Lietuvos konstitucinės tapatybės ir žmogaus teisių apsaugos sąveika ; The interaction between the constitutional identity of lithuania and the protection of human rights

Abstract

The article examines the interrelationship between the constitutional identity of Lithuania and human rights protection. It is maintained that this interrelationship is apparent through two key aspects. First and foremost, respect for innate human rights in itself constitutes an inseparable part of the Lithuanian constitutional identity. Although the Constitutional Court has not so far directly expressed its position concerning the Lithuanian constitutional identity, the category of fundamental constitutional values, singled out by the Constitutional Court in its decision of 19 December 2012 and ruling of 24 January 2014, is very important in this respect. This category comprises values consolidated in Articles 1 and 18 of the Constitution, such as the independence of the state, democracy, the republican form of government, and the innate nature of human rights and freedoms. These values are indivisible from the Lithuanian constitutional identity, since creating and fostering an independent and democratic state that respects innate human rights is a Lithuanian historical and constitutional tradition. This tradition derives from the fundamental acts of the independence of the state, i.e. the Act of Independence of 16 February of 1918, the Declaration of the Council of the Movement of the Struggle for Freedom of Lithuania, which was adopted in 1949 at the time of the occupation, and the Act of 11 March 1990. This is reflected in the first democratic Constitution of the State of 1922 and is consolidated in the current Constitution. In view of the historically consistent obligation to respect innate human rights, it can be stated that the protection of these rights has become a particular metanorm, expressing the essence of the Constitution as a social contract and supreme law.