Lietuviškai
Case No. 09/05
THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
DECISION
ON THE LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASE SUBSEQUENT TO THE PETITION
OF A GROUP OF MEMBERS OF THE SEIMAS OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA,
THE PETITIONER, REQUESTING TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER RESOLUTION OF
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA NO. 1167 "ON THE
ISSUANCE OF THE PERMISSION FOR THE BALTIC HUMANITARIAN CENTRE, AN
EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENT, TO CONDUCT THE STUDIES ACCORDING TO
OTHER STATES' HIGHER SCHOOLS SYLLABI" OF 12 SEPTEMBER 2003 IS NOT
IN CONFLICT WITH THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA,
PARAGRAPH 1 OF ARTICLE 9 OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA LAW ON THE
PROCEDURE OF PUBLICATION AND COMING INTO FORCE OF LAWS AND OTHER
LEGAL ACTS AND PARAGRAPH 3 OF ARTICLE 15 OF THE REPUBLIC OF
LITHUANIA LAW ON HIGHER EDUCATION
31 May 2006
Vilnius
The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania,
composed of the Justices of the Constitutional Court Armanas
Abramavičius, Toma Birmontienė, Egidijus Kūris, Kęstutis
Lapinskas, Zenonas Namavičius, Ramutė Ruškytė, Vytautas
Sinkevičius, Stasys Stačiokas, and Romualdas Kęstutis Urbaitis,
with the secretary of the hearingDaiva Pitrėnaitė,
at a procedural sitting of the Constitutional Court
considered the petition of a group of Members of the Seimas of
the Republic of Lithuania, the petitioner, which was composed of
the Members of the Seimas Jurgis Razma, Povilas Jakučionis,
Andrius Kubilius, Rasa Juknevičienė, Vilija Aleknaitė-
Abramikienė, Edmundas Pupinis, Kazys Starkevičius, Emanuelis
Zingeris, Danutė Bekintienė, Julius Dautartas, Audronius
Ažubalis, Vida Marija Čigriejienė, Irena Degutienė, Rytas
Kupčinskas, Saulius Pečeliūnas, Egidijus Vareikis, Arimantas
Dumčius, Rimantas Jonas Dagys, Antanas Matulas, Algis Čaplikas,
Raimundas Palaitis, Eligijus Masiulis, Antanas Napoleonas
Stasiškis, Algirdas Vrubliauskas, Ramūnas Garbaravičius,
Liudvikas Sabutis, Vincė Vaidevutė Margevičienė, Rimantas
Remeika, Arminas Lydeka, Raimondas Šukys, Vytautas Grubliauskas,
Audrius Endzinas, and Jonas Čekuolis, requesting to investigate
whether Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania
No. 1167 "On the Issuance of the Permission for the Baltic
Humanitarian Centre, an Educational Establishment, to Conduct the
Studies According to Other States' Higher Schools Syllabi" of 12
September 2003 is not in conflict with the constitutional
principle of a state under the rule of law, Paragraph 1 of
Article 9 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on the Procedure of
Publication and Coming into Force of Laws and Other Legal Acts
and Paragraph 3 of Article 15 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on
Higher Education.
The Constitutional Court
has established:
I
1. A group of Members of the Seimas, the petitioner,
applied to the Constitutional Court with a petition, requesting
to investigate whether Government Resolution No. 1167 "On the
Issuance of the Permission for the Baltic Humanitarian Centre, an
Educational Establishment, to Conduct the Studies According to
Other States' Higher Schools Syllabi" of 12 September 2003
(Official Gazette Valstybės žinios, 2003, No. 88-4000;
hereinafter also referred to as the Government resolution of 12
September 2003) is not in conflict with the constitutional
principle of a state under the rule of law, Paragraph 1 of
Article 9 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on the Procedure of
Publication and Coming into Force of Laws and Other Legal Acts
and Paragraph 3 of Article 15 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on
Higher Education and Items 40, 42, and 43 of the Procedure for
Establishment of Higher Schools and Issuance of Permissions to
Conduct the Studies as confirmed by Resolution of the Government
of the Republic of Lithuania No. 1153 "On the Confirmation of the
Procedure for Establishment of Higher Schools and Issuance of
Permissions to Conduct the Studies" of 9 September 2003 (together
with the constitutional principle of a state under the rule of
law). The petition was received at the Constitutional Court on 17
March 2005.
2. By its Decision "On the request of a group of Members of
the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, the petitioner, to
investigate whether Resolution of the Government of the Republic
of Lithuania No. 1167 'On the Issuance of the Permission for the
Baltic Humanitarian Centre, an Educational Establishment, to
Conduct the Studies According to Other States' Higher Schools
Syllabi' of 12 September 2003 is not in conflict with the
constitutional principle of a state under the rule of law,
Paragraph 1 of Article 9 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on the
Procedure of Publication and Coming Into Force of Laws and Other
Legal Acts, Paragraph 3 of Article 15 of the Republic of
Lithuania Law on Higher Education and Items 40, 42, And 43 of the
Procedure for Establishment of Higher Schools and Issuance of
Permissions to Conduct the Studies as Confirmed by Resolution of
the Government of the Republic of Lithuania No. 1153 'On The
Confirmation of the Procedure for Establishment of Higher Schools
and Issuance of Permissions to Conduct the Studies' of 9
September 2003" of 31 March 2005, the Constitutional Court
accepted the petition of the group of Members of the Seimas, the
petitioner, requesting to investigate whether the Government
resolution of 12 September 2003 was not in conflict with the
constitutional principle of a state under the rule of law,
Paragraph 1 of Article 9 of the Law on the Procedure of
Publication and Coming Into Force of Laws and Other Legal Acts,
and Paragraph 3 of Article 15 of the Law on Higher Education.
By the said decision, the Constitutional Court refused to
investigate the petition of the petitioner, requesting to
investigate whether the Government resolution of 12 September
2003 was not in conflict with Items 40, 42, and 43 of the
Procedure for Establishment of Higher Schools and Issuance of
Permissions to Conduct the Studies as confirmed by Government
Resolution No. 1153 "On the Confirmation of the Procedure for
Establishment of Higher Schools and Issuance of Permissions to
Conduct the Studies" of 9 September 2003 (together with the
constitutional principle of a state under the rule of law).
3. By Ordinance of the President of the Constitutional
Court No. 2B-48 of 1 April 2005, subsequent to the petition of
the group of Members of the Seimas, the petitioner, requesting to
investigate whether the Government resolution of 12 September
2003 was not in conflict with the constitutional principle of a
state under the rule of law, Paragraph 1 of Article 9 of the Law
on the Procedure of Publication and Coming Into Force of Laws and
Other Legal Acts, and Paragraph 3 of Article 15 of the Law on
Higher Education, the preparation of Case No. 09/05 for the
constitutional court hearing was begun.
II
The petition of the petitioner was grounded on the fact
that the Government resolution of 12 September 2003 whereby
approval was given for issuance the permission for the
educational establishment the Baltic Humanitarian Centre to
conduct the studies according to the syllabi of the "Baltijas
krievu institūts" (Baltic Russian Institute), a school of higher
education of the Republic of Latvia, and to engage in other
activity related to the studies, was, according to the
petitioner, issued by invoking a legal act that had not yet come
into force, i.e. by invoking Government Resolution No. 1153 "On
the Confirmation of the Procedure for Establishment of Higher
Schools and Issuance of Permissions to Conduct the Studies" of 9
September 2003 whereby the Procedure for Establishment of Higher
Schools and Issuance of Permissions to Conduct the Studies was
confirmed, and which was officially published in the official
gazette Valstybės žinios on 12 September 2003 and came into force
on the next day, i.e. on 13 September 2003.
The Constitutional Court
holds that:
1. On 12 September 2003, the Government adopted Resolution
No. 1167 "On the Issuance of the Permission for the Baltic
Humanitarian Centre, an Educational Establishment, to Conduct the
Studies According to Other States' Higher Schools Syllabi". This
Government resolution came into force on 18 September 2003.
2. On 17 May 2005, the Government adopted Resolution No.
542 "On the Annulment of the Validity of a Permission to Conduct
Studies" (hereinafter referred to as the Government resolution of
17 May 2005) by Item 2 whereof the Government resolution of 12
September 2003 was recognised as no longer valid. Under Item 3 of
Government resolution of 17 May 2005, this Government resolution
came into force on 1 July 2005.
3. Paragraph 4 of Article 69 of the Law on the
Constitutional Court provides that the annulment of the disputed
legal act shall be grounds to adopt a decision to dismiss the
instituted legal proceedings and if it becomes clear before the
beginning of the Court hearing, the Constitutional Court shall
decide this question in the deliberation room.
In its acts the Constitutional Court has held more than
once that the formula "shall be grounds <
> to dismiss the
instituted legal proceedings" of Paragraph 4 of Article 69 of the
Law on the Constitutional Court is to be construed as the one
establishing the powers of the Constitutional Court to dismiss,
after the Constitutional Court takes account of the circumstances
of the case under consideration, the instituted legal proceedings
in the cases when not courts, but other subjects specified in
Article 106 of the Constitution applied to the Constitutional
Court.
Conforming to Article 28 and Paragraph 4 of Article 69 of
the Law on the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania,
the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania has adopted
the following
decision:
To dismiss the legal proceedings in the case subsequent to
the petition of the group of Members of the Seimas, the
petitioner, requesting to investigate whether Resolution of the
Government of the Republic of Lithuania No. 1167 "On the Issuance
of the Permission for the Baltic Humanitarian Centre, an
Educational Establishment, to Conduct the Studies According to
Other States' Higher Schools Syllabi" of 12 September 2003
(Official Gazette Valstybės žinios, 2003, No. 88-4000) is not in
conflict with the constitutional principle of a state under the
rule of law, Paragraph 1 of Article 9 of the Republic of
Lithuania Law on the Procedure of Publication and Coming into
Force of Laws and Other Legal Acts and Paragraph 3 of Article 15
of the Republic of Lithuania Law on Higher Education.
Justices of the Constitutional Court: Armanas Abramavičius
Toma Birmontienė
Egidijus Kūris
Kęstutis Lapinskas
Zenonas Namavičius
Ramutė Ruškytė
Vytautas Sinkevičius
Stasys Stačiokas
Romualdas Kęstutis Urbaitis