Legal power of acts adopted by the constitutional court

Summary Legal Power of Acts Adopted by the Constitutional Court Problem of legal power of acts adopted by the Constitutional Court can be described as the question of impact of acts of this Court on Lithuanian legal framework which reflects the very essence of the control of constitutionality. It is usual to analyze legal power of acts of Constitutional Court in legal literature on the grounds of Law on the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania according to which the rulings of the Court have the power of law. In opinion of the author of thesis this interpretation is correct when related to effect in time, area and in respect of subjects. Particularity of interpretation of legal power of the acts of the Constitutional Court is determined by the fact that regulation of their status established in the Constitution and Law on the Constitutional Court is supplemented by the constitutional doctrine formulated by the Constitutional Court. This thesis was aimed at interpretation of acts of the Court by a different aspect of legal source with reference to the Constitution, constitutional doctrine and with an aim of thoroughly revealing the problem of legal power of the acts of the Constitutional Court. In this sense there is no unanimity in contemporary legal literature neither in respect of attribution of separate types of the acts of the Court (except rulings of the Constitutional Court with negative resolution) to legal sources in general, nor concerning the position of such sources in the hierarchy of legal acts. Therefore this master thesis the problem of legal power of the acts of the Constitutional Court is analyzed in several aspects: 1. Acts of the Court are interpreted as legal sources in general hierarchy of Lithuanian legal sources suggesting to consider all rulings of the Constitutional Court (both with positive and negative resolution) as legal sources, and by equating their legal power to the power of the Constitution itself. 2. Significance of acts of the Court and their position in the system of constitutional legal sources is evaluated separately by distinguishing constitutional legal sources and attributing only Constitution and acts of the Constitutional Court to them and by equating their legal power to the power of the Constitution. It is suggested to consider all final acts of the Court – rulings and conclusions – as constitutional legal sources. 3. Finally it is aimed at revealing legal power of the acts adopted by the Constitutional Court by evaluating specifics of each type of the act of the Court (ruling, conclusion, decision) with regard to their impact on Lithuanian legal framework. General conclusion: final acts of the Constitutional Court (rulings and conclusions) have the power of law in the framework of their validity in area, time and in respect of subjects. However when the acts of the Court are interpreted in the context of hierarchy of legal sources with regard to their legal power, their legal power is equated to the power of the Constitution itself