25 October 2010
President of the Constitutional Court,
Justices,
Guests,
It is a great pleasure for me to greet
such an honourable audience and address those who genuinely care about the
Constitution of the Republic
of Lithuania, its
history, development, its word and spirit.
The Lithuanian state has commemorated a number
of anniversaries this year, starting from the most important one – the
twentieth anniversary of the Restoration of Lithuania’s independence and
concluding with anniversaries of individual institutions. In most of these
meetings, speeches and assessments, the Constitution has been referred to as
the most solid foundation of our life. Since coming into force of our
Constitution, it has really anchored in our state as the most significant
factor in making final and undeniable conclusions in dubious cases.
Although our current Constitution is only 18
years old, generally Constitutions have had a long history in Lithuania. Our
nation has grounds to be proud that the first Constitution in Europe
and the second one in the world were adopted at the Seimas. It has to be noted,
however, that on 3 May 1791, the Constitution (“The Ruling Law”) was actually
adopted by the Seimas of the Lithuanian-Polish state – the Commonwealth of the
Two Nations (Rzeczpospolita).
Nonetheless, this Constitution was at the same time the sign of the exclusive
mentality of the Lithuanian state and the Lithuanian nation. It marked the
beginning of Lithuania’s
constitutionalism.
Nobody would argue today about the role our
Constitution in consolidating Lithuania’s
independence. Like the roots of the tree
that feed the trunk and the branches, the Constitution has become the Basic Law
regulating our economic, social and political life in its every aspect. In the
course of the past 18 years, the Constitution has repeatedly demonstrated and
proven its power. Thus we are convinced that our state rests on the rule of law
rather than declarations.
A number of amendments have been made to our
Constitution in the recent years that allowed us to attain Lithuania’s
strategic aims – its membership of Euro-Atlantic organisations. Nonetheless, we
can state that, among its other features, our Constitution is a live formation
that does not stand still but is developing further together with the
development of the Lithuanian state.
On the other hand, when today I recall the
court proceedings where the Constitution provisions were the determining factor
in the court decisions, I can see one trend here. The Constitution has become
an undeniable, intrinsic argument in certain marginal situations and the cases
that sometimes become resonant in Lithuanian European law enforcement. That is
a positive trend and it needs to be carried on, however, what I miss here is a
daily, closer presence of the Constitution in our lives, ability of most
Lithuanian citizens to understand the Constitution, the powers provided by it
and its effect.
In simpler words, the problem is that most
people still see the Constitution as a formal “Basic Law of the country” and a
set of rhetorical statements, rather than the basis for their life in the state
or in society. It is a paradox that even today people seem to be surprised to
hear that they can use the Constitution for self-defence as a powerful legal
weapon in various problematic situations whereas most of the duties defined by
laws are related to the rights also protected and defended by the Constitution.
When analysing rulings of the Constitutional Court,
I am often surprised to find out that we, politicians, also appear to be unable
to read the Basic Lithuanian document – the Constitution. Thanks to the Constitutional Court
we are also learning, even though sometimes we do it with a feeling of
reluctance, we acknowledge in the end that the Constitutional Court has been right.
The efforts to promote the Constitution in society
by explaining its value and power to the public would enable us to reach a few
more goals: to defend citizens’ rights, to reduce the problematic gap between
society and law enforcement institutions, and to reduce people’s distrust in
law and order. It is very important to ensure the possibility for the younger
generation, i.e., pupils and students, to gain constitutional literacy and
understand that constitutional culture can enable them to use these skills in
the future.
I am confident that the rights and freedoms
embedded in the Constitution will gradually become closer to each country’s
citizen, provided that all the public institutions strictly follow the
constitutional provisions.
I believe a concrete step in promoting the
Basic Law of the country is the Constitution exam that has already become a
tradition in Lithuania.
The opportunity provided to a good number of people to check their own
knowledge by taking the exam is a praiseworthy initiative. Even though there
are only a few winners selected from a big number of examinees, generally we
can say that all of them are the winners as participation in this exam
increases people’s conversance, society’s knowledge, constitutional culture and
their general cultural level at the same time.
Therefore, I am hopeful that the Constitution
will gradually become a shield and pillar for each and every individual who
seeks to defend his/her rights. That would raise the Constitution to the
heights it deserves and our children would never believe that it is possible to
behave in a way contradictory to the Constitution.
I would like to thank all of you who have
gathered here today and wish you the best of luck and meaningful work. Let me
congratulate you all on Lithuania’s
Constitution Day!”
Irena Degutienë
Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania
