Politics of Lithuania takes place in a framework of a unitary semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president of Lithuania is the head of state and the prime minister of Lithuania is the head of government, and of a multi-party system.
The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania defines the legal foundation for all laws passed in the Republic of Lithuania. The first constitution of the contemporary republic was enacted on 1 August 1922. The current constitution was adopted in a referendum on 25 October 1992.
Lithuanian law is a part of the legal system of Lithuania. It belongs to the civil law legal system, as opposed to the common law legal system. The legal system of Lithuania is based on epitomes of the French and German systems. The Lithuanian legal system is grounded on the principles laid out in the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and safeguarded by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania.
Danutė Jočienė is a Lithuanian lawyer.
Pranas Kūris is a Lithuanian lawyer. He is the first representative of Lithuania in the European Court of Justice and European Court of Human Rights.
Egidijus Kūris is a Lithuanian judge, professor and PhD in law. He is the former President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania and current representative justice for Lithuania to the European Court of Human Rights.
The Third Seimas of Lithuania was the third parliament (Seimas) democratically elected in Lithuania after it declared independence on 16 February 1918. The elections took place on 8–10 May 1926. For the first time the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party were forced to remain in opposition. The coalition government made some unpopular decisions and was sharply criticized. Regular Seimas work was interrupted by a military coup d'état in December 1926 when the democratically elected government was replaced with the authoritarian government of Antanas Smetona and Augustinas Voldemaras. The Third Seimas was dissolved on 12 March 1927 and new elections were not called until 1936.
The Fourth Seimas of Lithuania was the fourth parliament (Seimas) elected in Lithuania after it declared independence on 16 February 1918. The elections took place on 9 and 10 June 1936, a bit less than ten years after the Third Seimas was dissolved by President Antanas Smetona. The Seimas commenced its work on 1 September 1936. Its five-year term was cut short on 1 July 1940 when Lithuania lost its independence to the Soviet Union. It was replaced by the People's Seimas in order to legitimize the occupation. Konstantinas Šakenis was the chairman of the Seimas.
Kęstutis Lapinskas is an expert of Constitutional law and current President of Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania, who replaced Egidijus Kūris at this position. Kęstutis Lapinskas is one of the signatory of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania, former President of the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania.
The Supreme Court of the Republic of Lithuania is the only court of cassation in the Lithuania for reviewing effective judgements and rulings passed by the courts hearing criminal cases at the first and appeal instances as well as decisions and rulings in civil cases passed by the courts of appeals. It is the highest court of cassation, but it cannot interpret the constitution, since that is under the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court of Lithuania.
Capital punishment in Lithuania was ruled unconstitutional and abolished for all crimes in 9 December 1998. Lithuania is a member of the Council of Europe and has signed and ratified Protocol 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights on complete abolition of death penalty. From March 1990 to December 1998, Lithuania executed seven people, all men. The last execution in the country occurred in July 1995, when Lithuanian mafia boss Boris Dekanidze was executed.
The Sixth Seimas of Lithuania was the first parliament (Seimas) elected in Lithuania after it restored independence on 11 March 1990. Elections took place on 25 October 1992, with the second round on 15 November. In a surprisingly decisive outcome, the elections were won by Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania (LDDP), with 73 seats. The result reflected widespread dissatisfaction with the economic situation and the policies of the ruling Sąjūdis political movement in the preceding Supreme Council of Lithuania.
Arūnas Eigirdas is a Lithuanian politician and former member of the Seimas.
The Second Vagnorius Cabinet was the 8th cabinet of Lithuania since 1990. It consisted of the Prime Minister and 17 government ministers.
The Twelfth Seimas of Lithuania is a parliament (Seimas) in Lithuania. Elections took place on 9 October 2016, with the run-off on 23 October. The Seimas commenced its work on 14 November 2016 and served a four-year term, with the last session taking place on 10 November 2020.
Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania is the prime source of law of Lithuania concerning criminal offences.
The Lithuanian order of precedence is a nominal and symbolic hierarchy of important positions within the Government of Lithuania. Administered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the hierarchy does not determine the order of succession for the office of President of the Republic of Lithuania, which is instead specified by the Constitution of Lithuania.
Dainius Žalimas is a Lithuanian lawyer, jurist and politician who served as the chairman of the Constitutional Court of Lithuania from 2014 to 2021. He is the candidate of the Freedom Party in the 2024 Lithuanian presidential election.
