Problems of correction of the official constitutional doctrine

Straipsnyje nagrinėjama Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucinio Teismo jurisprudencijoje sukurta konstitucinių nuostatų reinterpretavimo, kai oficiali konstitucinė doktrina yra koreguojama, doktrina. Toks oficialios konstitucinės doktrinos koregavimas būdingas daugelio šalių konstitucinės kontrolės institucijų praktikai. Oficiali konstitucinė doktrina formuojama laipsniškai, nuolatos atskleidžiant naujus jos aspektus, ją papildant. Tam tikromis aplinkybėmis konstitucinės kontrolės institucijos koreguoja ankstesnį konstitucijos nuostatų aiškinimą, jį tikslina. Oficialios konstitucinės doktrinos korekcijos visais atvejais turi būti objektyviai būtinos, konstituciškai pagrindžiamos ir pateisinamos. Jų negali lemti atsitiktiniai veiksniai. Konstitucinis Teismas, siekdamas išvengti savivalės ir užtikrinti nuoseklią konstitucinės sistemos plėtotę, 2006 m. kovo 28 d. nutarime suformulavo aiškius kriterijus, pagal kuriuos galima vertinti oficialios konstitucinės doktrinos koregavimo būtinumą.The article deals with problems of the doctrine of reinterpretation of constitutional provisions, which are settled in the constitutional jurisprudence on correction of the official constitutional doctrine. This correction is typical or constitutional jurisprudence of most countries’. Under the Constitution, only the Constitutional Court enjoys the power to construe the Constitution officially. Official constitutional doctrine is to be developed in the acts of Constitutional Court gradually, disclosing new aspects of it, and supplementing it. The development of constitutional jurisprudence law in some cases involves correction of the official constitutional doctrine. The construction and development of official constitutional doctrine and its corrections allow to reveal the deep potential of the Constitution without changing its text and in this aspect, to apply the Constitution to the changes of social life, to constantly changing living conditions of society and the state and to ensure the viability of the Constitution as the fundamental of life of society and the state. The corrections of the official constitutional doctrine are possible when they are inevitably and objectively necessary, constitutionally grounded and reasoned. The ruling of 28th March 2006 of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania establishes certain criteria, according to which it is allowed to assess the necessity of correction of the official constitutional doctrine. These criteria were settled in order to avoid lawlessness and to assure successive development of the constitutional system. The construction of these parameters shows the maturity of the constitutional control. This doctrine expresses the aim to secure already consolidated jurisprudential constitution from internal threats. Also it is necessary to notice that the continuity of the constitutional doctrine and its successive development is the main rule of the evolution of jurisprudence. Correction of jurisprudence is an exclusive exception, which can only be justified when it is objectively inevitable. The necessity of an exception should always be rationally proved and constitutionally authorized. Only these corrections serve the development of constitutional system. The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania in its jurisprudence of has chosen a rather original manner of settling the possibility to make corrections of the constitutional doctrine. Firstly, a general requirement is established: corrections are justified only in those cases, where they are objectively necessary, constitutionally justifiable and rationally motivated. Additionally, the Constitutional Court has formulated model criteria to evaluate admissibility of corrections. Some of them may serve as ground for acceptability of corrections, others mark their inadmissibility. The Constitutional Court in its jurisprudence stated that the necessity to reinterpret the official constitutional doctrinal provisions in a way that the official constitutional doctrine should be corrected, [...] the need to create better conditions in order to reach the aims of the Lithuanian Nation declared in the Constitution on which the Constitution itself is based, the necessity to expand the possibilities of the constitutional control in this country in order to guarantee constitutional justice and to ensure that no legal act (part thereof) which is in conflict with legal acts of greater power, would have an immunity from being removed from the legal system. These criteria justify the necessity of official constitutional doctrine‘s correction. The Constitutional Court formulated that the correction of official constitutional doctrine is impermissible if in this way the system of values entrenched in the Constitution is changed, their compatibility is denied, the protection of guarantees of the supremacy of the Constitution in the legal system are reduced, the concept of the Constitution as a single act and harmonious system is denied, the guarantees of rights and freedoms of the person entrenched in the Constitution are reduced and the model of separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution is changed. These mentioned criteria justify inadmissibility of official constitutional doctrine‘s corrections. It is necessary to note that the correction of the official constitutional doctrine is an exclusive competence of the Constitutional Court. The establishment of the corrections of official constitutional doctrine signifies that prospective Constitutional Court’s cases will have to be considered and corresponding decisions will have to be adopted according to this corrected official constitutional doctrine. The doctrine of the correction of the official constitutional doctrine also confirms that the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania within a relatively short period of time has created a thorough system of constitutional revision, which allows to ensure the supremacy of Constitution in the system of law