REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
LAW
THE
CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
Chapter
1
The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania shall ensure the supremacy of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania in the legal system as well as constitutional legality by deciding, according to the established procedure, whether the laws and other legal acts adopted by the Seimas are in conformity with the Constitution, and whether the acts adopted by the President or the Government of the Republic correspond with the Constitution and laws.
In cases provided in the Constitution and this Law,
the Constitutional Court shall present conclusions to the Seimas and the
President of the Republic.
The Constitutional Court shall be an independent
court which executes Judicial power according to the procedure established by
the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and this Law.
The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and
this Law shall establish the objectives, powers, and work procedure of the
Constitutional Court.
Internal questions of the Constitutional Court, the
rules of professional con duct of judges, the structure of the Court apparatus,
clerical work, and other issues shall be regulated by the Rules of the
Constitutional Court, as approved by the Constitutional Court.
Article
4. Composition and Procedure of Formation of the
Constitutional
Court
The Constitutional Court shall consist of 9 judges
appointed for an unrenewable term of nine years.
Every three years, one third of the Constitutional
Court shall be reconstituted. The
Seimas shall appoint an equal number of judges to the Constitutional Court from
the candidates nominated by the President of the Republic of Lithuania, the
Chairperson of the Seimas, and the Chairperson of the Supreme Court; the
procedure shall also be used upon the renewal of the composition of the Court. Upon the expiration of the term of office,
judges shall continue their duties until new judges are appointed.
The Seimas shall appoint the Chairperson of the
Constitutional Court from among the judges thereof who are nominated by the
President of the Republic of Lithuania.
Citizens of the Republic of Lithuania who have an
impeccable reputation, who are trained in law, and who have served, for at
least 10 years, in the legal profession or in an area of education related to
his or her qualifications as a lawyer, shall be eligible for appointment to
Constitutional Court judge.
Names of candidates to Constitutional Court judge
shall be announced through the press prior to the consideration thereof in the
Seimas.
The State and Law Committee of the Seimas shall, at
a closed sitting, consider the candidates nominated to the Seimas to the post
of Constitutional Court judge, and shall then present their conclusions to the
Seimas.
Chapter 2
The Status of Constitutional Court Judges
Judges of the Constitutional Court may not hold any
other elected or appointed office, and may not be employed in any business,
commercial or other private institution or company, with the exception of
educational or creative work. They
shall also be prohibited from receiving any remuneration other than the salary
established for judges and payment for educational or creative activities.
Constitutional Court judges may not participate in
the activities of political parties or other political organisations.
Constitutional Court judges may not be defense
counsels or representatives of any
company, institution, Organisation or person.
Before beginning office, persons appointed to
Constitutional Court judge shall take an oath in a sitting of the Seimas.
The
established text of the oath shall be:
(name,
surname),
Swear to
be faithful to the Republic of Lithuania;
Swear to
honestly and conscientiously discharge the duties of the office of
Constitutional Court judge;
Swear to
defend the Constitutional order of the independent State of Lithuania and to
protect the supremacy of the Constitution, obeying only the Constitution of the
Republic of Lithuania.
So help
me God!"
The last
sentence may be omitted from the oath.
The oath
shall be administered by the Chairperson of the Seimas in a sitting of the
Seimas.
The oath shall be administered in keeping with the
regulations established for the procedure of administering the oath of Seimas
members.
Constitutional Court judges who either do not take
the oath in the manner prescribed by law, or who take a conditional oath, shall
lose the powers of judge. The Seimas
shall adopt a corresponding resolution thereon.
The person of a Constitutional Court judge shall be
inviolable.
Constitutional Court judges may not be found
criminally responsible, may not be arrested, and may not be subjected to any
other restriction of personal freedom without the consent of the Constitutional
Court. Questions of consent to institute
criminal proceedings against a Constitutional Court judge shall be considered
only upon the motion of the
Prosecutor-General.
Constitutional Court judges who are detained or
delivered to a law enforcement institution without personal documents must
immediately be released upon establishing their identity.
Entry into the residential or office premises of
Constitutional Court judges, the inspection or search of, or making a seizure
in such premises or the inspection or search of, or making a seizure in
personal or service automobiles or other per personal means of communication,
the bodily inspection or search of judges, and the inspection or seizure of
their property or documents shall be prohibited unless criminal proceedings
have been instituted against the Constitutional Court judge according to the
established procedure.
Criminal cases in which the accused is a
Constitutional Court judge shall be tried by the Supreme Court.
Constitutional Court judges may not be persecuted
for their speeches or voting in the Constitutional Court.
The powers and rights of the Constitutional Court
and its judges may not be abridged upon the declaration of war or state of
emergency.
Constitutional Court judges shall have the right to
participate in Constitutional Court sessions with the right of decisive vote,
to be granted free access to all material and documents submitted to Court
sessions, and to exercise other rights provided for by this Law.
Constitutional Court judges shall propose issues
for consideration at Constitutional Court sessions and shall prepare questions
assigned to them.
Constitutional
Court judges shall have the right to request that all state institutions and
their officers, local government institutions and
their officers, state and other companies, institutions, organisations, and
citizens' associations submit any documents and
information concerning the issue which is being prepared for Court hearing, as
well as to receive the officers' explanations on all issues under examination.
Judges shall also have the right to summon and
question witnesses and experts, to apply for consultations of specialists, to
commission persons to carry out check ups, and to send inquiries.
Constitutional Court judges shall not have the
right to publicly express their opinion concerning the main point of issues
which are either under examination or have been adopted for examination in the
Constitutional Court.
Article
10. Suspension of the Powers of
Constitutional
Court
Judges
The powers of a Constitutional Court judge may be
suspended on the decision of the Constitutional Court upon:
1) consent granted
according to the procedure established by this Law to institute criminal
proceedings against the Constitutional Court judge;
2) a resolution of the Seimas to initiate
impeachment proceedings in the Seimas against the Constitutional Court judge after the findings of the special interrogatory commission; and
3) the declaration of the judge as missing by an
effective court order.
Upon suspension of their powers, judges shall lose
the rights established by Articles 9 and 15 of this Law.
When the grounds for suspension of the powers of a
Constitutional Court judge cease to exist, the Constitutional Court shall,
within three days, adopt a decision concerning the restoration of the judge's
powers. If a decision is not adopted
within the stated period, the powers of the Constitutional Court judge shall be
considered restored from the day that the judge actually resumes his or her
duties upon notifying the Chairperson of the Constitutional Court thereof by
application.
Article
11. Termination of the Powers of a Constitutional
The powers of a Constitutional Court judge shall be
terminated:
1) on the expiration of the term of office;
2) upon the death of the judge,
3) upon voluntary resignation;
4) if the judge is incapable of fulfilling his or
her duties for
reasons of health, i.e. if in the course of one year the judge is ill for more than four months, or if he or she falls ill with a fatal or other lingering disease which precludes him or her from discharging the duties of judge; and
5) upon
being removed from office by the Seimas according to impeachment proceedings.
In the case prescribed by Par. 3 hereof, the
decision concerning the termination of the powers of Constitutional Court
judges shall be adopted by the Seimas on the recommendation of the Seimas
Chairperson.
In the case prescribed by Par.4 hereof, the Seimas
shall
resolve
issues concerning the termination of the powers of judges only when there is a
corresponding decision of the Constitutional Court and the findings of the
medical commission formed by the Minister of Health.
Disciplinary actions may not be brought against
Constitutional Court judges. For
failure to carry out the duties established in this Law or for nonattendance of
Court sittings without good reason, a pecuniary penalty entailing the reduction
of the judge's previous month salary by as much as 50 percent may be imposed on
the judge upon the decision of the Constitutional Court.
In addition to the duties of judge, the Chairperson of the
Constitutional Court shall:
1) direct the work of the Constitutional Court;
2) direct the preparation of issues submitted to
the
Constitutional
Court for examination;
3) convene and preside over sittings of the
Constitutional Court;
4) propose issues to be examined by the
Constitutional Court;
5) assign work to Constitutional Court judges;
6) submit the composition of the Constitutional
Court apparatus and personnel to the Constitutional Court for approval, direct
the work of the apparatus, and hire and dismiss the apparatus staff;
7) issue orders and directives; and
8) exercise other powers prescribed by this Law.
In
resolving issues related to the work
of the apparatus as well as other internal questions, the Chairperson shall
issue orders; the Chairperson shall realise the procedural
rights granted to him or her by issuing
directives.
The
Chairperson of the Constitutional Court shall manage the funds appropriated for the operation of the
Constitutional Court.
Article
14. Acting for the Chairperson of the
Constitutional
Court
In the absence of the Chairperson of the Constitutional
Court or when he or she is not in the position to fulfill the duties of
Chairperson, said duties shall be temporarily performed by a judge appointed by
the Chairperson of the Constitutional Court.
In the absence of the Chairperson of the Constitutional
Court or the judge appointed by him or her to carry out these duties, the
office of Chairperson of the Constitutional Court shall be temporarily executed
by the Constitutional Court judge with the longest term of service as lawyer.
Article
15. The Right of Constitutional Court
Judges to
Participate
in Sittings of State Institutions
The Chairperson and judges of the Constitutional Court
shall be entitled to participate in sittings of the Seimas of the Republic of
Lithuania and of its committees and commissions, as well as in sittings of the
Government, the Senate of Lithuanian Judges, the prosecutor's office, and other
legal institutions.
Article
16. Social and Living Provision for
Constitutional
Court
Judges
Constitutional Court judges shall be paid a salary which
is 30 per cent more than the maximum salary of a Superior Court judge. The Chairperson or temporary Chairperson of
the Constitutional Court shall be paid a salary which is 10 per cent more than
the salary of a Constitutional Court judge.
Upon leaving office because of expiration of the term or
resignation due to pensionary age or health, judges of the Constitutional Court
shall be paid gratuity on discharge equaling 6 monthly salaries. Upon the death of a Constitutional Court
judge, the benefit of the said amount shall be paid to his or her family. When the powers of a Constitutional Court
judge are terminated on other grounds, he or she shall be paid a gratuity
equaling 2 monthly salaries. Judges who
are dismissed from office according to impeachment proceedings shall not be
paid any gratuity upon discharge.
Pensionary
provision for Constitutional Court judges shall be regulated by the Law on
State Pensions and other laws of the Republic of Lithuania.
the term
of office to Constitutional Court judges who either do not have living quarters in Vilnius or who live in
Vilnius and are entitled to State aid in acquiring living quarters.
Upon the expiration of their term, with the
exception of the cases when Constitutional Court judges are dismissed from
office according to impeachment proceedings, judges must be assigned a job or
office in a state institution, or, when this is not possible, another analogous
job or office.
Chapter 3
Basic Rules of Legal Proceedings in the Constitutional
Court
Article
17. Legality and Independence of
Constitutional
Court
Activities
In carrying out their duties, the Constitutional
Court and its judges shall be independent of any state institution, person or
Organisation, and shall act only in accordance with the Constitution of the
Republic of Lithuania.
The Constitutional Court shall obey only the
Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and laws which are in conformity with
the Constitution.
Interference
with the activities of a judge or the Constitutional Court by institutions of State authority and
administration, the Seimas and its officers, political
parties, political and public
organisations, or citizens shall be prohibited and shall incur liability under
law.
The Chairperson and judges of the Constitutional
Court must immediately inform the Seimas of attempts to influence the
Constitutional Court or any of its judges, and must publicize this through mass
media.
Meetings, pickets, and other actions staged within
100 metres of the Constitutional Court building or in the Court itself and
which are aimed at influencing a judge or the Court, shall be considered
interference with the activities of the judges or the Court.
Information concerning sittings of the
Constitutional Court shall be declared on the premises of the Constitutional
Court and announced in mass media through the Lithuanian News Agency (ELTA).
Constitutional Court sittings shall be open, and
may be attended by citizens who are of age as well as by representatives of the
press and other mass media. Persons who attend sittings in the Court room may make tape recordings, short-hand
records or records of the hearing from
their seats.
Taking photographs, filming, and making video
recordings or television or radio broadcasts of hearings shall be permitted
only upon the consent of the Constitutional Court.
The Constitutional Court may announce closed
sittings provided that this is necessary for the safeguarding of a State,
professional, commercial or other secret which is protected by law, or the
security of a citizen or public morality.
If there are grounds to believe that during a
sitting a threat may arise to the Court or the parties thereof, the Chairperson
of the Constitutional Court may issue an order to the police to inspect the
documents and belongings of persons entering the court room or to carry out
bodily searches.
The Constitutional Court may remove persons
interfering with the normal work of the Court from the court room.
The
deliberation and voting of the judges of the Constitutional Court shall not be
public, with the exception of cases provided for by this Law.
The ruling of the Constitutional Court shall always
be announced publicly in the court room.
The
Constitutional Court shall jointly investigate cases and arrive at conclusions, provided that no less
than two-thirds of all the judges of
the Constitutional Court are participating.
Court, or in resolving other internal
issues, Constitutional Court
sittings shall be legitimate provided than at least half of all the judges
participate therein.
Rulings shall be passed by majority vote of at
least half of the judges participating in the sitting. In the case of a tie, the vote of the
Chairperson shall be decisive.
Article
20. The Language of the Court
In the Constitutional Court, legal proceedings
shall be held and rulings shall be passed and announced in the Lithuanian
language. Documents written in other
languages shall be submitted and announced in their Lithuanian translation and
after having been approved by a notary.
People participating in sittings who do not know
Lithuanian shall be guaranteed the right to use a translator.
Article
21. Types of Constitutional Court
Sittings
The Constitutional Court shall hold organizational
and procedural sittings as well as court hearings. Sittings shall either be convened by the Chairperson of the
Constitutional Court or held at the time set by the Constitutional Court.
The form of organizational and procedural sittings
shall be free.
Concrete cases shall be tried in court
hearings. These
hearings
shall be held according to the
procedures established
by this
Law.
Article
22. Rulings and Decisions of the Constitutional
Court
The
Constitutional Court shall settle cases in essence by passing rulings. The Constitutional Court shall announce
rulings in the name of the Republic of Lithuania.
In cases
provided by this Law, the final act of the Constitutional Court shall be called
the conclusions.
The
Constitutional Court shall adopt decisions on individual questions which
prevent a case from being settled.
The
Constitutional Court shall adopt rulings, conclusions,
and
decisions in the deliberation room.
Upon consultation and without leaving to
the deliberation room, the Constitutional Court may adopt a decision concerning
simple issues as well as the imposition of
penalties during a sitting. When such a
decision is adopted, the Chairperson of the sitting shall immediately read it aloud and it shall be recorded in
the sitting records.
Article
23. Organizational Sittings of the
Constitutional
Court
Internal questions, issues of material investigation,
and other issues shall be considered
and settled in organizational sessions.
The Chairperson and judges of
the Constitutional Court shall propose issues
for consideration. The Constitutional
Court shall approve the agenda and schedule of sittings by its decision.
If
necessary, scientists, specialists, and other persons shall be invited to
organizational sittings.
Issues
presented to the Constitutional Court for consideration must be preliminary
investigated. The Chairperson of the
Constitutional Court shall charge one or several judges with conducting the
investigation upon setting the term for this
work.
The Chairperson of the Constitutional Court shall
evenly distribute the preparatory work to judges.
A judge, upon beginning the investigation of the
material which is given, shall:
1) ascertain that the grounds established in
Articles 69 and 80 of this Law for refusal to examine a petition or inquiry are
not present;
2) ascertain that the grounds established in
Articles 70 and 81 of this Law for the return of a petition or inquiry of the
petitioner are not present; and 3) establish which issues must be clarified
before the case is prepared for the sitting.
Article
25. Report of the Results of the
Preliminary
Investigation
Upon the carrying out of the preliminary
investigation and necessary preparatory acts, a judge shall draw up a
certificate with proposals and shall report it to:
1) the Chairperson of the Constitutional Court, in proposing to
accept a
petition or inquiry and begin the preparation of the case for a sitting of the
Constitutional Court in the procedure established by Article 27 of this Law if
the petition or inquiry is within the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court
and is in conformity with other requirements of this Law;
2) the
Chairperson of the Constitutional Court, in proposing to return the petition or
inquiry to the petitioner if the material conforms to the conditions provided
in Articles 70 and 81 of this Law; and
3) the procedural sitting of the Constitutional Court, in proposing to
adopt a decision to refuse to examine the petition or inquiry if the material conforms to the conditions
provided in Articles 69 and 80 of this
Law.
In settling the issues provided in paragraphs 1 and
2 of the first part of this Article, the Chairperson of the Constitutional
Court shall adopt decrees. If, due to
the aforementioned issues, disagreements arise between a judge and the
Chair-person of the Constitutional Court, such issues shall be referred to the
procedural sitting of the Constitutional Court for the consideration and
decision.
Article
26. Suspension of Validity of Acts of
the President or Government of the Republic
In cases when the Constitutional Court receives a motion of the President of the Republic to investigate the conformity of an act of the Government with the Constitution, or when it receives a resolution of the Seimas to investigate the conformity of an act of the President of the Republic or an act of the Government with the Constitution, the preliminary investigation of that material must be carried out within 3 days, and the issue of whether to accept the petition for a hearing in the Constitutional Court must be settled.
If the Constitutional Court adopts a decision to
accept a petition for a hearing, the Chairperson of the Constitutional Court
shall immediately give an official announcement about it either in "The
News of the Seimas and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania" or in
a special publication of the Seimas, or in newspapers through the Lithuanian News
Agency (ELTA). In this announcement,
the Chairperson must state the exact title of the act in question, the date of
its adoption, and that, in accordance with Article 106 of the Constitution of
the Republic of Lithuania, the validity of the aforementioned act is suspended
from the day of its official announcement until the ruling of the Constitution
Court concerning this case is announced.
In cases when the Constitutional Court, having
tried a case, adopts a ruling that the act in question is in conformity with
the Constitution, the Chairperson of the Constitutional Court shall immediately
make an official announcement about it in the publications mentioned in the
second part of this Article. In this
announcement, the Chairperson of the Constitutional Court shall state the exact
title of the act in question, the date of its adoption, the main point of the
ruling of the Constitutional Court concerning this issue, and that the validity
of the suspended act shall be restored from the day that this ruling is
announced.
Article
27. Preparation of Cases for Sittings
of the
A case
shall be prepared for a sitting of the Constitutional Court by the
chairperson-appointed judge of the Constitutional Court. Normally, this judge shall be the one who
has carried out the preliminary investigation of the appropriate material.
The
judge shall conduct the following activities:
1) in necessary cases, interrogate the petitioner
or the
petitioner's representative about the main points of
the
demands,
hear the petitioner's arguments,
and propose, if
necessary,
that additional evidence be
presented;
2) in
necessary cases, interrogate the person concerned or the
person's
representative about the circumstances of the case, ascertain the person's
counter-arguments and available evidence, and, if necessary, propose that
explanations concerning the case be presented in writing;
3) interrogate witnesses and decide whether or
not to summon them to the Court;
4) request and obtain documentary and material
evidence and
other
necessary material from persons, state institutions, and other organizations;
5) commission an examination, and summon and
interrogate specialists who are impartial to the results of the case; and
6) carry
out other actions which are necessary for the preparation of the case for the
court hearing.
The case material - copies of the petition to verify the
conformity of a legal act with the Constitution or
laws, copies of legal acts under examination, copies of other received
documents - must be sent to the parties to the case within 3 days of the
beginning of the preparation of
the case for the court hearing.
The judge, having carried out preparatory acts and
considering the case to be adequately prepared, shall propose to pass a decision
to assign the case for the hearing in the Court sitting during a procedural
sitting of the Constitutional Court.
Article 28.
Procedural Sittings of the Constitutional Court
The following issues shall be considered in procedural
sittings of the Constitutional Court: issues concerning the acceptance of
petitions provided in Article 26 of this Law; all cases of the refusal to
examine a petition or inquiry; issues concerning the preparation of cases for
hearing; and other issues of preparation for court hearings.
Having heard the report of the judge and having discussed
the issue of the preparation of the case for the court hearing, the
Constitutional Court shall pass one of the following decisions:
1) to assign the case for hearing in the Court
sitting and appoint a court speaker;
2) to return the case for additional
investigation; and
3) to refuse to hear the case in the procedure
established in Articles 69 and 80 of this Law.
Minutes shall be taken during procedural sittings of the
Constitutional Court.
Upon the invitation of the Chairperson of the
Constitutional Court, scientists, specialists, and other necessary persons may
participate in procedural sittings.
With permission of the chairperson of the sitting, said persons may
speak on the issue.
Article
29. Terms of the Hearing of Appeals in
the
Constitutional
Court
Upon receiving an appeal - a petition or inquiry - which
is within the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court and which is presented
in the procedure established by this Law, the Constitutional Court must begin
investigation within 7 days, i.e. commission a judge of the Constitutional
Court to start the preliminary investigation.
The hearing of the case must be finished and the final ruling or conclusions passed within 4 months of the day the petition or inquiry is received by the Constitutional Court unless otherwise provided by the Constitutional Court.
Article
30. Limits of Court Hearings of the
Constitutional
Court
The Constitutional Court shall investigate and decide only
legal issues.
The following persons shall be considered parties to the
case:
the
petitioner - the state institution, the group of Seimas members who are granted
by law the right to apply to the Constitutional Court with a petition to
investigate the conformity of a legal act with the Constitution or laws or to pass a finding, or their
representatives; the person concerned - the state institution which has adopted
the legal act whose conformity with the Constitution and laws is under
investigation or its representative; Seimas members or other state officers,
the constitutionality of whose actions must be investigated due to impeachment
proceedings which have been initiated against them in the Seimas or their
representative; the President of the Republic, when conclusions are presented
concerning his or her state of health or the President's representative.
The
parties to the case shall have
equal procedural rights.
They shall have the right to get familiar with the material of the case, make extractions, duplicates, and copies from it, declare suspensions, provide evidence, participate in the investigation of evidence, question other persons, witnesses and experts participating in the case, make requests, give explanations, provide their own arguments and reasonings, and object to requests, arguments and reasonings of other persons participating in the case.
Parties to the case may conduct their cases in the Constitutional Court either personally or through their representatives.
According to the law, state institutions shall be
represented by their heads, who shall present documents to the Constitutional
Court which confirm their post. Groups
of Seimas members shall choose their own representative (representatives) and
indicate this representative in the petition which is signed by all appealing
Seimas members; their signatures shall be confirmed by the Seimas Chairperson
or deputy Chairperson.
At behest, representatives of the parties to the case in
the Constitutional Court may be only
advocates or persons possessing law degrees, or
persons having legal experience in higher state institutions. An advocate's
powers of attorney shall be approved by the warrant. Other persons shall be issued the powers of attorney by the heads
of the institutions that they represent.
The head of the institution may also commission another
employee of that institution for the representation of his or her institute by
issuing that person the powers of attorney.
In this Law, parties to the action shall be considered
parties to the case, their representatives, witnesses, experts, invited
specialists and interpreters.
Any facts shall be admitted as evidence on the basis of
which the Constitutional Court states that there are circumstances which
justify the requests or rebukes of the parties to the case or that there are no
such circumstances.
These facts shall be established on the basis of
explanations of the parties to the case, testimony of witnesses, documentary
evidence, and findings of experts.
Each party to the case must prove the circumstances on the
basis of which they make their requests and retorts.
Parties to the case shall present evidence. If there is not enough evidence, the Court
shall propose that additional evidence be presented.
The Court shall accept only that evidence which prove
circumstances which are of importance to the case for
investigation.
It shall be not required to prove the
circumstances which
are
recognized by the Constitutional
Court to be publicly known.
Facts which are established by ruling of the
Constitutional Court which have become legal in one case shall not be proved
again in hearings of other cases.
Evidence presented to the Constitutional Court
shall have no obligatory force in advance.
The Court shall assess evidence in accordance with
the inner conviction of judges which shall be based on the detailed,
comprehensive and objective examination of the whole complex of the
circumstances of the case in the Court sitting and in observance of the laws.
Any person who may know some circumstances related
to a case may be a witness. A person
summoned to be a witness must appear before the Court or the judge and must
testify truthfully.
For failure to appear before the judge or the Court
due to reasons which are recognized as unimportant by the Court, a penalty may
be imposed on the witness; if the witness fails to appear at a sitting without
a valid reason for a second time, he or she may be brought by force by the
police.
For the
refusal or avoidance of testimony, or for knowingly
False testimony, a witness shall be liable in accordance with laws. Witnesses shall be warned about their liability in the sitting of the Constitutional Court and shall sign on.
Expenses related to the appearance of witnesses
before the judge and their participation in sittings of the Constitutional
Court shall be covered from the funds assigned to the Constitutional Court for
those purposes.
A person having the required knowledge to provide
findings may be appointed as an expert.
If necessary, several experts may be appointed.
The
judge who prepares the case for hearing shall have the
right to
ask questions to which the expert's findings must be provided, while each party to the case shall have such a
right during the sitting.
These questions shall be finally determined by the
Court. Upon the summons of the Court or
a judge, a person appointed as expert must be in attendance and provide the
objective findings on the questions posed.
Experts
shall have the right to get familiar with the case
material, to participate in the case hearing, to address witnesses and persons
participating in the case with questions, and to ask for additional material.
Penalties may be imposed on experts for failure to
attend upon the summons of the Court or a judge or for an unjustified refusal
to provide the findings.
Experts shall be liable in accordance with criminal
laws for providing the findings which are knowingly false. Experts shall be warned of this and shall
sign on.
Experts
shall be compensated for their work if the work is not
obligatory to them by virtue of their office, as well as for other
expenses incurred for participation in
the sitting of the Constitutional Court from the funds assigned to the Constitutional Court for
these purposes.
set
forth in the examination act which
state the executed
investigations, the findings made on their basis, and the reasoned answers to the questions posed by the Court.
If there are several experts, they shall deliberate
among themselves before providing the findings. If the experts reach the common findings, that findings shall be
signed by all of the experts. Experts
who do not agree with other experts shall sign their own findings.
Expert
findings shall have no obligatory force in advance.
Article
39. Compensation of Exr)enses Incurred
by Parties to the Case
Expenses of the parties to the case related to
attendance and participation in legal proceedings of the Constitutional Court
shall be compensated by the institutions which they represent.
Article
40. The Right of the Constitutional
Court to Impose Penalties
The Constitutional Court shall have the right to
impose penalties when:
1) officials and persons, at the set time and
without valid reasons, fail to fulfill the requirements of the Constitutional
Court or its judge to present documents or material, to approve documents or
texts of acts, or to carry out investigations;
2) without valid reasons, a witness or
expert fails to
attend,
refuses to attend, or does not inform of their failure to appear before the
Constitutional Court or the judge;
3) an expert, without valid reasons, refuses to
provide the findings;
4) a party to the case, after being
reprimanded once, speaks out of turn or insults participants of the sitting or
the Court a second time; and
5) a person who is in the court room violates
order or does not listen to the demands of the Chairperson of the
sitting to maintain order.
The Constitutional Court shall have the right to
impose a
Penalty
on citizens and representatives of the parties to the case equalling up to one
average monthly salary, and on officials - up to four average monthly salaries
for each case of violation.
When violations stated in the first part of this
Article are committed during a sitting, the decision of the Constitutional
Court concerning the imposition of a penalty shall be passed immediately during
the sitting. In other cases, the
decision concerning the imposition of a penalty shall be passed after the
investigation. In all cases, the
decision of the Constitutional Court concerning the imposition of a penalty
shall be entered into the record of the sitting where the name, surname,
working place and address of the violator shall be stated.
The decision of the Constitutional Court concerning
the imposition of a penalty (extract from the record of the sitting) shall be
sent to the bailiff to conduct.
Upon establishing that there are two or more
petitions concerning the conformity of the same legal act with the Constitution
or laws, the Constitutional Court may join them into one case before the
beginning of the court hearing.
Parties
to the case and their representatives shall be
informed by summonses of the
Court of the time of the sitting of the Constitutional Court and the time and
place of performance of separate procedural actions. Witnesses, experts and interpreters shall be summoned to the Court
by summonses as well.
Consequences for failure to
appear before the Court shall be stated in the summons.
Summonses shall be delivered through messengers or
by mail. The time when the addressee is
presented with the summons shall be stated in the delivered summons and in the
part of the summons returned to the Court which shall contain the signature
confirming the delivery of the summons.
Summons to appear in court for parties to the case
must be delivered no later than 7 days before the beginning of the sitting.
Sitting notices must be presented to judges of the
Constitutional Court no later than 7 days before the beginning of the
sitting. Duplicates of the material of
the case under examination shall be delivered to the judges upon the
commencement of the preliminary investigation of the material.
Section 2
Court Proceedings
A case
shall be investigated by the Constitutional Court only once the parties to the
case have been notified of this.
Absence of the parties in a court hearing shall not be an obstacle in
conducting the investigation of the case, passing a ruling or conclusion, or
adopting other decisions.
While investigating a case, the Constitutional Court must
directly examine evidence: they must listen to the statements of the persons
participating in the case, the testimony of witnesses, and the findings of
experts, and must examine written and other evidence.
The Court shall not have the right to investigate other
cases until the investigation of the case at hand is settled or its
investigation is suspended.
Only parties to the case, their representatives,
witnesses, experts, and invited specialists and officers may speak in the
Court.
Court hearings shall be presided over by the Chairperson
of the Constitutional Court; in the absence or on the instruction of the
Chairperson, hearings shall be presided over by the deputy Chairperson of the
Constitutional Court, and if they are also absent - by a judge selected by the
Constitutional Court other than the judge who is acting as speaker.
The presiding Chairperson: shall conduct the hearing and
take measures
t