1992 m. Lietuvos Respublikos konstitucijos rengimas ir priėmimas: teisinis istorinis aspektas

Abstract

The present constitution of the Republic of Lithuania is one of the Constitutions in Central and Eastern countries adopted at the end of XX century. There is no doubt that its conception had been influenced both by national and international factors: the countries’ constitutional traditions, the scholarly ideas of M. Romeris, proposals submitted by the Lithuanian and foreign researchers, institutes of former regime, democratic provisions of Western Europe, the experience of Central and Eastern European countries. This work is the analysis of a short, but diverse and complicated both in political and legal sense of the Lithuanian constitutionalism during 1988 – 1992, demonstrating the development of the vision of the constitutional regulation, how the creative process of the present Constitution was influenced by the changing political legal reality and the political life of the constitution process. The complex application of historical-legal and causal methods, using the analysis of normative and non-normative documents as well as applying other legal methods brings to the conclusion of the Master thesis that the preparation of the Constitution is a consecutive and purposeful process of creation and search for the most suitable constitutional model. Despite the fact that during the development process of the Constitution a quite heated political debate was taking place, the present Basic Law can be reasonably referred to as the result of the political and legal compromise. It should be stressed that the compromise was reached not only by political parties or political leaders alone, but also by the agreement of people. One of the arguments is the referendum for the adoption of the Constitution. Even though there were doubts about the readiness of the nation to take such decisions, it is obvious enough that the political legal mentality of the citizens who had taken part in the referendum preconditioned the adoption of the Constitution that establishes the ideas of liberal constitutionalism: the rule of law, division of powers, constitutional justice and personal autonomy. Taking into consideration the political discussion on the Constitution (publication of many drafts of the Constitution and its public analysis, the frequent change of the provisions of the Provisional Basic Law) that started in 1998 and finally the deliberation on the power in the referendum of May 1992, the Master degree thesis does not agree with the formal and superficial position, that the Constitution was adopted hastily in order to speed the membership in the Council of Europe. The research carried out confirms, that the present Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, was adopted in autumn of 1992, not only to become a recognized democratic state, a member of different international organisations, but first of all – in order to ensure the constitutional stability, a rational balance between the powers, a more effective safeguard of constitutional values. It can be stated, that the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania of 1992 is a real form of establishment of peoples’ legal, political and social expectations.