The Constitutional Law on the State of Lithuania
To gain understanding of why the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania adopted the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the State o f Lithuania on 11 February 1991, it is necessary to consider the circumstances leading to its adoption. The Supreme Council restored the independence of Lithuania on 11 March 1990; however, the Soviet Union did not wish to accept this. On 15 March 1990, the Congress of the People’s Deputies o f the Soviet Union adopted a resolution declaring that the decision o f the Supreme Council o f 11 March 1990 on restoring the independence of Lithuania contradicted the Constitution of the Soviet Union and, hence, was invalid. The Soviet Union disregarded the fact that, on 15 June 1940, it perpetrated military aggression against the independent Republic of Lithuania by occupying it and, subsequently, annexing and illegally incorporating it into the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union likewise ignored the evidence that the independence of the State of Lithuania was restored by the Supreme Council after it had been given the mandate by the nation and assumed the obligation to do so following the general elections of 24 February 1990. The independence of the State o f Lithuania could not be restored on the grounds of the Constitution of the Soviet Union, which had occupied Lithuania. From the point o f view o f international law, Lithuania had never legally belonged to the Soviet Union; this meant that the Constitution of the Soviet Union had never been valid in Lithuania. Notably, the restoration of the independence o f Lithuania rested upon the will o f the Nation, was based on international law, and embodied the continuity of the independent Republic o f Lithuania that existed in 1918-1940. The Lithuanian nation had not been obliged to ask and had not asked the occupant for permission to restore the independent State of Lithuania.