Official translation
SEIMAS OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
S T A T U T E
17 February 1994, No.I-399
(As amended by 11 November 1997, VIII-508)
Vilnius
I PART
STATUS OF THE SEIMAS MEMBER
Chapter 1. The Powers and Oath of the Seimas Member
Article 1. The main rights and duties of a member of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as a Seimas member) shall be defined by the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the Constitution) and by this Statute, and other rights and duties of a Seimas member - also by other laws of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as laws).
In carrying out his duties, a Seimas member shall act in compliance with the Constitution, laws, interests of the State, his own conscience, and may not be restricted by any mandates. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 2. The term of office of a Seimas member shall commence from the day that the newly-elected Seimas convenes for the first sitting. The powers of the previously elected Seimas member shall expire upon commencement of said sitting.
Elected Seimas member shall only acquire all of the rights of a representative of the nation upon taking an oath in the Seimas to be loyal to the Republic of Lithuania. A Seimas member who has not taken an oath shall not be entitled to the rights provided for in Chapter 2 of this Statute, shall not be provided with maintenance and guarantees of his activities under Chapter 3, and shall not receive the salary of a Seimas member.
Article 3. The text of the oath of the Seimas member shall read as follows:
swear to respect and observe its Constitution and laws, and to protect the integrity of its territory,
swear to the best of my ability to strengthen the independence of Lithuania, and to conscientiously serve my Homeland, democracy, and the well-being of the people of Lithuania.
Article 4. The oath of the Seimas member shall be administered by the Chairperson of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the Constitutional Court), or, in the absence of the Chairperson or in the event that the Chairperson is temporarily unable to discharge his or her duties, by the acting judge of the Constitutional Court.
Each Seimas member shall take the oath while standing in front of the person who is administering the oath and reading the oath, holding his or her hand on the Constitution.
Nominal oath sheets shall be handed over to the Chairperson or the judge of the Constitutional Court, who has administered the oath, who shall check them and read the names of the Seimas members who have acquired all of the rights of a representative of the nation. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 5. The Seimas member who does not take the oath in the manner prescribed by law, or who take a conditional oath, shall lose the mandate of the Seimas member. The Seimas shall adopt a resolution thereon.
The text of the oath may not be amended or changed with the exception of the omission of the last sentence. The Seimas member who do not comply with this provision, who refuse to sign the nominal oath sheet, or who sign the sheet with a stipulation, shall not be considered to have taken the oath. In such cases, the Seimas member shall lose the mandate pursuant to Article 59 of the Constitution.
The Seimas member whose powers were terminated pursuant to the Constitution and laws and who has again become a Seimas member must take the oath again.
A Seimas member must take an oath not later than within a month from the first sitting attended by him.
Article 6. The duties of a Seimas member, with the exception of his/her duties in the Seimas, shall be incompatible with any other duties or jobs in State institutions and organisations as well as in business, commercial and other private institutions and enterprises. For the term of office, a Seimas member shall be exempt from the duty to perform national defence service.
Article 7. A Seimas member shall have a certificate of Seimas member and a Seimas member badge which shall be used by him/her during the period of his/her term of office. This certificate shall be presented to a Seimas member after the proclamation of results of election, and a badge - after taking an oath.
1) upon the expiration of the term of his/her powers, or when the Seimas elected in pre-term elections convenes for its first sitting;
7) if he or she takes a job, or does not resign from a job which is incompatible with the duties of a Seimas member within 3 months;
Chapter 2. The Activities of the Seimas Member
Article 9. A Seimas member shall, in the manner prescribed by this Statute, have the right to:
1) vote on all issues considered at the sittings of the Seimas, committee or commission of which he/she is a member;
3) participate in a discussion concerning all issues under consideration, and present his/her motions, observations, amendments, vocally or in writing;
4) submit the text of his/her speech, which has not been made, to the chair of the sitting for inclusion into the shorthand record of the sitting;
6) prepare and submit to the Seimas for consideration drafts of laws and other legal acts, as well as to put motions relative to the laws which are to be debated in the Seimas;
8) make statements and remarks, speak on voting motives, put motions relative to the conduct of the sitting, the procedure, prejudicial questions;
9) obtain, directly or through an assistant, copies of the registered drafts of laws, as well as copies of laws and other acts passed by the Seimas, decisions of the Seimas Board and the meeting of Spokespersons, resolutions passed by other institutions of state power and government;
10) participate in the sittings of all committees and commissions of the Seimas and as necessary to participate in the sittings of the state power and government institutions at which issues submitted by him/her are discussed, as well as upon advance notice, in other sittings at which the issues he/she is interested in are discussed, except the issues concerning state secrets, the procedure for the consideration thereof shall be established by laws;
11) submit inquiries to the members of the Government, the heads of other state institutions, and to submit questions to them and to the Seimas officers; and
12) no more frequently than once in a month make use of state radio and television on issues of his activities free of charge. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 10. The Seimas member must participate in Seimas sittings during the voting which has been planned in advance. A voting which was announced at least one working day prior to the day of the voting shall be considered to have been planned in advance.
Each member of the Seimas, with the exception of the members of the Seimas Board and the Government, must be a member of a committee and must participate in the work thereof, and also a substitute for another member of the committee. The Speaker of the Seimas may not be a member of a committee or a substitute for a committee member. A single Seimas member may be a member of only one committee and a substitute for only one committee member, except participation in the Committee on European Affairs. (Amended 23 February 1995, 19 December 1995 and 1 July 1997)
Article 11. While participating in sittings of the Seimas, committees and commissions, a Seimas member must adhere to this Statute.
If a Seimas member cannot attend a sitting of the Seimas during which a voting has been planned for in advance, he/she must inform the secretariat of the sittings thereof, stating the reason for absence.
If a Seimas member cannot attend a sitting of the committee or commission, he/she must inform the chairperson of the committee or commission, and in the chairperson's absence -- the deputy chairperson.
Upon returning from a business trip, a Seimas member must present a report to the Seimas Board or the committee of which he/ she is a member concerning the fulfilment of assignments. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 12. The Seimas member must regularly hold meetings with his/her constituents. He/she shall have the right to invite officers of state institutions and local authorities, as well as members of municipal councils to participate in the meetings.
A Seimas member shall consider proposals, appeals and complaints and, as necessary, shall refer them to state institutions for consideration. Complaints of voters which fall within competence of a Seimas ombudsman, may be referred to a Seimas ombudsman for investigation. They shall be considered according to the procedure established in the Law on Seimas Ombudsmen.
All officers and heads of enterprises, institutions and organisations to whom a Seimas member's appeal was addressed or to whom proposals, appeals and complaints of voters were referred by a Seimas member must consider them and reply to a Seimas member not later than within 20 days of the receipt thereof. (Amended 28 June 1995 and 19 December 1995)
Chapter 3. Maintenance and Guarantees of the Activities of Seimas Members
Article 13. Local governments and their executive bodies, as well as heads of state enterprises, institutions and organisations, must provide Seimas members with conditions enabling them to meet with constituents, must notify them of the time and place of such meetings, and must provide them with other necessary assistance and information.
Respective local governments must allot and maintain permanent premises for Seimas members elected in a single-candidate areas to receive constituents. As necessary, local governments must allot properly arranged premises for Seimas members elected in multi-candidate electoral areas to receive constituents and hold meetings
The Seimas member shall have the right to demand to be received without delay at state enterprises, institutions and organisations concerning issues which pertain to his/her activities, as well as the right to be provided with necessary information.
The Seimas member shall have the right to unrestricted access of all enterprises, institutions and organisations. The visitation procedure for enterprises, institutions and organisations whose activities are associated with state secrets shall be established by laws.
Article 14. Upon establishing that civil rights and laws have been violated, a Seimas member shall have the right to directly demand that the violation be corrected, or may address the appropriate institutions and officers. Violations shall be indicated in the minutes taken together with the representatives of law enforcement or control body.
If the legitimate demands of a Seimas member are not carried out, a disciplinary punishment may, according to the procedure established by law, be imposed on the officer who is responsible;
Article 15. Compensation for the work of the Seimas member, as well as expenses related with their parliamentary activities, shall be covered by the State Budget.
The salary of Seimas members and the procedure for payment thereof shall be established by the Seimas. The resolution concerning changes in the salaries of Seimas members shall become effective only from the day that the next newly-elected Seimas convenes for the first sitting.
Seimas members who at the same time hold office at the Seimas shall be paid supplemental salaries, the amount of which shall be established by the Seimas, for their work. The Seimas member may not receive any other salary, with the exception of payment for creative activities. Payments made to Seimas members for creative activities shall comprise royalties for works of art and the performance thereof, for the material for radio and television programmes, as well as payment for pedagogical and scientific work performed by Seimas members not during the sittings of the Seimas, its committees and commissions.(Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 16. The Seimas member shall be entitled to have personal or joint secretary-assistants with other members of his/her respective parliamentary group, whose salaries shall be paid from the State Budget; he/she shall be also entitled to have assistants who work on a voluntary basis.
Seimas members shall be allocated additional funds for the reimbursement of office, postal, telephone, telegraph, transportation, and other expenses incurred from parliamentary activities - the amount and the procedure for payment thereof shall be established by the Seimas Board.
A Seimas member who does not have a place of residence in Vilnius or who has the right to state support for the acquisition of a place of residence in Vilnius, shall be provided, free of charge and together with his/her families, with a place of residence in Vilnius for the term of office. At the same time said member shall retain the right to use rented quarters in their permanent place of residence. Upon the expiration of the term of his/her powers, a Seimas member must within a month vacate the place of residence with which he/she has been provided for the term of his/her powers. After a lapse of one month the former Seimas member who has not vacated the place of residence shall be evicted administratively.
Seimas members who have the right to state support for the acquisition of a place of residence shall retain this right and may remain on the list to acquire state support.
The Seimas member shall use the diplomatic passport on trips abroad, and Lithuanian diplomatic missions abroad must provide him with necessary assistance.(Amended 28 June 1995 and 19 December 1995)
Article 17. Upon expiration of the term of office and in the cases specified in paragraphs 1 and 3 of Article 8 of this Statute, Seimas members must be provided with the job or office which they held in state institutions, enterprises and organisations prior to the elections, except to be elected to governmental institutions and be a member of the Government, and if such is not possible due to the abolition of former office or the liquidation of the enterprise, institution, or organisation, the Seimas member shall be provided with another equivalent job or office in the same institution, enterprise, or organisation, or, if the Seimas members agrees, in another enterprise, institution, or organisation.
The period of parliamentary activity of Seimas members shall be included in the total length of service.
The election of Seimas members shall not interrupt membership in creative unions or in unions of free professions.
Article 18. Persons and officers who prevent a Seimas member from carrying out his or her powers, or who encroach upon the life health, honour, or dignity of a Seimas member as a representative of the people, shall be liable according to laws.
Chapter 4. Discipline and Immunity of Seimas Members
Article 19. It shall be prohibited to use the mandate of the Seimas member for purposes other than the interests of the Nation, State and the constituents.
This provision violating the activities of the Seimas member must be analysed by the Commission of Ethics and Procedures or a special investigation commission set up for this purpose and for the preparation of findings.
Article 20. The Commission of Ethics and Procedures shall analyse the reasons for which the Seimas members are not participating during planned voting and shall decide whether such reasons are justifiable; the salaries of such Seimas members may be decreased according to the procedure established by the Seimas, and upon the decision of the Commission of Ethics and procedure, their names may be announced in the press. (Amended 23 February 1995)
Article 21. If during a sitting a Seimas member begins to argue with Seimas members or other participants in the sitting or creates a disturbance in the hall, he or she may be called to order by the officer presiding over the sitting.
If said persons does not heed the warning of the officer presiding over the sitting, the warning may be recorded in the minutes of the sitting. Warnings recorded in the minutes of the sitting may be immediately administered to the Seimas member as a public threat to colleagues, as assault of a Seimas member or a group thereof, or as dishonesty in voting or violation of the principle of personal voting.
Such warnings shall be administered by the officer presiding over the Seimas sitting or on the motion of the Commission of Ethics and Procedures without debate and by simple majority vote of the Seimas members participating in the sitting. A Seimas member to whom administration of such warning is proposed, shall have the right to explain his or her actions to the Seimas for a maximum of 3 minutes prior to the voting.
Article 22. The Seimas may temporarily dismiss a Seimas member from the chamber if he or she:
3) publicly assaults or threatens the President of the Republic, the Seimas, the Speaker of the Seimas, Seimas members, the Government, or the Prime Minister during a sitting.
Decisions concerning the expulsion of a Seimas member from the chamber shall be adopted without debate and by simple majority vote of the members of the Seimas participating in the sitting on the proposal of the officer presiding over the sitting or of the Commission of Ethics and Procedures.
The term of temporary expulsion from the chamber shall be established by the Seimas in each case, but may not be more than 2 day of a sitting. If the term is not indicated, it shall be assumed that the Seimas member is expelled until the end of the sitting. During the period of expulsion from the chamber, the expelled Seimas member may not participate in voting.
If a Seimas member who has been dismissed from the chamber refuses to heed the order, the sitting shall be temporarily interrupted and security officers shall escort said Seimas member to the chamber door. In such a case, the term of expulsion from the chamber may be extended for the period of 5 sittings.
Article 23. The person of a Seimas member shall be inviolable.
A Seimas member may not be persecuted for his or her voting or speeches in the Seimas, however, legal actions may be instituted against Seimas members according to the general procedure if they are guilty of personal insult or slander.
A Seimas member may not be found criminally responsible, may not be arrested, and may not be subjected to any other restrictions of personal freedom without the consent of the Seimas, except in cases when he or she is caught in the act of committing a crime (in flagrante delicto). In such cases the Prosecutor General must immediately notify the Seimas thereof.
A Seimas member who refuses to give evidence in a criminal case, shall, on the decision of the Seimas, be brought to court to give evidence.
Article 24. After the Seimas has heard the report of the Prosecutor General concerning the crime committed by a Seimas member, it shall decide whether to form an investigatory commission for the consent to take criminal action against a Seimas member, or to initiate preliminary actions of the impeachment proceedings according to the procedure established in Part 8 of this Statute. If the Seimas decides to form an investigatory commission for the consent to take criminal action against a Seimas member, then the commission shall be formed according to the procedure provided for in Article 77 of this Statute. When investigating the issue concerning the deprivation of the inviolability of the person of a Seimas member, the commission must hear said Seimas member or other Seimas member authorised thereby and a representative from the Prosecutor's Office.
After the investigatory commission has prepared and announced its note and the draft resolution, the issue concerning the deprivation of the inviolability of the person of a Seimas member shall be included on the agenda of the next Seimas sitting.
Consideration of this issue, as well as in the submitted resolution, shall be limited only to the interpretation, assessment or definition of the facts provided for in the motion. The discussion concerning draft resolutions shall be attended by the reporter of the commission, the concerned Seimas member or another Seimas member authorised by him, and no more than two Seimas members who speak out "in favour" and two members who speak out "against" the draft resolution. If the draft resolution provides for the satisfaction of the motion of the Prosecutor General, it may be adopted if more than half of the Seimas members vote in favour of the draft.
Upon the receipt of the consent of the Seimas to take criminal action against a Seimas member, said Seimas member may not be arrested within the house of the Seimas. (Amended 28 June 1995)
Chapter 5. General Issues of Structure
Article 25. Sittings of the Seimas shall be presided over by the Speaker of the Seimas or a Deputy Speaker. There shall not be more than five Deputy Speakers of the Seimas. The competence of the Seimas Speaker and Deputy Speakers shall be defined by the Constitution and this Statute. The drafting of the Seimas documents shall be monitored by the Chancellor of the Seimas. On the recommendation of the Seimas Speaker, one of the Deputy Speakers of the Seimas shall be appointed the first Deputy Speaker of the Seimas.
Seimas member who is elected Seimas Speaker or is serving as acting Speaker must suspend his activities in a parliamentary group of Seimas members. (Amended 28 June 1995 and 26 November 1996)
Article 26. The Seimas shall form committees from among its members for the consideration of draft laws and other issues assigned to its competence by the Constitution. The list of the committees shall be established by this Statute.
A Commission of Ethics and Procedure and an Administrative Commission shall be formed in the Seimas. For resolving short-term issues or issues of narrower scope, and for carrying out concrete assignments, the Seimas may, from among its members, form investigatory, control, auditing, preparatory, drafting and other ad hoc commissions. The Seimas Board may also form preparatory, drafting ad hoc commissions, and the Assembly of Spokespersons - co-ordinating commissions.
The work of the committees and commissions shall be directed by the respective chairpersons thereof. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 27. Members of the Seimas may form parliamentary groups according to the procedure established by this Statute for implementing their political goals. A parliamentary group of Seimas members shall be headed and represented in the Seimas by its Spokesperson or deputy Spokesperson; every member of the Seimas authorised by a parliamentary group may speak out on behalf of the parliamentary group. The rights of parliamentary groups of Seimas members shall be established by this Statute.
Seimas members who have not been registered in parliamentary groups shall be considered as members of one mixed group of Seimas members. The mixed group of Seimas members shall be granted all of the rights of a parliamentary group provided for in this Statute.
Seimas members may form interim groups in the procedure established by this Statute. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 28. The Board of the Seimas shall function in the Seimas, the principle task whereof shall be to settle organisational issues of the work of the Seimas and give advice to the Seimas Speaker, if he requests so.
The Board of the Seimas shall consist of the Speaker, Deputy Speakers, and the Chancellor of the Seimas.
Generally, one or two representatives of the Seimas minority shall be on the Board of the Seimas. (Amended 28 June 1995, 19 December 1995 and 26 November 1996)
Article 29. The Seimas shall have an Assembly of Spokespersons comprising the members of the Seimas Board and representatives of the parliamentary groups. Each parliamentary group shall appoint one representative for every ten members of the group to the Assembly of Spokespersons. In addition, each parliamentary group shall appoint to the Assembly of Spokespersons one representative for the remaining segment of fewer than ten members of the parliamentary group, provided that said segment of fewer than ten members shall comprise more than five Seimas members. Parliamentary groups consisting of fewer than ten members shall each appoint one representative to the Assembly of Spokespersons.
The principal task of the Assembly of Spokespersons shall be to consider and approve the work programmes of the Seimas session and the agendas of sittings, to co-ordinate issues concerning the organisation of the work of the Seimas Committees and parliamentary groups, and to submit drafts of the decisions on said issues to the Seimas and the Board, and give advice to the Seimas Speaker, if he requests so. (Amended 19 December 1995 and 26 November 1996)
Chapter 6. The Seimas Speaker, Deputy Speakers, Chancellor, and Board
Article 30. The Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania shall:
2) within 10 days following the enactment, certify with his or her signature the authenticity of the text of the law passed by the Seimas and refer it to the President of the Republic, sign the Statute of the Seimas and amendments thereto, as well as the laws which are not signed by the President of the Republic and not returned to the Seimas for repeat consideration within 10 days from the date on which they were submitted to the President of the Republic, and proclaim them;
21) sign the resolutions of the Seimas and other acts passed by the Seimas, the minutes of sittings of the Seimas, as well as the decisions of the Seimas Board; (Supplemented 19 December 1995)
3) temporarily carry out the duties of the President of the Republic and temporarily fill in for the President of the Republic in the cases specified in Article 89 of the Constitution;
4) propose candidates to the posts of Deputy Speakers and the Chancellor of the Seimas to the Seimas;
5) propose candidates to Constitutional Court judges to the Seimas in accordance with the procedure established by the Constitution;
6) nominate to the Seimas the candidatures of the Seimas ombudsmen and the head of the Seimas ombudsmen's office for appointment;
7) submit candidates for appointment to the posts of heads and deputy heads of State institutions to the Seimas, unless the Constitution and laws provide otherwise;
9) submit drafts of the work programmes of a session and draft agendas of week- or day-long sittings to the Assembly of Spokespersons; and
10) submit draft agendas of the sittings of the Seimas Board. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 31. In carrying out his or her duties, the Speaker of the Seimas shall issue decrees.
The Speaker of the Seimas, or, in the absence of the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, may voice his or her opinion or the opinion of the Seimas Board on the issue under consideration out of turn, provided that he or she is not presiding over the sitting.
The Speaker of the Seimas, the Deputy Speakers and the Chancellor of the Seimas shall, during a session at least once a month, answer questions submitted in writing beforehand by members of the Seimas concerning the performance of their duties.
Article 32. Deputy Speakers shall discharge the functions assigned to them by the Seimas Speaker. If necessary the Seimas Speaker may charge one of the Deputy Speakers to substitute the Seimas Chancellor. On the recommendation of the Speaker the Seimas Board may determine and change the guidelines of the activities of the Deputy Speakers.
In the event that the Speaker of the Seimas is temporarily absent or has fallen ill and by reason thereof is temporarily unable to fulfil his or her duties of office, said duties shall be performed by the first Deputy Speaker of the Seimas or, on a mandate from the Seimas, by another Deputy Speaker for a specified period.
If, in the cases specified in Article 89 of the Constitution, the Speaker of the Seimas is temporarily carrying out the duties of the President of the Republic, and as a result thereof has lost his or her powers in the Seimas, the duties of the Speaker of the Seimas shall be temporarily carried out by a Deputy Speaker at the behest of the Seimas.
The resolution (preliminary or adopted for a concrete case) concerning the temporary performance of the duties of the Speaker of the Seimas or substituting the Speaker of the Seimas shall be adopted by the Seimas on the motion of the Seimas Speaker. (Amended 19 December 1995 and 26 November 1996)
Article 33. The Seimas Chancellor shall:
1) supervise the drafting of the documents of the Seimas and the Seimas Board, the consideration of the submitted draft laws;
2) supervise the consideration of issues, inquiries and interpellations submitted to the Government and the heads of other State institutions;
3) consider the issues raised by members of the Seimas concerning the functioning of the Seimas apparatus; supervise the implementation of the decisions of the Seimas Board by the divisions of the Seimas apparatus as well as their compliance with the provisions and internal rules which regulate the functioning thereof;
4) assist the Speaker of the Seimas in preparing the draft of the session work programme as well as draft agendas for week- and day-long sittings;
5) assist the Speaker of the Seimas in preparing draft agendas for sittings of the Seimas Board as well as the material on issues subject to consideration;
7) visa official documents prior to their being submitted to the Speaker of the Seimas for signing and, within the limits of his or her competence, sign official documents;
9) propose members to the tellers' group in accordance with the procedure provided for in this Statute;
10) regularly submit summarised data to the Seimas concerning proposals, wishes and letters addressed by voters to the Seimas;
11) in conjunction with representatives of the parliamentary groups, arrange the seats in the chamber for the members of the parliamentary groups and for those members of the Seimas who do not belong to any parliamentary group and allocate premises for the sittings of the parliamentary groups; and
12) resolve issues concerning the employment or dismissal of assistants-secretaries of Seimas members. (Amended 28 June 1995)
Article 34. The sittings of the Seimas Board shall be convened and presided over by the Speaker of the Seimas.
Other members of the Seimas, as well as permanent representatives of the President of the Republic and the Government, may participate in the sittings of the Board as observers. Other individuals may also be invited to sittings of the Board.
Issues for consideration may be submitted to the Seimas Board by the Board members, committees, parliamentary groups, Administrative commission, Commission of Ethics and Procedure, and the Head of Seimas Personnel.
Draft documents of the Seimas Board which are submitted for consideration shall be signed by their initiators and handed over to the Chancellor of the Seimas who shall prepare the agenda of the sitting based thereon.
Article 35. Decisions of the Seimas Board shall be adopted by open vote and simple majority of those in attendance, provided that the sitting of the Seimas Board is attended by at least half of Board members. A tie vote shall be decided by the vote of the Speaker of the Seimas or, in the absence of the Speaker, of the Deputy Speaker who is presiding over the sitting.
The members of the Seimas shall be informed of the decisions of the Seimas Board through the committees and parliamentary groups within three working days from the day on which the decision was adopted during a session or within a week of the beginning of the next session.
Committees and parliamentary groups may appeal against the decisions of the Seimas Board to the Seimas, if they think that said decisions violate or restrict the rights of a Seimas member, a parliamentary group or a committee, or have been adopted exceeding the powers assigned to the Board. Such complaints shall be considered and resolved by the Seimas, upon hearing the conclusions of the Commission on Ethics and Procedure. (Amended 19 December 1995 and 26 November 1996)
Article 36. The Seimas Board shall:
1) distribute funds of the Seimas provided for in the State Budget, discuss and approve estimated expenses of the Seimas;
2) on the motion of the committees, consider and send the Seimas members on business trips with tasks of the Seimas, the Board, and committees;
3) on the motion of parliamentary committees and groups, consider and approve of trips of Seimas members during session which are not financed from the funds of the Seimas;
4) when necessary, consider draft work programmes of the Seimas session and draft agendas of week- or day-long sittings, and submit findings to the Assembly of Spokespersons or the Seimas;
41) call extraordinary sittings of the Seimas, set the time of the sittings; (Supplemented 23 February 1995)
5) when necessary, form working groups for drafting laws and carrying out the assignments of the Seimas or the Seimas Board;
7) assist in organising the joint work of committees on issues which fall within the competence of several committees;
8) appoint and dismiss the Head of Seimas Personnel, who shall be responsible and accountable to the Board;
9) approve the structure of the Seimas apparatus, draw up a list of the staff of the Seimas apparatus, and fix the salaries thereof;
10) on the motion of the Head of Seimas Personnel, appoint and dismiss the heads and deputy heads of all the divisions of the Seimas apparatus;
11) approve the bylaws of the divisions of the Seimas apparatus, the regulations of internal activities and the instructions for office-work; and
Chapter 7. Assembly of Seimas Spokespersons
Article 37. During session, the sittings of the Assembly of Spokespersons shall be organised regularly, usually twice a week at a time specially allocated for this purpose. Extraordinary sittings of the Assembly of Spokespersons shall be organised at the request of the Speaker of the Seimas, the Board, the Chairperson of the Assembly of Spokespersons, or at least 1/3 of the members of the Assembly of Spokespersons. The members of the Assembly of Spokespersons shall be given notice of the time and agenda of extraordinary sittings at least 6 hours prior to the beginning thereof.
Sittings of the Assembly of Spokespersons shall be chaired by the chairperson; the duties of the chairperson, according to the schedule approved by the Assembly of Spokespersons, shall be discharged in turn by the spokespersons of each parliamentary group for one week. The opening sitting of the Assembly of Spokespersons held during the first session shall be presided by the eldest parliamentary group spokesperson.
Article 38. During its sittings, the Assembly of Spokespersons shall:
3) consider and co-ordinate contradictions concerning other organisational issues of the work of the Seimas;
4) hear the proposals of the chairpersons of committees and Spokespersons of the parliamentary groups on mutual relations between committees and parliamentary groups and submit proposals thereon to the Seimas or the Board;
5) submit recommendations to the Seimas Board concerning the resolution of issues which are ascribed to its competence; and
6) perform the function of a co-ordinating (conciliatory) committee in the event of principal disagreements concerning key issues considered in the Seimas. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 39. With the exception of resolutions concerning the agendas of the forthcoming week- or day-long sittings, the resolutions of the Assembly of Spokespersons shall be consultative with regard to the Seimas and the Seimas Board.
Consultative resolutions of the Assembly of Spokespersons as well as resolutions concerning the organisation of the work of the Assembly itself shall be adopted by simple majority vote of the members of the Seimas taking part in the sitting. Resolutions concerning the draft work programme of the Seimas session, as well as draft agendas of the forthcoming week- or day- long sittings shall be adopted provided that they are opposed by no more than 1/3 of the member of the Assembly of Spokespersons participating in the sitting of the Assembly of Spokespersons. If any item of the agenda is adopted by majority vote, but is opposed by more than 1/3 of the members of the Assembly of Spokespersons, they shall be submitted to the Seimas as recommendations.
Resolutions of the sittings of the Assembly of Spokespersons shall be recorded in the minutes of the sitting, which shall be signed by the chairperson of the sitting of the Assembly of Spokespersons.
Questions for consideration ascribed to the competence of the Assembly of Spokespersons may be proposed and submitted to the Seimas Chancellor by the members of the Assembly of Spokespersons, the Government, as well as other members of the Seimas who submit draft laws. The draft agenda of sittings of the Assembly of Spokespersons shall be drawn up by the Chancellor of the Seimas according to such proposals.
Other members of the Seimas as well as permanent representatives of the President and Government may attend sittings of the Assembly of Spokespersons with the right of observers. Other individuals may also be invited to sittings of the Assembly of Spokespersons.
Chapter 8. Parliamentary Groups and Interim Groups of the Seimas
(Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 40. Seimas members shall form parliamentary groups voluntarily, not restricted by any mandates. Parliamentary groups may not be established on the basis of professional or internal interests.
A parliamentary group shall consist of at least three Seimas members. A member of the Seimas may be a member of only one parliamentary group.
The spokesperson of the parliamentary group, deputy spokesperson or the member of the parliamentary group authorised by it shall have the right to represent in the Seimas such a part of the Seimas members, established by this Statute, which their parliamentary group forms in the Seimas.
Parliamentary groups shall establish their own working procedure, provided that it does not contradict this Statute.
Parliamentary groups may join into coalitions which may act as one parliamentary group.
Article 41. Seimas members who wish to form a parliamentary group shall present an application signed by them to the Seimas Speaker during the session. The name of the parliamentary group, as well as the names of the spokesperson and deputy spokespersons must be stated in this application.
If a parliamentary group formed by Seimas members complies with the requirements of this Statute, the Seimas Speaker must within one week announce the establishment of this parliamentary group at the Seimas sitting.
The Seimas Speaker shall be notified in writing of any changes in the composition, leadership, or name of a parliamentary group, of the termination of the activities of a parliamentary group or of its break-up, as well as of formation of the coalition of the parliamentary groups no later than on the following working day; the Seimas Speaker shall announce such information at the next Seimas sitting.
Article 42. Parliamentary groups or their coalitions which disagree with the Governmental programme may declare themselves Opposition parliamentary groups.
To this effect, Opposition parliamentary groups or their coalitions shall proclaim in the Seimas political declarations where the provisions distinguishing them from the parliamentary majority shall be set forth. Opposition parliamentary groups or their coalitions shall announce alternative Governmental programmes.
Opposition parliamentary groups or their coalitions shall be guaranteed all the rights of parliamentary groups or coalitions which are provided for in this Statute. No reason may provide for the restriction of such rights.
The spokesperson of one parliamentary group constituting a part of an Opposition coalition may be elected the leader of the Opposition coalition; the Seimas shall be given a public notice of such election.
Article 421. Seimas members may form interim groups for the implementation of common interests concerning a concrete matter. Such group shall be considered to be formed when an application is submitted to the Speaker of the Seimas, signed by no less than 5 Seimas members.
When considering this concrete matter, the interim group of Seimas members shall make use of the rights of a parliamentary group, which are specified in Articles 104, 107, 110 and 125 of this Statute. (Supplemented 19 December 1995)
Chapter 9. Seimas Committees and the Procedure for
the Establishment thereof
Article 43. Seimas committees shall be formed during the first session.
At the beginning of each regular session, reports on the work of the committee shall be heard, and, as necessary, changes in the membership of the committee shall be made by adhering to the principle of proportional representation of the majority and the minority ( Opposition and other parliamentary groups other than the Seimas majority and mixed parliamentary groups) or committees shall be formed anew.
Article 44. Committees shall be made up of no less than 7 and no more than 17 members of the Seimas according to the proportional principle of representation of the majority and minority. The exact number of members of each committee shall be determined by a decision of the Seimas. Then the Assembly of the Spokespersons shall approve the norms of representation of the majority and minority in all committees according to the number of the Seimas members belonging to the majority and minority. The minority ( the Opposition and other parliamentary groups which do not belong to the Seimas majority, and the mixed group of Seimas members) shall distribute among themselves seats in the committees, according to the number of seats approved by Assembly of the Spokespersons.
Parliamentary groups, taking into consideration the requests and competence of their members, shall recommend to the committees as many members and their substitutes as they are accorded seats. Applications of parliamentary groups bearing the signatures of recommended Seimas members shall be submitted to the Seimas Chancellor.
The Committee on European Affairs shall be made up of no less than 15 members according to the proportional principle of representation of the parliamentary groups. The Seimas members who are on the other committees, and members of the Seimas Board may be members of the Committee on European Affairs.
Each parliamentary group shall submit its candidates to the substitutes for members of the committee, having registered them in numerical order.
The composition of the committees and substitutes for members of committees shall be approved by the Seimas by voting for the entire list of the committee members and the substitutes for the committee members. If the list is not approved, the entire procedure shall begin anew. (Amended 19 December 1995 and 1 July 1997)
Article 45. When a member of a committee does not participate in a sitting of the committee, all of the said member's rights shall be given to the alternate member of the committee of the same parliamentary group who is the first in the list of alternate members.
The Seimas member who is substituting for a member of his parliamentary group in a given committee may not serve as the chairperson or vice-chairperson of that committee while doing so.
Article 46. The committee shall elect its chairperson and deputy chairperson. The committee chairperson and deputy chairperson shall be approved by the Seimas. Usually a representative of the Seimas minority shall be elected chairperson of the Committee on Human and Civil Rights and Nationality Affairs.
In the event that the Seimas does not approve the proposed candidate, the committee must select another candidate. Usually the committee chairperson and deputy chairperson are elected from the representatives of different parliamentary groups, and the total number of chairpersons and deputy chairpersons of the committees accorded to the majority and the minority must be in proportion to the number of Seimas members belonging to them.
A member of the Seimas Board, Seimas member - Government member, the commission chairperson or deputy chairperson may not serve as a committee chairperson and deputy chairperson. The chairperson of the Committee on European Affairs shall be elected from among the Seimas Board members. The chairperson of the Committee on European Affairs shall have deputies whose number shall be established by the Seimas.
When a committee is being reorganised, the chairperson and deputy chairperson of the committee shall be re-elected. A committee may re-elect the chairperson or deputy chairperson at any other time, at the same time applying to the Seimas for approval of the new chairperson or deputy chairperson. In the event that the Seimas does not approve the new chairperson or deputy chairperson, the former chairperson shall remain, and the committee may only apply to the Seimas concerning the same issue during the next regular session. (Amended 19 December 1995, 1 July 1997 and 11 November 1997)
Article 47. For the execution of the main trends of activities, committees may form sub-committees from their members.
Sub-committee must comprise at least 5 members. A sub-committee chairperson shall be elected by the committee and approved by the Seimas. Usually the number of chairpersons of sub-committees accorded to the Seimas majority and minority must be in proportion to the Seimas members belonging to them.
The regulations of the sub-committees shall be approved by the committees. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 48. The following committees shall be appointed in the Seimas:
Chapter 10. Powers and Working Procedure of the Seimas Committees
Article 49. The trends of activities of the Seimas committees, as well as their powers and working procedure shall be established by this Statute and other laws.
Seimas committees shall be responsible and be accountable to the Seimas.
Committees must during the set time discuss and present findings on matters given to them for consideration, perform other tasks assigned to them by the Seimas. The committees shall be responsible for the timely establishment of necessity of certain laws, for the initiation of the preparation, and the commission of detailed conclusions relative to draft laws.
The activities of the committees shall be co-ordinated by the Chairperson of the Seimas, the Board of the Seimas in accordance with the Seimas session work programmes and committee work plans. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 50. The main powers of the committees with respect to issues within their competence are:
2) on its own initiative or at the behest of the Seimas, to prepare drafts of the laws and of other legal acts subject to enactment by the Seimas, and to analyse the necessity of new laws or the amendments to laws in effect;
3) to prepare and submit to the Seimas drafts regarding the harmonisation, supplementing or elimination of contradictions in laws;
5) to consider, within the limits of their competence, candidates for heads of state institutions who are appointed by the Seimas or for the appointment whereof the approval of the Seimas is necessary, as well as candidates for deputy heads, and to consider the dismissal from office of said officers;
6) to consider preliminarily the chapters of the State Budget of the Republic of Lithuania and budget performance accounts;
8) while performing parliamentary supervision, to hear information and reports furnished by ministries and other state institutions on the manner by which the laws of the Republic of Lithuania and other acts passed by the Seimas are being implemented;
11) prepare the estimate of the committee expenditures within the amount appropriated for the committee; and
12) to take part in the inter-parliamentary relations of the Seimas. (Amended 28 June 1995 and 19 December 1995)
Article 51. In discussing issues that are within their competence, the committees shall have equal rights and obligations.
Issues which are within the competence of several committees may be prepared and discussed by these committees jointly on their own initiative or at the behest of the Seimas or its Board. For this purpose they may set up joint working groups, hold joint committee sittings which shall be presided over by the chairpersons of these committees in succession.
The committees shall have the right to submit a proposal to the Seimas or its Board concerning the passing over of the issues under discussion to another committee for consideration.
The committee shall have the right to present its opinion on the issue discussed by another committee, as well as to ask another committee to present its conclusions, which must be submitted within 15 days. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 52. The Seimas committees shall work according to committee-approved plans which must be co-ordinated with the work program of the session of the Seimas. These work plans shall specify persons responsible for and the terms of implementation. Committee work plans and the agenda of the sittings shall be publicly announced and distributed to the Speaker of the Seimas, the Chancellor of the Seimas.
Committees may confirm the rules of their procedure provided that they do not contradict this Statute. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 53. A committee member shall have the right of a decisive vote on all issues which are under consideration in the committee. He shall have the right to propose issues for consideration, and to participate in the preparation and consideration thereof; to propose to invite necessary persons to committee sittings; to submit proposals concerning the inspection of state institutions and the hearing of their information. A committee member shall have the right to get acquainted with all documents and other material received by the committee, and, as necessary, to make use of them in their work. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 54. The chairperson of the committee shall:
1) convene sittings of the committee and see that necessary documents and other material be prepared for them;
2) assign, according to the approved work plans and decisions of the committee, tasks to the committee members, and provide them with material and documents relating to the activities of the committee;
3) for the execution of the work plan of the committee, organise members of the committee to work in preparatory commissions and working groups, and to discharge other tasks of the committee;
6) sign the resolutions of the committee, the findings and minutes of the sittings, as well as the draft laws prepared by the committee which are submitted to the Seimas or the public for consideration, and shall visa adopted laws and other legal acts of the Seimas prepared by the committee;
9) regularly notify members of the committee of received law drafts, new assignments for the committee, the execution of the resolutions of the committee, consideration of their recommendations, and work in representing the committee.
10) notify the Commission of Ethics and Procedure of members who do not attend sittings of the committee and who are not fulfilling the assignments set forth in paragraph 2 of this Article;
11) co-ordinate the activities of the subcommittees of the committee.
At the behest of the chairperson of the committee, a vice-chairperson shall discharge certain functions of the chairperson. The vice-chairperson shall fill in for the chairperson when the chairperson cannot discharge his or her functions because of temporary absence or illness.
Article 55. Committee sittings shall be organised as necessary during the session, but not less than once a week and usually on Wednesdays. Committee sittings shall not be organised during sittings of the Seimas. Between ordinary sessions of the Seimas, there shall normally be a one-month adjournment in the work of the committees.
Committee sittings shall be called on the initiative of the committee chairperson or at the request of more than one third of the committee members, or upon the instruction of the Seimas or the Board.
Committees may have closed sittings. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 56. Committee sittings shall be presided over by the chairperson of the committee or by a deputy chairperson upon the instruction of the chairperson. Prior to the Seimas' approval of a committee chairperson, sittings shall be presided over by the eldest member of the committee. In committee sittings, including closed sittings, members of the Seimas who are not members of the committee may participate with the right of deliberative vote.
The committees may invite to their sittings other members of the Seimas, as well as members of municipal councils, representatives of ministries, other state institutions, public organisations and other necessary persons having co-ordinated it with heads of these institutions.
Article 57. The sittings of the Committee shall be deemed lawful when more than half of the committee members are present at the sitting.
Committee decisions shall be adopted by open, simple majority vote of the committee members participating in the sitting. In the event of a tie vote, the vote of the chairperson of the committee shall be decisive. When a member of the committee requests that voting on his proposal be conducted, the chairperson of the committee sitting must put said proposal to the vote.
If the minority of the committee members, which consists of at least three Seimas members, expresses a separate opinion concerning an issue discussed by the committee, this opinion must be announced together with the decision of the committee.
Decisions shall be adopted in joint sittings of several committees if each committee expresses their support for the decision.
Committee decisions and conclusions shall be presented to the Seimas in writing. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 58. For state institutions, decisions adopted by Committees shall be recommendatory. When sending their recommendations and proposals to state institutions, Committees shall inform the Seimas Board about this and, if necessary - the Government.
Upon receipt of recommendations and proposals of Seimas Committees, state institutions, except courts, shall have to consider them. The Committees must be informed about the results of such consideration and measures which have been taken within 15 days from the receipt of the proposals or within other period of time established by the Committees.
Article 59. The Committees shall have the right to control due to their competence how laws are observed and recommendations and proposals of the Committees are taken into consideration.
They shall also have the right to invite heads or representatives of state institutions, except courts, to their sittings at a time co-ordinated with them and to hear their information.
If a Committee decides that it is necessary to hear the information of a Government representative, it shall address the Seimas Speaker who informs the Prime Minister about it. In this event, a Government representative shall have to participate in the Committee sitting.
The Committees shall have the right due to their competence to demand and obtain from state institutions, except courts, and officers documents, conclusions in writing, as well as reports and other necessary material.
Article 60. The Committee shall make reports during sittings of the Seimas on issues which it prepared or was the principal committee while examining them and shall make supplemental reports on issues which were referred to the committee for examination. Committee members shall participate in discussions on all other issues according to general procedure.
Concerning issues which were jointly prepared and examined by several committees, committees may either make joint reports and supplementary reports or may present observations and proposals separately. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 61. For the preparation of issues under consideration committees may, from their members, form preparatory working groups. Included in these working groups may be other Seimas members, representatives of state institutions and public organisations, experts and scholars, upon the consent thereof. Funds for the activities of experts of such groups shall be allotted from an approved estimate of expenditure of the committee. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Chapter 11. Trends of Activities of the Seimas Committees
Article 62. The trends of activities of the Committee on Rural Development shall be:
1) to prepare drafts of laws and other legal acts regulating the activities of agriculture and food industry and to present findings on drafts referred to the committee for consideration;
2) to prepare and consider proposals relative to the formation of the Lithuanian agrarian and rural policy, the determination of the trends of agricultural science and training, and the drawing up of legal acts necessary for that purpose;
3) to discuss and present findings relative to the drafts of laws and programmes presented by the Government, as well as the chapters of the draft State budget pertaining to settlement of agricultural and food industry matters, and social problems of rural dwellers;
4) to carry out the examination of draft laws regulating the Lithuanian economy from the standpoint of the agrarian and rural policy, and to submit recommendations and findings;
6) to co-ordinate draft laws regulating the activities of interested state institutions and other departments, institutions and organisations which deal with rural affairs. (Amended 26 November 1996)
Article 63. The trends of activities of the Committee on Budget and Finance shall be:
1) to consider the draft budget of the Republic submitted by the Government to the Seimas for its approval and to present summarised findings of all the committees relative thereto;
3) together with other committees, to prepare findings relative to the State budget performance accounts;
5) to prepare and submit findings concerning the draft laws which have an effect on the State budget revenue and expenditure; and
6) to discuss and prepare findings as well as to present proposals concerning the draft laws on taxes and special funds, the review of the State budget performance, the financing procedure of institutions and organisations maintained from the budget, the norms of their expenditure, the norms of the formation of the local government budgets, the budget allocations for the implementation of various programmes, as well as for the financing of the Seimas and its staff;
7) to carry out parliamentary control of the use of state property and the activities of the Bank of Lithuania, and to present proposals and recommendations relative thereto.
Article 64. The trends of activities of the Committee on Economics shall be:
1) to perform parliamentary control of administrative institutions of energy, communications, transport and other branches of economy, to submit proposals and recommendations concerning improvement of the activities thereof; and to participate in the preparation of draft laws relative thereto;
2) to prepare and consider proposals concerning the development and formation of a technical progress policy of the Lithuanian economy;
3) to prepare drafts of laws and other legal acts, as well as proposals on the issues concerning the planning of economic and social development; and
4) to consider draft programs for anti-monopoly actions and submit findings to the Seimas. (Amended 19 December 1995 and 26 November 1996)
Article 65. The trends of activities of the Committee on Environmental Protection shall be:
1) to prepare drafts of laws and other legal acts and submit proposals on issues concerning environmental protection, the use of resources, forestry, fisheries, and wildlife;
2) to co-ordinate the work of interested state institutions and other organisations in preparing draft laws on issues that are in the capacity of the committee;
3) to consider, from an environmental protection standpoint, draft laws and other legal acts which are referred to the committee;
4) to prepare and consider proposals concerning the formation of an environmental protection policy in Lithuania; and
5) to carry out parliamentary control of the state institutions of environmental protection, and to present proposals and recommendations for the improvement of the activities of theses institutions and organisations which are related to environmental protection and the use of resources.
Article 66. The trends of activities of the Committee on National Security shall be:
1) to consider and prepare drafts of laws and other legal acts on the issues of national defence, State security, civil defence, State border protection;
2) to co-ordinate the work of interested state institutions in preparing drafts of laws and other legal acts on the issues that are in the capacity of the committee;
3) to consider and present proposals concerning the formation of a national defence policy, and the creation and improvement of appropriate structures; and
4) to carry out parliamentary control of the institutions of national defence, State security, civil defence, State border protection, and to present proposals and recommendations concerning the improvement of their activities. (Amended 26 November 1996)
Article 67. The trends of activities of the Committee on Administrative Reforms and Municipalities shall be:
1) to prepare and consider drafts of laws and other legal acts on issues concerning the administrative reform, administrative division of the territory, and organisation of work of municipalities, and to present findings;
2) to prepare recommendations concerning the administrative and territorial division of the Republic of Lithuania;
3) to submit proposals concerning the dissolution of local government councils and the organisation of elections thereto;
4) in conjunction with other committees, to resolve problems of administrative reform and economic, social and organisational activities of municipalities;
6) to exercise parliamentary supervision of administrative reform and municipal institutions, to submit proposals and conclusions concerning the improvement of the activities thereof. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 68. The trends of activities of the Committee on Social Affairs and Labour shall be:
1) to prepare drafts of laws which regulate employment, labour relations, social care and provision of living space for the population, and to present findings relative to the drafts of these laws and other legal acts referred to the committee for consideration;
2) to co-ordinate the work of interested state institutions and other organisations in preparing draft laws on issues that are in the capacity of the committee;
4) to carry out parliamentary control of institutions of social security, and to submit proposals and recommendations for the improvement of the activities thereof. (Amended 26 November 1996)
Article 69. The trends of activities of the Committee on Education, Science and Culture shall be:
1) to prepare and consider drafts of laws, directives and other legislation which regulates education, science, culture and public information, and to present proposals relative thereto;
2) to consider and present findings on draft legislation related to education, science, culture and public information which are referred to the committee, as well as other projects, while keeping the compliance thereof with the government policy related to these issues in mind;
3) to prepare proposals and recommendations for the Government and local governments concerning education, science, culture and public information; and
4) to provide support to persons, organisations and institutions engaged in cultural activities.
Article 70. The trends of activities of the Committee on Foreign Affairs shall be:
1) to prepare conclusions concerning the ratification and denouncement of international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania as well as other issues of foreign policy which are considered in the Seimas;
2) to prepare and consider drafts of laws and other legislative acts related to foreign affairs, to consider them from the standpoint of the foreign policy of the Republic of Lithuania and international law, and to submit the conclusions thereon;
3) to review the activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania, as well as of state and public organisations which maintain relations with foreign countries, to submit proposals and recommendations, and to notify the Seimas thereof;
4) to co-ordinate and discuss the activities of the delegations of the Seimas in international organisations and forums and the activities of inter-parliamentary relations groups, and to submit recommendations and proposals thereto;
5) to analyse and submit proposals relative to information and propaganda activities of mass media and other state organisations meant for foreign countries;
6) in conjunction with government and public organisations, to maintain and develop relations with Lithuanian emigrants and their organisations, as well as with the Lithuanians autochthons residing beyond the boundaries of the Republic of Lithuania;
7) together with other committees, to consider the regulation of migration problems and to submit proposals and conclusions thereon;
8) to consider and submit recommendations and proposals to the Government concerning the establishment of diplomatic relations of the Republic of Lithuania and the opening of Lithuanian embassies abroad;
9) to consider proposals and submit conclusions related to the appointment of diplomatic representatives in foreign states.
Article 71. The trends of the activities of the Legal Committee shall be:
3) to consider and present conclusions concerning drafts of proposed supplements and amendments of the Constitution, as well as to preliminary evaluate the compliance of drafts of laws which are under discussion with the Constitution;
4) to consider and present conclusions concerning harmonisation of the laws of the Republic of Lithuania with the legislation of European Union;
5) to prepare drafts of laws and proposals related to the implementation of legality, strengthening of law and order, and crime control, as well as to co-ordinate the preparing of such drafts;
6) to consider and present conclusions and suggestions concerning reforms of the system of state institutions;
7) to present legal findings concerning drafts of laws and other legal acts prepared by other committees;
8) to consider and submit to the Seimas an opinion concerning candidacies for judges and chairpersons of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court, for judges of other courts, prosecutors who are appointed by the Seimas or whose nomination requires the approval of the Seimas, and concerning the dismissal of judges, as well prosecutors;
9) to carry out parliamentary control of the activities of law enforcement institutions, with the exception of the courts, and to prepare conclusions and proposals related thereto;
10) to prepare and present conclusions and recommendations to the Seimas concerning the activities of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior, the Prosecutor's Office and other law enforcement institutions;
11) to prepare draft laws and suggestions concerning the improvement of the system of state control;
12) to supervise, without interfering in operational activities, the work of the State Control of the Republic of Lithuania; and
13) according to the rulings of the Constitutional Court concerning non-conformity of laws and other acts, passed by the Seimas, with the Constitution shall prepare drafts of amendments of said laws and other acts passed by the Seimas or to submit proposals to other committees to prepare such drafts. (Amended 28 June 1995, 19 December 1995 and 26 November 1996)
Article 72. The trends of activities of the Committee on Human and Civil Rights and Ethnic Affairs shall be:
1) to prepare and consider drafts of laws and other legal acts as well as proposals which are related to the guarantees of civil rights and the regulation of ethnic relations among the nationalities living in Lithuania;
2) to present recommendations and proposals to ministries, government institutions, other organisations, and Seimas committees on issues concerning the protection of civil rights and the improvement of ethnic relations;
3) to submit proposals in the established manner concerning the structure, staff and funding of the Seimas ombudsmen institution;
4) to consider complaints and proposals referred to the Seimas concerning the work of the Seimas ombudsmen;
5) as necessary, to prepare draft resolution on the vote of non-confidence in the Seimas ombudsmen and to submit it to the Seimas for consideration as well as to submit findings concerning such resolutions to the Seimas when such resolutions are prepared by other committees;
6) to consider the material submitted by the Seimas ombudsmen concerning the breach of law by ministers and other officers answerable to the Seimas and submit its findings to the Seimas for consideration; and
7) to consider and prepare drafts of laws and other legal acts relating to the affairs of Lithuanians residing abroad. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 721. The trends of activities of the Committee on Health Affairs shall be:
1) to prepare drafts of laws which regulate health protection of the population and sanitary condition of the environment, and to present findings relative to the drafts of these laws and other acts which are referred to the committee for consideration;
2) to co-ordinate the work of interested state institutions and other organisations in preparing draft laws on the issues that are in the capacity of the committee;
4) to carry out parliamentary control of health care institutions, and to submit proposals and recommendations for the improvement of the activities thereof. (Supplemented 26 November 1996)
Article 722. The trends of activities of the Committee on European Affairs shall be:
1) consider major issues, within the jurisdiction of the Seimas, relating to the policy of the Republic of Lithuania in respect of the European Union and submit recommendations to the Government;
2) co-ordinate the activities of the Seimas committees and commissions related to the issues concerning the integration into the European Union;
3) consider a strategy of preparation for the membership of the European Union, the implementation of a programme in harmonisation of the European Union legislation with legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania, the Government provisions concerning major issues related to the preparation for negotiations on the membership of the European Union, other issues relating to the integration into the European Union, and submit recommendations to the Government;
4) exercise parliamentary control over public authorities when preparing for and having entered into the negotiations for the membership of the European Union; and
Chapter 12. Seimas Commissions
Article 73. A standing Commission on Ethics and Procedure shall be formed in the Seimas to which at least 1/10 of the Seimas members may recommend one representative. Proposals relative to the candidates to that commission shall be submitted in writing to the Chancellor of the Seimas. Upon rejecting the first and second candidate proposed by the same Seimas members, the third shall become a commission member without approval from the Seimas.
The Seimas shall approve the chairperson and deputy chairperson of the Commission on Ethics and Procedure from among its members.
Article 74. The trend of activities of the Commission on Ethics and Procedure shall be:
1) to prepare drafts of legal acts which are related to the activities and ethics of Seimas members, as well as proposals;
2) in observance of ethic norms, to help the Seimas, Seimas divisions, and Seimas members foster democracy, to co-ordinate various points of view and convictions, to strive for moral harmony, and to humanise relations between Seimas members;
3) to supervise the observance of the Statute of the Seimas and other legal acts which regulate the activities of Seimas members. Upon the proposal of the Speaker of the Seimas, deputy Speakers of the Seimas, chairpersons of committees and commissions, other Seimas members, or on its own initiative, to examine violations of these legal acts or ethics, to consider conflicts which arise between Seimas members, and, if necessary, to present conclusions to the Seimas, the Seimas Speaker, or the Seimas Board;
4) to examine and present conclusions concerning procedural disagreements upon the instruction of the Seimas, the Seimas Speaker, the Seimas Board, the chairperson of a Seimas sitting;
5) to examine information presented by the law enforcement bodies of the Republic of Lithuania concerning personal activities of Seimas members which contradict the laws, and to present conclusions to the Seimas thereon;
6) to analyse the reasons for which Seimas members are not participating in sittings of the Seimas and the Seimas committees and commissions and to provide information to the press concerning Seimas members who have missed sittings without justified reason, who did not participate in voting which was announced beforehand, or who did not carry out assignments; and
7) to examine the letters and proposals of voters, state institutions, and public organisations on issues concerning the activities of Seimas members. (Amended 28 June 1995)
Article 75. In the Seimas a standing administrative commission shall be formed dealing with working and living conditions of the Seimas members and other matters relative thereto.
Administrative commission shall be formed according to the provisions set forth in Article 77 of this Statute.
The Seimas Chancellor shall be on this commission and shall head it ex officio.
Article 76. The Seimas, having acknowledged the necessity to do so, may form research, control, auditing, preparatory, editing, and other temporary commissions to investigate or prepare any given issue or to carry out other assignments of the Seimas.
If a commission's authorisation period is not clearly defined during the time of formation, the activities of the commission shall be discontinued by a resolution of the Seimas once the given tasks have been carried out.
The Seimas parliamentary delegations in international organisations and forums shall be formed in the same manner as ad hoc commissions.
When forming inter-parliamentary relations groups, the principle of proportional representation of the majority and the minority of the Seimas. The Seimas Board shall notify the Seimas members of the commencement and end of joining inter-parliamentary relations groups, and of the initiators of formation thereof. On the expiry of the joining period, the members of a group, who have expressed desire to co-operate with the parliament members of a respective state shall within 10 days elect a chairperson and deputy chairperson of the group. Usually a representative of the Seimas majority shall be elected a chairperson of the group, and a representative of the minority - a deputy chairperson of the group. The chairperson and deputy chairperson of the inter-parliamentary relations group shall be approved by the Seimas. The Seimas Board shall inform the parliaments of respective states about the formation of such groups in the Seimas and their chairpersons. (Amended 28 June 1995)
Article 77. In forming an ad hoc commission, first the number of members of the commission shall be established. Thereafter, the norms for proportional representation of parliamentary groups shall be established, as well as the term for candidacy proposals of commissions members. The minority shall distribute among themselves the number of seats assigned to them. If the compiled list of committee members is not sufficient, committees may each orally propose one additional candidate during the sitting, and after them each Seimas member may do so until the number of candidates is sufficient.
Each of the proposed candidates must give oral consent to participate in the work of the commission. The Seimas shall vote for the entire list of commission members formed in such a way. If the list is not approved, the procedure shall be repeated.
When candidates are nominated to a commission during a Seimas sitting not according to the norms allocated to parliamentary group, those for whom at least two Seimas members express doubt shall be voted for individually. If the number of candidates nominated to a commission during a sitting is greater than the established number of commission members and all of the nominated candidates agree to work in the commission, there shall be an open-ballot vote with the list of candidates.
In certain cases, the Seimas may establish another procedure for the formation of commissions, although commissions may never be formed by representatives of one parliamentary group or one region.
Article 78. If the term of office of a commission is more than one year, a commission chairperson and deputy chairperson shall be elected and approved according to the procedure established for the committees. The chairperson and deputy chairperson of a commission may not be members of the Seimas Board, members of the Government, or chairpersons or deputy chairpersons of any other commission or committee.
As a rule, the Seimas Board shall o approve the estimate of expenditure of a commission and to resolve other issues which are related to its activities.
If the Seimas does not resolve otherwise, commissions, during their period of authorisation, shall observe the regulations of committee procedure. If the authorisation period of a commission is longer than one month, it shall have all of the rights and duties of a committee, with the exception of the right to consider candidatures of Seimas officials or propose that they be cancelled. (Amended 28 June 1995)
Chapter 13. The First Session of the Seimas
Article 79. The Seimas shall be deemed elected after the Central Electoral Commission announces that at least 3/5 of Seimas members have been elected. The opening sitting of the newly-elected Seimas must be held no later than 15 days after the election of the Seimas and shall be convened by the President of the Republic. If the opening sitting of the Seimas is not convened by the President of the Republic, the Seimas members shall themselves convene on the next day after the expiration of the 15-day period.
As a rule, the opening sitting of the newly-elected Seimas shall open at 12 o'clock noon in the building of the Seimas.
Article 80. The opening sitting of the Seimas shall be commenced by the eldest member of the Seimas. In the event that he or she is unable or refuses to open the sitting, it shall be opened by the next eldest member of the Seimas. He or she shall preside over the meeting until the Speaker is elected.
This shall be followed by election of the Deputy Speakers and the Chancellor of the Seimas. (Amended 26 November 1996)
Article 81. Upon the commencement of the first session of the Seimas, time shall be assigned for the formation of parliamentary groups and the Assembly of Spokespersons. Thereafter, as a rule, the Seimas, in the following order, shall:
3) consider the Programme of the Government submitted by the Prime Minister and decide whether or not to approve it; and
Chapter 14. General Issues of Session Organisation
Article 82. The Seimas shall meet biannually in two regular sessions (spring and autumn). The spring session shall open on March 10 and shall close on June 30. The autumn session shall open on September 10 and close on December 23. The Seimas may resolve to prolong a session. If the day of the opening of a session is a non-working day, only one sitting shall be held on that day. The members of the Seimas shall convene into ordinary sessions without a separate invitation. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 83. Extraordinary sessions shall be convened by the Speaker of the Seimas on the written proposal of at least 1/3 of all members of the Seimas, or, in cases provided for in Articles 142 and 144 of the Constitution, by the President of the Republic. The Seimas Board must notify all of the Seimas members of an extraordinary session at least 2 days before the opening of the session, except for urgent cases. Only issues submitted by the Seimas members on whose initiative the extraordinary session was convened shall be considered at the session. The work programme of extraordinary sessions shall be approved by the Seimas. The duration of extraordinary sessions may not exceed 15 days. Between extraordinary sessions the Seimas shall adjourn for at least 10 days, except for urgent cases. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 84. Sessions of the Seimas shall be held in the Seimas building in Vilnius. In the event that the Seimas cannot convene in the building of the Seimas, the Seimas Board may temporarily assign another place for sittings to be held. All members of the Seimas must be notified of such a decision. Having convened in a place designated by the Seimas Board for a sitting, the Seimas shall hear the information of the Seimas Board concerning the reasons which compelled them to change the place of the sitting.
In sittings, sessions shall open and close with the State anthem.
Article 85. The Secretariat of Seimas sittings shall provide technical services during sittings and shall fulfil the related assignments of the Seimas Speaker, his or her deputies and the Chancellor. The Secretariat shall be formed of Seimas staff members.
The Secretariat of Seimas sittings shall:
1) attend to adequate technical preparation of the sittings and provide assistance to Seimas members during sittings;
2) be responsible that material required for a sitting be presented to Seimas members and the officer presiding over the sitting in adequate time;
3) register all of the Seimas members participating in a sitting, receive applications of Seimas members concerning their inability to take part in a sitting during voting which has been scheduled beforehand, and inform the presiding officer as well as the Seimas Speaker and the Commission on Ethics and Procedure thereof;
4) accept written requests of Seimas members asking to be given the floor and deliver said requests to the officer presiding over the sitting;
5) accept and register questions and interpellations of Seimas members addressed to heads of State institutions, hand them over either to the Seimas Speaker or the Seimas Chancellor;
6) during a session, accept from Seimas members other written statements, proposals, protests or requests and deliver them to the addressees;
Chapter 15. Session Work Programmes and Sitting Agendas
Article 86. The preparation of sessions, with the exception of the first session, shall be organised by the Seimas Speaker. Together with the Seimas Chancellor, the Speaker shall prepare drafts of the work programme of the session and of the agenda of sittings held during the first week. Seimas members may obtain said drafts at the Secretariat of Seimas sittings 2 working days before the opening of the session. The Seimas Committees responsible for the issues included in the programme and the date on which an issue is planned to be presented at a Seimas sitting must be specified in the draft work programme of the session. The draft work programme shall be delivered to the President of the Republic and the Government.
The draft of the session work programme shall be considered by the Assembly of Spokespersons upon receiving the written proposals of the Government and the President of the Republic. The Assembly may amend and supplement the draft in the manner established in Part 2 of Article 39 of this Statute. The draft, along with the amendments and supplements and the recommendations made by the Assembly of Spokespersons, shall be submitted to the Seimas for debate.
At the first session after the election, the Seimas shall, as a rule, consider and approve the work programme at the time specified in Article 81 of this Statute. Other sessions shall open with the discussion and approval of the work programme. The Seimas may later revise the work programme in accordance with the procedure established in this Statute.
Individual items of the work programme shall be discussed and put to vote at the Seimas according to the same procedure as the articles of laws during their passing.
Article 87. In accordance with the approved work programme of the session, the Seimas Speaker, together with the Chancellor, shall prepare a detailed draft agenda of the week's sittings and submit it to the Assembly of Spokespersons for debate. Proposals shall be submitted by members of the Assembly of Spokespersons, committees, other members of the Seimas, and the Government. The time of the sittings, the issues under discussion, the draft registration number, the stage of debate, and the speakers and extra speakers must be specified in the agenda. The Seimas must also be informed of proposals which were not accepted. If the time limit proves insufficient for analysing any of the issues during a week's sittings, said issues shall be included without voting in the agenda of the next week.
With the exception of cases specified in this Statute, issues with regard to which, in accordance with the requirements set forth in Chapter 19 of this Statute, drafts of laws, resolutions or other acts have been adequately drawn up shall be included in the week's agenda.
The Assembly of Spokespersons shall decide at its sitting whether or not to approve each item of the presented agenda in accordance with the procedure established in Part 2 of Article 39 of this Statute.
If a decision is passed to work one day a week, the Assembly of Spokespersons may simultaneously present the agenda of the next day of sittings. In such a case, requirements applicable to the agenda's preparation, adoption and amendment shall be the same as those which apply to the preparation, adoption and amendment of an agenda of a week's sitting. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 88. Draft agenda of a week's sittings approved at the Assembly of Spokespersons shall be put to the vote at the Seimas sitting without preliminary discussion thereon.
The items of the agenda presented as recommendations by the Assembly of Spokespersons as well as the entire draft agenda, provided that it was not approved by vote at the Seimas, may be discussed at sittings of the Seimas. In such a case, proposals may be submitted by the Seimas Board members, committees, parliamentary groups, and the Government.
If, for some reason, the Assembly of Spokespersons could not approve the draft agenda of a week's sittings, the Seimas Speaker may submit it to a sitting of the Seimas. In such an event, the procedure established in Part 2 hereof shall be applied.
Article 89. At the written request of a group of at least 1/3 of the Seimas members, inclusion of an issue in the session work programme or in the agenda of the week or the next day shall be mandatory, provided that the issue has been prepared and adequate provisions for its discussion have been made in accordance with the procedure established in this Statute. No more than 1.5 hours shall be assigned for debating such issues unless the Seimas decides to prolong the discussion period.
Article 891. At the written request of more than 1/4 of all of the Seimas members, inclusion of the discussion concerning an especially important problem in the agenda of the next day shall be mandatory. No more than 30 minutes shall be assigned for the discussion, unless the Seimas decides to prolong this discussion. After the consideration, the Seimas may instruct one of the committees or commissions to examine that problem. (Supplemented 19 December 1995)
Article 90. In conjunction with the Seimas Chancellor, the Seimas Speaker shall prepare, on the basis of the approved agenda of the week's sittings, a detailed draft agenda of every day of the sitting in which the speaker and the time of debate or voting on every issue must be provided separately.
The above draft agenda shall be considered and adopted at the Seimas on the day preceding the sitting. In the event that the draft agenda of a day's sitting is approved at the Assembly of Spokespersons, it shall not be discussed at the Seimas sitting, and it shall be immediately proceeded to the vote on the approval of the agenda. In the contrary case, members of the Seimas Board, committees, parliamentary groups and the Government may present additional proposals but on condition they adhere to the approved agenda of a week's sittings. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 91. The Seimas Board, the Assembly of Spokespersons and the Government shall have the right to propose to include additional issues in the adopted agenda of a week's or a day's sittings. Such a proposal may be adopted provided that it is voted for by the majority of the Seimas members present at the sitting. In the event that such a proposal is not approved, it may be repeatedly presented only the next day.
Article 92. At the request of the President of the Republic, the issues and reports presented by him shall be included in the agenda of a sitting in the mandatory manner (without voting).
The Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall have the right to request that the Government's report on an urgent issue be included in the agenda of the week's sittings. On the decision of the Seimas, a discussion may follow such a report.
Chapter 16. Sittings of the Seimas
Article 93. The sittings of the Seimas and its committees shall be held in the Lithuanian language. Guests, experts or witnesses who do not know the language shall have the right to speak in another language, provided they notify the Secretariat of Seimas sittings thereof no later than before 6 hours; the Secretariat must see to it that translation is provided.
Article 94. As a rule, 4 sittings a week -- 2 on Tuesday and 2 on Thursday -- shall be held during the Seimas session, whereas every 3 weeks plenary sittings of the Seimas shall be adjourned for a week.
On Thursday, a part of the evening sitting shall be usually assigned to the Government, and on Tuesday - to replies to the questions of Seimas members given by Seimas officers, heads of State institutions, who are appointed by the Seimas, with the exception of the judges of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court.
On other days of the week and in the week when no plenary sittings are held, sittings of the Seimas Board, the Assembly of Spokespersons, parliamentary groups, committees and commissions as well as meetings of members of the Seimas with electors or representatives of local governments shall be held.
The preliminary schedule of sittings of a Seimas session shall be approved by the Seimas Board. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 95. The last 20 minutes of every day's evening sitting shall be assigned for the statements of the Seimas members on urgent State problems. It shall be transmitted by the State radio. Those desiring to speak shall prior to the morning sitting submit to the Secretariat of Seimas sittings a written request. The Secretariat of Seimas sittings shall present the received requests to the chairperson of the sitting. No discussion shall be held on the statements. The Seimas may without discussion approve the speaker's proposal to charge an appropriate Seimas committee or commission to investigate the problem. The Seimas committee or commission must start investigating this problem not later than within a week.
The agendas of every third Thursday evening sitting shall be drawn up by the parliamentary groups of the Opposition. A week before the opening of such sitting the Seimas Board, taking into consideration the principle of proportional representation of the parliamentary groups of the Opposition, shall appoint a parliamentary group or a coalition of parliamentary groups who shall be responsible for the agenda of such sitting. In such an event, the agenda shall not be approved at the Seimas sitting. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 96. The morning sitting of the Seimas shall as a rule be held from 10.00 a.m. and the afternoon sitting -- from 3.00 p.m..
The Seimas members shall be registered at the beginning of every sitting and before the voting planned in advance.
Article 961. By the decision of the chairperson of a Seimas sitting or at the request of a parliamentary group which is supported by at least 1/2 of the Seimas members participating in the sitting, the Seimas sitting may be prolonged not more than one hour, provided that the Seimas has failed to consider all issues on the approved agenda. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 97. An extraordinary sitting must be held provided that its is requested in writing by the President of the Republic, 1/3 of the Seimas members or the Seimas Board.
Only the issues submitted by the persons on whose initiative the meeting is held shall be considered at such a sitting. The Seimas Board shall not less than 6 hours before the opening of that sitting inform the Seimas members of the sitting and the issues proposed for discussion. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 98. Sittings of the Seimas shall be presided over by the Seimas Speaker or a Deputy Speaker.
The person presiding over the Seimas sitting:
1) shall, by word and by the banging of the gavel, announce the opening and closing of a sitting, as necessary, he or she may also announce a recess not provided for in the agenda;
2) shall attend to the order of work of the Seimas sittings, supervise that this Statute be adhered to at the sittings, control the performance of their respective duties by the group of tellers and the Secretariat of sittings;
3) shall not take part in discussions and may not in any other way influence the Seimas members as regards the decisions which are being adopted;
4) shall grant the floor to the Seimas members, direct the discussions, when specifying the essence of proposals may pose questions to the Seimas members;
5) shall watch over the duration of speeches, and, if the time limit is exceeded, shall warn the speaker, and may cut him or her off after the second warning;
6) may prolong the time of a speech delivered on an urgent issue provided that the Seimas does not object;
7) may warn the speaker or cut him or her off after the second warning in the event that the speaker is speaking not to the point;
9) on the basis of discussion results, shall formulate questions to be put to the vote; pursuant to this Statute shall establish the voting procedure; by word and by the banging of the gavel shall announce the beginning of voting, and, in accordance with the information presented by the group of tellers or electronic voting machines, shall announce the results of the voting;
10) shall call to order the Seimas members if they do not adhere to the Statute, make noise in the chamber, publicly insult the President of the Republic, the Seimas, the Speaker, the Seimas members, the Government, the Prime Minister or ministers, and may submit proposals concerning the recording of the warnings in the minutes or examination thereof in the Commission on Ethics and Procedures or elimination of the Seimas member from the hall;
11) shall take a decision to expel from the chamber the invited persons or the correspondents if they interfere with the sitting;
12) when adopting decisions, at the request of the Seimas members, shall announce the article of the Statute he or she is acting in pursuance of; and
13) shall sign an official report on the Seimas sitting, the minutes of the sitting, and shall also visa the laws and other acts passed at the sitting. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 99. As a rule, the sittings of the Seimas shall be public. The President of the Republic, members of the Government, the judges of the Constitutional Court, the Chairperson of the Supreme Court and heads of State institutions formed by the Seimas may attend the sittings without a special invitation and state their opinion during discussions where issues connected with their work are considered. An entry regarding their participation shall be made in the minutes of a sitting. Signatories of the Act "On the Re-establishment of the State of Lithuania" of 11 March 1990, permanent representatives of the President of the Republic and the Government may attend the sittings as observers. Participation of other persons in the sittings is established in Articles 100 and 101 of this Statute.
On the decision of the Seimas as well as at the request of Seimas Speaker, the President of the Republic or the Prime Minister, a closed sitting may be held by way of exception which, in addition to Seimas members, may be attended only by persons specially invited to the sitting and, as necessary, by the personnel of the Secretariat of sittings. The Seimas Board, the Government, parliamentary groups and committees shall have the right to propose to hold a closed sitting; a substantiation of the proposal shall be requisite. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 100. The Seimas Speaker or the Seimas Board may invite the most prominent guests of the Republic of Lithuania - heads of foreign states, members of governments, heads of parliamentary delegations and international organisations, chairpersons of Lithuanian emigrant organisations - to speak at the sittings. Other distinguished guests may invited as observers of the sittings of a session. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 101. Open sittings of the Seimas shall be public. They may be attended by the assistants secretaries of Seimas members, employees of the Seimas apparatus, representatives of public organisations who have been invited, as well as radio, television and press journalists accredited to the Seimas. The procedure for inviting and accrediting shall be established by the Seimas Board.
Only members of the Seimas, employees of the Secretariat of sittings and persons who have been granted the floor may be present in the front of the chamber. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 102. The Seimas may convene a meeting of all the Seimas members for preliminary discussion of issues; the rules of this Statute shall not be valid at such meetings. No decisions shall be adopted by the Seimas at such meetings. The Seimas members shall elect the chairperson of the meeting and may establish provisional rules of procedure of the meeting.
Article 103. All reports shall be read at Seimas sittings from the dais. In the cases set forth in par. 2 of Article 93 of this Statute, Seimas members may speak from their seats or into the microphones installed in the chamber.
Speaking during sittings shall be allowed only on the permission of the presiding officer.
Article 104. As a rule, one principal report and one additional report shall be made on every issue under consideration. The duration of a report shall be fixed by the presiding officer in co-ordination with the person delivering the report. Ordinarily, reports should not exceed 30 minutes. Additional reports shall be allotted a duration of up to 15 minutes; final words and commentary on behalf of the Government or a committee shall be granted up to 10 minutes; speaking on behalf on a parliamentary group - up to 7 minutes, and speeches said on behalf of the speaker himself shall be given up to 5 minutes.
During the presentation of the draft, a report shall be allotted 10 minutes, and answers to the Seimas members' questions - up to 20 minutes. An answer to a single question may not exceed 3 minutes, whereas the question itself may not take longer than 1 minute. Only one question shall be permitted at a time. A person shall be allowed to ask a second question only once it is again his or her turn to ask. On the decision of the Seimas, question and answer sessions may be terminated before the fixed time, provided that at least one other member of the Seimas supports such a proposal. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 105. Registration of persons wishing to speak shall begin an hour before the first sitting of the day the issue is planned to be discussed and shall close by the commencement of discussion of the issue. Upon completion of registration, the officer presiding over the sitting must announce the list of persons participating in the discussion. Registration for speaking shall be carried out by submitting applications to the Secretariat of sittings.
Article 106. Time allotted for discussion on each issue on the agenda shall be, as a rule, divided in half to the members of the majority and minority. In the event that representatives either of the majority or the minority do not use up the time allotted to them, the discussion shall be shortened.
Speakers shall be granted the floor during discussions according to the order in which they registered to speak. The presiding officer may change the order for reason of ensuring proportional representation of parliamentary groups and Committees, and for presenting arguments "for" and "against". The Seimas members may change the order of speaking.
A speaker may waive his or her right to take the floor. If the speaker leaves the chamber without giving prior notice to the presiding officer and is not present when called upon to speak, he or she shall be deemed to have waived his or her right to take the floor.
Article 107. The President of the Republic, the Seimas Speaker, and the Prime Minister shall have the right to take the floor out of turn one time in a discussion.
If members of the Government, as well as a representative of a parliamentary group or a committee notify the Secretariat of the sittings of their wish to be granted the floor prior to the termination of a discussion, they shall retain the right to take the floor even if it is resolved to terminate the debate. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 108. During debates, the Seimas members shall have the right to take the floor not more than once for every item on the agenda.
Questions, remarks, and speeches concerning the motives or procedure of voting, prejudicial issues or issues related to the termination of debate, and proposals to reject or postpone the issue under consideration shall constitute an exception. In said cases no advance registration shall be required. However, every member of the Seimas shall have the right to make an inquiry, speech, or remark only once on each given issue on the agenda, and concerning the motives of voting - once before every voting. Speaking on issues concerning procedure, termination of debate, or postponement or rejection of an issue shall have precedence over the issue under consideration. In said cases, members shall be granted the floor for no longer than 2 minutes after the speaker has finished his or her speech. In the cases specified in the Statute, a vote must be taken after such speeches. If the speaker speaks on an issue other than the one for which he or she was granted the floor, the presiding officer may revoke his or her right to speak.
Article 109. Debates shall be terminated on the decision of the Seimas, with the exception of cases where the Statute provides for a different procedure for the termination of a debate. Proposals to terminate a debate may be submitted after at least two speakers have been given the floor and may be put to the vote without holding a discussion thereon provided that at least one other member of the Seimas supports the proposal. Prior to that, the presiding officer must announce how many persons are registered to speak and how many have already spoken.
Upon resolving to terminate a debate, the presiding officer must grant the floor, according to the order, to one more member of the Seimas as well as to everyone who still has the right to be granted the floor pursuant to Article 107 of this Statute. In addition, the speaker may be granted the floor for concluding remarks.
The Seimas may in advance limit both the general duration of debates on each issue and the number of speakers. In such cases, proposals to terminate a debate shall not be accepted.
Article 110. In discussing each issue, the Seimas shall take an unscheduled recess of no less than half an hour and no more than an hour prior to the commencement of voting or the discussion of the issue may be postponed to the next sitting if the presiding officer, the principal committee, or a parliamentary group so requests and the request is supported by no less than 1/3 Seimas members present at the sitting. In discussing an issue, such recesses and debate postponements may only be done twice. Only one unscheduled recess may be taken in the same sitting.
If the Statute has been expressly violated during discussion of an issue, the committee which prepared the draft of the law or other legal act, a parliamentary group, or the Commission on Ethics and Procedure shall have the right to request that the discussion of the issue be postponed, but for no longer than one week.
Article 111. If the conduct or words of a Seimas member are presented in a distorted manner by other speakers, he or she shall have the right to request that the presiding officer grant him or her the floor to speak on a personal issue for up to 2 minutes. If the presiding officer does not oblige the request, the Seimas member shall have the right to request that the issue of whether or not he or she should be granted the floor to speak on a personal question be put to the vote.
Seimas members shall be granted the floor to speak on personal issues at the end of the sitting.
Chapter 17. Voting and Vote Calculation
Article 112. Voting on issues under debate shall be open, with the exception of cases provided for in this Statute.
On the decision of the Seimas or the presiding officer, a vote may be taken by using an electronic vote tallying system rather than by raising a hand. As a rule, the electronic vote tallying system shall be used when taking a vote on separate provisions of the issue under debate, on separate articles or statements of a law, and on resolutions of the sitting and issues concerning the work programme of a session, the agenda of a sitting and other issues. A separate instruction approved by the Seimas Board shall establish the procedure for using the electronic vote tallying system.
Seimas members shall vote personally. The right to vote may not be delegated to other persons. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 113. The presiding officer shall announce the commencement of the voting procedure by word and while adopting a law or other act of the Seimas - by banging the gavel as well. The presiding officer must also inform the Seimas members of the number of votes required for the decision to be adopted.
Walking in the chamber during voting shall be prohibited. No issues shall be discussed until the voting procedure is completed, the floor shall be granted only on the motives and methods of voting, except for the time that the results of the voting by roll call or by ballot are being counted. (Amended 28 June 1995)
Article 114. Laws, resolutions of the Seimas, and other decisions of the Seimas shall be adopted at sittings of the Seimas by simple majority vote (i.e. more than half) of the Seimas members participating in the sitting, with the exception of special cases provided for in the Constitution and this Statute.
In voting on the resolutions of the Seimas (which are recorded in the minutes), separate provisions of the issue under debate, separate articles or statements of a law, or questions concerning the work procedure of the session, decisions shall be adopted by majority vote of all the voting Seimas members, or may also be passed without voting (by unanimous consent), i.e., if no member responds to the presiding officer's question "Is there any objection to...?", the presiding officer shall announce "Adopted."
Prior to the first voting of every sitting, as well as prior to voting on the adoption of the entire law or other legal act, the presiding officer must check the number of Seimas members present. If, prior to a voting, the presiding officer or any parliamentary group has not requested to check the number of the Seimas members present at the sitting, no doubts may later be raised concerning this. The last number of Seimas members determined at a sitting shall be considered the number of Seimas members present at the sitting.(Amended 23 February 1995)
Article 115. In adopting laws, resolutions of the Seimas, or other acts, with the exception of personnel issues, roll call voting is permitted if it is so requested by a parliamentary group and this requirement is supported by no less than 1/3 of all Seimas members present at the sitting. Such a request may be submitted by the representative of a parliamentary group only upon the closing up of a debate on the issue and prior to voting on the entire draft.
In such a case, ballot papers for roll call voting shall be distributed to the Seimas members prior to the commencement of voting; upon receipt of said ballot papers, the Seimas members shall sign the record of issued ballot papers. The presiding officer shall announce the time of commencement and completion of roll call voting. Upon announcement of the commencement of voting, every Seimas member shall fill in the ballot paper, sign it, and hand it over to the tellers' group. The ballot papers shall be no longer issued or accepted after the expiry of the time set for voting. Upon tallying the votes, the presiding officer shall announce the vote of every Seimas member. (Amended 23 February 1995)
Article 116. Issues concerning the election of the Seimas Speaker, deputy Speakers, Seimas Chancellor, non-confidence in the Government, the Prime Minister or an individual minister, non-confidence in any officer of the Seimas or dismissal of the head of a state institution appointed by the Seimas, as well as when a vote is taken on formulations of the charge during the impeachment proceedings shall be voted on only by secret ballot; on the decision of the Seimas, other personnel issues may also be voted on by secret ballot. It shall be also voted by secret ballot when an issue concerning the appointment of judges of the Constitutional Court is under consideration.
In this manner, voting shall be done during recess. Ballot papers shall be stamped and distributed by the tellers' group. Upon receiving their ballot papers, Seimas members shall sign the record of issued ballot papers.
There must be a secret voting booth and ballot box in the voting place. The ballot box must be put in such a way that, upon approaching it, the members casting their votes would have to cross the secret voting booth. (Amended 28 June 1995 and 19 December 1995)
Article 117. Voting shall be done by open ballots when it is necessary to elect several candidates to some posts from a larger number of candidates and when it has not been resolved to vote by secret ballot.
In open voting, the procedure for voting and establishing the results shall be the same as in voting by secret ballot except that secret ballot voting booths shall not be used and ballot papers shall be filled out in the chamber. It is not necessary to sign the ballot papers.
Article 118. A standard ballot paper for secret and open voting shall be approved by the Seimas prior to voting.
Issues concerning the dismissal of an officer or declaration of non-confidence in an officer shall be voted on with ballot papers on which the propositions "To relieve sb. of his post" and "Not to relieve sb. of his post" or "Confidence" and "Non-confidence" shall be inscribed. With one ballot paper it is only possible to vote on either the dismissal of an officer or the declaration of non-confidence in a collective institution or one of its members, or the removal from his post of an officer.
On one ballot paper it is only possible to write the surnames, in alphabetical order, of candidates to the same post. In all cases, ballot papers must have a heading which clearly indicates the issue being voted on. On the ballot paper, the member casting his or her vote shall cross out the surname of the candidates against which he or she is voting or the proposition which he or she does not accept.
Ballot papers which are not of the approved sample or unsealed, as well as ballot papers on which more surnames than the number of officers being elected or more than one proposition given for election is left, shall be deemed invalid. Additional surnames and propositions which are written in shall not be counted.
The record of calculation of votes by ballot papers shall be signed by the chairperson of the tellers' group and the presiding officer.
Voting ballot papers shall be preserved in the Seimas archives until the end of the term of office of the Seimas. (Amended 28 June 1995)
Article 119. One or two alternative propositions may be presented to be voted upon. If one proposition is presented, it shall be voted "for", "against" or "abstain". If two propositions are presented, voting shall be "for the first proposition" or "for the second proposition".
Alternative propositions shall be voted for in the order that they were presented for discussion. If there are more than two propositions, the presiding officer must group them according to purport so that they are all decided upon after several votes for one or two propositions. The proposition which collects the most votes shall be adopted if the necessary majority is collected; otherwise, it shall be presented for additional voting to confirm the decision. If this fails to be done, the Seimas members may either propose a compromise or postpone the issue.
At his or her own initiative or at the request of at least two Seimas members, the presiding officer shall divide the issue being put to the vote into two.
Article 120. The decision to postpone an issue shall be voted on before voting on the main point of the issue. Numbers shall be voted on in increasing order. If necessary, the presiding officer may change the order of voting if those who made the proposals do not object. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 121. Votes may be explained after the presiding officer announces what is being voted on and asks if anyone would like to explain his or her vote.
In voting for an entire issue or the passing of a draft law, no more than four Seimas members may explain their votes "for" and no more than four -- "against". In other cases, no more than one Seimas members may explain their votes "for" and no more than one -- "against".
Article 122. When the electronic tallying system is not being used, the tellers' group shall organise the voting and count the votes. The tellers' group shall also assist the presiding officer in checking how many Seimas members are present in the chamber and in revising their registration.
Members of the tellers' group shall vote according to the general procedure.
Article 123. The Seimas shall alphabetically appoint the tellers' group for the period of one month upon the proposal of the Seimas Chancellor. The group may not be made up solely of members of one parliamentary group. Members of the Seimas Board, chairpersons of Committees and commissions, Spokespersons of parliamentary groups, and members of the Government shall not be assigned to the tellers' group. The tellers' group shall elect a chairperson from its members.
The Seimas may he declare non-confidence in the tellers' group or one of its members by majority vote of the Seimas members present at the sitting. In such an event, a new group or group member shall be appointed. Upon the decision of the presiding officer or the request of a parliamentary group which is supported by no less than 1/3 of Seimas members present at the sitting, the voting which took place before the declaration of non-confidence may be repeated.
Article 124. The results of voting shall be announced by the presiding officer based on the information provided by the tellers' group or by the indicators of the electronic tallying system.
Article 125. Before another item on the agenda has begun to be discussed, voting carried out by raising hands or by using the electronic system may be repeated if so requested by the Speaker of the Seimas, presiding officer or a parliamentary group and the request thereof is supported by no less than 1/3 of Seimas members present at the sitting. The vote calculation group shall also have the right to request that voting be repeated, if it admits that it has miscalculated votes.
Voting shall be also repeated when exactly a half of the voting Seimas members has voted for the submitted proposal. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Chapter 18. Official Registration and Announcement of Seimas Documents
Article 126. Minutes of Seimas sittings shall be compiled and announced by the Documentation Department of the Seimas and shall be signed by the presiding officer. Issues which are discussed, speakers, adopted resolutions, and voting results shall be recorded in the minutes. The full texts of resolutions adopted during sittings shall be recorded in the minutes. Supplementary materials (data concerning the registration of Seimas members, results of voting by roll call, statements of Seimas members, etc.) shall be appended to the minutes.
Minutes shall be distributed to Committees and parliamentary groups no later than the next workday after the sitting.
Seimas members may state their claims concerning the minutes at the end of the morning sitting on the next day of Seimas sittings. If there are disputable questions, the Seimas shall adopt a decision thereon by simple majority vote of the voting members after a short explanation has been given by the officer who presided over the previous sitting. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 127. The Seimas Documentation Department shall compile and publish verbatim records of the Seimas sittings. Their originals shall not be edited and shall be preserved in the Documentation Department. Tape-recordings of the Seimas sittings shall be preserved in the Documentation Department for a period of at least one month.
Members of the Seimas and other persons who were granted the floor during a sitting shall have the right to check, within 10 days after the Seimas sitting, the verbatim records of their speeches edited for publication. Upon checking the text against the tape-recording, they may revise the edited version of the verbatim record of their speech provided that they do not change the essence of the speech. If the speaker does not present any claims concerning the text of the verbatim record, it shall be assumed that he or she agrees with the text.
In the event of disputes or misunderstandings concerning the edited text of a verbatim record, a decision thereon shall be adopted by the presiding officer of the respective sitting. (Amended 28 June 1995)
Article 128. Verbatim records of closed sittings shall not be published; only members of the Seimas shall have access thereto. The Seimas Chancellor shall preserve the verbatim records of closed sittings and shall create conditions for Seimas members to familiarise themselves with said records. A speech of a Seimas member may be publicly quoted or comment on from the verbatim record of a closed sitting only with his or her consent.
Article 129. Minutes shall be taken at sittings of the Seimas Board and Assembly of Spokespersons; no verbatim records shall be taken of the above sittings. Participants in the sitting, issues which are discussed, speakers, adopted resolutions, and voting results shall be listed in the minutes. The minutes shall be signed by the chairperson of that sitting.
Seimas members shall familiarise themselves with said minutes through Committees and parliamentary groups.
Article 130. Seimas Committees and commissions shall takes minutes at their own sittings. Committee and commission resolutions, conclusions, and minutes of sittings shall be signed by the respective chairperson.
The minutes of sittings of committees and commissions are official internal documents which may only be used by members of the Seimas. Other persons may use these minutes only with the consent of the chairperson of the Committee or commission. Upon the completion of the calendar year, the minutes of sittings and other documents of Committees and commissions shall be preserved in the Committees or commission for the period of a year; thereafter they shall be transferred to the Seimas archives.
All documents of ad hoc commissions must be transferred to the Seimas archives within 10 days of the expiration of the authorised period of said commission.
Article 131. Draft laws submitted for public consideration shall be published in the press using State funds. In publishing such drafts, the names of the persons who prepared and initiated them must be indicated.
Draft laws given over to be published must be signed by the chairperson of the Committee to which the draft was given for preparation as well as by the Seimas Chancellor.
Article 132. Before being given to the President of the Republic to be signed, adopted laws and other acts of the Seimas shall, together with the visas of the chairperson of the principal committee, as well as of the speaker who participated at the moment of the adoption and of the authors of the adopted amendments and supplements, be presented to the Seimas Speaker to be given a visa or to be signed.
Adopted laws which have a visa from the Seimas Speaker shall immediately be given to the President of the Republic to be signed.
The Seimas Speaker shall sign acts adopted by the Seimas Board after they have been given a visa by the Seimas Chancellor.
Upon signing an act, the Seimas Speaker shall transfer said act to the Seimas Chancellor to be promulgated. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 133. Laws and other documents of the Seimas shall be promulgated and shall become effective pursuant to the Law "On the Procedure for Promulgating and Enforcing the Laws and other Legal Acts."
Laws signed by the President of the Republic as well as resolutions of the Seimas shall be sent to the Government, the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the State Controller, and, as necessary, to heads of other State institutions as well as to local governments within 3 working days after their signing.
Article 134. The Seimas shall have two seals with the Lithuanian State emblem - the great seal which is 38 mm in diameter, and the small seal which is 27 mm in diameter. The Seimas Chancellor shall be responsible for the use and preservation of the Seimas seals.
The great seal of the Seimas with the Lithuanian State emblem shall be imprinted on the laws, resolutions and other official documents of the Seimas, as well as on documents, international treaties and other documents signed by the Seimas Speaker which are sent to institutions of State power and government of foreign states.
The small seal of the Seimas with the Lithuanian State emblem shall be imprinted on the identification certificates and other documents signed by the Seimas Speaker, his or her deputies, or the Seimas Chancellor.
Article 135. The Seimas Speaker, his or her deputies, and the Seimas Chancellor shall have the right to speak on behalf of the Seimas. The Seimas may also authorise heads of delegations to the international organisations who are appointed by the Seimas and a Seimas Spokesperson for the press to speak on behalf of the Seimas.
Chairpersons of Seimas Committee, their deputies, and authorised Committee members may speak on behalf of their respective Committees. (Amended 28 June 1995)
Article 136. The Lithuanian Radio and Television shall regularly prepare coverage of open sittings of the Seimas. On the resolution of the Seimas, separate sittings shall be broadcast in full on the radio and television at a time acceptable by the Lithuanian Radio and Television. In disputable cases, issues shall be resolved by the Seimas at the request of parliamentary groups.
Accredited journalists shall be supplied with documents which are necessary for their job by the Seimas information and analysis service.
Article 1361. The Seimas Spokesperson for the press shall organise press conferences of Seimas members for journalists. Usually press conferences of the Seimas members who represent the Opposition parliamentary groups shall be held not less than 2 times a week. (Supplemented 28 June 1995)
Article 137. Official reports concerning sittings of the Seimas shall be prepared and announced by the Seimas information and analysis service and shall be signed by the presiding officer.
The state mass media, when publishing or broadcasting coverage of Seimas sittings, shall also announce an official report on these sittings. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 138. The Seimas Board, Assembly of Seimas Spokespersons, committee shall, after sittings, prepare reports for the mass media on the adopted decisions and shall present said reports to the Seimas information and analysis service.
Broadcasting or coverage of sittings of the Seimas Board, the Assembly of Spokespersons, Committees, commissions and parliamentary groups shall be made only with the consent of the chief officer of the respective group. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 139. Documents prepared by Seimas members (or received from elsewhere) and proposed to be distributed, which are intended for all members of the Seimas, committees or parliamentary groups shall be distributed by the Secretariat of the sittings. The documents must be registered at the Secretariat of the sittings and must be signed by at least one member of the Seimas. The procedure for submitting, registering and distributing drafts of laws and other standard acts shall be established in Chapter 19 of this Statute.
Information concerning the activities of the Seimas shall be prepared and, as necessary, presented to the Seimas members by the Seimas information and analysis service. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 1391. In order to better inform the public, the Seimas publishing house shall issue the Seimo kronika (Chronicle of the Seimas). It shall contain descriptions of Seimas sittings, a list of the enacted laws, voting results, summaries of Seimas members' statements, directives of the Seimas Speaker, decisions of the Seimas Board, committees and parliamentary groups, newly registered drafts of legal acts and other important information concerning the activities of the Seimas. (Supplemented 19 December 1995)
Chapter 19. Registration of Drafts of Laws and other Standard Acts
Article 140. Drafts of laws and of other acts of the Seimas, as well as the proposals concerning the legislation thereof, shall be submitted to the Seimas for consideration by the institutions and persons who, pursuant to the Constitution, have the right of legislative initiative. Submitted drafts and proposals must be signed by the initiators or representatives of the initiators thereof.
A covering letter shall be submitted together with the draft law wherein, as a rule, the following shall be set forth:
2) the current legal procedure in accordance with which the issues considered in the draft law are being regulated;
3) what new provisions of legal regulation are planned, the positive qualities of the newly regulated issues, and the positive results which are foreseen;
4) possible negative consequences of the enacted law and the measures which should be applied in order to avoid said consequences;
5) the incorporation of the draft law into the legal system, which legal acts in said sphere shall remain valid (a list of said acts shall be presented), and which of the valid legal acts must be amended or repealed upon adoption of the draft;
51) whether a draft law is in conformity with the provisions of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the documents of the European Union, and how these relations are regulated in other Baltic States; (Supplemented 19 December 1995)
6) in the event that the subordinate legislation is required for the implementation of the law - who and when should prepare it, as well as the guidelines of said subordinate legislation;
9) the notional words of the draft law required for the inclusion of the draft into the computer search system; and
10) other substantiations and explanations which the authors believe to be necessary.
Initiators of draft laws shall attach a comparative variant of a submitted draft of amendments of a law, in which the essence of amendments is set forth, to a covering letter. Amendments in the text of a new version of an article (its paragraph or item) shall be printed in boldface, and the words proposed to be struck out shall be crossed out with a thin line. Provided that an article (its paragraph or item) is proposed to be basically amended, the text of the former version (crossed out with a thin line) and the new version of an article (its paragraph or item) shall be presented. provided that the whole article (its paragraph or item) is proposed to be declared invalid, the number of the article (its paragraph or item) proposed to be declared invalid shall be specified in the essence of the amendments, and the whole text (crossed out with a thin line) of such article (its paragraph or item) shall be presented.
If the initiators of the draft law cannot present a covering letter, they may apply to the Seimas Chancellor with a request that the Legal Department of the Seimas assist in the drawing up of the explanation or that they be permitted to submit the draft without a covering letter.
It shall be desirable that findings of criminological examinations concerning the possible influence of the adoption of the law on the criminogenic situation be submitted together with the draft law. The preparation of the findings of criminological examination shall be organised by the Ministry of Justice at the request of the initiators of the draft.
As necessary, the draft law or draft resolution regarding the procedure of implementing the law shall be submitted together with the draft law.
The requirements set forth in this Chapter, with the exception of the requirement concerning the covering letter, shall apply to the drafts of all laws and standard acts of the Seimas (in this Chapter all of the above drafts shall hereinafter be referred to as draft laws), with the exception of special cases provided for in this Statute. (Amended 23 February 1995, 19 December 1995 and 11 November 1997)
Article 141. All submitted draft laws and proposals shall be registered in the register of draft laws and proposals received by the Secretariat of the Seimas sittings. When registering, a standard title page of the draft and a form shall be filled in, all of the persons who prepared or initiated the draft shall be specified, and the documentation presented thereby shall be itemised. The draft shall be indexed in accordance with the classifier of the areas of legislation.
During the consideration and further preparation of a draft, all new versions thereof as well as the conclusions, amendments and supplements which have been put forward and the names of the persons who submitted them, shall be presented to and registered by the Secretariat of the sittings. All of the above shall be executed as a cover letter of the draft and shall be distributed together with the draft and the covering letter.
The Legal Department shall furnish conclusions on the registered draft law, stating whether or not the draft is in conformity with the laws which are already in effect, and whether or not it corresponds to the technical rules of law-making. If this a large-scale draft, the Seimas Chancellor shall have the right to extend this period. Together with the above conclusions, the registered draft law shall be handed over to the Seimas Chancellor.
If a draft law is submitted by Seimas members or the President of the Republic, it shall be transferred to the Legal Bureau under the Ministry of European Affairs which shall, within 10 working days of receipt thereof, work out conclusions whether or not this draft is in conformity with the European Union law. If this is a large-scale draft, the Seimas Chancellor may extend this period, but not exceeding one month.
The Seimas Chancellor shall, within 3 working days, refer the draft law together with the covering letter, and conclusions of the Legal Department and the Legal Bureau under the Ministry of European Affairs to the Seimas Speaker, committees, parliamentary groups, the Government and the Office of the President of the Republic and, when necessary, to appropriate local authorities. The members of the Seimas shall also be notified of the draft in an issue of the Seimo kronika.
Draft amendments of laws and other legal acts together with a covering letter shall be, as a rule, delivered to Seimas members not later than one working day prior to their presentation at a Seimas sitting. (Amended and supplemented 19 December 1995 and 1 July 1997)
Article 142. In the event that a draft law is submitted together with amendments to the Constitution, both drafts may be considered concurrently; however, a vote shall first be taken on the Constitutional amendments in accordance with the procedure for amending the Constitution. Drafts of laws on the amendment, supplement or repeal of other laws requisite upon the adoption of the proposed draft law shall also be discussed together with said draft law.
If several alternative drafts of one law have been received, they shall be concurrently considered during the discussion at the sitting of the Seimas, and one of said drafts shall be selected. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 143. The Seimas Speaker, the Seimas Board may refer a draft law to one of the committees to make a preliminary analysis and to prepare conclusions. As necessary, the Seimas Speaker, the Seimas Board may, on their own initiative or on the recommendation of the committee, request that the Government present to the Seimas its conclusions concerning the draft under consideration. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 144. The committee to which a draft law has been referred for preliminary or additional consideration and which must present conclusions, shall establish:
1) whether or not the draft is in conformity with the Constitution and other laws, and, if it is not in conformity therewith, whether or not the committee approves of the amendment of said laws;
5) whether or not the draft is in conformity with the international obligations of the Republic of Lithuania;
6) whether or not the draft is analogous to other drafts which have been rejected within the last 6 months; and
7) whether or not the draft corresponds to the criteria of efficiency, specific character, and completion, and whether or not it is acceptable from the points of view of legal culture and the technical rules of law-making. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 145. The committee to which a draft law has been referred for preliminary or additional consideration and which must present conclusions shall present a written evaluation thereof in accordance with the criteria set forth in Article 144 of this Chapter. Refusal to approve a draft must be substantiated.
Approval may be expressed in the three ways: without any comments, with specific comments, or on the condition that certain amendments shall be made to the draft. In the last case, concretely formulated amendments may be proposed.
During a session of the Seimas, the committees must prepare their conclusions within 10 days. The initiators of the draft shall be notified of the conclusions.
The Committee which is performing additional examination of a draft law may also express its opinion at the sitting of the principal committee which is conducting the examination of the draft law upon delegating its representative to the sitting. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 146. The Seimas Chancellor shall not present draft laws for consideration in the Seimas if the Seimas Committee on State and Law comes to the conclusion that the laws are not in conformity with the Constitution and no draft amendments to the Constitution have been presented in the established manner. In the event that the same draft law or another draft law of analogous content has been rejected by the Seimas within the last 6 months, the draft shall not be accepted for repeat consideration.
Draft laws submitted by entities who are not vested with the right of legislative initiative shall be registered, but shall not be forwarded for consideration; however, competent committees shall be familiarised therewith.
In all of the above cases, drafts with a corresponding visa of the Seimas Chancellor shall be returned to the Secretariat of the sittings; at the Secretariat, the draft shall be recorded in the register of rejected draft laws and proposals and shall thereafter be sent to the archives. An announcement to this effect must be made in the Seimo kronika, and the person who presented the draft must be notified thereof. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 147. The initiators of a draft law shall have the right to recall said draft before it is considered at a sitting of the Seimas. Said persons must immediately notify the Seimas Chancellor of the decision, and the Chancellor must notify the Seimas. In such an case, a copy of the draft law shall be left with the principal Committee and the Legal Department.
However, in the event that the recalled draft law is officially supported and submitted no later than the next day by another entity vested with the right of legislative initiative, the consideration procedure of such draft shall be continued. The above provision shall not be applied to drafts of laws submitted by the President or Government of the Republic.
Chapter 20. Presentation of Drafts of Laws and
other Standard Acts at Sittings of the Seimas
Article 148. A draft of a law or any other standard act shall be presented at the sitting of the Seimas by the initiator or his representative who shall give a brief (maximum of 10 minutes) characterisation of the draft and shall answer questions of the Seimas members (up to 20 minutes). Thereafter, the presiding officer shall familiarise the members with the conclusions of the Legal Department and also of the Seimas committees, the Government and the Legal Bureau under the Ministry of European Affairs, provided that such conclusions have been received, and shall put proposals to the vote.
The Seimas shall adopt one of the following decisions concerning the submitted draft of a law or any other standard act:
2) to postpone the procedure of submitting the draft and to specify the actions to be taken by the initiators prior to repeatedly submitting the draft to the Seimas; and
3) to reject the draft specifying the motives of rejection.
Upon accepting the draft for consideration by the Seimas, it shall be included in the work programme of the session.
If the Seimas decides to commence the procedure of consideration, a decision may be taken on whether to apply the urgency procedure or the special urgency procedure. (Amended 20 December 1994 and 1 July 1997)
Article 149. All decisions on the presentation and consideration of a draft law at the sitting of the Seimas shall be adopted by a simple majority vote of those present and voting, with the exception of decisions to reject a draft, or to announce a draft for public consideration, which shall be adopted provided that at least 1/3 of all the Seimas members vote in favour thereof.
Application for the urgency or special urgency procedures shall be established in Chapter 24 of this Statute.
Article 150. The procedure for consideration may be commenced only concerning drafts which are included in the work programme of the session. The consideration procedure shall consist of the following stages: consideration at the principal Committee, consideration at the sitting of the Seimas, and passage.
Upon deciding to commence the procedure of consideration of a draft law, the Seimas must at the same sitting appoint an approximate date of consideration at the sitting of the Seimas (no earlier than after a week, and no later than by the end of the session), and the principal Committee for further consideration or revision of the draft.
A decision to propose that a draft law be made available to the public may also be adopted at the sitting.
Article 151. In the event that funding related to the adjustment of the State Budget is required for the implementation of a law, the proposals of the initiators of the draft and the conclusions of the Committee on Budget and Finance and the Government concerning the possible sources of funding must be presented during further consideration of the draft. (Amended 28 June 1995)
Article 152. If an initiative group for the announcement of a referendum on the provisions of the law has been formed, the issue shall be considered at the next Seimas sitting during the Seimas session after it has been confirmed that the required number of signatures has been collected. Representatives of the initiators of the referendum shall be invited to attend the sitting.
The Seimas may establish that the draft of the provisions of the law presented for the referendum is not in conformity with the Constitution. (Amended 20 December 1994)
Chapter 21. Consideration of Draft Laws in the Principal Committee
Article 153. The committee which has been appointed by the Seimas as the principal committee for the examination of the draft of a law, in respect whereof the consideration procedure has been commenced, must, within one week, discuss at a sitting the preparedness to examine the draft in the committee. For the above purpose, responsible committee members and experts must be assigned, additional conclusions may be requested of other committees and State institutions, and other preliminary decisions may be adopted. If the committee is charged to revise the draft, a working group may be formed for said purpose. As necessary, the Committee may also discuss issues concerning the preparedness to consider the draft at other sittings.
Article 154. The principal committee must send the draft law to all interested State institutions and, as necessary, to public organisations, so that said institutions and organisations can send their evaluations.
All material which has been received concerning a draft law shall be evaluated and summarised by the principal committee. If it has been resolved in the Seimas to consider the text of the draft presented by the initiators, the principal committee shall be entitled to present alongside its own version for consideration at the Seimas sitting.
If a draft law has been announced to the public for consideration, the received proposals shall be referred to the principal committee.
Article 155. Each draft law must be considered by the principal committee no later than 3 workdays prior to the consideration thereof at a sitting of the Seimas. The time and place of such deliberations must be publicly announced.
Representatives of the initiators of the draft, representatives of the committees which are preparing additional conclusions, and experts shall be invited to the deliberations by the principal committee. Said persons must be granted the floor at the sitting of the committee. Other Seimas members present at the committee sitting shall be, as a rule, allowed to speak about the draft under consideration.
Representatives of other interested State institutions and public organisations may also be invited to the sitting. Upon the consent of the presiding officer, they may also be granted the floor.
In the event that the principal committee fails to examine the draft law within the established time period, it must address the Seimas Speaker with a request to prolong the period. (Amended 23 February 1995 and 19 December 1995)
Article 156. During deliberations in the principal committee one of the following decisions must be adopted, which shall be presented for consideration of the draft at the Seimas sitting:
1) to approve of a draft law submitted by the initiators, or of a draft law revised by the committee;
6) to reject the draft.
After deliberations by the principal committee, the draft which has been submitted by the initiators or revised by the committee shall be forwarded to the Documentation Department for editing. The edited draft shall be co-ordinated with representatives of the initiators thereof and of the committees.
The edited text of the draft must be distributed among the Seimas members and delivered to the Government no later than 2 days prior to deliberations at the Seimas sitting. Additional data together with a cover letter shall be distributed among the Seimas members no later than 1 workday prior to above deliberations.
The Seimas Chancellor must be notified of the principal committee reporter no later than 1 working day prior to the consideration of the draft law at the sitting of the Seimas.
When possible, a recording shall be made during the deliberations in the principal committee, and minutes shall be kept of the speeches which are made. (Amended 28 June 1995)
Article 1561. If during deliberation of the draft in the principal committee, not less than three committee members do not agree with the decision of the majority, they may present their own separate opinion to the Seimas, which must be discussed as alternative during the consideration at the Seimas sitting. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Chapter 22. Consideration of Draft Laws at Seimas Sittings
Article 157. During consideration at a sitting of the Seimas, the expediency, conception and the basic provisions and principles of the draft law shall be discussed and the received amendments and supplements shall be presented. At the Seimas sitting, the draft law shall be considered according to the following procedure:
2) a vote, should the principal Committee propose to return the draft to its initiators or to reject it;
5) a general discussion of the basic provisions of the draft law -- statements of the Government, other Committees, parliamentary group members, and individual Seimas members;
6) a special discussion of the structure, individual sections, paragraphs, and articles of the draft. Should there be no proposals to hold a special discussion, the Seimas may abandon said discussion or hold it together with the general discussion; and
7) a concluding word by the principal speaker and representatives of the initiators of alternative drafts.
The time allotted to the special and general discussions in the Seimas sitting agenda shall be divided into two parts for representatives of the majority and minority. If the representatives of the Seimas majority or minority have not fully used the time allotted for discussion, the discussion shall be completed prior to expiration of the allotted time. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 158. After consideration, the Seimas shall decide:
1) whether or not to approve the draft prepared by the initiators or revised by the Committee, or one of the alternative drafts, and whether or not to appoint the date of passage of the law after at least 2 working days. If necessary, the principal Committee shall be charged to make the necessary amendments and supplements in accordance with the comments voiced during the discussion;
2) whether or not to announce the draft for public consideration. In such a case the procedure shall be repeated beginning from the consideration in the principal Committee. As a rule, the draft of one and the same law shall not be announced for public consideration twice;
3) whether or not to return the draft for revision to the principal Committee. In such a case, the procedure shall be repeated beginning from the consideration in the principal Committee. The above decision may be adopted only once during the consideration of the draft;
4) whether or not to adjourn the consideration of the draft in the event that the consideration has not been completed at one sitting, or if it transpires that the Seimas members require additional information for the passage of the law, or in the cases provided for in Article 110 of this Statute;
5) whether or not to return the draft to its initiators for fundamental revision. In such a case, the full procedure of considering the draft law shall be repeated beginning from the submission thereof at the Seimas sitting; and
Chapter 23. The Passage of a Draft Law at a Seimas Sitting
Article 159. If the Committee presents a newly revised version of a draft for adoption, said draft must be distributed among the Seimas members and delivered to the Government at least 2 workdays before the sitting.
All draft laws and legal acts submitted for adoption shall be referred to the Documentation Department for editing and to the Legal Department for preparing conclusions. The drafts shall be referred to these departments at least 5 days before they are adopted.
By reason of compelling circumstances, non-compliance with the requirements stipulated in paragraph 2 of this Article may be authorised by the Seimas Chancellor.
If there are essential amendments and supplements in the draft, it shall be desirable that the additional criminological examination provided for in Paragraph 4 of Article 140 be carried out.
The Seimas members, parliamentary groups, Committees and the Government must present all proposed deletions, amendments and supplements to the draft law with their respective signatures to the Secretariat of the sittings at least 24 hours before the commencement of the sitting whereat the passage of the draft law is planned. The Secretariat of the sittings shall hand the above amendments, supplements and deletions over to the principal Committee which is examining the law, shall make copies thereof, and shall distribute them to all of the Seimas members.
An amendment or supplement must be adequately formulated and conform to the substance of the draft.
During the passage of the law, new amendments, supplements and deletions shall not be accepted, with the exception of editorial corrections which shall be neither discussed nor put to vote, but which shall be submitted in writing to the principal Committee which examined the draft law.
In some cases committees may during the passage present justified amendments in writing. However, on the recommendation of the reporter, the passage thereof may be postponed till the next sitting. (Amended 23 February 1995, 19 December 1995 and 11 November 1997)
Article 160. During the passage of a draft law the reporter shall give a brief notification of the amendments made by the Committee and shall discuss the additional proposals and amendments which have been received, naming the persons who submitted them.
Thereafter, separate parts of the draft law shall be voted on. The chapters, sections and articles of the draft shall be adopted according to their sequence, unless the Seimas decides otherwise. The officer presiding over the sitting may put the articles which condition the principles and structure of the draft to vote before voting on other articles. Articles to which no proposals have been submitted may be passed without vote, provided that not a single member of the Seimas objects thereto. In other cases, a vote shall be taken on each article, section, and chapter.
During passage, the floor may only be granted to the authors of the submitted amendments and supplements (for up to 2 minutes on each proposal), the reporter on the motives of voting as well, and the reporter shall not be asked any questions. Upon being granted the floor concerning an amendment or supplement, the author thereof may not speak on the motives of voting.
Until the entire draft law is not passed, the Seimas members may only speak on the motives and methods of voting. The officer presiding over the sitting shall grant the floor on all other issues only after the entire draft has been passed. (Amended 20 December 1994)
Article 161. A separate article of the law shall be considered and passed in accordance with the following procedure:
1) the reporter shall announce the proposals received in writing -- either to amend the entire article, to alter some statements of the article, to supplement the article, to delete some statements of the article, as well as may briefly comment on each proposal (for a maximum of 2 minutes each);
2) during voting, alternative proposals shall be chosen. When several proposals concerning one article have been received, voting shall be conducted according to the sequence specified in par 1 hereof, and in the case of the specified sequence -- according to the sequence in which the proposals have been submitted. Amendments or supplements to the amendment shall be voted on prior to voting on the amendment itself. Proposals contradicting those previously adopted shall be rejected without voting by the officer presiding over the sitting. When the reporter announces that the principal Committee is adopting the proposal, a vote is not necessary, provided that no members of the Seimas object thereto. Before voting, the person who submitted the proposal may retract it; and
3) the entire article shall be put to vote.
Additional articles of the draft law which are submitted shall be considered and adopted according to the same procedure as for all the other articles of the draft law.
Article 162. If the reporter believes that it is necessary to hold one more sitting of the Committee for the co-ordination of the adopted proposals and so requests, passage may be adjourned after voting on all articles, but for no longer than until the next day of the Seimas sitting. After adjournment, amendments and supplements proposed by the Committee which must not contradict the content of the adopted articles shall be discussed and put to the vote. During the discussion, other proposals concerning amendments and supplements shall not be accepted.
In the event that the articles which condition the principles and structure of the law, as well as separate sections or chapters, are not adopted during voting, the reporter may propose to amend the draft prior to voting on the entire draft law. If the Seimas adopts said proposal, the procedure shall be continued from the consideration of the draft law at the principal Committee. During consideration of a draft law, the above alternative may only be used once.
When voting for articles of the draft law on taxes or other laws which regulate taxes or due to which the State revenue can change immensely, the passage of the law shall be adjourned till the next day of sittings, if the member of the Government, a representative of the Government at the Seimas or a person specially authorised by the head of the Government, or the Seimas Committee on Budget and Finances requests so during the passage of a law.
When continuing passage of the law, the procedure of adopting the last article before the adjourn shall be repeated.
If during the consideration of a draft law, it is amended in such a manner that its provisions may be not in accordance with the European Union law, the principal committee may request the Legal Bureau under the Ministry of European Affairs to furnish new conclusions. (Amended and supplemented 19 December 1995 and 1 July 1997)
Article 163. During the passage of a law, proposals to reject the draft shall not be accepted. The draft shall be deemed to have been rejected provided it did not receive the required number of votes.
After all the articles of the law have been considered, the entire draft law shall be put to the vote. If the law is not passed, the Seimas may charge the initiators of the draft or the principal Committee to work out a new draft.
As necessary, a resolution concerning the enforcement of the law shall be considered and passed, and laws on amendment, supplement and repeal of other laws or their articles related to the enacted law shall be considered and adopted during the passage of the law. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 164. Before the passed law is submitted to the President of the republic for signing, the Seimas Speaker, a Committee or no less than 1/5 of Seimas members may address the Seimas with a justified petition concerning the violations of the Statute of the Seimas, committed, in their opinion, during the passage of a law. Should such a petition be received, the Commission on Ethics and Procedures must present its conclusions and proposals to the Seimas within 5 workdays. Until the Commission on Ethics and Procedures presents such conclusions, the Seimas Speaker shall not hand the law over to the President of the Republic for signing.
In the event that the Commission on Ethics and Procedures states that the legislative procedure or any other significant provisions of this Statute have been grossly violated, and that this conditioned the decision of the Seimas, the Seimas shall decide by vote whether to revoke the disputed law or to leave it in effect.
Should the Seimas revoke its former decision concerning the draft, the consideration thereof may be continued from the stage when the violation was committed. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 165. If the draft law is rejected at any stage of consideration, it may be submitted again, but no sooner than 6 months thereafter. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Chapter 24. Consideration of Draft Law according to
Procedures of Urgency or Special Urgency
Article 166. Projects of Seimas resolutions and, should the Seimas so decide, draft laws, shall be considered according to the procedure of urgency.
The above procedure shall be used upon the justified motion of the President of the Republic, the Seimas Speaker, the Seimas Board, the principal Committee, a parliamentary group, or the Government. The decision to consider a draft law according to the procedure of urgency may be adopted during the presentation or consideration of a draft by a majority of voting members, provided that said majority is more than 1/5 of all the Seimas members. (Amended 20 December 1994)
Article 167. If the urgent procedure of consideration is applied, the time period between the stages of consideration--consideration in the principal Committee, consideration in the Seimas sitting, and passage -- shall be shortened. Said time periods must not be shorter than 1 workday. The Seimas shall establish the concrete terms in each case separately, however, in each case, the draft law under consideration must be distributed to the Seimas members at least 1 day prior to the sitting at which it will be passed. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 168. On the proposal of the President of the Republic, the Seimas Speaker or the Government, drafts of laws and resolutions of the Seimas may be considered according to the procedure of special urgency. The decision to apply the above procedure shall be adopted by a majority vote of all the Seimas members participating in the sitting, provided that said majority is more than 1/4 of all the Seimas members.
According to the above procedure, if the draft has been distributed to the Seimas members and the requirements prescribed in Chapter 19 of this Statute have been implemented, the procedure of passage may be commenced immediately and the requirements of par. 1, 2 and 3 of Article 159 of the Statute shall not be applied, however, all amendments must be presented in writing not later than 2 hours prior to the commencement of the passage procedure.
A decision to apply the procedure of special urgency may be adopted during the presentation or consideration of the draft at the sitting of the Seimas. (Amended 20 December 1994)
Chapter 25. Consideration at Seimas Sittings of the Law
which has been Returned by the President of the Republic
Article 169. If, pursuant to par. 1 of Article 71 of the Constitution, the President of the Republic returns a draft law which has been passed by the Seimas to the Seimas for repeat consideration, the Seimas Speaker shall notify the Seimas thereof at the next sitting.
No later than the next day of sittings the Seimas must decide by voting whether to consider the returned law anew, or whether to deem the law as not having been passed. In the latter case, the Seimas may charge one of the Committees to prepare a new draft of the law or form a working group for the above purpose. Only speaking about the motives of voting may precede voting.
Should the decision be made to consider the draft law anew, the Seimas must set the date of consideration at the sitting of the Seimas. The consideration must be held no later than within a week. (Amended 23 February 1995)
Article 170. Consideration at the Seimas sitting of the returned law shall be prepared in accordance with the requirements set forth in V Part of this Statute.
After the consideration, adoption of the law which has been repeatedly considered by the Seimas shall be held at the Seimas. (Amended 23 February 1995)
Article 171. During passage of the returned law, a vote shall first of all be taken on whether to pass the entire law without amendments.
A law which has been repeatedly considered by the Seimas shall be deemed passed provided that more than half (in the case of a constitutional law -- at least 3/5) of all of the Seimas members voted in favour thereof.
If the law without amendments has not been passed, a vote shall be taken on whether to pass the law with all of the amendments and supplements submitted by the President of the Republic. In this case the repeatedly considered law shall be deemed to have been passed provided that the majority of the Seimas members participating in the sitting voted in favour thereof, and in the case of a constitutional law - more than half of all the Seimas members. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Chapter 25. Amendments to the Constitution and
Consideration of Draft Constitutional Laws
Article 172. The following shall be deemed to be constitutional laws:
1) laws provided for in Article 150 of the Constitution as well as Constitutional amendments. The procedure of their consideration and passage shall be established in Chapter 14 of the Constitution and this Chapter of the Statute of the Seimas; and
2) laws which are directly specified in the Constitution as well as other laws which give concrete expression to constitutional norms and are set forth in the Law on the list of constitutional laws. The procedure of their consideration and passage shall be defined in Article 69 of the Constitution and in this Chapter of the Statute.
The list of constitutional laws shall be established by the Seimas by a 3/5 majority vote of the Seimas members. Laws which have already been passed may also be included in the list if the Seimas arrives at the conclusion that said laws are, according to their content and significance, constitutional.
Article 173. Consideration of the draft Law on Amendment of the Constitution shall commence consideration in the Seimas only in cases when the draft is submitted by a group of at least 1/4 of the Seimas members or at least 300,000 electors who have expressed their will by putting their signatures under the text of the proposed amendment, with the exception of cases provided for in the Constitution which provide for Constitutional amendment only by referendum.
The Constitution may not be amended during a state of emergency or martial law.
Article 174. Drafts of constitutional laws shall be registered, submitted, considered, and passed according to the procedure established in Chapters 19-25 of this Statute, unless otherwise provided in this Chapter. Said drafts may not be considered according to the procedures of urgency or special urgency.
Before commencing consideration of such a draft at a Seimas sitting, the draft must be considered by the principal Committee which is examining said draft within the 10-day period prior thereto, and distributed to the Seimas members and delivered to the Government within the 7-day period prior thereto. After consideration at the Seimas sitting, the procedure of passing the law shall commence no sooner than 10 days thereafter.
The Committee on State and Law shall be the principal Committee examining drafts of constitutional laws.
It shall be prohibited to restrict discussions on the constitutional law which is under consideration, with the exception of cases when such a decision is adopted by a majority vote of at least 1/3 of all of the Seimas members. (Amended 28 June 1995)
Article 175. Laws on constitutional amendments shall be considered and voting in the Seimas thereon shall be held twice, with an adjournment of at least 3 months between voting.
A law on amendment of the Constitution shall be deemed to have been passed by the Seimas provided that at least 2/3 of all the Seimas members voted in favour thereof during each voting, and that the same text of the amendment was put to the vote each time.
A constitutional amendment which has not been passed may be submitted to the Seimas for repeat consideration no sooner than 1 year thereafter.
Other constitutional laws shall be deemed to have been passed if more than a half of the Seimas members vote in favour thereof.
Amendments to said constitutional laws or laws which repeal or amend the laws which have been in effect prior thereto must be passed by a 3/5 majority vote of all the Seimas members by taking a single vote thereon.
Chapter 27. Adoption of Resolutions
Article 176. A resolution shall be a non-standard act of the Seimas which shall be adopted when it is required to confirm in writing the opinion of the Seimas on any issue which is of national importance. Other non-standard acts of the Seimas (appeals, declarations, non-standard resolutions, etc.) shall be adopted in the same manner as resolutions.
The right of initiative to submit a resolution shall be vested in the President of the Republic, members of the Seimas, Committees, parliamentary groups. Proposals to consider a resolution may be submitted during the discussion of the agenda of a week's or a day's sittings. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 177. The text of the draft of a resolution must be presented to the Seimas members at least one day prior to the consideration thereof.
During consideration, a representative of the initiators of the draft of the resolution shall be granted the floor and shall answer questions; thereafter, a discussion shall be held according to the general procedure.
Article 178. After consideration the Seimas shall resolve whether:
1) to adopt the resolution without amendments. Said proposal may not be adopted if more than 1/3 of all of the Seimas members object thereto;
3) to reject the draft of the resolution or to charge the preparation of a new draft.
Article 179. Should it be decided to edit the draft of the resolution, the Seimas shall assign the date and time of its consideration and shall form a drafting commission. No more than 9 members of the Seimas may be on the commission. The drafting commission must include at least one initiator of the draft of the resolution. Other members of the Seimas shall submit their written proposals to the drafting commission.
Article 180. After the drafting commission announces the revised text, new proposals may be considered only on the decision of the Seimas.
Should the drafting commission reject the proposals which have been submitted in advance, the Seimas shall take a vote on said proposals at the request of the persons who have submitted them. Upon completion of the voting on alternative proposals, the entire text of the resolution shall be voted on.
Chapter 28. Approval of State Budget
Article 181. Upon drawing up the draft State Budget for the following year, the Government shall submit said draft to the Seimas by the 17th of October. The Seimas Chancellor shall forward copies of the draft of the budget to the Committees and parliamentary groups not later than within 3 days.
The report of the Government on the draft Budget shall be heard at the next sitting of the Seimas. Thereafter, at least 10 days shall be assigned for consideration of the draft Budget in Committees and parliamentary groups. Sittings of the Seimas shall not be held during the above-specified period. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 182. The Committees shall examine the chapters of the draft State Budget in accordance with their competence, and shall formulate their conclusions and amendments and submit them by the 10th of November to the Committee on Budget and Finance.
Representatives of the Government and the Committee on Budget and Finance shall be invited to the sittings of Committees during which the draft State Budget is to be examined. The Government must furnish the Committees with all the data whereon the draft Budget is based.
Article 183. At all stages of consideration of the draft State Budget, Committees, parliamentary groups, and individual members of the Seimas may propose an increase in the expenditures provided for in the draft only on condition that they specify the sources of financing said expenditure.
It shall not be permitted to propose a decrease in the expenditures included in the draft Budget pursuant to laws, other standard acts adopted by the Seimas, and international obligations of the Republic of Lithuania. Should the Seimas desire to reduce said expenditure, it must first of all amend the appropriate standard acts.
Article 184. Upon receipt of the conclusions of other Committees and of the opinions and proposed amendments of parliamentary groups, the Committee on Budget and Finance shall, together with the representatives of the Government, parliamentary groups, and other Committees, consider the draft State Budget and formulate conclusions thereon.
The Committee on Budget and Finance must either adopt the amendments to the Budget Law proposed by another Committee if said amendments are within the competence of the respective Committee, or reject said amendments, presenting a justified response.
All Committees of the Seimas shall also be entitled to submit proposals to amend those chapters of the Budget which are not within their competence. In such an event, the Committee on Budget and Finance shall not be obligated to notify the Committee of the adopted decision.
Article 185. The draft State Budget must be considered at the Seimas sitting no later than by the 20th of November. At the sitting, a report of the Committee on Budget and Finance shall be heard, and conclusions of other Committees as well as opinions and commentaries of parliamentary groups and individual Seimas members, which have been rejected by the Committee on Budget and Finance shall be submitted.
Article 186. The second deliberation of the draft State Budget shall be conducted within 10 days after the primary deliberation of the draft; at the second deliberation the Government shall present the draft revised in accordance with the received proposals and commentaries. During the sitting, a representative of the Government shall announce which proposals and amendments submitted by Committees, parliamentary groups, and individual members of the Seimas have been included in the draft Budget and which have been rejected, shall give reasons for said rejections, and shall answer questions of the Seimas members.
After the discussion, a vote shall be taken on assigning at one of the next Seimas sittings the passage of a law which approves the State Budget. Prior to the commencement of the sitting, new proposals and amendments shall be submitted to the representative of the Government according to the procedure established in Article 159 of this Statute. Should there be a great number of significant comments concerning the draft Budget, said draft may be returned to the Government for revision. No more than 10 days shall be allotted therefor; thereafter, the procedure of second deliberation shall be resumed.
Article 187. Alternative proposals and amendments which are objected to by the Government but which meet the conditions set forth in Article 183 of this Chapter may be adopted only after more than half of all the Seimas members vote in favour thereof.
Upon considering and adopting decisions concerning the proposals and amendments, the Seimas must vote on the entire draft State Budget.
The Budget shall be approved pursuant to the indices established in the Law on Budgeting of the Republic of Lithuania. The appropriations according to the chapters of budget expenditure shall also be concurrently approved. The appropriations shall be mandatory to all executors of the Budget.
Article 188. In the event that the Seimas rejects the draft State Budget, one more deliberation shall be assigned to be held no sooner than 5 days, and no later than 10 days after, during which a draft revised by the Government in accordance with the comments of the Committees, parliamentary groups, and members of the Seimas shall be presented. The deliberation shall be conducted according to the procedure provided for in Article 186 of this Chapter.
In the event of failure to approve the State Budget within the established time limits, the monthly budgetary expenditure in the beginning of the budget year may not exceed 1/12 of the State Budget expenditure of the preceding year. (Amended 28 June 1995)
Article 189. The Seimas may revise the Budget during the budget year. The Budget shall be revised in the same procedure it is drawn up, adopted and approved. As necessary, the Seimas may approve an additional budget.
In the event that funds which cannot be allocated from the Government Reserve Fund or additional funds which are obtained during the performance of the Budget are required, the Government shall submit to the Seimas a draft law on supplementary appropriations. The purpose and amount of the required funds as well as the source of the financing thereof shall be specified in the draft.
Adhering to the conditions stipulated in Article 183 of this Chapter, Committees, parliamentary groups or individual members of the Seimas may propose a draft law on the revision of certain budget expenditure clauses.
In the above case, a law shall be passed by a majority vote of the Seimas members participating in the sitting provided that the Government has no objections thereto. Otherwise, the affirmative vote of more than a half of all the Seimas members shall be required for passing the law.
Chapter 29. Ratification and Denunciation of International Treaties
Article 190. A law concerning the ratification of a international treaty shall be adopted by a majority vote of the Seimas members present at the sitting, but no less than 2/5 of all of the Seimas members.
Denunciation of a treaty shall be deemed to have been adopted if no less than 3/5 of all of the Seimas members voted in favour thereof.
The State borders may be realigned only by an international treaty of the Republic of Lithuania, provided it is ratified by 4/5 of all of the Seimas members. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Chapter 30. The Procedure for Electing Members
to the Seimas Board
Article 191. The Seimas Speaker, Deputy Speakers and the Seimas Chancellor shall be elected from among the Seimas members at the first session of the Seimas for the entire term during which the Seimas is in office.
Upon the resignation, demise, or dismissal by the Seimas of any of the above officers from office, or upon the election or appointment thereof to another office, elections for an officer to fill the post shall be held during the next sitting of the Seimas in accordance with the procedure provided for in this Statute.
Article 192. The Seimas Speaker shall be elected by secret ballot at the first sitting of the Seimas following the elections.
Candidates to the office of Seimas Speaker may be nominated by written application by at least 1/10 of the Seimas.
Candidates to the offices of deputy of the Seimas Speaker and the Seimas Chancellor shall, upon having co-ordinated with parliamentary groups, be nominated by the Seimas Speaker in such a manner that the Seimas Board would include one or two representatives of the Seimas minority. Said officers shall be elected by secret ballot. (Amended 28 June 1995, 19 December 1995 and 26 November 1996)
Article 193. After being nominated to a post, candidates must, prior to the elections, state whether or not they agree to run for election.
Each candidate, in alphabetical order, shall be granted the floor for 15 minutes; candidates to the office of Seimas Speaker shall be entitled to 30 minutes; corresponding amounts of time shall be allotted for said persons to answer questions. Thereafter, a debate shall commence if the Seimas members so desire.
Article 194. Voting for each candidate shall be done separately. If more candidates than necessary are nominated for election to one office, voting shall be done by ballot with a list of candidates.
A candidate shall be deemed elected if more than half of the voting Seimas members vote for him or her, with the exception of repeat voting as provided for in this Chapter, in which case the candidate who has received a relative majority of votes shall be deemed elected.
In the event that no candidate receives the required majority of votes, or if it is impossible to determine which of the candidates have been elected due to a tie, a repeat vote shall be held.
Article 195. In voting for an empty post when there are more than two candidates, all of the candidates, with the exception of those who received the lowest number of votes, shall remain on the ballot for repeat balloting. If several candidates have tied for the least number of votes and two or more candidates received more votes, the candidates with the least number of votes shall be removed from the next ballot. Otherwise, all of the candidates shall remain on the next ballot. If the situation remains unchanged after the repeat vote, the election shall be postponed to another day. If two candidates receive the required number of votes, the provisions of par. 2 hereof shall apply.
If there are two candidates for an empty office during a repeat vote, the Seimas member who received more votes shall be deemed to have been elected. In the event of a tie, a repeat vote shall be held the next day; if no candidate is elected during the repeat vote, a new election shall be held.
When elections to several unfilled offices are held simultaneously and the number of candidates exceeds the number of offices, the names of all of the candidates who were nominated but not elected shall be entered on the ballots for repeat voting. After the repeat vote, the candidates who received the most votes shall be deemed to have been elected. When necessary, balloting shall be repeated on another day.
Chapter 31. Consideration of the Prime Minister's Candidature
and the Government Programme
Article 196. In the cases provided for in the Constitution, the Seimas shall, upon receiving a nomination for the candidature of the Prime Minister from the President of the Republic, give the President of the Republic an opportunity to present the candidate during the next sitting. Upon presenting the candidature of the Prime Minister, the President of the Republic shall not be asked any questions. After the President of the Republic has presented the candidature of the Prime Minister, the candidate shall be granted the floor (for up to 30 minutes); thereafter the candidate shall answer questions posed by the members of the Seimas (for up to 40 minutes).
Thereafter, the candidature of the Prime Minister shall be referred to parliamentary groups of the Seimas for consideration. Parliamentary groups shall have the right to invite the candidate to their sittings for a question and answer session at a time co-ordinated with the candidate.
Parliamentary groups must consider the candidature of the Prime Minister within 2 work days.
Article 197. Another sitting of the Seimas must be organised within 5 work days from the presentation of the candidature of the Prime Minister in order to adopt a decision concerning the proposed candidacy.
During this sitting, the conclusions of parliamentary groups, beginning with the biggest parliamentary group and ending with the smallest parliamentary group, shall be heard first. Thereafter, a discussion shall be held, at the end of which the candidate shall be granted the floor (for up to 20 minutes), and shall also be given the opportunity to answer questions posed by members of the Seimas (for up to 30 minutes).
Once the candidate finishes answering questions, a vote shall be taken on whether or not the candidature of the Prime Minister should be approved.
The President of the Republic has the right to revoke the nominated candidature at any time up until the beginning of the vote for approval. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 198. The Prime Minister shall, within 15 days of being appointed, present a Government which has been approved by the President of the Republic to the Seimas and submit the Government programme for consideration. Members of the newly-formed Government must attend the presentation. The Government programme must be distributed among the Seimas members at least 24 hours prior to the sitting.
When explaining the programme, the Prime Minister may speak for up to 40 minutes. A total of an hour and a half shall be allotted for answering questions. Questions may be posed to the Prime Minister and any of the ministers. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 199. After being presented, the Government programme shall be considered by the Seimas parliamentary groups, while appropriate Seimas Committees shall consider the individual sections thereof.
Committees and parliamentary groups shall have the right to invite the Prime Minister or other minister, at a time co-ordinated therewith, to answer questions concerning the Government programme.
Seimas Committees and parliamentary groups must prepare their conclusions concerning the Government programme within 10 days after it is presented.
Article 200. The Seimas must consider the Government programme during a sitting within 15 days after it is presented.
Conclusions of the Committees and parliamentary groups shall first be heard at the sitting. Thereafter, a debate shall be held, at the termination of which the Prime Minister shall be granted the floor (for up to 20 minutes); the Prime Minister and ministers shall also be given the opportunity to answer questions posed by the Seimas members one more time (for a total period of up to an hour and a half).
The debate concerning the Government programme may be terminated by majority vote of more than half of the voting members of the Seimas. Such a proposal shall be put to vote without discussion provided that at least one other member of the Seimas expresses support therefor.
When the question and answer session has been completed, the Seimas must adopt a decision concerning the Government programme. The wording of the decision shall be presented in the conclusions of the Committees and parliamentary groups. In the event that the Government programme is not approved or is returned to the Government for improvement thereof, a revised version of the Government programme must be presented to the Seimas within 10 days, and the procedure for discussion thereof shall be repeated in the manner established in Articles 198, 199, and 200. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 201. The new Government shall be granted authorisation to act after the Seimas approves its programme by majority vote of the Seimas members present at the sitting.
In the event that the Seimas refuses to approve the programme of the newly-formed Government two times in succession, the Government must resign.
Article 202. When more than a half of the ministers are changed, the Government must receive a new delegation of power from the Seimas. Otherwise the Government must resign.
If more than half of the ministers have been replaced, the Prime Minister must, within 7 days of the last change of ministers, present the newly appointed minister, as well as the amendments to the Government programme if amendments have been made, during a sitting of the Seimas in order to be granted new authorisation; in the event that said changes were made between sessions, the Prime Minister must make said presentations during the first 7 days of the next Seimas session.
During the presentation, the Seimas members may pose questions to the Prime Minister and the newly appointed minister (up to 30 minutes for each).
In the event that amendments to the Government programme are presented, discussion shall be continued according to the procedure established in Articles 198 and 199 of this Statute. Otherwise, a discussion shall be held immediately after the presentation of the minister, whereafter the Seimas may take a vote concerning the granting of authorisation or may decide to refer the issue to the Committees and parliamentary groups for consideration, but for no longer than 7 days. In the latter case, a discussion shall be held after the conclusions of the Committees and parliamentary groups have been presented, and a vote concerning the granting of authorisation shall be taken upon hearing an additional speech by the Prime Minister (not exceeding 30 minutes). (Amended 28 June 1995)
Chapter 32. Consideration of Candidatures of Constitutional Court Judges, Supreme Court Judges and other State Officers, and their Appointment
(Amended 28 June 1995)
Article 203. The Seimas shall appoint the judges of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court as well as the chairpersons of these Courts and shall also appoint officers of the State and appoint or form collegiate institutions (in corpore), if it is provided for in the Constitution and laws. The persons who shall nominate candidates to the above offices shall be established by the Constitution and other appropriate laws.
The Seimas shall also decide whether or not to approve of the candidatures of the judges and officers appointed by the President of the Republic if this is provided for in the Constitution and laws. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 204. Candidates to offices whereto officers are appointed by the Seimas or offices for the appointment whereto approval of the Seimas is required shall be presented at Seimas sittings by the person who nominated said candidate or proposed the composition of a collegiate institution (in corpore). A maximum of 10 minutes shall be allotted for the presentation of individual candidates, whereas a maximum of 20 minutes shall be allotted for the presentation of members of a collegiate institution. The biographical data of the candidates must be distributed to the Seimas members prior to the presentation.
Information concerning candidatures of Constitutional Court and Supreme Court judges must be published in the press at least two weeks before their presentation in the Seimas.
Said candidates, including cases when collegiate institutions (in corpore) are being formed, must attend the Seimas sitting at which they are presented.
After being presented, candidates to Constitutional Court and Supreme Court judges as well as candidates to heads of State institutions shall be granted the floor (for a maximum of 10 minutes). All candidates must, without exception, answer questions put to them by members of the Seimas: up to 15 minutes shall be allotted to each candidate to the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court judge as well as to every other individual candidate, and up to 30 minutes shall be allotted to all of the candidates to a collegiate institution.
Article 205. After being presented, candidatures shall be considered by the Seimas parliamentary groups and appropriate Committees.
Parliamentary groups and Committees shall have the right to invite candidates, at a time co-ordinated therewith, to attend their respective sittings in order to pose questions to them.
Parliamentary groups and Committees must present their conclusions concerning candidatures to the Seimas within 7 days from the presentation of the candidature.
Article 206. Proposed candidatures must be considered in a sitting of the Seimas within 10 days from their presentation. This sitting must be attended by the person who presented the candidatures as well as the candidates, including candidates to collegiate institutions (in corpore).
The conclusions of parliamentary groups and Committees shall be heard first. Thereafter a discussion shall be held, during the end whereof the candidates and the person who presented the candidatures shall be granted the floor (for a maximum of 10 minutes).
Thereafter the Seimas shall take a vote concerning the appointment of judges to the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court and of other officers, the appointment or formation of a collegiate institution (in corpore), or the approval of a candidature appointed by the President of the Republic. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 207. Prior to the commencement of work, judges of the Constitutional and Supreme Courts shall take an oath in the Seimas to be loyal to the Republic of Lithuania and its Constitution, and to administer justice only in accordance with the laws. The State Controller, Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, as well as other newly-appointed officers of the State shall publicly take an oath during a sitting of the Seimas if it is so provided in the laws regulating the activities of their respective State institution.
Article 208. If an officer of the State or a court judge is dismissed, resigns, or for some other reason cannot continue to carry out his or her duties, during a session of the Seimas another person must be appointed to said post or the candidature for an appropriate post must be approved within one month of the beginning of the vacancy or the beginning of the session. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Chapter 33. Accountability of the Government and other State Officers to the Seimas
Article 209. Within 3 workdays after every sitting of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, copies of the decrees adopted by the Government must be delivered to the Seimas for distribution among all of the Committees and parliamentary groups.
If the State Controller has not agreed with the decree of the Government and therefore expressed a separate opinion about the decree of the Government, he shall, within 3 working days following the sitting of the Government, notify the Seimas of this in writing. Upon having received the separate opinion of the State Controller, the Seimas Chancellor shall, not later than within 2 working days, refer it to the Seimas Committee on State and Law and, if necessary, to other Seimas committees as well.
The separate opinion of the State Controller concerning the decrees adopted by the Government shall be considered by the Seimas committees at the next committee sitting. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 210. At the request of the Seimas, the Government or individual ministers must account to the Seimas for their respective activities. The above shall also apply to heads of other State institutions who are either appointed by the Seimas or for whose appointment the approval of the Seimas is required, with the exception of courts.
Persons who are invited shall answer questions posed by the Seimas members, and shall furnish other information concerning their own activities and the activities of the institutions subordinate to them.
When drawing up the week's work programme of the Seimas, it shall be established which State institution head shall answer the questions and interpellations of the Seimas members that week.
Article 211. During a session of the Seimas, at the beginning of each evening sitting of the Seimas, members of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall for a period of 30 minutes answer questions of the Seimas members submitted either orally or in writing. The written questions shall be submitted through the Secretariat of the sittings no later than 2 days prior to the sitting. 24 hours prior to the sitting of the Seimas the Assembly of Spokespersons shall determine who of the members of the Government are to answer questions submitted to them in writing, as a rule, taking into account the number of questions submitted in writing. The Speaker of the Seimas shall establish the sequence of questions which are planned to be answered and shall inform the Assembly of Spokespersons thereof before the sitting of the Seimas.
15 minutes shall be allotted for answering questions of the Seimas members which have been submitted in advance. The remaining time shall be used for answering additionally posed oral questions. Members of the Seimas whose questions submitted in writing are being answered by a member of the Government shall have priority in posing additional oral questions. The remaining time shall be allotted for answering questions of other members of the Seimas in proportion to the membership of parliamentary groups.
The duration of questions posed orally may not exceed 1 minute, and the answer of a member of the Government may not last longer than 2 minutes. (Amended 23 February 1995)
Article 2111. Before a sitting begins, 10 Seimas members may submit to the Secretariat of the sittings a written question for a member of the Government present at the sitting, concerning an urgent problem with the request that an answer should be given to it during the same sitting. One Seimas member may sign not more than one such request.
At the end of the sitting an answer of the Government member to such a question shall be allotted not more than 15 minutes. By the decision of the Seimas the time allotted for an answer may be extended. The Seimas members who have signed the request shall have the right of priority to pose oral questions. Should the member of the Government request so, he shall be provided with a possibility to answer the submitted question at the next sitting, but not later than within three days. (Supplemented 19 December 1995)
Article 212. At least once a month, the State Controller and other heads of State institutions who are either appointed by the Seimas or whose appointment requires the approval of the Seimas, with the exception of judges, must answer the questions of the Seimas members during a sitting of the Seimas; said questions must be submitted in advance in written form. The procedure for submitting and registering the questions shall be as specified in Article 211.
Time permitting, the Seimas members may ask the above officers other questions either orally or in writing.
Article 2121. Having received the recommendations or proposals of Seimas committees and commissions, the members of the Government and other State officers must consider them and give an answer within 15 days from the receipt thereof. (Supplemented 19 December 1995)
Article 213. Criminal action may not be taken against the Prime Minister, ministers, or judges; said officials may not be arrested, or their liberty may not be in any other way restricted without the prior consent of the Seimas or, in the period between the sessions of the Seimas, without the prior consent of the President of the Republic.
Should a motion be submitted by the Procurator General of the Republic of Lithuania to institute criminal proceedings against the Prime Minister, an individual minister or a judge, a commission of inquiry shall be formed and other acts shall be performed pursuant to Article 24 of this Statute.
Chapter 34. Interpellations
Article 214. A member or group of members of the Seimas shall address a written interpellation to members of the Government or any other heads of State institutions who are appointed by the Seimas or whose appointment requires the approval of the Seimas, with the exception of courts, requesting that said officers present information concerning their activities and adopted decisions.
Only a question of national or public significance, in respect whereof a member or group of members of the Seimas have applied in writing or officially orally during the Seimas sitting to State institutions and have not, in their opinion, been given due consideration or have been given a negative reply, shall be considered as an interpellation. The Seimas Board may also consider as an interpellation questions, the national or public significance whereof is recognised by a Committee or a parliamentary group. (Amended 23 February 1995 and 19 December 1995)
Article 215. The Secretariat of the sittings shall register interpellations and hand them over to the Chancellor, who shall visa them and shall deliver to the appropriate officer. Interpellations of the Seimas members to the Government, State institutions and their answers to the interpellations of the Seimas members shall be announced in the Seimo kronika.
Persons who submit interpellations must name the officer whom they are addressing and specify whether they expects an oral or written reply. In the event that the form of reply is not specified, it shall be given in writing, shall be distributed to the Committees and parliamentary groups, and shall not be considered in a sitting of the Seimas.
Persons who submit interpellations shall have the right to withdraw them at any time. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 216. The period within which a reply to a written interpellation must be given may not exceed 10 days following the receipt of the interpellation and the period of its consideration in the Seimas sitting during a session - 10 days following the receipt of the reply to the interpellation.
In the event that the officer to whom the interpellation is addressed cannot reply within the established period, he or she must give a written substantiation thereof and propose a new date, but no later than within one month from the day of the lodging of the interpellation; however, should the interpellators object to the substantiation, the consideration of the interpellation must be held at the fixed date. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 217. During sessions, interpellations shall be considered at least twice a month at the sittings of the Seimas. Should at least 1/5 of the Seimas members request consideration of an interpellation, the interpellation shall be considered in the mandatory procedure.
The interpellations which have been submitted by the members of the Opposition parliamentary groups shall be considered in the first place.
The interpellators (at least one representative thereof) must participate in the consideration of the interpellation. If the interpellator is absent from the sitting, consideration of the interpellation shall be postponed. If the interpellator is absent from the sitting without prior notice, the interpellation shall be annulled.
Interpellator may not preside over sittings in which their interpellations are considered. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 218. An interpellation shall be considered at the sitting of the Seimas according to the following procedure:
3) a discussion, should it be requested by any Committee or parliamentary group. During the discussion, the floor shall, as a rule, be granted in turn to those members of the Seimas who approve of the reply to the interpellation and to those who object thereto. No more than 4 members of the Seimas shall be granted the floor, unless the Seimas decides to prolong the discussion.
In the event that the interpellators are dissatisfied with the reply to the interpellation, they may submit a draft resolution for consideration in the Seimas; the Seimas shall evaluate the reply and the draft therein.
Chapter 35. Removal from Office of Seimas Officers and
Heads of other State Institutions
Article 219. Proposals to dismiss a Seimas officer or a head of a State institution who is appointed by the Seimas, with the exception of cases of impeachment proceedings as provided for in the Constitution, must be considered when they are presented by a justified letter from the Seimas Board, a committee, or at least 1/5 of the Seimas members. A committee may not propose to remove the chairman of another committee from office.
Article 220. Petitions concerning the removal of an officer from office shall be filed with the Seimas Speaker; petitions to remove the Seimas Speaker from office shall be lodged with the Seimas Chancellor. Such petitions must be announced in the next sitting of the Seimas.
The members of the Seimas may not request to remove the same officer from office more than once during a single session. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 221. The officer of the Seimas whose removal from office is under discussion may not preside over that sitting.
During discussions concerning the dismissal of an officer of the Seimas or head of a State institution, the first person to be granted the floor shall be the representative of the initiators of the issue concerning removal from office (for up to 10 minutes); thereafter, the floor shall be granted to the officer whose removal from office is under consideration (for up to 30 minutes). The latter shall then be given up to 30 minutes to answer questions. The subsequent discussion shall be continued according to the general procedure.
Article 222. Decisions concerning the dismissal of Seimas officers or heads of State institutions shall be adopted by majority vote of more than a half of all Seimas members. Said voting shall be done by secret ballot.
Chapter 36. Interpellations and Non-Confidence in the Government
Article 223. During a session, a group of at least 1/5 of the Seimas members may submit an interpellation to the Prime Minister or an individual minister requesting that said officers elaborate on the motives of the decisions they have adopted.
No signature may be cancelled after the interpellation has been filed with the Seimas Chancellor, who shall immediately register the interpellation and refer it to the appropriate member of the Government and the Seimas members.
The Seimas members may not repeatedly interpellate the same member of the Government during one session. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 224. Upon receipt of an interpellation, a member of the Government must deliver a written reply to the Seimas Speaker within two weeks; the Seimas members shall be familiarised with said reply.
Upon receiving a reply to an interpellation, the Seimas must consider said reply during a sitting within 5 workdays.
Article 225. Interpellations shall be considered at sittings of the Seimas according to the following procedure:
1) a speech by the representative of the persons who submitted the interpellation (for up to 10 minutes);
3) answers to questions posed by the Seimas members to the officer who received the interpellation (for up to 30 minutes);
4) a discussion during which, as a rule, the floor shall be granted in turn to the members of the Seimas who approve of and to those who object to the reply to the interpellation;
6) the formation of a drafting commission according to the requirements set forth in Article 77 of this Statute for drawing up the draft resolution of the Seimas concerning the interpellation. The members who submitted the interpellation must constitute at least 1/3 of the commission members.
Article 226. Draft resolutions of the Seimas concerning interpellations must be presented to the Seimas for consideration no later than on the next day of sittings. The Seimas' approval or disapproval of the reply of the Prime Minister or an individual minister may be stated in the draft of the resolution of the Seimas concerning the interpellation.
In the event that the reply of the Prime Minister or the individual minister is recognised as inadequate and non-confidence in the Prime Minister or the individual minister is declared in a draft resolution of the Seimas, said draft may be adopted by majority vote of more than a half of all the Seimas members; said voting shall be done by secret ballot. Should such resolution be adopted, the Prime Minister or the individual minister in whom non-confidence has been declared must resign. When the Prime Minister resigns, the Government must resign in corpore. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 227. During a session of the Seimas, a group of at least 1/5 of the Seimas members may submit a draft of a justified resolution wherein non-confidence in the Government is declared. Such draft resolution shall be considered at the Seimas sitting in the same manner, prescribed by Article 225, as an interpellation to the Prime Minister, but a drafting commission will not be formed.
After the consideration, non-confidence in the Government shall be put to the vote. A resolution concerning a direct non-confidence in the Government may be adopted by secret ballot, by a majority vote of more than half of all of the Seimas members. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Chapter 37. Ad Hoc Commissions of Control or Inquiry
Article 228. Ad hoc commissions of control or inquiry shall be formed for exercising control over the implementation of the decisions of the Seimas, for collecting and presenting to the Seimas information and conclusions required for dealing with a pending problem and adopting a decision thereon, as well as in other cases provided for in this Statute.
Ad hoc commissions of control or inquiry shall be formed according to the procedure set forth in Article 77 of this Statute and shall consist of at least four members and a chairperson. The chairperson of the commission shall be appointed by the Seimas.
For its work the commission may enlist the specialists of appropriate spheres.
The period of work of the ad hoc commissions of control or inquiry shall be up to 6 months.
Article 229. The right of initiative to form ad hoc commissions of control or inquiry shall be vested in the Seimas Board, Committees, and parliamentary groups, unless in special cases this Statute provides otherwise. The initiators must present to the Seimas a draft resolution concerning the forming of an ad hoc commission of control or inquiry, in which resolution the objective of forming the commission as well as its tasks and powers shall be specified.
As necessary, the Seimas Speaker must notify the Prosecutor-General and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of the initiative to form an ad hoc commission of control or inquiry. If the Prosecutor-General notifies in writing that criminal proceedings have been instituted in connection with the facts which determined the initiative of forming the commission, such commission shall not be formed; in the event that it has already been formed, its activities must be terminated by a decision of the Seimas.
Article 230. The sittings of ad hoc commissions of control or inquiry shall be closed to all persons, with the exception of those persons who are invited; a list of said persons shall be drawn up according to the requests of the commission members. The information collected by the commission during its work period shall not be made public.
Ad hoc commissions of control or inquiry shall have the right to request that enterprises, institutions and organisations present the required information concerning their respective activities, that the officers of the law enforcement bodies and the prosecutor's office present documents and give evidence, and that any citizen of the Republic of Lithuania give evidence.
Article 231. Upon completing the work it was charged with and collecting and summarising the data, the ad hoc commission of control or inquiry shall present their conclusions and the prepared draft resolution to the Seimas.
A resolution shall be adopted at the sitting of the Seimas concerning the issue which has been considered by the ad hoc commission of control or inquiry. Non-confidence in the Government, a minister or any other head of State institution appointed by the Seimas may be declared or motions concerning the proposed impeachment proceedings may be presented in the resolution. In the case of non-confidence, the requirements set forth in Articles 222 or 226 of this Statute shall apply in adopting the resolution.
Chapter 38. Control of the State Budget Statement
Article 232. The general permanent control of State Budget performance shall be exercised by the Committee on Budget and Finance. Other Committees of the Seimas may control the performance of the Budget chapters which are within their competence.
The State Budget performance shall be considered at the sitting of the Seimas at least once every 6 months. In such an event, the Government shall present the State Budget performance statement for consideration.
Article 233. The Government shall prepare and, by March 31, present to the Seimas Speaker the State Budget performance statement for the previous year. The State Controller must present to the Seimas Chancellor a report on the State Budget performance statement not later than within six months from the date on which the Government presented the statement to the Seimas Speaker.
The Seimas Chancellor shall, within 2 workdays, present copies of the above statement and of the State Controller's report to the Committee on Budget and Finance, as well as to other committees and parliamentary groups.
Upon receipt of the State Controller's report, the report of the Government on the State Budget performance statement as well as an additional report of the State Controller shall be heard at the next sitting. Within 2 weeks from the sitting, the Committees shall consider the State Budget performance statement and prepare conclusions. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 234. The State Budget performance statement and the State Controller's conclusions regarding it together with the draft of the State Budget of the forthcoming year must be considered at the sitting of the Seimas by November 20.
A report of the Committee on Budget and Finance as well as the conclusions of other committees shall be heard at the sitting. Upon the completion of discussions, a resolution of the Seimas concerning the performance of the State Budget shall be adopted.
In the event that the statement is not approved, the Seimas shall resolve the issue concerning the restoration of legality of revenues or expenditures. An appropriate resolution shall be drafted for that purpose, and a vote on non-confidence in the Prime Minister or an individual minister may also be taken according to the procedure established in Article 226 of this Statute. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Chapter 39. The proposal to Initiate Impeachment Proceedings and the Preliminary Investigation
Article 235. Impeachment proceedings shall be the parliamentary procedure which shall be applied by the Seimas to the persons who are specified in Article 74 of the Constitution for their actions which discredit the authority of powers, in order to solve the question of the responsibility of such individuals. In the event that a concrete individual is found guilty during this procedure, the person shall be dismissed from his or her post or his or her mandate as a Seimas member shall be abolished. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 236. Legal action, in accordance with the impeachment proceedings, may be instituted against the President of the Republic, the Chairperson and judges of the Constitutional Court, the Chairperson and judges of the Supreme Court, the Chairperson and judges of the Court of Appeals, and the members of the Seimas.
Article 237. There shall be grounds for initiating impeachment proceedings in the event that an individual specified in Article 236 of this Statute has:
3) committed a felony.
Only one of the grounds specified in this Article shall suffice to initiate impeachment proceedings.
Article 238. The right to request the initiation of impeachment proceedings against a concrete individual for reasons specified in Article 237 shall be granted to a group of Seimas members consisting of at least 1/4 of all of the Seimas members, the President of the Republic, and the Judges' Court of Honour if the case concerns the Chairperson or judges of the Constitutional Court and the Chairperson and judges of the Court of Appeals.
The proposal to the Seimas to initiate impeachment proceedings against a concrete person shall not be related to the norms of the Article 239 of this Statute. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 239. Upon establishing that persons referred to in Article 236 of this Statute are suspected of having committed a felony, the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Lithuania shall immediately inform the Seimas thereon and submit appropriate material thereto.
In the event that the President of the Republic is suspected of having committed a felony, the Seimas shall carry out preliminary actions of impeachment proceeding provided for in Article 244 and the following Articles of VIII Part of this Statute.
Upon hearing the Prosecutor General's report on a felony committed by other persons, the Seimas shall decide whether to give its approval to institute legal action against the concrete person (according to the procedure provided for in this Statute) or to initiate preliminary impeachment proceedings. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 240. While bringing a charge concerning a committed felony, the statutes of limitation provided for in criminal laws shall be applicable. In other cases, no statutes of limitation shall be applicable notwithstanding when the misdemeanour has been committed with which an individual is charged with, however, the committed misdemeanour must have been committed while he or she was in office referred to in Article 236 of this Statute.
Article 241. Proposal to initiate impeachment proceedings must be submitted to the Seimas in writing - in the form of a motion, while proposals made by the President of the Republic shall be presented in the form of appeal by indicating the concrete person, the charge formulated against said person, arguments, major facts, and evidence or sources thereof.
Article 242. Normally the proposal to initiate impeachment proceedings is submitted during sessions of the Seimas. The Seimas Speaker or Deputy Speaker shall immediately present such proposals to the Seimas members and shall, no later than within one week during the session or within one week from the beginning of the session, submit a proposal to the Seimas to consider the issue.
Article 243. Upon hearing a proposal made by the initiators specified in Article 238 or their representative concerning the initiation of impeachment proceedings against a concrete individual, the Seimas shall form a commission to investigate the validity and seriousness of the submitted charges and to prepare the finding concerning the proposal to initiate impeachment proceedings. In its work the commission shall be governed by the provisions provided for in Chapter 37 of this Statute.
Article 244. A special investigation commission shall be formed from the Seimas members, representatives of the initiators of the impeachment proceedings, and lawyers who are employed at courts, investigative structures, or prosecutor's office. Such lawyers must comprise from one third to one half of the commission members. While working on the commission, the lawyers shall enjoy equal rights with other members of the commission, but they must strictly comply with the principle of political impartiality. There may be no more than 12 members on the commission. Members of the commission shall be proposed by the Seimas majority or the minority and initiators of the impeachment proceedings according to the principles set forth in Article 77 of this Statute which shall be entitled to propose 1/3 of all the commission members.
Along with the formation of the commission, the Seimas shall appoint the commission chairperson and deputy chairperson, and shall fix the dates for the execution of investigation. At least one of the heads of the commission must be a professional lawyer. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 245. Sittings of the special Seimas investigation commission concerned with impeachment proceedings shall normally be closed. Only the chairperson of the commission or a member authorised by the chairperson shall inform the press and other mass media about the course of investigation.
Article 246. The commission's sittings shall be recorded in the minutes. Minutes shall be kept by a secretary appointed by the commission, according to the regulations of keeping minutes of court sittings. The minutes of the sitting shall be signed by the chairperson and secretary of the commission.
During sittings, explanations as well as arguments of the initiators of impeachment proceedings and defendants (or their representatives) shall be heard, witnesses shall be questioned, the list of whom shall be made up according to the proposals submitted by all the members of the special investigation commission and the defendant, and other evidence shall be accumulated, examined and evaluated; when necessary, experts and specialists shall be invited and discussions shall be held. The defendant's lawyer may also take part in the sittings.
Article 247. Witnesses and experts shall be summoned and questioned in accordance with the rules of the criminal code: they shall be warned of their responsibility for avoiding or refusing to give evidence as well as for giving knowingly false evidence; the giving of such warnings shall be confirmed by witnesses' signatures. Minutes concerning the questioning of witnesses shall be recorded and, after a witness has read them, may be supplemented or amended, and then must be signed by the witness. Experts shall present their findings in writing after having signed them.
Article 248. In those cases when impeachment proceedings concerning a gross violation of the Constitution have been initiated against an individual, the Seimas shall, on the proposal of the special investigation commission or on its own initiative, appeal to the Constitutional Court requesting the conclusion whether concrete actions of said individual contradict the Constitution. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 249. Upon the conclusion of the investigation, the special investigation commission shall present its findings which shall contain:
1) the essence of the charge, the place, time, means, motives and other essential circumstances of the committed felony;
3) the explanations of the defendant.
In the event that the presented charges have not been proved, it shall be indicated in the findings and the actions of investigation which have been carried out shall be described in brief. Taking into account the results of the investigation, it shall be summarised at the end of the findings whether there are grounds to institute impeachment proceedings in the Seimas or whether such grounds do not exist.
More than half of majority votes of all the commission members are necessary for the approval of the findings. The results of the voting shall be recorded in the minutes of the sitting. The findings shall be signed by the chairperson or deputy chairperson of the commission.
The commission shall prepare a draft resolution on the basis of approved findings.
Article 250. Upon coming to the conclusion that there are grounds for initiating impeachment proceedings in the Seimas, the special investigation commission must also formulate concrete charges. This may be done at the end of the commission's findings or in a separate document.
The investigation commission shall also decide who on behalf of the committee shall substantiate the charge and carry out other functions of the prosecutor in the Seimas during the impeachment proceedings. The commission may appoint up to 7 prosecutors -- members of the Seimas. The commission shall inform the Seimas of their names and powers in writing.
Article 251. The commission shall submit the prepared findings along with a draft Seimas resolution and other documents to the Speaker, who shall submit these documents for the Seimas consideration at its next sitting.
Chapter 40. Impeachment Procedure in the Seimas
Article 252. In the event that the special investigation commission reaches the conclusion that there are no grounds for the initiation of impeachment proceedings, the Seimas shall consider the validity of motives and arguments which have been formulated in the findings and shall decide whether said findings shall be assented. If the Seimas approves the findings by a majority vote of the Seimas members who attend the sitting, it shall be held that there was no assent to initiate impeachment proceedings. Impeachment proceedings based on the same charges may only be instituted against the same person only after one- year period , and only under the condition that new circumstances have become evident.
In the event that the Seimas does not approve the commission's conclusion that there are no grounds for the initiation of impeachment proceedings, the Seimas must decide who shall be charged with the execution of a repeat investigation - the same investigation commission or a new one.
Article 253. Upon hearing the findings of the special investigation commission according to which there are grounds to initiate impeachment proceedings, the Seimas shall carry out necessary arrangements and shall adopt the following decisions necessary for the execution of this procedure:
1) shall adopt a resolution to initiate impeachment proceedings in the Seimas against a concrete person;
2) shall establish of the commencement of the impeachment proceedings no later than after 15 days and schedule of sittings;
3) shall adopt a resolution to invite the Chairperson of the Supreme Court or another judge thereof to preside over this procedure, and in the event the impeachment proceedings are instituted against the Chairperson of the Supreme Court or a judge thereof - to invite the Chairperson of the Constitutional Court or another judge thereof to preside over this procedure;
4) as necessary, shall request the Constitutional Court to provide findings whether concrete actions of an individual against whom impeachment is initiated contradict the Constitution; and
5) shall perform other necessary preparatory actions. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 254. Impeachment proceedings shall start in the Seimas on the fixed date. They shall be presided over by the Chairperson of the Supreme Court or another judge thereof, or the Chairperson of the Constitutional Court or another judge thereof. One more judge of the Supreme Court or Constitutional Court must take part in all sittings, from the first to the last, of the impeachment proceedings, and, as necessary, shall act for the Chairperson of the hearing.
Upon announcing the commencement of the impeachment proceedings, the Seimas shall become an impeachment institution in which investigation shall be carried out in compliance with the principles and rules of criminal procedure if this Statute does not provide otherwise.
The minutes of the hearing shall be kept by the secretary appointed by the Chairperson according to the rules of recording court hearings.
Impeachment proceedings in the Seimas shall be public. They may be broadcast by television and radio.
Article 255. Impeachment proceedings in the Seimas shall be comprised of the following major parts: the preparatory part, the court investigation, court disputes, and the defendant's final word concerning the articles of impeachment and voting on the presented charges.
Article 256. During the preparatory part of the hearing the essence of the impeachment case under investigation, the defendant, and the prosecutors and their representatives shall be introduced, their rights and duties shall be explained, their requests shall be heard and decisions thereon shall be passed, and the possibilities to continue investigation of the case shall be clarified.
Article 257. The court investigation shall be commenced by reading the material of the charge aloud and hearing the defendant's explanations. Then the defendant and witnesses shall be questioned, the findings of the experts shall be heard, and the evidence shall be examined.
Prior to the end of the court investigation, the prosecutors shall have the right to define the formulation of the charge and remove technical errors which have been found therein. While defining the formulations of the charge, the formulations must be delivered in writing to the defendant and the chairperson of the hearing, who shall immediately announce them to the Seimas members. Upon receiving the defined formulations of the charge, the defendant or the defendant's defender shall have the right to demand the continuation or renewal of the court investigation.
Article 258. Court disputes shall be the speeches and remarks of the prosecutor, the defendant and their representatives. The right to the final remark shall always belong to the defender, and in the event of his or her absence - to the defendant.
In the end of court disputes the defendant shall be granted the final word. It shall not be permitted to ask questions or make remarks at that moment.
Article 259. Issues concerning procedure shall be settled by the chairperson of the hearing. As necessary, the chairperson may ask the Seimas to voice its opinion or request approval of his or her decisions. Only upon the permission of the chairperson may the members of the Seimas pose questions to the participants of the proceedings. The members of the Seimas shall not be permitted to speak about the essence of the case or to attempt to influence the course of the proceedings in any other manner. However, they may protest the chairperson's refusal to permit questioning or a hasty decision to terminate interrogation, and may reject them by voting.
Article 260. The defendant shall have the right to resign from his office or to renounce the mandate of the Seimas member by submitting an application in writing, in any stage of impeachment proceedings but only prior to the beginning of voting. Such applications must be immediately satisfied. In such case, the impeachment proceedings shall be terminated and it shall be made official by a resolution of the Seimas.
Article 261. The final part of the legal procedure - voting for the articles of impeachment - shall start after the defendant's final word.
Each article of impeachment shall be put on a separate voting card. After the text of the charge, the alternative variants of the response: "I charge" ("for") or "I do not charge" ("against") shall be made thereon. Prior to distribution, voting cards shall be marked by a special seal of the chairperson of the hearing. When receiving voting cards, Seimas members shall sign in the voting card delivery list. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 262. A commission for the calculation of votes shall be made in compliance with the requirements set forth in Article 123 of this Statute.
Each article of impeachment shall be put to vote separately. Only the Seimas members shall take part in the voting.
Upon calculating the votes, the chairperson of the hearing shall announce the voting results on each article of impeachment separately.
Article 263. If 3/5 of all the Seimas members vote for at least one article of impeachment, it shall be considered that the person has been impeached, i.e. the Seimas has found that the person is guilty of the felony with which he or she has been incriminated. In this case, on the basis of the report of the commission for the calculation of votes, the chairperson of the sitting shall dictate the following entry of the minutes:
"Upon the execution of impeachment proceedings in the Seimas on ... (date), it has been found by .... votes "for", .... votes "against", i.e. more than 3/5 .... by a majority vote of all of the Seimas members that citizen ............(name, surname and post) ...(entry according to the text of the approved article of impeachment)..., therefore, from this day the .... (date), (said person) shall be removed from his (or her) post (or shall be deprived of the mandate of Seimas member) by the decision of the Seimas.
Then the chairperson shall sign this entry and publicly announce it during the Seimas sitting. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 264. In the event that not a single article of impeachment receives at least 3/5 of the votes of all the Seimas members, it shall be considered that the Seimas has not approved the impeachment. The chairperson of the hearing shall announce this publicly and an appropriate entry thereon shall be made in the minutes of the sitting.
In cases where less than 3/5 but more than 1/2 of all the Seimas members voted for the article of impeachment which corresponds to the indications of a criminal offence, it shall be considered that the Seimas has assented to bringing a legal action against a concrete person with the exception of the President of the Republic.
Article 265. The minutes of the Seimas sittings shall be signed by the chairperson of the hearing and the secretary of the hearing appointed by him or her.
Entries of the minutes concerning the voting results shall be equalled to the resolutions of the Seimas. They shall enter into effect from the moment of their announcement and must be executed . Along with the voting results, they may not be appealed against or subjected to review.
Article 266. When, according to the procedure of impeachment, the Seimas finds that a concrete person is guilty, he/she shall be considered to have been removed from his or her post or to have been deprived of the mandate of Seimas member. Legal liability may also be incurred on them for committed felonies according to general procedure.
Individuals who have resigned from their posts of their own accord or who have renounced mandates of a Seimas member shall lose the right of inviolability established by the Constitution, and shall therefore be subjected to legal liability according to the general procedure.
FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 267. All issues concerning the procedure of the Seimas activities, which are not provided for in this Statute and the laws, shall be proposed to decide upon by the chairperson of the Seimas sitting. Such decision shall be adopted without debate by a majority vote of the Seimas members who participated in the voting. (Amended 19 December 1995)
Article 268. Until 1 January 1996 amendments and supplements of this Statute shall be adopted according to the general procedure and in compliance with the requirements set forth in Part 5 of this Statute.
Beginning from 1 January 1996, the Statute of the Seimas and its separate articles may be repealed, supplemented or amended by a majority vote of more than half of all the Seimas members.(Amended 28 June 1995)