Constitution of Lithuania

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The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania defines the legal foundation for all laws passed in the Republic of Lithuania. It was approved in a referendum on October 25, 1992.

The official text of the Constitution is accessible from the document library of the Lithuanian parliament.

History

The fist constitution was adopted on May 3, 1791 in an effort to reform Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, consisting of Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Kingdom of Poland. It is claimed to be the second oldest constitution in the world. However it was short lived and never really went into power. The third partition took place in 1795 and the commonwealth ceased to exist. Lithuania became part of Russian Empire.

After the World War I, Lithuania declared independence on February 16, 1918. Lithuania had three draft constitutions on November 2, 1918, March 4, 1919 and June 10, 1920. Constituent Assembly (Steigiamasis Seimas) adopted the full constitution only on August 1, 1922. It was much like modern constitutions. The Seimas and the president are elected every three years. Seimas is elected by the people and then it elects the president.

In 1928 and 1938 new constitutions were adopted to reflect authoritarian leadership of Antanas Smetona.

External links

[Text of the Constitution] from the Lithuanian Parliament document library

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