THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
DECISION
ON ACCEPTING THE PETITION OF A PETITIONER
10 September 2009
Vilnius
The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania,
composed of the Justices of the Constitutional Court Armanas
Abramavičius, Toma Birmontienė, Pranas Kuconis, Kęstutis
Lapinskas, Zenonas Namavičius, Ramutė Ruškytė, Egidijus Šileikis,
Algirdas Taminskas, and Romualdas Kęstutis Urbaitis,
with the secretary of the hearingDaiva Pitrėnaitė,
in the procedural sitting of the Constitutional Court
considered the petition of a group of Members of the Seimas of
the Republic of Lithuania, the petitioner, requesting to
investigate whether the provisions of Paragraph 2 of Article 153,
Paragraph 3 of Article 319 and Paragraph 3 of Article 352 of the
Code of Civil Procedure of the Republic of Lithuania are not in
conflict with Paragraph 1 of Article 117 of the Constitution of
the Republic of Lithuania.
The Constitutional Court
has established:
On 14 July 2009, the petition of the group of Members of
the Seimas, the petitioner, requesting to investigate whether the
provisions of Paragraph 2 of Article 153, Paragraph 3 of Article
319 and Paragraph 3 of Article 352 of the Code of Civil Procedure
(hereinafter also referred to as the CCP) are not in conflict
with Paragraph 1 of Article 117 of the Constitution was received
at the Constitutional Court.
The Constitutional Court
holds that:
1. The group of Members of the Seimas, the petitioner,
requests to investigate whether the provisions of Paragraph 2 of
Article 153, Paragraph 3 of Article 319 and Paragraph 3 of
Article 352 of the CCP are not in conflict with Paragraph 1 of
Article 117 of the Constitution.
2. The following is established in Paragraph 2 of Article
153, Paragraph 3 of Article 319 and Paragraph 3 of Article 352 of
the CCP which are disputed by the petitioner:
- "In cases established by this Code, written proceedings
shall be possible. In this case, the parties participating in the
case shall not be invited to the court hearing and shall not
participate in it. The parties participating in the case shall be
informed about the written proceedings by written notices, save
the cases when this Code does not provide that the performance of
the procedural actions must be informed about." (Paragraph 2 of
Article 153);
- "The parties participating in the case shall be informed
about the place and time of consideration of the appeal case.
When the case is considered under the written proceedings, the
parties participating in the case shall not be invited to the
court hearing and the court hearing shall take place without
their participation. In case of oral proceedings, the persons
participating in the case shall be invited to the court hearing,
however, their non-participation does not prevent from the
consideration of the case." (Paragraph 3 of Article 319);
- "The parties participating in the case shall be informed
about the place and time of consideration of the cassation case.
When the case is considered under the written proceedings, the
parties participating in the case shall not be invited to the
court hearing and the court hearing shall take place without
their participation. In case of oral proceedings, the parties,
the third persons and their representatives specified in Article
354 of this Code shall be invited to the court hearing, however
their non-participation does not prevent from the consideration
of the case." (Paragraph 3 of Article 352).
3. The group of Members of the Seimas, the petitioner,
grounds its petition on the fact that when the case is considered
under the written proceedings in the instances of appeal and
cassation, a party to the case is not allowed to participate in
the courtroom and thus the constitutional rights of a participant
to the proceedings are violated.
4. It is obvious from the petition of the petitioner that
he disputes Paragraph 2 of Article 153 of the CCP, Paragraph 3 of
Article 319 and Paragraph 3 of Article 352 thereof to the extent
that they establish that when a case is considered under the
written proceedings, the parties participating in the case are
not invited to the court hearing and the court hearing takes
place without their participation.
5. The petition of the group of Members of the Seimas, the
petitioner, virtually meets the requirements established in the
Law on the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania.
Conforming to Paragraph 1 of Article 102 of the
Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and Paragraph 1 of
Article 28 and Article 66 of the Law on the Constitutional Court
of the Republic of Lithuania,
The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania has
passed the following
decision:
To accept the petition of the group of Members of the
Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, the petitioner, requesting
to investigate whether Paragraph 2 of Article 153, Paragraph 3 of
Article 319 and Paragraph 3 of Article 352 of the Code of Civil
Procedure of the Republic of Lithuania, to the extent that they
establish that when a case is considered under the written
proceedings, the parties participating in the case are not
invited to the court hearing and the court hearing takes place
without their participation, are not in conflict with Paragraph 1
of Article 117 of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania.
This Constitutional Court decision is final and not subject
to appeal.
The decision is promulgated in the name of the Republic of
Lithuania.
Justices of the Constitutional Court: Armanas Abramavičius
Toma Birmontienė
Pranas Kuconis
Kęstutis Lapinskas
Zenonas Namavičius
Ramutė Ruškytė
Egidijus Šileikis
Algirdas Taminskas
Romualdas Kęstutis Urbaitis