Official translation
GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
Resolution No 728
of 11 August 1994
ON THE APPROVAL OF THE Rules of procedure of the government of the Republic of Lithuania
Vilnius
(As amended by Resolution No 63 of 23 January 2006, Resolution No 1330 of 13 December 2005, Resolution No 1035 of 20 September 2005, Resolution No 476 of 29 April 2005, Resolution No 10 of 12 January 2005, Resolution No 1577 of 3 December 2004, Resolution No 741 of 14 June 2004, Resolution No 313 of 13 March 2003, Resolution No 1188 of 1 October 2001, Resolution No 314 of 20 March 2001, Resolution No 637 of 2 June 2000, Resolution No 1188 of 27 October 1999, Resolution No 1485 of 29 December 1997, Resolution No 435 of 8 May 1997)
The Government of the Republic of Lithuania h a s r e s o l v e d:
2. To instruct the Ministry of Justice to submit, within three months, to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania proposals for repelling or amending relevant decisions of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania given that the Rules of Procedure of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania have been approved.
Prime Minister Adolfas Šleževičius
Minister of Justice Jonas Prapiestis
______________
approved by:
Resolution No 728 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 11 August 1994 (as replaced by Resolution No 313 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 13 March 2003)
I. GENERAL PROVISIONS
1. The Rules of Procedure of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the Rules of Procedure) set forth working procedures of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the Government).
2. The Government shall act in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania, laws, the Programme of the Government and other legal acts, as well as with the Long-Term Development Strategy of the State.
In formulating, consulting with institutions on and presenting the position of the Republic of Lithuania on the issues being discussed in the European Union institutions, and in transposing the EU law (acquis communautaire) and coordinating its implementation, the Government shall act in accordance with the Rules for Coordination of the European Union Affairs as approved by Resolution No 21 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 9 January 2004 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 8-184, 2004) (hereinafter referred to as the Coordination Rules) and these Rules of Procedure.
3. The Government’s activities shall be based on the principles of collegiality, democracy, lawfulness and publicity.
The Government shall be jointly and severally accountable for its collective activity to the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the Seimas).
Managing the spheres of administration assigned to them, ministers shall be accountable to the Seimas and the President of the Republic and directly subordinate to the Prime Minister.
I. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE STRUCTURE AND FORMS OF WORK
6. To settle disagreements that may arise during inter-institutional consultations regarding draft legal acts or to discuss the most important issues on the agenda of a Government sitting prior to the sitting, the Government or the Prime Minister may set up standing or ad hoc committees of the Government (hereinafter referred to as Government committees).
7. Where appropriate, the Government may set up standing or ad hoc commissions for drafting relevant legal acts, organising country-wide events, dealing with other relevant issues and making relevant proposals.
8. The Prime Minister may form working groups for dealing with various issues and drafting legal acts.
9. In carrying out their functions, the Government and the Prime Minister shall be assisted by the Office of the Government headed by the Government Secretary.
In carrying out the task of formulating political positions and priorities and adopting and implementing decisions, the Prime Minister as the Head of the Government shall be assisted by civil servants of the Prime Minister’s political (personal) confidence whose activities shall be coordinated by the Chief Advisor to the Prime Minister.
II. government sittings
10. Government sittings shall be convened and presided over by the Prime Minister or, in his absence, by the minister acting or deputising for the Prime Minister (hereinafter referred to as the Prime Minister).
Government sittings shall normally be convened in the Government Building once a week, on Wednesdays, at the time designated by the Prime Minister.
Where Government decisions are urgent, a Government sitting shall be convened at other time designated by the Prime Minister, overriding the provisions of Sections II and III of Chapter IV of these Rules of Procedure.
11. A Government sitting shall be deemed legal, if more than half of the members of the Government are present.
If a member of the Government is unable to attend the sitting, he must notify the Prime Minister thereabout and obtain the Prime Minister’s consent.
Members of the Government who are unable to attend the sitting may present their written opinion on the issues to be discussed, which shall be read out in the sitting.
12. A Government sitting shall normally discuss those issues only that are covered in the relevant draft resolutions of the Government submitted in the manner prescribed by these Rules of Procedure.
13. An agenda of a Government sitting shall be drawn up and discussed in accordance with the provisions of Chapter IV of these Rules of Procedure (except in the case specified in the third indent of paragraph 10 of these Rules of Procedure).
The Prime Minister shall have the right to propose during a Government sitting that a new issue be added to the agenda. A minister shall also have the right to propose to the Prime Minister that new issues be added to the agenda of the sitting; this proposal, however, must be made before proceeding to discuss the issues on the agenda as approved. In this case, the minister shall address the Prime Minister with a proposal to add a new issue to the agenda. Voting for the new issue to be added to the agenda shall be carried out in the manner prescribed in paragraphs 87 to 89 of these Rules of Procedure. The issue shall be added to the agenda once the Prime Minister gives his consent to the minister’s proposal to add a new issue to the agenda. If the proposal to add a new issue in the agenda is not accepted, the issue shall be put forward for discussion in the manner prescribed by the Rules of Procedure of the Government.
III. Prime Minister
15. The Prime Minister shall:
15.1. form the Government and propose its composition to the President of the Republic for approval;
15.3. submit proposals to the President of the Republic on the appointment and dismissal of ministers;
15.4. in the cases specified in the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, submit to the President of the Republic proposals to designate one of the ministers to deputise for the Prime Minister;
15.6. convene Government sittings and lead them (preside over them), and approve the agenda of a Government sitting;
15.7. with the consent of the President of the Republic, give powers to perform actions pertaining to the conclusion of international agreements (treaties) of the Republic of Lithuania referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 6 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on Treaties (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 60-1948, 1999; No 88-3295, 2005), on the recommendation of a ministry or a Government agency competent to draw up the international agreement (treaty) concerned and with the consent of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
15.8. give powers to perform actions pertaining to the conclusion of international agreements (treaties) of the Republic of Lithuania referred to in paragraph 3 of Article 6 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on Treaties, on the recommendation of a ministry or a Government agency competent to draw up the international agreement (treaty) concerned and with the consent of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
15.9. form government delegations for official visits to foreign states, as well as for the participation in international congresses, conferences, and sessions;
15.10. make proposals to the Government for the appointment and dismissal of county governors and their deputies;
15.11. give powers to represent the Government before the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania and other courts;
15.12. according to his competence, issue ordinances concerning organisational, personal and other matters or make prompt decisions - instructions in the form of resolutions;
16. The Prime Minister shall issue ordinances on the following matters:
16.1. organisation of activities of civil servants of political (personal) confidence of the Government and the Prime Minister;
16.2. granting of the powers to perform actions pertaining to the conclusion of international agreements (treaties) of the Republic of Lithuania;
16.3. formation of government delegations for official visits to foreign states, as well as for participation in international congresses, conferences, sessions and other international events;
16.5. representation of the Government before the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania and other courts;
16.6. holidays of ministers, the Government Secretary, heads of Government agencies and other agencies who are appointed by the Government or the Prime Minister, as well as county governors and representatives of the Government;
16.8. disciplinary sanctions on heads of Government agencies and other civil servants appointed by the Prime Minister;
16.9. incentives to county governors, representatives of the Government, heads of Government agencies and other civil servants and officials appointed by the Prime Minister;
17. The Prime Minister shall appoint and dismiss, by issuing ordinances, the following officials:
18. Draft ordinances tabled to the Prime Minister for signature shall first be endorsed, on the original copy, by the head of the relevant unit of the Office of the Government or, upon his instruction, by an adviser, also by the director of the Legal Department of the Office of the Government (hereinafter referred to as the Legal Department) or, upon his instruction, by a lawyer, and by the Government Secretary (or, in his absence or upon his instruction, by the Deputy Government Secretary). Annexes to the Prime Minister’s ordinances shall be endorsed, on the original copy, by the head of the relevant unit of the Office of the Government or, upon his instruction, by an adviser.
19. Ordinances of the Prime Minister shall be deemed to have been adopted on the date of signature thereof and shall be sent to the institutions (civil servants) in charge of their implementation no later than on the next working day.
20. Ordinances of the Prime Minister shall become effective on the date of signature thereof, unless a later date of coming into force is set therein. Where appropriate, ordinances of the Prime Minister may be published in the Official Gazette Valstybės žinios. Ordinances of the Prime Minister published in the Official Gazette Valstybės žinios shall become effective on the next day of their publication therein, unless a later date of coming into force is set in such ordinances.
Within three days of their coming into force, ordinances of the Prime Minister shall be posted, in the prescribed manner, on the Internet. Where appropriate, ordinances of the Prime Minister may be made public through other mass media.
IV. ministerS
21. Ministers shall issue orders according to their competence. Where appropriate, several ministers may issue joint orders.
Minister’s orders shall be registered by a unit of the ministry in charge of administration of documents. Minister’s orders shall be given a reference number using the general numbering running from the start to the end of the year.
Within three days of its official publication in the Official Gazette Valstybės žinios, a regulatory enactment of a minister shall be posted, in the prescribed manner, on the website of the ministry which has adopted it.
22. A minister shall issue orders on the following matters:
22.2. approval of regulations of units of the administration of the ministry and, upon the instruction of the Government, approval of regulations of agencies under the ministry;
22.3. appointment and dismissal of civil servants of the ministry and of heads of agencies under the ministry, their holidays, disciplinary sanctions, and incentives;
23. Minister’s orders must be compliant with the Republic of Lithuania Law on the Procedure of Drafting of Republic of Lithuania Laws and Other Regulatory Enactments (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 87-2416, 1998; No 50-1923, 2002) and the Rules for the Preparation and Adoption of Documents as approved by Order No 19 of the Director General of the Lithuanian Archives Department under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 30 March 2001 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 30-1009, 2001).
Draft minister’s orders which lay down the procedure for the use of support received from the state budget of the Republic of Lithuania or from the European Union support funds or which carry or increase financial, guarantee or other debt-related liabilities on the state budget of the Republic of Lithuania must first be agreed on with the Ministry of Finance.
V. government committees and commissionS set up by the government, And working groups formed by the Prime Minister
24. Upon the instruction of the Prime Minister, Government committees set up by the Government or the Prime Minister shall handle disagreements arising in the course of inter-institutional consultations regarding draft legal acts that fall within the spheres of administration of several ministers. Ministers shall have the right to propose that a conceptual framework of a new regulatory enactment being drafted by a Government committee, development strategies of economic sectors and other issues of relevance, also other most important issues, be discussed prior to a Government sitting. If efforts to settle disagreements over a draft legal act fail, the draft legal act shall be forwarded to the Prime Minister who shall take one of the following decisions: to discuss the draft legal act in a Government sitting or send it back to the relevant ministry for further examination and amendment as appropriate.
25. Activities of Government committees shall be organised in the manner prescribed by the Regulations of the Standing Committee of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania as approved by Resolution No 1187 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 1 October 2001 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 84-2945, 2001).
26. The Government may set up standing or ad hoc commissions composed of members of the Government, civil servants of state and municipal institutions and agencies, also scientists and experts. Where appropriate, representatives of the relevant ministries, Government agencies, county governor administrations, municipal institutions and agencies, enterprises, organisations, also political parties and political organizations, trade unions and associations shall be invited to attend sittings of the commissions. The work of a commission shall be directed by a minister or other person designated by the Government.
27. Tasks, functions, powers, working arrangements and financing for such commissions shall be established by the Government.
Decisions reached in the sittings of such commissions shall be documented in the minutes that shall be signed by the president of the commission.
28. The Prime Minister shall have the right to form working groups and appoint their leaders.
A working group shall be formed by an ordinance of the Prime Minister which shall set out the specific tasks to be carried out.
29. Where appropriate, the Government shall decide on the issue of allocating funds for the activities of a working group.
30. Ministries, Government agencies, county governors, other state and municipal institutions and agencies must provide the commissions set up by the Government (or working groups formed by the Prime Minister), on request, with the requested information and other material on the issues being discussed (or underway) in the commissions (or working groups).
31. Representatives of ministries, Government agencies and county governor administrations in the commissions set up by the Government (or working groups formed by the Prime Minister) for the drafting of legal acts shall agree on the proposals made on behalf of the ministry, the Government agency or the county governor, also the ready draft legal act, with the relevant minister, head of the Government agency or the county governor.
32. Members and consultants of commissions set up by the Government or working groups formed by the Prime Minister shall be reimbursed for their work in the manner prescribed by the Government. Members of the Government shall not be entitled to any reimbursement for their involvement in the work of commissions and working groups set up or formed for the drafting of legal acts. Heads of ministries and Government agencies must personally make sure that the procedure for reimbursing for the drafting of legal acts is followed.
Commissions (or working groups) shall be hosted and technically supported by the Office of the Government or by Government agencies the heads or other civil servants of which have been designated presidents of such commissions (or leaders of working groups).
33. Working papers (minutes, correspondence, various drafts, memos, etc.) of standing or ad hoc commissions set up by the Government and presided over by ministers, heads of Government agencies or civil servants of ministries and Government agencies shall be stored in the ministries or Government agencies concerned. The Office of the Government shall normally store the working papers of those standing or ad hoc commissions which are presided over by the Prime Minister, civil servants of the Prime Minister’s political (personal) confidence or civil servants of the Office of the Government or which are hosted and technically supported by the Office of the Government.
VI. OFFICE OF THE GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL SERVANTS OF THE PRIME MINISTER’S POLITICAL (PERSONAL) CONFIDENCE
35. The Office of the Government is a budgetary agency which shall assist the Government and the Prime Minister in performing their functions. The Office of the Government shall be directed by the Government Secretary. The Government Secretary shall have the functions laid down in laws and other legal acts and shall carry out instructions of the Prime Minister.
Career civil servants of the Office of the Government shall be subordinate to the Government Secretary.
The structure and Regulations of the Office of the Government shall be approved by the Government.
Civil servants of the Prime Minister’s political (personal) confidence, i. e. the Chief Adviser to the Prime Minister, advisers to the Prime Minister, Prime Minister’s press officer and other civil servants of the Prime Minister’s political (personal) confidence, shall be directly subordinate to the Prime Minister.
III. PREPARATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAMME OF THE GOVERNMENT
36. The Programme of the Government is an action plan binding on the Government throughout its term of office which sets out the directions of activities of the Government for a certain period of time and which is approved by the Seimas.
37. The Programme of the Government shall be drawn up under the lead of the Prime Minister.
The Office of the Government, Government agencies and county governors shall provide the Prime Minister and the designated ministers, on request, with information necessary for the drawing up of the Programme of the Government and shall contribute to the drawing up thereof.
38. Once the Seimas approves the Programme of the Government, the Government shall, within three months, develop and approve specific measures for the implementation thereof; it shall also set implementation deadlines and identify responsible ministries, Government agencies and other state administration institutions.
Measures for the implementation of the Programme of the Government shall be developed under the lead of the Prime Minister or, upon the instruction of the Prime Minister, the Government Secretary.
39. The Government shall annually, by the 31st of March, submit its annual activity report to the Seimas. The Government’s annual activity report shall be prepared by the Office of the Government, on the basis of annual activity reports of ministries, Government agencies, agencies under ministries and county governors, and other relevant information.
The Government’s draft annual activity report shall first be discussed and approved in a sitting of the Government.
40. Ministers, heads of Government agencies, heads of other state institutions and agencies accountable to the Government, also county governors, shall submit relevant activity reports to the Government by the dates and in the manner prescribed by these Rules of Procedure and other legal acts
I. legislative initiative
general provisions
42. The Government’s right of legislative initiative shall be vested in the Prime Minister and ministers. Ministers shall exercise this right by signing (endorsing), within the spheres of administration assigned to them, draft laws, resolutions of the Seimas or the Government and other legal acts or proposals for legislation made to the Government.
Exercising the Government’s right of legislative initiative, the Prime Minister shall have the right to instruct a minister or the Office of the Government to draft a legal act. Upon the instruction of the Prime Minister, the Government Secretary shall have the right to instruct a ministry or a Government agency to draft a relevant legal act.
Draft decisions of the Government and draft resolutions of the Government approving the position regarding proposals to adopt European Union legal acts and other European Union documents shall be submitted to the Government in the manner prescribed in Section VIII of Chapter IV of these Rules of Procedure.
43. If Government agencies, county governors and municipal councils are unable to decide, within their competence, issues related to their spheres of administration, they shall have the right to propose relevant draft legal acts to the Government; such proposals shall first be endorsed by the minister designated by the Government, where the proposal is made by a Government agency, or by the minister of the relevant sphere of administration, where the proposal is made by a county governor or a municipal council.
44. The draft legal act submitted to the Government shall be accompanied by a covering letter – referral (hereinafter referred to as the referral) of the relevant institution and by an impact assessment statement for the proposed decision, in the format specified in Annex 2 or Annex 4 of the Methodology for the Assessment of Impact of Proposed Decisions as approved by Resolution No 276 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 26 February 2003 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 23-975, 2003) (except where applicable legal acts do not require to provide an impact assessment statement), or by information on the likely impact of implementation of the proposed decision on public finances, in the format defined in Annex 3 of the said Methodology. A draft legal act transposing and/or implementing European Union directives, also a draft law with an annex giving a list of references to other legal acts of the European Union, shall be accompanied by a table showing the correlation between the directives (other legal acts of the European Union) and national legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania (draft legal acts) (hereinafter referred to as a correlation table), in the format defined in Annex 7 of the Coordination Rules. The Office of the Government shall additionally be provided with an electronic version of the draft legal act, either in a diskette or by e-mail.
referral
45. The referral shall contain the following information:
45.4. purpose of the proposed draft legal act (to implement a certain law or other legal act or to regulate certain public relations) and the substance of the issue targeted at by the proposed draft legal act;
45.5. full name, institution, position title and telephone number of the person who could make a presentation of the proposed draft legal act in a meeting of state secretaries of ministries;
45.7. whether the proposed draft legal act transposes and/or implements any legal acts of the European Union (if so, what legal acts (or their individual provisions) specifically, and what other legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania will be needed in order to ensure full transposition and/or implementation of the related European Union legislation);
45.9. whether any new legal acts will have to be adopted or any existing legal acts will have to be amended or repelled (if so, whether such amending or repelling legal acts have been drafted yet);
45.10. ministries or other institutions concerned, with which the proposed draft legal act has been agreed on (if any comments made by the institutions concerned were not taken account of, fully or partially, the referral must indicate that a memo of comments is attached to the draft legal act);
45.12. the unit of the proposing institution, which has drafted the proposed legal act (or coordinated the drafting thereof), the name of the head of such unit, the name of the civil servant of such unit who has been directly involved in the drafting of the proposed legal act (or, where the author of the proposed legal act is a commission or a working group, the name and position title of the president of the commission or the leader of the working group), and their telephone numbers.
46. The referral of a ministry accompanying, as prescribed by these Rules of Procedure, the draft legal act submitted to the Government shall be signed by the minister or, upon his written instruction, by a vice minister or the state secretary of the ministry (if the minister has not instructed a vice minister or the state secretary of the ministry to sign the referral, the referral shall be signed, in the absence of the minister, by the deputising minister and shall be endorsed by a vice minister or the state secretary of the proposing ministry). A referral of a Government agency shall be signed by the head of the agency. A referral of a county governor shall be signed by the county governor, and that of a municipal council, by the mayor of the municipality.
DRAFTING AND INTER-INSTITUTIONAL CONSULTING REQUIREMENTS
47. Draft legal acts proposed to the Government shall be compliant with the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Procedure of Drafting of Republic of Lithuania Laws and Other Regulatory Enactments, the Recommendations for the Drafting of Laws and Other Legal Acts as approved by Order No 104 of the Minister of Justice of 17 August 1998, and the Rules for Preparation and Adoption of Documents as approved by Order No 19 of the Director General of the Lithuanian Archives Department under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 30 March 2001.
48. Together with the draft legal act amending or supplementing an existing law, a resolution of the Government or any other legal act, the drafters shall submit a comparative version of the legal act amended or supplemented, as prescribed by the Recommendations for the Drafting of Laws and Other Legal Acts as approved by Order No 104 of the Minister of Justice of 17 August 1998.
49. Draft legal acts proposed to the Government, concerning not only the sphere of administration or competence of the institution which has drafted (or proposes) it, but also the sphere of administration or competence of other institutions, must be sent for comments to and agreed on with the following institutions:
49.1. Ministry of Finance, with respect to draft legal acts relating to the national budget, state monetary funds, other monetary resources of the state and international financial assistance;
49.2. Ministry of National Defence, with respect to draft legal acts relating to the implementation of international humanitarian law in Lithuania and to the standardisation of the defence system;
49.3. Ministry of Justice, with respect to conceptual frameworks of regulatory enactments and draft laws, draft legal acts of the Seimas proposed to the Government, conclusions requested from the Government by the Speaker of the Seimas or by the Board of the Seimas regarding draft laws being discussed in the Seimas, draft resolutions of the Government, draft legal acts related to international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania, and draft international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania;
49.4. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with respect to draft legal acts related to international agreements and other international legal acts, and draft international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania and other international legal acts after they have been agreed on with other relevant ministries and Government agencies;
49.5. Ministry of the Interior, with respect to draft legal acts by which the Government approves the maximum allowable number of positions of civil servants and of other workers employed under an unemployment contract and remunerated from the state budget of the Republic of Lithuania and state monetary funds, and draft legal acts relating to the establishment, liquidation, reorganisation or restructuring of public administration institutions and to changes in their functions;
49.7. Association of Local Authorities (municipalities), with respect to draft legal acts relating to general interests of local authorities. In other cases, draft legal acts shall be agreed on with those municipalities (or municipality) the activities, territory or economic relations of which the given draft legal act relates to;
49.8. Tripartite Council of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the Tripartite Council), with respect to draft legal acts on labour, social and economic issues as set forth in the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, Trade Unions and Employers’ Organisations on Tripartite Cooperation.If the draft legal act has been discussed in the Tripartite Council, the conclusions of the Tripartite Council shall be submitted to the Government together with the draft legal act concerned;
49.9. Lithuanian Archives Department under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, with respect to draft legal acts which have annexes defining the format of certain documents;
49.10. Competition Council of the Republic of Lithuania, with respect to draft legal acts relating to competition and state aid to economic entities;
49.11. Information Society Development Committee under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, with respect to draft legal acts relating to the system of public registries and to the development, reorganisation and liquidation of individual public registries;
49.12. ministries specified in items 49.1 to 49.5 of these Rules of Procedure and other ministries, Government agencies, county governors, other state institutions or agencies (hereinafter referred to as institutions concerned), with respect to draft legal acts relating to the sphere of administration or competence of the institutions concerned.
Institutions concerned must give their conclusions or comments and suggestions concerning the draft legal act sent to them for comments no later than within ten working days of receipt of such draft legal act at the institution or no later than within 15 working days in the case of a voluminous and/or complex legal act, having notified in advance they deem the draft legal act voluminous and/or complex and will examine it as such. If the institutions concerned do not provide any comments within the period specified above, they shall be deemed to have agreed to the draft legal act as it is.
A voluminous legal act is defined as a piece of legislation of five or more pages. A complex legal act is defined as a piece of legislation the legal regulation proposed wherein is related to human rights and liberties, codification of legal norms or different types of public relations.
Institutions shall have the right to make a reasoned request to have the draft legal act agreed on as a matter of urgency. In this case, the institutions concerned must give their conclusions or comments and suggestions with respect to such draft legal act no later than within five working days of receipt of the draft legal act.
In the case defined in paragraph 3 of Article 41 of the Law on the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (where the draft amending or supplementing resolution of the Government is proposed by one minister, and the original resolution of the Government adopted is signed by another minister), the proposing ministry shall agree on the draft resolution of the Government with the ministry the minister of which signs the original resolution.
50. The letter accompanying the draft legal act sent out for comments shall contain information specified in items 45.1 to 45.4, 45.6 to 45.9, 45.11 and 45.12 of these Rules of Procedure. The draft legal act sent out for comments to the institutions concerned shall also be accompanied by an impact assessment statement for the proposed decision and a correlation table (unless these are not required).
The draft legal act sent out for comments (and annexes, if any, as well as the comparative version and the correlation table, unless these are not required) shall bear an endorsement of the minister (or, upon his written instruction, of a vice minister, the state secretary of the ministry or a secretary of the ministry in charge of the relevant sphere of administration assigned to him by the minister) and the head of the legal division of the ministry’s administration (or a lawyer acting in this capacity or authorised by the head of the legal division to endorse the draft legal act concerned). The impact assessment statement for the proposed decision shall bear an endorsement of the minister (or, upon his written instruction, of a vice minister, the state secretary of the ministry or a secretary of the ministry in charge of the relevant sphere of administration assigned to him by the minister). A legal act drafted by a Government agency and sent out for comments (and annexes, if any, as well as the comparative version and the correlation table, unless these are not required) shall bear an endorsement of the head of the agency and the head of its legal division (or a lawyer acting in this capacity or authorised by the head of the legal division to endorse the draft legal act concerned). The impact assessment statement for the proposed decision shall bear an endorsement of the head of the Government agency. A legal act drafted by a county governor and sent out for comments (and annexes, if any, as well as the comparative version and the correlation table, unless these are not required) shall bear an endorsement of the county governor and the head of the legal division of the county governor administration (or a lawyer acting in this capacity or authorised by the head of the legal division to endorse the draft legal act concerned). The impact assessment statement for the proposed decision shall bear an endorsement of the county governor. A legal act drafted by a municipal council and sent out for comments (and annexes, if any, as well as the comparative version and the correlation table, unless these are not required) shall bear an endorsement of the mayor of the municipality and the head of the legal division of the municipal administration (or a lawyer acting in this capacity or authorised by the head of the legal division to endorse the draft legal act concerned). The impact assessment statement for the proposed decision shall bear an endorsement of the mayor of the municipality.
Voluminous draft legal acts may be sent out for comments to the institutions concerned by e-mail. In this case, the institutions concerned shall be sent a letter specified in the first paragraph of this item 50, including the impact assessment statement for the proposed decision and the correlation table (unless these are not required), and the draft legal act shall be e-mailed to the unit of the institution in charge of administration of documents. Before being e-mailed to the institutions concerned, the draft legal act must be endorsed in the manner prescribed in the second paragraph of this item 50 and forwarded for storage to the unit in charge of administration of documents, of the institution or agency which has drafted the legal act concerned.
If the drafters of the legal act sent out for comments do not accept all the comments received, they shall have the right to arrange a meeting for the purpose of settling any disagreements; to this meeting they may invite civil servants of the Prime Minister’s political (personal) confidence and of the Office of the Government, Ministry of Justice, other institutions and agencies. A draft legal act shall be deemed agreed on, if the minister concerned (or a vice minister, the state secretary of the ministry and a secretary of the ministry) or the head of the Government agency or other state or municipal institution (or the acting head of the agency or institution) has endorsed the draft legal act (and annexes thereto, if any) without any comments or if they confirm in writing their agreement to the draft legal act without any comments.
Letters received from the institutions concerned wherein they confirm their agreement to the draft legal act without any comments shall be forwarded to the Government together with the draft legal act concerned. If the endorsement (signature) confirming the fact of inter-institutional consultations is illegible, it must be made legible as follows: below his endorsement (signature) the civil servant shall indicate, in brackets, his position title, the initial letter of his first name, the family name and the date. The comparative version sent out for comments together with the draft legal act does not have to be endorsed by the institutions concerned.
51. If the draft legal act is substantially changed as a result of inter-institutional consultations, the institutions concerned must confirm the fact of consultations by their endorsements or by letters wherein they confirm their agreement to the draft legal act without any comments, within five working days or, in the case of a voluminous and/or complex draft legal act, within seven working days of their receipt at the institution concerned. If the institutions concerned do not provide any comments within the period specified above, they shall be deemed to have agreed to the draft legal act concerned.
52. In the failure to reach an agreement on the draft legal act, the institution that has drafted it shall draw up a memo of comments and send it to the Government. A memo of comments drawn up by a ministry must be signed by the minister (or, upon a written instruction of the minister, by a vice minister or the state secretary of the ministry) and endorsed by the head of the legal division of the ministry’s administration or a lawyer acting in this capacity. A memo of comments drawn up by a Government agency must be signed by the head of the agency and endorsed by the head of its legal division or a lawyer acting in this capacity. A memo of comments drawn up by a county governor must be signed by the county governor and endorsed by the head of the legal division of the county governor administration or a lawyer acting in this capacity. A memo of comments drawn up by a municipal council must be signed by the mayor of the municipality and endorsed by the head of the legal division of the municipal administration or a lawyer acting in this capacity. The memo of comments shall contain the following information:
52.2. the provisions of the draft legal act which affect the sphere of administration of the institutions concerned and which have not been agreed on;
52.3. comments of the institutions concerned and their suggestions as to how the provisions of the legal act which they do not agree to should be formulated;
52.4. reasons for not accepting the suggestions made by the institutions concerned in relation to their spheres of administration;
53. A legal act (including annexes, if any, and the comparative version, if it is required in accordance with item 48 of these Rules of Procedure) drafted by a ministry and agreed on in the manner laid down in these Rules of Procedure shall, before being sent to the Government, be endorsed by the minister (or, in his absence, by the deputising minister and by a vice minister or the state secretary of the proposing ministry) and by the head of the legal division of the ministry’s administration or a lawyer acting in this capacity. A legal act drafted by a Government agency (and annexes, if any, as well as the comparative version, if it is required) shall be endorsed by the head of the agency and the head of its legal division or a lawyer acting in this capacity, as well as by a minister in the manner prescribed in paragraph 1 of Article 38 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on the Government. A legal act drafted by a county governor (and annexes, if any, as well as the comparative version, if it is required) shall be endorsed by the county governor, the head of the legal division of the county governor administration or a lawyer acting in this capacity and by the minister of the relevant sphere of administration. A legal act drafted by a municipal council (and annexes, if any, as well as the comparative version, if it is required) shall be endorsed by the mayor of the municipality, the head of the legal division of the municipal administration or a lawyer acting in this capacity and by the minister of the relevant sphere of administration.
The process of drafting and consulting on legal acts to be submitted to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall be coordinated and monitored by the state secretary of the respective ministry.
II. examination of draft legal acts in the office of the government
ORDINARY EXAMINATION
55. The unit of the Office of the Government to which the draft legal act is forwarded shall examine the draft legal act in the manner prescribed by these Rules of Procedure no later than within four working days (or within six working days, in the case of a voluminous and/or complex legal act). The head of this unit of the Office of the Government shall be responsible for ensuring that the examination of the draft legal act, including its examination in the Legal Department, does not take longer than eight working days, or 13 working days in the case of a voluminous and/or complex legal act.
Having received a draft legal act, the said unit of the Office of the Government shall draw up a memo of the issue to be added to the agenda of a Government sitting and a memo of the substance of the issue, also a memo of comments.
If the draft legal act meets the requirements of these Rules of Procedure, the head of the said unit of the Office of the Government (or, upon his instruction, an advisor) shall endorse the memo of the issue to be added to the agenda of a Government sitting and shall forward it, together with the memo of the substance of the issue and the memo of comments, to the Legal Department.
If the draft legal act (and the referral) does not meet the requirements of these Rules of Procedure, i.e. is in contrary to the applicable laws and resolutions of the Government, or does not meet the requirements of the legal technique, or has not been agreed on with institutions in the manner laid down in item 49 of these Rules of Procedure, or has any other deficiencies, the said unit of the Office of the Government shall draw up a reasoned statement which shall be submitted, after having been signed by the head of that unit of the Office of the Government (or, upon his instruction, by an adviser), to the Legal Department.
Having verified the compliance of the draft legal act (other than a conceptual framework of a regulatory enactment and a draft law) to the applicable laws and resolutions of the Government and to the requirements of the legal technique, the Legal Department shall, no later than within four working days (or within seven working days in the case of a voluminous and/or complex draft legal act) of receipt of the draft legal act at the Legal Department, endorse a memo of the issue to be added to the agenda of a Government sitting (if there are any comments and suggestions, these shall be set out on a separate page to be signed by the director of the Legal Department or, upon his instruction, a lawyer, and a reference to this page shall be made below the endorsement).
56. Heads of divisions of the Office of the Government shall, no later than within eight working days (or within 13 working days in the case of a voluminous and/or complex draft legal act) of receipt of the draft legal act at the Office of the Government, forward the draft legal act examined in the manner prescribed by these Rules of Procedure, together with the memo of an issue to be added to the agenda of a Government sitting (with endorsements, comments and suggestions referred to in item 55 of these Rules of Procedure), to the Government Secretary.
57. The Prime Minister shall, at the proposal of the Government Secretary, or the Government Secretary, upon the instruction of the Prime Minister, send, by resolution, the draft legal act (a copy thereof) back to the drafters with a request to examine the comments and suggestions made and to amend (supplement) it where appropriate and as appropriate, or re-send it out to institutions for further comments.
A deadline not longer than that specified in item 51 of these Rules of Procedure shall be set for amending (supplementing) the draft legal act or for sending it out for further comments.
Such draft legal act amended (supplemented) by a ministry or sent out for further comments and agreed on shall be submitted to the Government for a repeat consideration together with a referral signed by the relevant minister (or, upon his written instruction, by a vice minister or the state secretary of the ministry) and shall be endorsed by the minister (or, in his absence, by the deputising minister and by a vice minister or the state secretary of the proposing ministry) and by the head of the legal division of the ministry’s administration or a lawyer acting in this capacity.
Such draft legal act amended (supplemented) by a Government agency or sent out for further comments and agreed on shall be submitted to the Government for a repeat consideration together with a referral signed by the head of the Government agency and shall be endorsed by him, by the head of its legal division or a lawyer acting in this capacity and by a minister in the manner prescribed in paragraph 1 of Article 38 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on the Government.
Such draft legal act amended (supplemented) by a county governor or sent out for further comments and agreed on shall be submitted to the Government for a repeat consideration together with a referral signed by the county governor and shall be endorsed by him, by the head of the legal division of the county governor administration or a lawyer acting in this capacity and by a minister in the manner prescribed in paragraph 1 of Article 38 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on the Government.
Such draft legal act amended (supplemented) by a municipal council or sent out for further comments and agreed on shall be submitted to the Government for a repeat consideration together with a referral signed by the mayor of the municipality and shall be endorsed by him, by the head of the legal division of the municipal administration or a lawyer acting in this capacity and by a minister in the manner prescribed in paragraph 1 of Article 38 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on the Government.
If the drafters of the legal act do not accept the comments made by units of the Office of the Government where such comments would require to amend (supplement) the draft legal act or send it out for further comments, either a memo of comments shall be drawn up in the manner laid down in item 52 of these Rules of Procedure or a vice minister, the state secretary of a ministry, a secretary of a ministry, the head of a Government agency, a county governor or the mayor of a municipality shall address the Government Secretary (or, where appropriate, a minister shall address the Prime Minister) and propose a solution to the disagreement. Taking account of such proposals, the Government Secretary (or the Prime Minister) shall have the right to settle the disagreement in the manner prescribed in the second paragraph of item 58 of these Rules of Procedure.
58. If, despite the fact that the draft legal act (and the referral) meets the requirements of these Rules of Procedure, the memo of comments attached thereto indicates the existence of any disagreements related to the spheres of administration of several ministers, heads of units of the Office of the Government or, upon their instruction, advisers shall issue to the Government Secretary their opinion regarding the possible solution of the disagreement and the Government Secretary or the Deputy Government Secretary shall then, where appropriate, make proposals to the Prime Minister.
Having examined the proposals for the solution of the disagreement, the Government Secretary may convene or instruct the Deputy Government Secretary (or the Prime Minister may instruct the Government Secretary) to convene a meeting of representatives of the institutions or agencies concerned. Such meeting shall be presided over by the Government Secretary or his deputy. The outcome of the meeting shall normally be recorded in the minutes to be drawn up by civil servants of the Office of the Government and signed by the presiding officer of the meeting (the minutes shall be appended to the draft legal act concerned and stored in the Office of the Government together with all other documentation pertaining to the draft legal act). If the outcome of the meeting is positive and the disagreements are settled, the draft legal act shall be amended (supplemented) accordingly, endorsed in the manner laid down in item 57 of these Rules of Procedure and examined in the Office of the Government in the manner laid down in item 55 of these Rules of Procedure (if no agreement is reached in the meeting of representatives of the institutions concerned convened by the Government Secretary, the Government Secretary or the ministers shall address the Prime Minister and propose a solution to the disagreement. The Prime Minister may, in this case, suggest that the draft legal act be duscussed in the relevant Government committee in the manner prescribed by these Rules of Procedure).
urgent examination
59. At a ministers’ reasoned request and upon the instruction of the Government Secretary, units of the Office of the Government shall examine the draft legal act, and the head of the relevant unit of the Office of the Government shall endorse the memo of an issue to be added to the agenda of a Government sitting (if there are any comments or suggestions to take account of, these shall be set out on a separate page and a reference to this page shall be made below the endorsement) as a matter or urgency.
The Government Secretary shall set the deadlines for such urgent examination by units of the Office of the Government; however, the draft legal act to be examined shall in any case be submitted to the relevant units of the Office of the Government at least two working days prior to the Government sitting in which the draft legal act is to be discussed.
exceptionally urgent examination
60. If Government decisions are urgent immediately, draft Government decisions may be examined in the Office of the Government, at a ministers’ reasoned request and upon the instruction of the Prime Minister, as a matter of exceptional urgency.
The Prime Minister shall set the deadlines for such exceptionally urgent examination; however, the draft legal act to be examined shall in any case be submitted to the relevant civil servants of the Office of the Government at least four working hours prior to the Government sitting in which the draft legal act is to be discussed.
III. DISCUSSION OF A DRAFT LEGAL ACT IN A MEETING OF STATE SECRETARIES OF MINISTRIES
61. Normally, draft legal acts (other than those related to information constituting a state secret or an official secret) examined in the Office of the Government shall, before being added to the agenda of a Government sitting, be discussed in a meeting of state secretaries of ministries.
62. Meetings of state secretaries of ministries shall be convened and their agenda drawn up by the Government Secretary (or, in his absence, by the Deputy Government Secretary).
The agenda of a meeting specifying the order of priority of the issues to be discussed and the speakers shall be sent out to state secretaries of ministries no later than two working days prior to the meeting, except for those issues on the agenda which concern the position of the Republic of Lithuania on the issues being discussed in the European Union institutions. The agenda of a meeting shall also be posted on the website of the Government.
Apart from the Government Secretary (his deputies) and state secretaries of ministries (or, in their absence, undersecretaries), the meeting shall be attended by civil servants of the Office of the Government and a representative of the European Law Department under the Ministry of Justice (hereinafter referred to as the European Law Department). The meeting may also be attended by the drafters of the legal act proposed to be discussed in a Government sitting or by their representatives, also by the heads of legal divisions of ministries’ administrations or lawyers acting in this capacity.
63. The meeting shall be presided over by the Government Secretary (or, in his absence or upon his instruction, by the Deputy Government Secretary). Participants of the meetings shall have the right to ask questions and to make reasoned comments and suggestions to the relevant state secretaries of ministries (and, where appropriate, to the drafters, the heads of legal divisions of ministries’ administrations or lawyers acting in this capacity).
The state secretary of the relevant ministry or, in his absence, an undersecretary of the ministry (also the drafters, the heads of legal divisions of ministries’ administrations or lawyers acting in this capacity) must take notes of and examine the reasoned comments and suggestions made by the participants of the meeting on the issue being discussed; if there are no disagreements referred to in the third paragraph of item 64 of these Rules of Procedure, they shall ensure that the draft legal act is amended (supplemented) accordingly or sent out to the institutions concerned or other bodies for further comments and agreed on with them no later than within five working days (or within seven working days in the case of a voluminous and/or complex draft legal act) of the meeting of state secretaries of ministries; in the case of a position of the Republic of Lithuania on an issue to be discussed in the nearest meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the European Union (COREPER), this period shall be one working day. If many comments and suggestions are made in the meeting, the state secretary of a ministry may ask that these comments and suggestions be made in writing (in this case, written comments and suggestions shall be delivered to the state secretary of a ministry (with a copy to the Government Secretary) no later than within one working day of the meeting).
The state secretary of a ministry (or, where appropriate, the drafter, the head of the legal division of the ministry’s administration or a lawyer acting in this capacity) may give a reasoned response to oral comments and suggestions on the spot. In the case of disagreements about the validity of the comments and suggestions and the responses thereto, the Government Secretary (or the Deputy Government Secretary, if he is the one who presides over the meeting) shall instruct the relevant participant of the meeting to deliver (no later than within one working day of the meeting) his comments and suggestions to the state secretary of a ministry in writing (with a copy to the Government Secretary) and the state secretary of a ministry to examine the comments and suggestions and to amend (supplement) the draft legal act accordingly or send it out for further comments and have it agreed on within the deadline specified in the second paragraph of this item 63, unless disagreements referred to in the third paragraph of item 64 of these Rules of Procedure arise.
Meetings of state secretaries of ministries shall be minuted. The minutes of a meeting shall be drawn up by civil servants of the Office of the Government no later than on the first working day following the meeting. The minutes shall be signed by the civil servant who presided over the meeting concerned. If the meeting of state secretaries of ministries discussed the position of the Republic of Lithuania regarding draft legal acts of the European Union, the minutes of such a meeting shall be drawn up and signed in the manner prescribed in item 28 of the Coordination Rules. Extracts of minutes of meetings of state secretaries of ministries shall be sent out to ministries and other state institutions and agencies (no later than on the first working day following the signature of the minutes).
64. Draft legal acts approved by the meeting of state secretaries of ministries without any comments or suggestions shall be sent to the Government Secretary with a no-comments endorsement by the director of the Legal Department or, upon his instruction, by a lawyer, on the memo of an issue to be added to the agenda of a Government sitting (except in the case of a conceptual framework of a regulatory enactment or a draft law which are not subject to endorsement by the director of the Legal Department or, upon his instruction, by a lawyer). Such draft legal acts shall be proposed to be added to the agenda of a Government sitting in the manner prescribed in Section V of Chapter IV of these Rules of Procedure.
If a draft legal act needs to be substantially amended (supplemented) to take account of the comments and suggestions made in a meeting of state secretaries of ministries, such draft legal act shall be repeatedly proposed, examined and discussed in the manner prescribed in Sections I to III of Chapter IV of these Rules of Procedure.
If the drafters disagree with the comments and suggestions made in a meeting of state secretaries of ministries, the state secretary of a ministry or the head of a Government agency shall submit to the Government Secretary (who shall, where appropriate, address the Prime Minister) proposals for the solution of such disagreements. Taking account of such proposals, the Government Secretary (or the Prime Minister) may settle the disagreement in the manner prescribed in the second paragraph of item 58 of these Rules of Procedure.
IV. DISCUSSION OF DRAFT LEGAL ACTS IN A GOVERNMENT MEETING
65. Most important issues on the agenda of a Government sitting (draft legal acts, including those which were proposed by the meeting of state secretaries of ministries proposed to be discussed in a Government meeting) may be discussed in a Government meeting prior to the relevant Government sitting. A Government meeting may discuss the position of the Republic of Lithuania regarding proposals for the adoption of legal acts of the European Union and regarding other documents of the European Union, as well as any reports submitted to the Government. When discussing the position of the Republic of Lithuania regarding proposals for the adoption of legal acts of the European Union or regarding other documents of the European Union, the Government may adopt decisions or resolutions of approval, respectively. Government meetings shall be convened and presided over by the Prime Minister.
66. Government meetings shall normally be convened at least two working days prior to the relevant Government sitting. The Prime Minister may convene a Government meeting at any other time.
67. The agenda of a Government meeting shall be sent out to ministers at least two working days prior to the relevant Government meeting.
68. Apart from the Prime Minister and ministers, a Government meeting may be attended by the Government Secretary, his deputies and civil servants of units of the Office of the Government. Where appropriate, a Government meeting may be attended by a representative of the drafter of the legal act to be discussed in the Government sitting or other persons concerned.
V. agenda of a government sitting
70. Taking into account the comments made in a meeting of state secretaries of ministries, the Government Secretary shall address the Prime Minister with a request to give his consent to the inclusion of the relevant draft legal acts on the agenda of a Government sitting.
71. Once the Prime Minister gives his consent to the inclusion of a draft legal act on the agenda, the Government Secretary shall draft the agenda of the sitting.
72. The draft agenda shall fix the order of issues to be discussed and indicate the speakers and other persons to be invited to attend the sitting.
73. Once completed, the draft agenda shall be forwarded to the Prime Minister for signature. Where appropriate, the Prime Minister shall discuss the draft agenda with ministers.
74. Once the Prime Minister signs the agenda of a Government sitting, the Government Secretary shall send all the material of the sitting at least three working days prior to the sitting (or within such other time as may be designated by the Prime Minister, where a Government decision is urgent), except as regards the position of the Republic of Lithuania on the issues being discussed in the European Union institutions, to the following persons: unclassified information – to members of the Government, Speaker of the Seimas, President of the Republic, Auditor General of the Republic of Lithuania, Chairperson of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, Director General of the European Law Department, Chairman of the Competition Council, relevant advisers to the Prime Minister and civil servants of the Office of the Government; classified information – to members of the Government, relevant advisers to the Prime Minister, civil servants of the Office of the Government and, where appropriate, to other persons specified in the agenda of the sitting where the draft legal acts concerned fall within their competence. The said material shall be sent out (forwarded) to other persons entitled to attend the Government sitting provided that they have notified in advance of their intention to participate in the Government sitting.
75. Heads of Government agencies, county governors and heads of other state institutions and agencies shall have the possibility to access the agenda of the Government sitting on the Government’s website. The material of the sitting, which relates to the issues of their concern, shall be available to them at the Department of Administrative Affairs of the Office of the Government (hereinafter referred to as the Administrative Affairs Department).
Important and otherwise most relevant draft regulatory enactments tabled to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall be posted, on the date of their inclusion in the agenda of a Government sitting and in the prescribed manner, on the websites of ministries, Government agencies, agencies under ministries, county governor administrations, other state and municipal institutions which have drafted them.
Persons specified in the agenda of a sitting shall receive the agenda of the sitting and the material on the issue for the discussion of which they are invited to attend the sitting.
76. The agenda of a Government sitting may be supplemented, in the manner prescribed in the second paragraph of item 13 of these Rules of Procedure, with additional draft legal acts, which shall normally have undergone an examination at the Office of the Government as a matter of urgency or exceptional urgency.
VI. procedure IN a government sitting
participants
77. Apart from the members of the Government, a Government sitting shall be attended by the Chief Adviser to the Prime Minister, advisers to the Prime Minister, Prime Minister’s press officer, Government Secretary, Deputy Government Secretaries, director of the Legal Department, head of the Editorial Division of the Administrative Affairs Department, head of the Government Press Office of the Department of Information and Communication of the Office of the Government (hereinafter referred to as the Information and Communication Department) and other persons authorised to attend Government sittings by the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and other laws. A Government sitting shall also be attended by such other persons as specified in the agenda of the Government sitting.
Government sittings may also be attended by a vice minister or the state secretary of a ministry, where the relevant minister is deputised for by another member of the Government, also by heads of Government agencies and other state institutions (on the instruction of the Prime Minister), county governors and representatives of the Government. If ministers wish so, Government sittings may be attended by undersecretaries of ministries.
Heads of relevant Government agencies, county governors and other persons shall be obliged to attend a Government sitting, where the sitting is convened to discuss an issue to the drafting of which they have contributed or other issues directly affecting them (their participation in the Government sitting must be provided for in the agenda of the sitting). If heads of Government agencies or county governors invited to a Government sitting to discuss certain issues are unable to attend the sitting, they shall delegate their deputies to attend the sitting.
A Government sitting convened to discuss, inter alia, the issue of appointment (dismissal) of a county governor, deputy county governor, Government representative or other civil servant shall be attended by the candidate to the position of a county governor, deputy county governor, Government representative or to other positions of a civil servant as defined in legal acts (by a civil servant to be dismissed).
A sitting convened to discuss, inter alia, projects involving information that constitutes a state secret or an official secret shall be attended by members of the Government, a vice minister or the state secretary of a ministry (where the relevant minister is deputised for by another member of the Government), Government Secretary or his deputies, relevant advisers to the Prime Minister and civil servants of the Office of the Government, head of the Editorial Division of the Administrative Affairs Department and other persons invited to attend the sitting to discuss certain issues provided that these persons have been entered on the agenda of the sitting. Persons attending such sittings shall have a security clearance giving them access to classified information, issued in the manner prescribed by the Republic of Lithuania Law on State Secrets and Official Secrets (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 105-3019, 1999; No 4-29, 2004).
The issue of participation of representatives of associations, trade unions, political and other nongovernmental organisations in Government sittings shall be decided by the Prime Minister.
Government sittings may be attended by representatives of the Seimas and of the President of the Republic.
the course of discussions
79. Discussions on individual issues on the agenda of a Government sitting shall normally start with the presentation of the issue, followed by the hearing of the opinion of the members of the Government. With the permission of the presiding officer of the sitting, other persons participating in the sitting may express their opinion.
The draft legal act (or other issue pertaining to state administration) to be discussed shall normally be presented by ministers or, where appropriate, by heads of Government agencies, county governors, advisers to the Prime Minister, civil servants of the Office of the Government, presidents of commissions set up by the Government (or leaders of working groups formed by the Prime Minister), or, with the permission of the presiding officer of the sitting, by other civil servants.
The presentation of the issue shall start with the description of its substance, followed by a presentation of its impact on the state budget of the Republic of Lithuania, municipal budgets, state monetary funds and on the public and legal system, and of the results of the inter-institutional consultations procedure. Also, the participants of the sitting shall be debriefed on the conclusions and suggestions made in the sittings of Government committees, meetings of state secretaries of ministries and Government meetings.
80. Normally up to five minutes shall be allowed for the presentation of an issue on the agenda and up to two minutes for the expression of an opinion of a member of the Government (up to a minute for the opinion of other participants of the sitting). Where appropriate, the presiding officer shall be authorised to fix other time allowance for the presentation of the issue and for the expression of opinion.
Members of the Government (except the Prime Minister) shall be given no more than two occasions to speak on each issue on the agenda (excluding questions, remarks, expression of opinion regarding the procedure, proposals to stop the discussion, to reject the proposed draft legal act or to adjourn the discussion), other participants of the sitting, only one.
81. A Government sitting shall not be a place to discuss an issue pertaining to activities of a ministry, Government agency or county governor, unless the issue has been commented and agreed to by these institutions prior to the sitting and unless these institutions are represented in the sitting.
MINUTES
83. Government sittings shall be minuted. The minutes of a sitting shall be drawn up by the Office of the Government.
84. The minutes shall be dated and given a reference number and shall give the list of participants, specify the number of sequence and the topics of the issues discussed, indicate the speaker who has presented the issue and other speakers, and describe the decisions adopted. The minutes shall also indicate voting results (specifying the “for” votes and abstentions) and the dissenting opinion of members of the Government or other participants of the sitting authorised to attend the sitting by the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and other laws.
85. The minutes of a Government sitting shall be signed by the Prime Minister. The minutes of a Government sitting shall be ready for signature no later than on the second working day following the date of the sitting.
VII. decisions of Government sittings
ADOPTION
87. Government decisions concerning draft legal acts (or other issues) discussed shall be adopted, in a Government sitting, by a majority of votes of all members of the Government. The majority shall normally be established with the presiding officer asking: “Are there any objections?” If there are no objections, the presiding officer shall declare: “Adopted”. If there is at least one objection, members of the Government shall raise their hands so that the majority may be established. In this case, a civil servant of the Office of the Government who takes minutes of the sitting shall calculate the votes. If the majority is established, the presiding officer shall declare: “Adopted”, or, if otherwise, “Rejected”. “Against” votes and abstentions shall also be calculated.
88. Voting may also be used to establish the opinion (by a majority of votes) of participating members of the Government on procedural matters.
FORMALISATION
90. Decisions adopted in a Government sitting shall be made in the form of resolutions. Resolutions shall also be used to formalise Government decisions to submit to the Seimas draft laws and other legal acts of the Seimas, Government conclusions regarding draft laws debated in the Seimas (at the request of the Speaker of the Seimas or by the Board of the Seimas), also the position of the Republic of Lithuania on the issues being discussed in the European Union institutions.
SIGNATURE
92. Resolutions of the Government shall be signed by the Prime Minister and by a minister of the relevant sphere of administration. Where a resolution affects several spheres of administration, it shall be signed by the Prime Minister and the minister who heads the ministry which has submitted the draft resolution or who has endorsed it in the manner prescribed in the first paragraph of item 53 of these Rules of Procedure.
93. Resolutions of the Government amending or supplementing previously passed resolutions shall be signed by the Prime Minister and the minister of the sphere of administration who has signed the previous resolution, irrespective of who submitted the new draft resolution to the Government for consideration. Where the minister who has signed the previous resolution is no longer a member of the Government as a consequence of dissolution of the ministry, the Government resolution amending or supplementing such previous resolution shall be signed by the minister in charge of the ministry which has taken over the functions of the ministry dissolved.
94. The minister of the relevant sphere of administration may not refuse to sign a resolution adopted in a Government sitting in the prescribed manner even if that minister voted against the resolution concerned.
95. With the change of Governments, all resolutions adopted by the previous Government but not signed during its term of office shall be newly tabled to the new Government and discussed in a Government sitting in the manner prescribed by these Rules of Procedure.
96. Resolutions of the Government adopted in a Government sitting presided over by a minister deputising for the Prime Minister (or acting for the Prime Minister) shall be subject to the general signature procedure.
97. A Government resolution concerning the sphere of administration of the minister who deputises for the Prime Minister (or acts for the Prime Minister) shall be signed by such minister deputising for the Prime Minister (or acting for the Prime Minister).
98. Legal acts adopted in a Government sitting the contents of which was substantially amended or supplemented in the Government sitting shall be forwarded to the Prime Minister for signature only after they have been endorsed: by the Minister of Justice, in the case of conceptual frameworks of regulatory enactments, draft laws and regulatory resolutions of the Government and draft legal acts related to the European Union legal acts and international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania; by the Minister of Finance, in the case of legal acts related to the national budget, state monetary funds or other monetary resources of the state; or by a representative of the Association of Local Authorities of Lithuania, in the case of draft regulatory enactments related to activities of local authorities.
99. Originals of draft resolutions of the Government forwarded to the minister of the relevant sphere of administration for signature shall first be endorsed by the head of a unit of the Office of the Government or, upon his instruction, by an adviser, also by the head of the Government agency if the resolution of the Government concerned has been drafted by a Government agency, and by the head of the legal division of the administration of the ministry the minister of which has to sign the original of the adopted draft Government resolution or a lawyer acting in this capacity. Where a resolution is to be signed by a deputising minister, the resolution shall first be endorsed by a vice minister of the ministry the minister of which is being deputised for.
Originals of draft resolutions of the Government signed by the minister of the relevant sphere of administration shall be forwarded to the Prime Minister for signature after they have been endorsed by the director of the Legal Department or, upon his instruction, by a lawyer (no endorsement by the director of the Legal Department or, upon his instruction, by a lawyer shall be required with respect to originals of resolutions of the Government on the approval of conceptual frameworks, to conceptual frameworks of regulatory enactments, to resolutions of the Government on the submission of laws to the Seimas and to draft laws, also to resolutions of the Government concerning the position of the Republic of Lithuania regarding the issues being discussed in the European Union institutions), by the Government Secretary or, upon his instruction, by the Deputy Government Secretary.
100. Where a civil servant of a ministry or of the Office of the Government or any other person who has to endorse a resolution of the Government as prescribed in items 98 and 99, respectively, of these Rules of Procedure wishes to make any comments or suggestions regarding the provisions of the resolution concerned, such civil servant or other person shall endorse such resolution with a comment and shall draw up a memo wherein he shall specify which provisions of the resolution are in conflict with any applicable legal acts and shall give his suggestions (such memo shall be appended to the original of the resolution to be forwarded to the Prime Minister for signature).
101. Annexes to resolutions of the Government shall not be subject to signature; however, their originals shall be endorsed by the head of the relevant unit of the Office of the Government or, upon his instruction, by an adviser, also by the head of the Government agency if the Government resolution concerned has been drafted by a Government agency, and by the head of the legal division of the administration of the relevant ministry or a lawyer acting in this capacity, and by the minister who signs the resolution of the Government concerned, also by the Minister of Justice in the case of conceptual frameworks of regulatory enactments and resolutions of the Government concerning conceptual frameworks of regulatory enactments.
102. If substantial comments and suggestions to modify (amend or supplement) the draft legal act are made in a Government sitting and the draft legal act is adopted on the condition that it will be forwarded to the minister of the relevant sphere of administration and the Prime Minister for signature only after it has been modified to take account of the said comments and suggestions, the ministry (Government agency, county governor, municipal council) which has proposed (drafted) the draft legal act concerned shall modify it in accordance with the decision (minutes) of the sitting within five working days of the Government sitting. If insubstantial comments and suggestions to modify (amend or supplement) the draft legal act are made in a Government sitting and the draft legal act is adopted on the condition that it will be forwarded to the minister of the relevant sphere of administration and the Prime Minister for signature only after it has been modified to take account of the said comments and suggestions, civil servants of the relevant units of the Office of the Government (where appropriate, in cooperation with relevant ministries and other institutions) shall modify the draft legal act in accordance with the decision (minutes) of the sitting within two working days of the Government sitting. Before being forwarded to the Prime Minister for signature, draft legal acts (and the annexes, if any) adopted and substantially modified in accordance with the decision (minutes) of the sitting shall be additionally endorsed in the manner prescribed in item 98 of these Rules of Procedure.
103. Resolutions of the Government shall be signed within five working days of adoption. If substantial comments are made in a Government sitting regarding a draft legal act and the draft legal act is sent back to the drafters for modification, the resolution of the Government concerned as modified within the deadline specified in these Rules of Procedure shall be signed within three working days of receipt thereof at the Office of the Government.
A minister may, at any time before the draft legal act adopted in a Government sitting has been signed by the Prime Minister, send a reasoned letter to the Prime Minister to inform him on violations of these Rules of Procedure done, in his opinion, in adopting the draft legal act concerned. Having received such a letter, the Legal Department shall submit its conclusions and suggestions to the Prime Minister no later than within one working day. Pending such conclusions and suggestions, the Prime Minister shall not sign the resolution concerned. If the Legal Department concludes that the Government legislative procedure or any other important provisions of these Rules of Procedure have not been followed in adopting a Government decision, the Government shall decide, by voting in the next Government sitting, whether the decision concerned shall be repelled or remain in force. If the Government repels such disputed decision, it shall, as a rule, once again undergo the discussion procedure from the point at which the violation occurred.
The Government shall be authorised to set other deadlines for the signature of resolutions of the Government.
PUBLICATION AND COMING INTO EFFECT
104. No later than within two working days of signature, resolutions of the Government (other than resolutions of the Government referred to in the second paragraph of item 107 of these Rules of Procedure, which shall be sent out immediately after signature) shall be sent to: the Seimas, President of the Republic, Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania, Auditor General of the Republic of Lithuania, ministries, Government agencies and other addressees, if the Resolution concerned is unclassified; ministries, Government agencies and other addressees the competence of which the resolution concerned is related to, in accordance with the lists of addressees drawn up by the heads of the relevant units of the Office of the Government or, upon their instruction, by advisers, if the resolution concerned is classified.
Ministries, Government agencies and county governors shall promptly inform their subordinate agencies and organisations as well as public enterprises falling within their field of regulation on the adoption of resolutions of the Government on issues pertaining to their activities.
105. The Government Secretary (or, in his absence or upon his instruction, a Government Deputy Secretary) shall send the texts of resolutions of the Government to be officially published in the Official Gazette Valstybės žinios. Resolutions of the Government shall be sent for publication in the Official Gazette Valstybės žinios no later than within three days of signature thereof.
Where the decisions provided for in legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania are urgent, the Government Secretary (or, in his absence or upon his instruction, a Government Deputy Secretary) shall send the texts of resolutions of the Government to be officially published in mass media. Such resolutions shall be sent to mass media immediately upon signature and they also shall be published in the Official Gazette Valstybės žinios as prescribed in the first paragraph of this item.
In addition to being officially published in the Official Gazette Valstybės žinios and the mass media, resolutions of the Government may also be published in other mass media. Resolutions shall be sent to such other mass media by the Department of Information and Communication.
Resolutions of the Government and ordinances of the Prime Minister shall be posted on the relevant websites in the manner prescribed by the Procedure for the Official Publication of Resolutions of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, Decisions of the Government, Government Resolutions of Approval, Ordinances of the Prime Minister and Legal Acts of Ministers and Heads of Government Agencies and Other State Administration Institutions as well as Collegial Bodies, in the Official Gazette Valstybės žinios and on the Internet as approved by Resolution No 918 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 23 August 1999 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 71-2236, 1999; No 28-1144, 2003).
106. Where appropriate, the Office of the Government shall take care of the translation of resolutions of the Government (and Prime Minister’s ordinances) into foreign languages.
107. Resolutions of the Government other than those which are urgent as provided for in legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania shall come into effect on the next day following the day on which they, having been signed by the Prime Minister and the relevant minister, are published in the Official Gazette Valstybės žinios, unless a later date of coming into effect is set in the resolution concerned.
Where the decisions provided for in legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania are urgent, resolutions of the Government signed by the Prime Minister and the relevant minister shall come into effect as of their publication in mass media. Such resolutions shall contain a provision that they shall come into effect as of their publication in mass media. Such resolutions shall also be published in the Official Gazette Valstybės žinios.
VIII. SUBMISSION, EXAMINATION, DISCUSSION AND ADOPTION OF DRAFT GOVERNMENT DECISIONS AND DRAFT RESOLUTIONS OF APPROVAL, SIGNATURE, COMING INTO EFFECT AND PUBLICATION OF GOVERNMENT DECISIONS AND RESOLUTIONS OF APPROVAL
1071. Positions of the Republic of Lithuania regarding proposals for the adoption of legal acts of the European Union and regarding other documents of the European Union to be discussed in a Government meeting (hereinafter referred to as positions of the Republic of Lithuania) as formulated and agreed on in the manner prescribed by the Coordination Rules shall be delivered to the Government, in writing or via the information system of Lithuania’s membership in the European Union, by the institutions responsible for the formulation of the given position of the Republic of Lithuania; positions referred to in Chapter VII of the Coordination Rules shall be delivered in the same manner by the European Law Department (hereinafter in this Section referred to as responsible institutions).
1072. Draft Government decisions or resolutions of approval and the related information shall always be delivered to the Government at least one week prior to the meeting. Any additions to the information related to draft Government decisions or resolutions of approval shall always be delivered to the Government at least two working days prior to the meeting concerned.
1073. Together with the draft Government decision or resolution of approval endorsed by a minister of the relevant sphere of administration or, upon his written instruction, by a vice minister, the responsible institution shall deliver the following documents:
1073.1. a referral signed by the head of the institution, containing the following information:
1073.1.1. if the referral relates to positions of the Republic of Lithuania on matters to be discussed in the nearest meeting of the Council of the European Union:
1073.1.1.3. information about the meeting of the Council of the European Union, which will discuss the matters to which the position of the Republic of Lithuania proposed to be approved by a Government decision or resolution of approval relate (the Council and the scheduled date of the meeting);
1073.1.2. if the referral relates to positions of the Republic of Lithuania other than those referred to in item 1073.1.1 of these Rules of Procedure:
1073.1.2.3. title and reference number of the legal act or other document of the European Union to which the position of the Republic of Lithuania relates;
1073.1.2.4. substance of the issue addressed in the proposal for the adoption of legal acts of the European Union or in other document of the European Union;
1073.1.2.5. information on the inter-institutional consultation procedure undertaken in respect of the position of the Republic of Lithuania, unless this information is a part of the position itself;
1073.2. the position of the Republic of Lithuania endorsed by a minister of the relevant sphere of administration or, upon his written instruction, by a vice minister or by the head of the responsible institution (positions of the Republic of Lithuania on matters to be discussed in the nearest meeting of the Council of the European Union may be delivered in writing or via the information system of Lithuania's membership in the European Union);
1074. Civil servants of structural units of the Office of the Government shall, within one working day of receipt of the position of the Republic of Lithuania at the Office of the Government, evaluate the position of the Republic of Lithuania, draw up a memo of the issue to be added to the agenda of a Government meeting, a memo of the substance of the issue and the results of the inter-institutional consultation procedure (as regards the position of the Republic of Lithuania on matters to be discussed in the nearest meeting of the Council of the European Union, one memo of the issue to be added to the agenda of a Government meeting and one memo of the substance of the issue and the results of the inter-institutional consultation procedure shall be drawn up) and shall provide the Government Secretary with all the information related to the issue concerned as received in writing or via the information system of Lithuania’s membership in the European Union.
At the Prime Minister’s decision to add the issue to the agenda of a Government meeting, any information delivered in writing shall be immediately forwarded to ministers and other persons participating in the Government meeting.
1075. Government decisions and resolutions of approval shall be passed by a majority of votes of the members of the Government attending the Government meeting.
If any substantial comments and suggestions to modify the position of the Republic of Lithuania are made in the Government meeting, the institution responsible for formulating the position concerned shall, together with civil servants of structural units of the Office of the Government and other institutions concerned which had comments or suggested, in the Government meeting, to modify the position of the Republic of Lithuania, modify that position of the Republic of Lithuania before submitting a Government decision or resolution of approval to the Prime Minister for signature. The position of the Republic of Lithuania as modified shall be subject to endorsement by the head of the responsible institution.
Before being submitted to the Prime Minister for signature, Government decisions and resolutions of approval shall be endorsed by the Government Secretary and relevant civil servants of the Department of the European Union Policy Analysis and Inter-Institutional Coordination and the Department of Coordination and Monitoring of European Law Implementation, of the Office of the Government. Government decisions and resolutions of approval shall be signed no later than on the first working day following their adoption in a Government meeting.
1076. Government decisions and resolutions of approval shall be registered after they have been signed by the Prime Minister. A decision of the Government shall be given a reference number using the general numbering running from the start to the end of the year and the date of registration. Government resolutions of approval shall be subject to the same registration procedure.
1077. Government decisions and resolutions of approval shall come into effect on the date of signature thereof and shall be published on the same day on the Government’s website (www.lrv.lt) in the manner prescribed in Chapter III of the Procedure for the Submission of Resolutions of the Government, Government Decisions, Government Resolutions of Approval, Ordinances of the Prime Minister and Legal Acts of Ministers and Heads of Government Agencies, Other State Administration Institutions, as well as of Collegiate Bodies to be Officially Published in the Official Gazette Valstybės žnios and for their Publication on Websites.
I. interaction between the government and the seimas
108. The Government shall exercise its right of legislative initiative by proposing laws and, where appropriate, other legal acts to the Seimas in the manner prescribed in items 116 to 123 of these Rules of Procedure.
The Government shall also make proposals to the Seimas for the adoption of laws and the programme of tasks for specific sessions of the Seimas.
109. Where appropriate, the Government shall make proposals for the drafting of a weekly agenda of the Seimas sittings and propose to add to the weekly agenda of the Seimas sittings a Government’s presentation on an issue of concern.
110. At the invitation of a committee, commission or a parliamentary group of the Seimas, a minister or, upon his instruction, a civil servant of the ministry concerned (head of a Government agency or another civil servant) must, in the manner prescribed by the Statute of the Seimas, attend a sitting of the committee, commission or the political group concerned to brief on the implementation of laws and Seimas resolutions and to give explanations on the issues being discussed therein.
111. Having been informed, in a notification addressed to him, by the Chairman of a Seimas committee of the decision of the Seimas committee to hear the relevant information, the minister, the head of a Government agency or a county governor must appear in the sitting of the Seimas committee concerned no later than within two weeks (unless the Seimas committee has instructed otherwise).
Having received any recommendations and suggestions from a Seimas committee (commission), heads of ministries and Government agencies as well as county governors must discuss these and brief, no later than within two weeks of receipt of the recommendations and suggestions or within such other period as may be determined by the Seimas committee (commission), the committee (commission) concerned on the results of the discussion and on the actions taken.
112. The Ministry of Finance shall submit to the Government the financial statement on the implementation of the state budget (together with an explanatory note and, where appropriate, any other relevant information). This financial statement shall be discussed in a Government sitting and then forwarded as approved to the Seimas for approval in the manner and within deadlines prescribed in the Statute of the Seimas.
113. In the manner prescribed by the Statute of the Seimas, the Prime Minister or ministers shall report before the Seimas on the performance of the Government or the ministry, respectively, and answer any questions that members of the Seimas may have to them, during the Government hour in the Seimas.
114. Written questions and inquiries by members of the Seimas to a member of the Government shall be registered in the manner prescribed by the Office of the Government and shall then be forwarded to the relevant member of the Government. Members of the Government must answer any written questions or inquiries in the format specified by the asking or inquiring member of the Seimas and in the manner prescribed by the Statute of the Seimas. If a member of the Government is unable to respond to a written question or inquiry within the set deadline, he must give written reasons and suggest another time which shall not be later than one month of receipt of the written question or inquiry; however, if the asking or inquiring member or a group of members of the Seimas doubts the reasons, the question or the inquiry shall be dealt with within the original deadline. The relevant member of the Government must be present in the discussion of the question or inquiry in the Seimas.
115. The Government shall keep day-to-day contacts with the Seimas and the institution of the President of the Republic through a civil servant of the Prime Minister’s political (personal) confidence authorised to this end by the Prime Minister.
The civil servant of the Prime Minister’s political (personal) confidence authorised by the Prime Minister must, in the manner prescribed by the Statute of the Seimas, attend (as an observer) sittings of the Seimas, of the Board of the Seimas and of the Assembly of Elders, keep day-to-day contacts with committees (commissions) of the Seimas, immediately communicate to the Prime Minister, the Government Secretary and relevant ministers and heads of Government agencies the approved agendas of the Seimas or any modifications thereto as well as any remarks and instructions made to the Government by the Seimas.
The civil servant of the Prime Minister’s political (personal) confidence authorised by the Prime Minister shall, along with civil servants of the relevant structural units of the Government, regularly follow at what time draft laws and other legal acts of the Seimas submitted to the Seimas by the Government are scheduled for discussion and whether certain draft laws and other legal acts of the Seimas are scheduled for discussion at all and inform the Government Secretary thereabout. Having received the minutes of the Seimas sitting (with the decision to send back a certain draft law or any other legal act of the Seimas proposed to the Seimas by the Government for further elaboration), structural units of the Office of the Government shall immediately draw up an instruction of the Prime Minister (or, upon his instruction, the Government Secretary) for the relevant institution to elaborate the draft legal act.
II. Draft laws and seimas Resolutions proposed to the seimas
116. Wishing to propose to the Seimas laws and other legal acts of the Seimas, the Government shall issue resolutions.
117. Laws shall normally be drafted and proposed to the Government by ministries and Government agencies as part of implementing, within their competence, the Programme of the Government and its implementing measures.
For the drafting of laws, the Government may set up commissions and the Prime Minister may form working groups.
118. Laws and other legal acts of the Seimas shall be drafted, agreed on among institutions and tabled to the Government in the manner prescribed in Section I of Chapter IV of these Rules of Procedure. An explanatory note to the draft law or another legal act of the Seimas containing the information specified in the Statute of the Seimas shall be submitted alongside.
If the draft legal act amends an existing law or another legal act of the Seimas, a comparative version of the law or the legal act of the Seimas shall be submitted to the Government. Where appropriate, a draft implementing law shall be proposed, as well as draft laws amending, supplementing or repelling other existing laws. If the draft law has an annex with references to the European Union legal acts, a correlation table indicated in Annex 7 of the Coordination Rules shall be attached, showing an article-by-article correlation between the directives and other legal acts of the European Union listed in the said annex and the proposed law.
Together with a paper copy, an electronic version of the draft law or another legal act of the Seimas (and, in the case referred to in the second paragraph of this item 118, the comparative version or the draft legal act amending, supplementing or repelling an existing law, as well as the correlation table), the explanatory note and the resolution of the Government by which the draft law or the legal act concerned is proposed to the Seimas shall be forwarded or sent by e-mail to the Office of the Government.
119. At the intention to pass a new regulatory enactment which will introduce an absolutely new legal regulation of certain public relations, or a new version of an existing regulatory enactment which will substantially change the existing legal regulation, or a new regulatory enactment covering the spheres of administration of several ministers, the ministries (or Government agencies) concerned shall draft a conceptual framework of the regulatory enactment concerned, consult relevant institutions and submit it to the Government. Once the Government approves the conceptual framework of the regulatory enactment (the approval shall be made in the form of a resolution), the Government shall normally set up a commission (or the Prime Minister shall form a working group) for the drafting of the regulatory enactment concerned. The president of such a commission (or the leader of such a working group) or his deputy must be a person with a university or equivalent education in the field of law.
Conceptual frameworks of laws shall be drawn up in accordance with the Methodology for the Drawing up of Conceptual Frameworks of Laws as approved by Order No 277 of the Minister of Justice of 29 December 2001 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 1-10, 2002).
For short and simple laws, other legal acts of the Seimas or regulatory enactments of the Government, no conceptual frameworks shall normally be required.
120. The referral for the Government resolution approving a draft law or another legal act of the Seimas shall be signed by the Prime Minister. A draft law or another legal act of the Seimas shall be endorsed by the minister of the relevant sphere of administration, the Minister of Justice and the Prime Minister; the explanatory note shall normally be signed by the minister of the relevant sphere of administration. A comparative version of a draft law or another legal act of the Seimas shall not be subject to endorsement by the Minister of Justice and the Prime Minister.
Annexes (appendices) of laws and other legal acts of the Seimas shall be endorsed by the minister of the relevant sphere of administration.
121. The Prime Minister, a minister or a vice minister authorised to represent the Government in the Seimas shall, in the manner prescribed by the Statute of the Seimas, attend the sitting of the relevant committee of the Seimas to discuss the draft law or another legal act of the Seimas proposed by the Government. The Prime Minister, a minister or a vice minister authorised to represent the Government in the Seimas shall not have the right to accept, in the sittings of the relevant (principal) committee of the Seimas, a proposal to substantially modify the draft law or another legal act of the Seimas (to change its principal provisions) proposed by the Government.
122. At the request of the Speaker of the Seimas or the Board of the Seimas, the Government shall provide to the Seimas its conclusions regarding the draft legal act being discussed. Having received such a request, the Prime Minister may forward the draft legal act being discussed at the Seimas, to ministries and Government agencies for their opinion.
Draft conclusions of the Government shall be discussed in a Government sitting. A Government decision adopted with respect to such draft conclusions shall be made in the form of a resolution of the Government which shall be endorsed by the Minister of Justice, signed by the Prime Minister and by the minister of the relevant sphere of administration, and submitted, together with an electronic version, to the Seimas within four weeks of receipt of the request of the Speaker of the Seimas or the Board of the Seimas to give conclusions.
The Government may give conclusions to the Seimas on its own initiative, if the relevant (principal) committee of the Seimas proposes to substantially modify the draft law (to change its principal provisions) proposed by the Government. In this case, draft conclusions of the Government as agreed on with the Minister of Justice shall be submitted to the Government by the minister (or, in his absence, a vice minister) authorised to represent the Government for the discussion of the draft law concerned in the Seimas.
123. The Government shall have the right to withdraw the draft law or another legal act of the Seimas pending the discussion in the Seimas sitting. The Prime Minister shall inform, in writing, the Secretary General of the Seimas of this decision of the Government.
The draft law or another legal act of the Seimas proposed by the Government and sent back to the latter to be substantially modified shall once again undergo the drafting, inter-institutional consultation and tabling procedure laid down in Section I of Chapter IV and item 118 of these Rules of Procedure.
III. INTERACTION BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT AND THE SEIMAS ON THE EUROPEAN UNION MATTERS
1231. A referral for a Government decision or a resolution of approval concerning the position of the Republic of Lithuania on issues which, according to the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, fall within the competence of the Seimas shall be signed by the Prime Minister; the very position of the Republic of Lithuania shall be forwarded to the Seimas via the information system of Lithuanian’s membership in the European Union which reflects any modifications to the position introduced in response to any comments and suggestions made in Government meetings.
1232. The position of the Republic of Lithuania on the issue to be discussed in the nearest meeting of the European Council and the Council of the European Union, and, where appropriate, in other cases specified in the Statute of the Seimas, also at a plenary sitting of the Seimas, at the Seimas Committee on European Affairs or the Committee on Foreign Affairs shall be presented by the Prime Minister or the relevant minister. In exceptional cases, the relevant minister may delegate a vice minister to present the position of the Republic of Lithuania.
Positions of the Republic of Lithuania shall be discussed in the manner prescribed by the Statute of the Seimas.
1233. The Prime Minister, ministers and other representatives of the Government shall report on their participation in meetings of the European Council and the Council of the European Union to the relevant committees of the Seimas or at a plenary sitting of the Seimas in the manner prescribed and in the cases specified in the Statute of the Seimas.
1234. Requests addressed to the Government, of the Seimas committees and their members to provide information on the proposals being discussed by the European Union institutions, the Government and by working groups on the European Union matters for the adoption of legal acts or any other documents of the European Union shall be registered in the manner prescribed by the Office of the Government and forwarded to a member of the Government having competence in the area concerned.
VI. RELATIONS BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT AND THE president of the republic
124. The special relations between the Government and the President of the Republic are regulated in the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, the Law on the Government and other laws.
125. On the initiative of the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister and ministers (civil servants subordinate, reporting and accountable to the Government, the Prime Minister or ministers) shall, together with the President of the Republic (and civil servants of his political (personal) confidence subordinate to him or civil servants reporting and accountable to him), examine and take decisions on state administration matters in the manner and in the form of cooperation agreed on between the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister.
126. Where appropriate, on the initiative of the President of the Republic of Lithuania, the Prime Minister may form working groups with membership of civil servants subordinate (reporting or accountable) to the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister, at their mutual agreement.
127. The Government shall discuss and submit to the President of the Republic relevant documents for the submission of international agreements to the Seimas for ratification and for the performance of other actions related to the ratification of international agreements (these documents agreed on with the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Law Department shall be submitted to the Government by the responsible institution in the manner prescribed by these Rules of Procedure), for the delegation and withdrawal of diplomatic representatives of the Republic of Lithuania in foreign states or international organisations, and for other issues. The referral to the President of the Republic shall be sent together with the relevant decision of the Government and a draft decree of the President.
Draft documents and other related information shall be sent to the President of the Republic by the Prime Minister, by signing a referral.
1271. By signing a referral, the Prime Minister shall send to the President of the Republic relevant documents for obtaining the President’s approval for the granting of powers to perform actions related to the conclusion of international agreements (treaties) of the European Communities and the Republic of Lithuania as a Member State of the European Union, both acting as one party of the agreement, (hereinafter referred to as international mixed agreements) (these documents agreed on with the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Law Department shall be submitted to the Prime Minister by the responsible institution in the manner prescribed by these Rules of Procedure).
I. information for the public
128. Draft regulatory enactments of a higher importance or otherwise of an utmost relevance proposed to the Government shall be published on the Internet in the prescribed manner. Apart from these, resolutions of the Government, Prime Minister’s ordinances and orders of ministers and of heads of Government agencies shall also be posted on the Internet.
129. The publication in mass media, of the policies pursued by the Government shall be the task of the Prime Minister’s press officer, the Information and Communication Department, ministers’ press officers and press (information) units of Government agencies.
130. The Prime Minister’s press officer shall be responsible for issuing authorisations to produce radio and television reports from Government sittings (subject to agreement by the presiding officer of the sitting), arrange Prime Minister’s press conferences and brief mass media on the Prime Minister’s activities.
The Information and Communication Department shall, where appropriate, arrange press conferences of ministers and heads of Government agencies.
131. The coordination of relations with mass media and the public in briefing them on the activities of the Government shall be the task of the Information and Communication Department, which shall:
131.1. brief mass media of the Republic of Lithuania and of foreign states as well as the public on the activities of the Government;
131.2. organise and pursue awareness-raising activities on matters related to Lithuania’s membership in the European Union;
II. RECEIPT AND EXAMINATION OF REQUESTS, COMPLAINTS AND APPLICATIONS QUALIFYING UNDER THE LAW AS PETITIONS
136. Requests and complaints filed by citizens of the Republic of Lithuania and other persons (hereinafter referred to as persons or applicants) to the Government (or the Prime Minister) shall be dealt with in accordance with the Republic of Lithuania Law on Public Administration (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 60-1945, 1999), Republic of Lithuania Law on Petitions (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 66-2128, 1999), Republic of Lithuania Law on the Right to Receive Information from State and Municipal Agencies (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 10-236, 2000), Regulations of the Petitions Commission of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania as approved by Resolution No 1098 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 4 October 1999 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 84-2498, 1999) and other legal acts.
137. Requests or complaints from persons shall be received by the Reception Deck of the Office of the Government (hereinafter referred to as the Reception Desk). According to the annual quarterly schedules approved by the Prime Minister, requests and complaints from persons shall also be received in the Government Building by the Prime Minister, ministers, relevant civil servants of the Prime Minister’s political (personal) confidence, civil servants of ministries, Government agencies and other public administration institutions, in the presence of civil servants of the Reception Desk.
Having received a request or complaint, the Reception Desk shall issue a document certifying the receipt of the request or complaint and indicating the date of receipt thereof, the name and telephone number of the civil servant of the Reception Desk who will examine the request or complaint and the reference number given to the request or complaint. As an alternative to the document certifying the receipt, a certified copy of the request of complaint may be returned.
Information about the activities of the Government, ministries, Government agencies or other public administration institutions shall be given orally, if an oral request or complaint is made and the requesting or complaining person does not require a written answer.
If the Government is not competent to take a decision on the issue put forward by the person, the Reception Desk shall, no later than within five working days, forward the request or complaint to a competent ministry, Government agency or other public administration institution, with a notice to the applicant. In the case of an oral request or complaint, the applicant shall be informed of the competent public administration institution on the spot. If the request is being dealt with by a court and this fact is known, the request shall be returned to the applicant, together with the relevant information.
Normally, oral requests or complaints, also anonymous requests or complaints (or anonymous correspondence) shall not be examined, except in exceptional circumstances where the interests of the applicant or the state must be protected, in which case a relevant instruction shall be issued by the Prime Minister or, upon his instruction, by the Government Secretary.
A detailed procedure for the receipt and examination of requests or complaints at the Office of the Government shall be established by the Government Secretary.
138. Applications qualifying under the law as petitions (hereinafter referred to as applications) shall be delivered in person or sent to the Government by post according to its competence, received at the Reception Desk and registered in the relevant book. The Reception Desk shall, not later than within three working days, inform the applicant (or his agent) of the fact and date of the registration of the application and of the reference number given to it.
Upon registration, the Reception Desk shall immediately forward the application to the President of the Petitions Commission (or, in his absence, to his deputy) of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the Government Petitions Commission), the composition and the regulations whereof shall be approved by the Government.
Anonymous applications shall be automatically rejected.
Having recognised the application as a petition and having examined it in the manner prescribed by the law, the Government Petitions Commission shall, no later than within ten working days, submit conclusions to the Government as to whether the requests and proposals made in the petition should be accepted or rejected, also a relevant draft resolution of the Government (and, where appropriate, draft decisions regarding the setting up of a commission or a working group for the drafting of a legal act or regarding the delegation of the task of drafting a legal act to a ministry or other state institution). The structural unit of the Office of the Government to which the conclusions of the Government Petitions Commission and a relevant draft resolution of the Government were forwarded shall, within two working days, draft an instruction of the Prime Minister (or, upon his instruction, of the Government Secretary) to the relevant ministry, the minister of which will be signing the draft resolution of the Government. The ministry shall give its conclusions or comments and suggestions regarding the draft resolution no later than within ten working days of receipt thereof, unless another deadline is set in the instruction. Upon receipt of conclusions from the ministry, the draft resolution of the Government shall be examined at the Office of the Government, discussed in a meeting of state secretaries of ministries and tabled for a Government sitting in the manner prescribed by the Rules of Procedure of the Government.
The Government Petitions Commission shall be hosted and technically supported by the Office of the Government.
I. international agreements
139. The right of initiative to conclude international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania is vested in the Government, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Government or, upon the instruction and in the manner prescribed by the Government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall assess the need to conclude international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Lithuania Law on Treaties, other laws and the international law.
Ministries and Government agencies shall also have the right to initiate, in the manner prescribed in Section I of Chapter IV of these Rules of Procedure, the conclusion of international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania.
International agreements of the Republic of Lithuania shall be drafted and concluded in accordance with the Republic of Lithuania Law on Treaties and the Rules of Drafting and Conclusion of International Agreements of the Republic of Lithuania as approved by Resolution No 1179 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 1 October 2001 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 84-2938, 2001).
140. Full powers shall be issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Documents required to obtain powers shall be prepared by the relevant ministries and Government agencies irrespective of whom specifically these powers shall be granted to.
A ministry or a Government agency concerned shall apply, in writing, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the issuance of full powers, and shall alongside present to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs an effective legal act for the granting of powers. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall issue full powers no later than within ten working days of receipt at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of a letter of the ministry or the Government agency concerned regarding the issuance of full powers.
141. Information about full powers shall be stored and administered at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
142. The Government’s decision to address the President of the Republic with the proposal to submit to the Seimas an international agreement of the Republic of Lithuania for ratification shall be made in the form of a resolution of the Government.
A Government resolution shall also be used to formalise a decision of the Government to approve international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania specified in the Republic of Lithuania Law on Treaties.
International agreements shall be submitted to the Government for approval by the ministry, within whose competence is the implementation of the international agreement, upon agreeing with the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Law Department.
143. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall store and administer information about international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania and send it for publication in the Official Gazette Valstybės žinios. International mixed agreements published in the Lithuanian language in the European Union’s Official Journal shall not be published in the Official Gazette Valstybės žinios.
144. The Government shall ensure the implementation of international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall be responsible for organising the monitoring of implementation. The said Ministry shall brief the Government on the implementation of such agreements and on any problems encountered and the solutions proposed. The monitoring of implementation of the Treaty between the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Hellenic Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, Ireland, the Italian Republic, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Republic of Austria, the Portuguese Republic, the Republic of Finland, the Kingdom of Sweden, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Member States of the European Union) and the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia, the Slovak Republic, concerning the Accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic to the European Union (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 1-1, 2004) (hereinafter referred to as the Treaty of Accession to the European Union) shall be organised by the Office of the Government in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Ministries and Government agencies whose competence includes the implementation of international agreements shall, once a year or at other intervals as appropriate, inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the implementation of such agreements.
Ministries and Government agencies whose competence includes the implementation of the Treaty of Accession to the European Union shall, where appropriate, inform the Office of the Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the implementation thereof.
II. foreign correspondence
145. Letters, telegrams and other documents of a similar nature to be sent to foreign state institutions (servants) and international organizations on behalf of the Government shall be drafted by ministries, Government agencies, advisers to the Prime Minister or the Office of the Government and agreed on with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (or, where appropriate, with other ministries or Government agencies concerned). The drafters of letters, telegrams and other documents of a similar nature to be sent to the European Union institutions on behalf of the Government shall consult regarding these documents the Office of the Government (or, where appropriate, other ministries or Government agencies concerned) and inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of such documents.
146. Letters, telegrams or documents of a similar nature to be sent on behalf of the Government shall be signed by the Prime Minister or a minister authorised by him. Together with a draft document, other supporting information and explanations shall be submitted to the Prime Minister or a minister authorised by him. If the document is to be sent in a foreign language, a translation to Lithuanian shall be provided.
147. Letters, telegrams and other documents of a similar nature to be sent to foreign state institutions (servants) and international organizations on behalf of ministries and Government agencies according to their relevant competence shall be signed by the minister or his authorised representative or by the head of the Government agency concerned. Details of corresponding on important issues shall be communicated to the Prime Minister, Office of the Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Written or oral invitations by members of the Government and heads of Government agencies for officials of foreign states and international organizations to come for a visit to the Republic of Lithuania shall first be agreed on with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
III. RECEPTION OF DELEGATIONS AND OFFICIALS
148. The reception of delegations of foreign states, officials and representatives of international organisations shall be organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, relevant advisers to the Prime Minister and civil servants of the Office of the Government.
149. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, relevant advisers to the Prime Minister and civil servants of the Office of the Government shall:
150. The information relevant for a reception in the Government Building shall specify the purpose of the reception and shall include analytical information as well as a list of topics to be discussed.
151. The plan (programme) of anticipated receptions in the Government Building shall be forwarded to the Prime Minister well in advance, and the information relevant to the particular reception and the draft agenda shall be forwarded to him at least five working days before the reception, unless the Prime Minister instructs otherwise. If the purpose of a reception in the Government Building (or a visit to the Republic of Lithuania) is to negotiate and conclude an international agreement, the ministry which has drafted the international agreement concerned shall submit the text of the agreement and the related information agreed on with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice and the European Law Department, at least within a week before the reception (visit).
152. The results of a reception in the Government Building (or a visit to the Republic of Lithuania) shall be set out in a document (a report or a final act of negotiations) to be prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in agreement with the relevant advisers to the Prime Minister and civil servants of the Office of the Government. These documents shall be signed in the appropriate manner (accepted internationally) and stored at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
153. As part of planning official or work visits by officials of foreign states and international organisations to the Republic of Lithuania (to ministries or Government agencies), ministers, vice ministers, state secretaries of ministries and heads of Government agencies shall, at the beginning of each quarter, consult and agree with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the visits planned for the quarter concerned, inform, at least a week in advance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the time of arrival of these officials, of the composition of the delegation, of the official meetings planned and of the purpose of such meetings, and report the results of the visits and meetings to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at least within a week of the visits or meetings.
Before receiving visitors from foreign states, ministries and Government agencies shall solve the issue of covering the expenses of such visits.
Visits by official visitors to the Republic of Lithuania shall be organised and the official visitors received in the manner prescribed by the Government.
IV. VISITS BY DELEGATIONS AND OFFICIALS TO FOREIGN STATES
154. Governmental delegations for official visits to other countries, as well as for work visits such as for the participation in international congresses, conferences, sessions and other international events shall be formed by the Prime Minister.
155. A governmental delegation shall normally go for a visit to a foreign state at the invitation (consent) of authorities of that foreign state, or at the invitation of an international organisation.
156. Normally, at least two weeks before a governmental delegation led by the Prime Minister or a person authorised by him goes for a visit to a foreign state, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall provide relevant civil servants of the Prime Minister’s political (personal) confidence and civil servants of the Office of the Government with the information specified in items 157.4 and 157.5 of these Rules of Procedure who shall then inform the Prime Minister of the information received. Alongside, an ordinance regarding the governmental delegation shall be drafted and submitted to the Prime Minister for signature. The draft ordinance shall specify the place and duration of the visit, the composition of the delegation, the accompanying persons, and the sources of financing of the expenses.
157. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, relevant advisers to the Prime Minister and civil servants of the Office of the Government shall:
157.1. examine invitations of foreign states and international organizations and make proposals regarding the need for sending a governmental delegation for a visit to the foreign state or for participation in the international event;
157.2. taking account of the invitations, make proposals regarding the composition and the leader of the governmental delegation;
157.4. taking account of the purpose and goals of the visit of a governmental delegation to a foreign state, prepare information relevant for the upcoming visit;
157.5. if the purpose of the visit is to negotiate and conclude an international agreement, draft the text of the international agreement concerned (or have it agreed inter-institutionally or give its consent to the text of the international agreement proposed by a Government agency);
158. Ministries and Government agencies shall provide the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on request, with information necessary for the preparation of information referred to in items 157.4 and 157.5 of these Rules of Procedure and inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs every three months on their activities in the field of development of international relations.
As part of planning their official or work visits to foreign states (also visits of working groups formed by ministries or Government agencies to foreign states to negotiate and draft international agreements), ministers, vice ministers, state secretaries of ministries and heads of Government agencies shall, at least a week in advance (except for the pre-planned visits), inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the time of departure, of the composition of the delegation, of the official meetings planned and of the purpose of such meetings, and report the results of the visits and meetings to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at least within a week of the visits or meetings.
Before organising visits to foreign states, ministries and Government agencies shall solve the issue of covering the expenses of such visits.
Diplomatic missions and consular posts of the Republic of Lithuania in foreign states shall, in the manner prescribed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, give relevant support to state institutions of the Republic of Lithuania to facilitate visits of delegations and officials of the Republic of Lithuania to and their stay in foreign states.
I. COORDINATION OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LAWS, RESOLUTIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT AND OTHER LEGAL ACTS AND OF THE TRANSPOSITION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION LAW
159. The Government shall coordinate, through ministers and heads of Government agencies, the implementation of laws, resolutions of the Government and other legal acts, in ministries and Government agencies.
160. Ministers, Government agencies and county governors shall, within their competence:
160.1. ensure the implementation of laws, resolutions of the Government and other legal acts in ministries, Government agencies or county governor administrations, in institutions, agencies and organisations subordinate to ministries, Government agencies or county governor administrations, and in public enterprises falling within the field of regulation of ministries, Government agencies or county governor administrations; promptly take actions if any violations of or failures to implement these legal acts come to their notice; designate units and individual civil servants to be responsible for the implementation of specific legal acts and for the monitoring of this work (such civil servants shall implement the provisions of legal acts and monitor the implementation thereof and, where appropriate, shall promptly make proposals to adopt new legal acts, amend or supplement the existing ones, issue new instructions or coordinate activities);
1601. The Office of the Government shall coordinate the transposition and implementation of the European Union legal acts in accordance with Resolution No 21 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 9 January 2004 on the Coordination of the European Union Matters, and inform the European Union institutions on the progress of transposing and, where appropriate, on the implementation of the European Union legal acts.
161. Each unit of the administration of a ministry, Government agency or the administration of a county governor shall maintain a list of legal acts coordinated by them and a detailed information on the progress of implementation thereof.
When there is a change in civil servants responsible for the implementation of a law, resolution of the Government or another legal act and for the coordination of such implementation, the act of transfer and take-over of the tasks (or the order or other document of the minister, head of the Government agency or the county governor, where the said act is not drawn up) shall specify who shall take over the task of implementing and coordinating the implementation of the relevant resolution of the Government or other legal act.
162. The Government shall have the right to repeal legal acts of ministers, heads of Government agencies and heads of agencies under Government agencies, if these acts are found to be incompliant with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, laws, international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania, other legal acts passed by the Seimas, decrees of the President of the Republic, resolutions of the Government or ordinances of the Prime Minister. Proposals on these issues shall be made to the Prime Minister by the Ministry of Justice, advisers to the Prime Minister and the Office of the Government.
II. MONITORING OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INSTRUCTIONS
164. Ministers, heads of Government agencies and county governors shall ensure a proper and timely implementation of instructions issued by the Government or the Prime Minister.
Irrespective of what type of document the instruction is set out in (whether in a Government resolution, ordinance of the Prime Minister, instruction of the Prime Minister made in the form of a resolution, or, as instructed by the Prime Minister, in an instruction of the Government Secretary made in the form of a resolution), the instruction shall be implemented within ten working days of receipt thereof, unless another deadline is set therein (except an instruction to draft a certain legal act). An instruction to draft a certain legal act shall be implemented within three months of receipt thereof, unless another deadline is set in the instruction or in the law or another legal act on the basis of which the instruction was issued.
165. Where an instruction is issued to several institutions (civil servants), the leading organiser of the implementation of the instruction shall be the institution (civil servant) which (who) appears first on the list. Other institutions (civil servants) designated for the implementation of the instruction shall be equally responsible for its timely implementation and shall provide the leading implementer (institution or civil servant), on request, with all required information and relevant proposals no later than within five working days of receipt of the instruction at the institution.
166. The instruction shall be deemed to have been implemented in full, if all the issues or questions detailed therein have been dealt with or answered. If the implementation of the instruction is inadequate, all output shall be sent back to the authors for elaboration no later than within two working days of receipt thereof at the Office of the Government; however, the deadline for the implementation of the instruction shall normally not be extended.
The deadline for the implementation of Government instructions shall not be subject to extension. If the ministry, Government agency or county governor is unable to implement the Government instruction in time, it shall draft and submit a resolution amending the resolution of the Government wherein the instruction concerned was given.
The deadline for the implementation of other instructions may be extended in exceptional circumstances only, at a reasoned request of a minister, head of a Government agency or a county governor.
Requests to extend the deadline for the implementation of other instructions shall be made at least three working days before the original deadline for the implementation.
167. The Office of the Government shall keep track of the instructions issued by the Government, the Prime Minister or the Government Secretary upon the instruction of the Prime Minister and shall summarise the results of the implementation thereof. An instruction shall be removed from these track records no later than within one working day of receipt of a letter from the relevant ministry, Government agency or county governor at the Office of the Government.
Heads of units of the Office of the Government or, upon their instruction, advisers shall regularly monitor the implementation of instructions of the Government and the Prime Minister (or of the Government Secretary, upon the instruction of the Prime Minister), by ministries, Government agencies and county governor administrations and inform, where appropriate, the Government Secretary (or his deputy) thereabout.
III. REPORTING TO THE GOVERNMENT
1671.2. information on the implementation of the Programme of the Government and its implementing measures;
1672. heads of Government agencies and other institutions and agencies reporting to the Government shall send to the Government:
1672.1. by the 1st of March of the current year, an annual activity report of the Government agency or other institution or agency reporting to the Government, unless laws and resolutions of the Government prescribe otherwise;
1672.2. no later than by the 15th of August of the current year, information for the first quarter on the situation in the area of competence of the Government agency or other institution or agency reporting to the Government, which shall be discussed, where appropriate, in a Government meeting;
1672.3. information warning of the risk that the processes in the area of competence of the Government agency or other institution or agency reporting to the Government might have adverse economic, financial or other effects on the state or on certain social groups, and shall propose measures to be taken to overcome such adverse effects.
1673. County governors shall send their annual activity reports to the Government within the deadlines and in the manner prescribed by Resolution No 1184 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 25 September 2003 on the Accountability of a County Governor (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 92-4156, 2003).
1674. Ministers, heads of Government agencies, heads of other institutions and agencies reporting to the Government and county governors shall send their activity reports to the Government in the format approved for a ministry, Government agency, an agency under a ministry and a county governor by Resolution No 727 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 24 May 2002 (Valstybės žinios (Official Gazette) No 53-2072, 2002).
X. missions and holidays
168. The Prime Minister shall consult and agree on the timing of his missions outside the Republic of Lithuania and his holidays with the President of the Republic well in advance. Having agreed on the timing of his missions and holidays, the Prime Minister shall address the President of the Republic with a proposal to designate a minister to deputise for the Prime Minister and submit, alongside, a relevant draft decree of the President of the Republic.
Ministers, heads of Government agencies or heads of other agencies appointed by the Prime Minister, also members of the Government and county governors going on a mission outside the Republic of Lithuania for longer than one day shall inform the Prime Minister thereabout in advance and get his permission. The permission shall be made in the form of a resolution of the Prime Minister certifying that the request has been agreed on with the Prime Minister.
169. Missions of the Government Secretary and civil servants of the Prime Minister’s political (personal) confidence outside the Republic of Lithuania shall be formalised in an ordinance of the Prime Minister.
170. Having come back from a mission, ministers, the Government Secretary, civil servants of the Prime Minister’s political (personal confidence, heads of Government agencies, county governors, representatives of the Government, also civil servants sent to a foreign state by an instruction of the Prime Minister shall, within five working days, report to the Prime Minister in writing on the output and on the implementation of the task given.
171. Ministers going on a mission within the Republic of Lithuania for longer than one day shall orally inform the Prime Minister thereabout.
The Government Secretary and civil servants of the Prime Minister’s political (personal) confidence may go on a mission within the Republic of Lithuania only with the Prime Minister’s consent (irrespective of the duration of the mission).
172. Ministers, heads of Government agencies and other agencies who are appointed by the Government or the Prime Minister, also county governors and representatives of the Government shall normally go on their annual holiday in accordance with the schedule of holidays approved at the beginning of a year by an ordinance of the Prime Minister. The schedule of holidays shall be prepared by the Office of the Government taking due account of the wishes of the relevant ministers, the Government Secretary, heads of Government agencies and other agencies who are appointed by the Government or the Prime Minister, as well as county governors and representatives of the Government. Holidays shall be scheduled in such a way as to ensure a quorum in every Government sitting, i. e. more than a half of the members of the Government must be present in a sitting.
A person unable for any reasons to go on holiday on the due date as indicated in the schedule, or wishing to use a part of the holiday due to him shall make a written request to the Prime Minister and obtain his consent to the change of the timing of his holiday. The change shall be formalised by an ordinance of the Prime Minister.
Holidays of civil servants of the Prime Minister’s political (personal) confidence who have obtained the Prime Minister’s consent to their written requests shall be formalised by an ordinance of the Prime Minister.
173. The Prime Minister shall approve, by an ordinance, a schedule of deputising for the ministers during their missions to a foreign state, holidays or illnesses. This schedule shall be prepared by the Office of the Government taking due account of proposals made by ministers in agreement with other relevant ministers.
XI. TRANSFER OF AFFAIRS OF MINISTRIES AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN THE CASE OF CHANGE OF THEIR TOP MANAGERS
174. Once the President of the Republic of Lithuania accepts a resignation of a minister or resigns a minister on a recommendation of the Prime Minister and once the Government receives a decree of the President of the Republic appointing a new minister, also in the case of a change of the head of a Government agency, the former minister (or a minister deputising for another minister) or the former head of the Government agency shall, in the presence of the head of the relevant structural unit of the Office of the Government and at the time specified in the ordinance of the Prime Minister, transfer the affairs to the new minister or to a civil servant authorised by the Prime Minister. An act of transfer and take-over of affairs shall be drawn up. The act of transfer of affairs shall contain most relevant data characterising the actual state-of-affairs at the ministry or the Government agency concerned (including, inter alia, its structure; the number of positions of civil servants and the number of staff employed under an employment contract; enterprises, agencies and organisations subordinate to it or assigned to its field of regulation; the use of funds received from the state budget of the Republic of Lithuania; the status of financial accounting and accountability; the status of the archives; the implementation of laws and resolutions of the Government directly affecting the ministry or the Government agency concerned, also of the instructions of the Government, Prime Minister or, upon the instruction of the Prime Minister, Government Secretary).
The format of the act of transfer and take-over of affairs shall be defined by the Government Secretary.
175. The act of transfer and take-over of affairs shall be signed both by the person who transfers and by the person who takes over the affairs, also by the head of the relevant structural unit of the Office of the Government.
Where the person who transfers or the person who takes over the affairs does not agree with certain items of the act of transfer and take-over of affairs, he shall indicate this in writing when signing the act.
The act of transfer and take-over of affairs shall be approved by the Prime Minister.