1
REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
Law
on the COUNCIL FOR LITHUANIAN CULTURE
2012 September 18 No XI-2218
Vilnius
(As last amended on 17 January 2013 No XII-178)
PREAMBLE
with the view to reforming and democratising cultural governance and developing culture self-regulation, adopts this Law:
Article 1. Purpose of the Law
This Law shall define the status, operational objectives, functions and organisation of activities of the Council for Lithuanian Culture (hereinafter: "the Council").
Article 2. Status of the Council
1. The Council shall be a budgetary institution under the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania which, within its remit, implements state policy in the areas of management assigned to the Minister of Culture, performs the function of public administration and other functions assigned to it by this Law and other legal acts.
2. The Council shall be a public legal person of limited civil liability registered in accordance with the procedure laid down by legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania, having the seal with the state emblem of Lithuania and its own name as well as bank accounts. The Council shall be maintained from the state budget and other state monetary funds; funds shall be allocated to it and administered in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Budget Structure.
3. The Council shall be set up in accordance with the procedure laid down by legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter: "the Government"). The owner of the Council shall be the State. The rights and duties of the owner of the Council, with the exception of decisions concerning reorganisation and liquidation of the Council, which are adopted by the Government, shall be exercised by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter "the Ministry of Culture").
4. The Council shall operate under the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania, legal acts of the European Union, laws of the Republic of Lithuania, the programme of the Government, resolutions of the Government, orders of the Minister of Culture, Regulations of the Council approved by the Government (or by the Minister of Culture under the instructions of the Government) as well as other legal acts. The Law on Budgetary Institutions shall apply to the activity of the Council to the extent that this Law does not provide otherwise.
Article 3. Objectives of the Council
The Council shall pursue the following objectives:
1) pursuant to cultural policy priorities to create conditions for multidimensional development and dissemination of culture and art, safeguarding a rational and grounded use of allocated funds;
Article 4. Functions of the Council
When pursuing its objectives, the Council shall:
1) in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Minister of Culture, finance culture and art programmes, projects and other measures;
2) in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Culture Support Foundation, administer the Culture Support Foundation;
3) in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Minister of Culture, award grants and provide other financial support to culture creators and artists;
6) within its remit, prepare and submit conclusions concerning the awarding of prizes established by the Ministry of Culture;
7) take part in drawing up and implementing financial support programmes of the European Union and other states, and, within its remit, administer support funds allocated for the culture sector;
8) on its own initiative or pursuant to the inquiries, submit to the Ministry of Culture and other state institutions proposals and conclusions of experts on issues of the cultural and art policy;
10) within its remit, maintain relations and cooperate with appropriate institutions and international organisations of foreign states;
Article 5. Organisation of Activities of the Council
1. Activities of the Council shall be organised in accordance with a publicly announced annual operational plan of the Council approved by the order of the Minister of Culture and coordinated with the programme of the Government, the Long-Term Development Strategy of the State, a strategic operational plan of the Ministry of Culture as well as other documents pertaining to strategic planning of culture. Priorities and objectives of Council's activities and financed fields of culture and art as well as result evaluation criteria shall be laid down by the Minister of Culture in an annual operational plan of the Council and coordinated with the Lithuanian Culture and Art Council. This plan shall also specify programmes of the strategic operational plan of the Ministry of Culture the implementation of which involves the Council, state budgetary appropriations allocated for Council's activities and sources of funding of Council's activities. The Ministry of Culture shall evaluate how the annual operational plan of the Council is being implemented.
2. At the Council decisions shall be taken and executed by a collegial management body – the Meeting of the Members of the Council, a single-person management body – the Chair of the Council and the Administration of the Council. The Chair of the Council shall head the Council, the Meeting of the Members of the Council and the Administration of the Council.
Article 6. Chair of the Council
1. The Chair of the Council shall be appointed to the office for a term of four years and dismissed from it by the Government on the recommendation of the Minister of Culture. A person being appointed to the said office must meet the general requirements set out for a person being appointed to the office of a civil servant, must have knowledge of art and cultural development processes and have a record of not less than three years of experience in management and a record of not less than three years of activities in the fields of culture and art. The Chair of the Council may be appointed to hold the said office for no more than two successive terms of office. Two-thirds of the Members of the Council may, by means of a reasoned letter, propose to dismiss the Chair of the Council from the office.
2. The Chair of the Council shall be a state official responsible and accountable to the Minister of Culture. The Chair of the Council shall be paid the salary set out in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Remuneration of State Politicians and State Officials.
3. The Chair of the Council shall:
1) draw up and submit to the Council for approval its rules of procedure (hereinafter: "the Rules of Procedure");
3) represent the Council at state institutions, courts and international organisations or authorise a member of the Meeting of the Members of the Council to represent the Council;
4) lead drafting of issues to be submitted to the Meeting of the Members of the Council for consideration;
5) convene sittings of the Meeting of the Members of the Council and preside over them or, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Rules of Procedure, charge any other Member of the Council to preside over a sitting;
6) decide regarding the exclusion of a member of the Meeting of the Members of the Council when considering relevant issues at a sitting;
Article 7. Meeting of the Members of the Council
1. The Meeting of the Members of the Council shall comprise ten members, elected in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 8 of this Law, and the Chair of the Council. The personal composition of the Meeting of the Members of the Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Culture, shall be approved by the Government for a term of four years. The same person may serve as a member of the Meeting of the Members of the Council for no longer than two terms in succession.
2. The procedure of payment for services rendered by members of the Meeting of the Members of the Council shall be laid down by the Minister of Culture. Members of the Meeting of the Members of the Council shall enjoy the right to engage in any other employment relationship.
3. The Meeting of the Members of the Council shall consider and resolve the following issues:
1) in accordance with the the criteria and procedure laid down by the Minister of Culture takes decisions to finance culture and art programmes and projects, awards grants and provide other support to culture creators and artists;
2) submits reasoned conclusions concerning the awarding of prizes established by the Ministry of Culture;
3) on its own initiative or pursuant to the inquiries, submits to the Minister of Culture, the Ministry of Culture and other state institutions proposals and conclusions of experts on the issues of the cultural and art policy;
4) initiates and evaluates initiatives to culture and art research and presents proposals to the Minister of Culture;
5) considers and submits to the Minister of Culture for approval drafts of the Council's annual operational plan and estimates of the programmes;
Article 8. Elections to the Council
1. Election to the Council shall be organised by the Ministry of Culture in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Minister of Culture.
2. Candidates for Members of the Council shall be chosen by voters delegated by culture and art organisations.
3. The following shall each delegate two voters to the Ministry of Culture: the Lithuanian Culture and Art Council, the Lithuanian Association of Artists, the Association The Collegium of Cultural Self-Government, and the Research Council of Lithuania. One voter shall be chosen and one representative elected by the ethnic minorities (communities) shall be delegated by the Minister of Culture. Neither one of them is a civil servant.
4. The Lithuanian Librarians' Association, the Association of Lithuanian Museums and the Association of Lithuanian Cultural Centres shall delegate two voters chosen by them together.
5. Associations and public establishments which do not belong to the organisations specified in paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Article and which operate in the fields of culture and art shall delegate in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Minister of Culture two voters chosen together.
6. Persons who are well-known in Lithuania because of their achievements in the field of culture and/or the field of art, have at least five years' experience in implementing culture projects as well as knowledge and abilities (competence) which help to pursue objectives set for the Council and implement its functions may be nominated for Members of the Council.
7. Persons nominated for Members of the Council must be of good repute. A person shall not be regarded as being of good repute if during the last five years he was recognised guilty of a criminal act, his conviction has not expired or has not been expunged.
8. Natural and legal persons may propose to the Ministry of Culture nominations of candidates for Members of the Council, providing information on the compliance of candidates with the requirements laid down in this Article.
9. Heads of culture and art organisations and voters nominated by the organisations specified in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of this Article may not be nominated for Members of the Council.
10. Voters shall vote by secret ballot, marking not more than 20 candidates for Members of the Council on a ballot paper. 20 candidates with the most votes shall be considered to be elected. If more candidates than needed to be elected receive a minimal equal number of votes, the voting shall be repeated. In this case a ballot paper shall contain the surnames only of those candidates who have received the equal number of votes.
11. The Minister of Culture together with the Lithuanian Culture and Art Council shall choose ten candidates from the nominated candidates pursuant to the principle of diversity of representation of the fields of culture and art and of the territories; the composition of the Council shall be submitted to the Government for approval.
12. The Minister of Culture shall present the candidature of the Chair of the Council for approval together with the composition of the Council.
13. Information about electoral process, voters and candidates for Members of the Council nominated by them shall be announced on the website of the Ministry of Culture and in the media specified by the Minister of Culture.
Article 9. Operation of the Council
1. The working procedure of the Council shall be laid down in the rules of procedure of the Council adopted by it.
2. The principal form of activities of the Council shall be sittings. When it is necessary to consider issues in accordance with an urgent procedure and/or due to the lack of a possibility to hold a sitting, at the decision of the Chair of the Council the decisions of the Council may be taken on the basis of the results of a written inquiry or an inquiry by electronic mail of all Members of the Council.
3. Prior to assuming office, a Member of the Council must present a declaration of impartiality and sign a confidentiality commitment the forms of which are approved by the Minister of Culture. A Member of the Council must notify the Chair of the Council and withdraw from the adoption of a decision if his participation in the adoption of such decision may cause a conflict of interest or the confidentiality and independence of his activities may be violated.
4. Decisions of the Council may be taken if a sitting or an inquiry is attended by at least eight members. Decisions shall be taken by by a simple majority vote of the Members of the Council participating at the sitting.
5. A sitting of the Council shall be convened at the initiative of the Chair of the Council or at the request of at least one-third of the Members of the Council.
6. By the decision of the Government a member of the Meeting of the Members of the Council shall be relieved from office:
4) if he is off work by reason of a temporary incapacity for more than 120 calendar days in turn or for more than 140 days in the past twelve months, unless laws allow for a longer period of incapacity by reason of a certain illness;
Article 10. Experts of the Council
1. On the basis of the principle of diversity of representation of the fields of culture and art and of the territories, the Council shall, by means of an open competition, choose the experts who present conclusions necessary for adoption of decisions of the Council. Experts shall be appointed for the term of office not exceeding two years. The same person may be appointed an expert of the Council only for two consecutive terms of office.
2. Where necessary the Council may invite additional Lithuanian and foreign experts to provide consultations and to present conclusions.
3. The Council shall take decisions on allocation of funds only upon the evaluation of conclusions of the experts. The documentation of culture and art projects applying for funding of the Council shall be evaluated by the experts according to the support and evaluation criteria established by the Council. Following the discussion with the experts who prepared the conclusions the Council shall have the right to take a decision different from that recommended by the experts. In this case the justification of the decision shall be recorded in the minutes of the sitting of the Council.
4. A person of good repute as defined in paragraph 7 of Article 8, having special knowledge, skills, competence and experience necessary to resolve the tasks assigned to him may serve as an expert. Heads of culture and art organisations may not serve as experts.
5. The number of experts shall, after consultation with the Minister of Culture, be determined by the Council taking into consideration the number, type and sphere of issues to be resolved and/or documents received.
6. Experts shall present conclusions regarding each project under evaluation. Before starting evaluation of the documents submitted to them experts shall fill out a declaration of impartiality and sign a confidentiality commitment the forms of which are established by the Council.
7. When carrying out the expert examination of the documents supporting the application for funding not less than two independent experts shall handle the documents, each presenting individual conclusions to the Council.
Article 11. Administration of the Council
1. The Administration of the Council shall be an organisational unit of the Council set up to help the Council implement its functions and to ensure operation of the Council. The Administration shall consist of civil servants and the employees working under employment contracts. The maximum permissible number of civil servants and employees working under employment contracts shall be set by the Minister of Culture. The structure of the Administration of the Council, the list of positions and job descriptions, terms of reference shall be approved by the Chair of the Council. Where necessary the position of the head of the Administration of the Council may be established and he shall be nustatomi (granted) powers to resolve internal administration issues.
2. The Administration of the Council shall:
3) provide consultations to natural and legal persons on issues falling within the competence of the Council;
Article 12. Funds of the Council and their Use
1. Funds of the Council shall comprise funds of the state budget of the Republic of Lithuania allocated to finance programmes carried out by the Council and to administer its activities. The Council and its activities may be also financed from other funds received in accordance with the procedure laid down by legal acts.
2. The Council may participate in programmes financed by foundations, state and municipal institutions and agencies and receive funds (including funds of sponsors) for performing its functions.
3. The Council shall use state budget appropriations and other funds allocated to it with the aim of:
3) paying for services of the Council and the experts, paying salaries to the head of the Council, civil servants and employees of the Administration working under employment contracts;
Article 13. Accountability and Responsibility of the Council
2. The Council shall, at least once a year, publicise its activity report on the website of the Council.
Article 14. Entry into Force of the Law