the
institutions (structures) defined by Part 4 of Article 11 of
the Law on State Pensions, i.e. penal (anti-guerrilla) units or
detachments or "defenders of the people" units or detachments.
The fact that these positions are pointed out in the
governmental resolution, i.e. a substatutory act, does not
change the content and limits of the legal regulation
established by the law.
On the grounds of the motives set forth, it is to be
concluded that Item 9 of the List "The 1939-1990 Occupations
Repressive Structures, Services and Positions for Serving in
Which Persons Shall not be Awarded State Pensions for Victims"
as approved by 3 July 1998 Government Resolution No. 829 "On
the Approval of the List of the 1939-1990 Occupations
Repressive Structures, Services and Positions for Serving in
Which Persons Shall not be Awarded State Pensions for Victims"
is in compliance with Part 4 of Article 11 of the Law on State
Pensions and the Constitution.
3. The Vilnius City Court of the First District, the
Druskininkai District Court, the Klaipėda Regional
Administrative Court (by the rulings of 17 June 1999, 29 June
1999 and 22 September 1999), the Panevėžys City District Court,
the Vilnius Regional Administrative Court request to
investigate whether Item 12 of the List is in conformity with
Part 4 of Article 11 of the Law on State Pensions and the
Constitution. The petitioners have doubts that by Item 12 of
the List one may have overstepped the limits of legal
regulation.
Item 12 of the List reads (the wording of 27 September
1999 Government Resolution No. 1055):
"The positions of the All-Union Communist (Bolshevik)
Party and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union:
12.1. secretaries of the CC of the CPL;
12.2. heads of subdivisions of the CC of the CPL down to
the instructors of the branches;
12.3. secretaries of town and district (region)
committees;
12.4. heads and instructors of town and district (region)
subdivisions;
12.5. regular party secretaries of enterprises and
organisations".
As mentioned, under Article 52 of the Constitution, the
persons entitled to receive state pensions for victims, the
bases to receive them and their size, the conditions of their
award and payment must be established in the law. It needs to
be noted that the legislator is also entitled to determine as
to what persons are not to be awarded state pensions for
victims. However, the legal regulation established in Article
52 of the Constitution pre-supposes the fact that in cases when
one intends to establish that under certain conditions
particular groups of persons are not entitled to received the
said pension, then such persons must be pointed out in the law.
Approving Item 12 of the List, the Government was
following the Law on State Pensions under Part 4 of Article 11
whereof it must approve the list of the services and positions
in the institutions (structures) which have not been clearly
pointed out in the law for serving in which persons shall not
be awarded state pensions for victims. Alongside, the right of
the Government to determine the services and positions means
that the Government is empowered to point out the persons who
shall not be awarded state pensions for victims by its
resolution, i.e. by a substatutory act. However, under Article
52 of the Constitution, such persons must be pointed out in the
law.
It needs to be noted that under Part 2 of Article 5 of the
Constitution, the scope of powers shall be circumscribed by the
Constitution. By approving Item 12 of the List by the disputed
resolution, the Government regulated the relations which, under
Article 52 of the Constitution, must be regulated by the law.
On the grounds of the motives set forth, one is to
conclude that as to its form Item 12 of the List "The 1939-1990
Occupations Repressive Structures, Services and Positions for
Serving in Which Persons Shall not be Awarded State Pensions
for Victims" as approved by 3 July 1998 Government Resolution
No. 829 "On the Approval of the List of the 1939-1990
Occupations Repressive Structures, Services and Positions for
Serving in Which Persons Shall not be Awarded State Pensions
for Victims" conflicts with Articles 5 and 52 of the
Constitution.
4. Having held that Item 12 of the List conflicts with
Articles 5 and 52 of the Constitution as to its form, the
Constitutional Court will not investigate its compliance with
the Constitution as to its content.
5. As held in the present Constitutional Court ruling, the
provision of Part 4 of Article 11 of the Law on State Pensions
whereby state pensions for victims shall not be awarded to
individuals listed in Parts 1 and 2 of this Article if during
the period of 1939-1990 they served or worked in other
institutions (structures) clearly not indicated in the law
conflicts with Article 52 of the Constitution, and that the
provision whereby the Government shall approve the list of the
services and positions of the said institutions (structures)
for serving in which persons shall not be awarded state
pensions for victims conflicts with Articles 5 and 52 of the
Constitution. The Constitutional Court has also held that as to
its form Item 12 of the List "The 1939-1990 Occupations
Repressive Structures, Services and Positions for Serving in
Which Persons Shall not be Awarded State Pensions for Victims"
as approved by 3 July 1998 Government Resolution No. 829 "On
the Approval of the List of the 1939-1990 Occupations
Repressive Structures, Services and Positions for Serving in
Which Persons Shall not be Awarded State Pensions for Victims"
conflicts with Articles 5 and 52 of the Constitution.
Having held that the said provisions of the Law on State
Pensions and Item 12 of the List approved by the governmental
resolution conflict with the Constitution, the Constitutional
Court will not investigate the compliance of Item 12 of the
List with Part 4 of Article 11 of the Law on State Pensions.
IV
On the compliance of Item 2 of Part 3 of Article 8 of the
Law on the Legal Status of Victims of the Occupations of
1939-1990 with the Constitution.
The Law on the Legal Status of Victims of the Occupations
of 1939-1990 provides as to what persons are held as persecuted
by the occupation governments of Nazi Germany and the Soviet
Union for political motives or those of origin (political,
religious, national, social or ethnic etc.) and are recognised
as victims of the occupations of 1939-1990.
Item 2 of Part 3 of Article 8 of this law provides that
the legal status of victims of the occupations of 1939-1990
shall not be recognised to "regular employees of the repressive
structures of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, agents and
informers of these structures, head employees of the
national-socialist and communist parties, and members of the
organisations and structures which acted against the
independence and territorial integrity of Lithuania and its
residents. To head employees of the Communist Party the
following persons are ascribed: secretaries of the CC of the
CPL, heads of its subdivisions down to the instructors of the
branches, secretaries of district committees, heads and
instructors of its subdivisions, regular party secretaries of
enterprises and organisations."
The petitioners do not request to investigate the
compliance of the norm set forth to the extent that the legal
status of victims of the occupations of 1939-1990 shall not be
recognised to regular employees of the repressive structures of
Nazi Germany, agents and informers of these structures, head
employees of the national-socialist parties with the
Constitution.
The Constitutional Court will investigate the compliance
of Item 2 of Part 3 of Article 8 of the Law on the Legal Status
of Victims of the Occupations of 1939-1990 with the
Constitution to the extent that the legal status of victims of
the occupations of 1939-1990 shall not be recognised to regular
employees of the repressive structures of the Soviet Union,
agents and informers of these structures, head employees of the
communist party, and members of the organisations and
structures which acted against the independence and territorial
integrity of Lithuania and its residents.
It needs to be noted that the Constitution does not
regulate questions of recognition of persons as victims of
occupation governments. This may be regulated by laws. Enjoying
its discretion in this area, the Seimas is bound by the
principle of the equality of all persons before the law which
is established in Article 29 of the Constitution and by other
constitutional principles.
After the persons had been pointed out in Item 2 of Part 3
of Article 8 of the disputed law that are not given the status
of victims of the occupations of 1939-1990, the provisions of
Article 29 of the Constitution or its other articles are not
violated. Therefore Item 2 of Part 3 of Article 8 of the Law on
the Legal Status of Victims of the Occupations of 1939-1990 to
the extent that the legal status of victims of the occupations
of 1939-1990 shall not be recognised to regular employees of
the repressive structures of the Soviet Union, agents and
informers of these structures, head employees of the communist
party, and members of the organisations and structures which
acted against the independence and territorial integrity of
Lithuania and its residents is in compliance with the
Constitution.
V
By its rulings of 17 June 1999 and 29 June 1999, the
Klaipėda Regional Administrative Court requests to investigate
whether Item 2 of Part 3 of Article 8 of the Law on the Legal
Status of Victims of the Occupations of 1939-1990 is in
compliance with Part 4 of Article 11 of the Law on State
Pensions.
Under Part 1 of Article 105 of the Constitution and Item 1
of Part 1 of Article 63 of the Law on the Constitutional Court,
the Constitutional Court shall consider whether laws of the
Republic of Lithuania and other acts of the Seimas are in
conformity with the Constitution. The Constitutional Court does
not investigate whether a certain law is in compliance with
another law, therefore the requests of the Klaipėda Regional
Administrative Court to investigate whether Item 2 of Part 3 of
Article 8 of the Law on the Legal Status of Victims of the
Occupations of 1939-1990 is in compliance with Part 4 of
Article 11 of the Law on State Pensions are not within the
jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court. Under Item 2 of Part
1 of Article 69 of the Constitutional Court, this constitutes
grounds to refuse to investigate the petitions requesting to
investigate whether Item 2 of Part 3 of Article 8 of the Law on
the Legal Status of Victims of the Occupations of 1939-1990 is
in compliance with Part 4 of Article 11 of the Law on State
Pensions. In this part the case is to be dismissed (Part 3 of
Article 69 of the Law on the Constitutional Court).
Conforming to Article 102 of the Constitution of the
Republic of Lithuania and Articles 53, 54, 55, 56 and Part 3 of
Article 69 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on the
Constitutional Court, the Constitutional Court has passed the
following
ruling:
1. To recognise that Part 4 of Article 11 of the Republic
of Lithuania Law on State Pensions to the extent that the
Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall approve the list
of the services and positions for serving in which during the
period of 1939-1990 in penal (anti-guerrilla), or 'defenders of
the people' detachments or units, structures of the State
Security Committee of the former USSR persons listed in Parts 1
and 2 of this article shall not be awarded state pensions for
victims is in compliance with the Constitution of the Republic
of Lithuania.
2. To recognise that Part 4 of Article 11 of the Republic
of Lithuania Law on State Pensions to the extent that state
pensions for victims shall not be awarded to individuals listed
in Parts 1 and 2 of this Article if during the period of
1939-1990 they served or worked in the other institutions
(structures) clearly not indicated by the law, and that the
Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall approve the list
of the services and positions of the said institutions
(structures) for serving in which persons shall not be awarded
state pensions for victims conflicts with Article 52 of the
Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania.
3. To recognise that Part 4 of Article 11 of the Republic
of Lithuania Law on State Pensions to the extent that the
Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall approve the list
of the services and positions of the other institutions
(services) not indicated in the law for serving in which
persons shall not be awarded state pensions for victims
conflicts with Article 5 of the Constitution of the Republic of
Lithuania.
4. To recognise that Part 4 of Article 11 of the Republic
of Lithuania Law on State Pensions is in compliance with
Article 31 of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania.
5. To recognise that Item 9 of the List "The 1939-1990
Occupations Repressive Structures, Services and Positions for
Serving in Which Persons Shall not be Awarded State Pensions
for Victims" as approved by 3 July 1998 Government of the
Republic of Lithuania Resolution No. 829 "On the Approval of
the List of the 1939-1990 Occupations Repressive Structures,
Services and Positions for Serving in Which Persons Shall not
be Awarded State Pensions for Victims" is in compliance with
Part 4 of Article 11 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on State
Pensions and the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania.
6. To recognise that Item 12 of the List "The 1939-1990
Occupations Repressive Structures, Services and Positions for
Serving in Which Persons Shall not be Awarded State Pensions
for Victims" as approved by 3 July 1998 Government of the
Republic of Lithuania Resolution No. 829 "On the Approval of
the List of the 1939-1990 Occupations Repressive Structures,
Services and Positions for Serving in Which Persons Shall not
be Awarded State Pensions for Victims" conflicts with Articles
5 and 52 of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania.
7. To recognise that Item 2 of Part 3 of Article 8 of the
Republic of Lithuania Law on the Legal Status of Victims of the
Occupations of 1939-1990 to the extent that the legal status of
victims of the occupations of 1939-1990 shall not be recognised
to regular employees of the repressive structures of the Soviet
Union, agents and informers of these structures, head employees
of the communist party, and members of the organisations and
structures which acted against the independence and territorial
integrity of Lithuania and its residents is in compliance with
the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania.
8. To dismiss the case regarding the petition requesting
to investigate whether Item 2 of Part 3 of Article 8 of the
Republic of Lithuania Law on the Legal Status of Victims of the
Occupations of 1939-1990 is in compliance with Part 4 of
Article 11 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on State Pensions.
This Constitutional Court ruling is final and not subject
to appeal.
The ruling is promulgated on behalf of the Republic of
Lithuania.