The Council of Judges seeks the right to appeal to the Constitutional Court

The National Judicial Administration is obliged to prepare a draft of the relevant amendment to the Constitution and its accompanying documents by September 30.

He wants to strengthen the independence of the judiciary

The chairperson of the Council of Judges, Sigita Rudėnaitė, told BNS that such a right would strengthen the independence of the courts as one of the branches of government, and would also allow more efficient resolution of court-related disputes.

“According to the law, the Government’s resolution, the presidential decree, decisions are often made regarding the judicial system. For example, the Law on State Pensions of Judges is currently being prepared. His project already seems to us that it may raise questions as to whether it will comply with the Constitution,” said the judge.

According to her, if the Council of Judges, as a representative of the self-government of judges, would like to apply to the CT regarding this law, it would have to find a way around it – to convince the Seimas or the Government to do so.

“Courts can apply to the Supreme Court, but only when they examine an individual dispute and someone raises a question in that individual dispute,” said S. Rudėnaitė.

Now the Constitution stipulates that the Government, at least one-fifth of all members of the Seimas, and the courts have the right to apply to the Constitutional Court regarding the compliance of laws, resolutions, and decrees with the main law of the country. The president can also apply for government acts.

In addition, an individual complaint was legalized a few years ago, that is, every person has the right to apply to the Supreme Court, if his constitutional rights or freedoms have been violated, and this person has exhausted all means of legal defense.

“Neither the courts nor the Council of Judges have the possibility of abstract appeal. (…) It rather restricts and complicates our possibilities”, asserted the chairwoman of the Council of Judges.

According to her, there are many issues that can cause controversy. As an example, S. Rudėnaitė pointed to the case regarding judges’ salaries, which was started this week by the CT.

“For many years, the courts raised the question that the salaries were inadequate and did not correspond to the responsibilities or duties. Then, judges filed claims in individual cases that the state, according to them, caused damage, and that’s the only way the dispute ended up in the Supreme Court,” said the head of the Council of Judges.

Due to insufficient wages, judges started writing complaints to the courts as early as 2022, and they stopped the examination of specific cases and asked the Supreme Court for clarification.

“If the Council of Judges had the right to apply to the CT itself, everything would be much simpler and, I think, it would be resolved much more efficiently,” she added.

According to S. Rudėnaitė, some European countries have provided the right for self-government of judges to apply directly to the Supreme Court.

Politicians question the proposal

Andrius Vyšniauskas, a conservative working in the Law and Order Committee of the Seimas, told BNS that such a request by the Council of Judges is not justified.

“It’s an unreasonable request because even now there are enough of those opportunities. The irony is that the Council of Judges, as a certain social partner, can always turn to the Seimas and in this way initiate – through the Seimas, through the Seimas committee, through the Speaker of the Seimas – an appeal to the Supreme Court. There is also a standard way – through the courts, which the judges have done at this time as well,” said the member of the Seimas.

According to him, the issue of judges’ salaries has shown that, although it takes time, the issue can in principle be resolved through discussion with politicians.

“You should not change something that is not obviously broken,” added A. Vyšniauskas.

Social Democrat Julius Sabatauskas, a member of the Law and Law and Order Committee, also cautiously assessed the need to provide the Council of Judges with the opportunity to apply directly to the Supreme Court.

“Judges in principle have the right to apply through the court when examining a specific case,” he said.

According to the MP, they can also write an individual complaint to the CT.

“Such opportunities exist for judges. You will have to read the argumentation why this is proposed. It will be an interesting discussion. So far, at first glance, as there is no reason for it, I do not see a special justification for granting them such a right,” J. Sabatauskas told BNS.

In order to give the Council of Judges the right to apply to the Constitutional Court, it is necessary to change the Constitution.

A group of Seimas members or at least 300,000 members can propose its amendments. voters.

The Council of Judges intends to propose its amendment through the parliamentarians who support it – it will be necessary to find at least 35 supporters.

In order for the amendment to the Constitution to be adopted, at least two-thirds of all members of the Seimas must vote for it, that is, at least 94 parliamentarians.