General legal framework

• Author: Sabatauskait?, Birut?
• Pages: 15-17

15

1 GENERAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK

Constitutional provisio ns on protection against discriminat ion and the

promotion of equality

The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania includes the following articles dealing with

non-discrimination.

Article 29 of the Constitution declares that:

‘All persons shall be equal before the law, the courts, and other State institutions

and officials. A person’s rights may not be restricted, nor may he be granted any

privileges, on the ground of gender, race, “nationality”, language, origin, social

status, belief, convictions, or views.’

A general equality clause is embodied in Chapter 2 under the heading ‘The Individual and

the State’. The wordin g of the article thus covers religion (beliefs) as well as political

views. According to the Constitutional Court ,

‘Convictions are a broad and diverse constitutional notion, including political,

economic convictions, religious feelings, cultur al disposition, ethical and esthetical

views etc.’25

Although disability, age and sexual orientation are not explicitly mentioned in the text of

the Constitution, that does not necessarily imply that rights may be restricted on the

basis of disability, age or s exual orientation. The Constitutional Court stated once again

in its conclusion in 2019 as well as in other conclusions before, that the Constitution is an

integral enactment that cannot be interpreted lit erally:

‘Therefore, Paragraph 2 of Article 29 of the Constitution may n ot be understood as

consolidating an exhaustive list of the grounds of non-discrimination; otherwise, the

preconditions would be created for denying the equality of all persons before the

law, courts, and other state institutions, i.e. the very essence of th e constitutional

principle of the equality of the rights of persons, as guaranteed under Paragraph 1

of Article 29 of the Constitution.

… In the context of the constitutional justice case at issue, it should be noted that

one of the forms of discrimination prohibited under Articl e 29 of the Constitution is

the restriction of th e rights of a person on the grounds of his/her gender identity

and/or sexual orientation; such a r estriction should also be reg arded as degrading

human dignity.’26

Constitutional provisi ons regarding the princ iple of non-discrimination have been

commented upon in a ruling by the Constitutional Court, which, under Article 72 of the

25 Ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania of 13 June 2000, available in English at:

http://www.lrkt.lt/en/court-acts/search/170/ta1161 /content.

26 Conclusion of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania elaborating on the grounds of sexual

orientation and gender identity, 11.01.2019, No. KT3-N1/2019.

In general terms, this Conclusion concerned the issuing of a temporary residence permit to a foreign

national in the context of family reunification and the co nstitutionality of such provision. The Court held

that: ‘a temporary residence permit may be issued to a foreign national who is not a citizen of a M ember

State of the European Union or the European Free Trade Association not exclusively in cases where an

opposite-sex family member of such a foreign national resides in the Republic of Lithuania … but also in

cases where a same-sex family member of such a foreign national resides in the Republic of Lithuania, i.e. a

person with whom a marriage or registered partnership has lawfully been concluded in anothe r state and

who is a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania or a foreign national (not a citizen of a Member State of the

European U nion or the European Free Trade Association) holding a residence permit.’ The Co nstitutional

Court elaborated on the provisions of the Constitution, taking into account the constitutional pr ovisions on

equality and referring also to internatio nal agreements and CJEU and ECtHR case law. Conclusion available

in English at: http://lrkt.lt/en/court-acts/search/17 0/ta1915/content.