General legal framework

• Author: Davulis, Tomas
• Pages: 6-7

6

2 General legal framework

2.1 Constitution

2.1.1 Constitutional ban on sex discrimination

The Constitution of 25 October 19924 contains th e general principle of equal ity. Pursuant

to Article 29(1) of th e Constitution all persons shall be equal before t he law, the courts,

and other state in stitutions and officials. Section 29(2) clarifies that this shall mean the

prohibition of restriction of the rights of the human being, or the prohibition of privileges,

in other words – prohi bition of discrimination.5 In addition, Section 29(2) enumerates

prohibited grounds of discrimination: sex, race, nationality, language, origin, social status,

belief, convictions, or views. The Constitutional Court, however, has indicated that the said

provision contains a non-exhaustive list of prohibited grounds of discrimination,6 thus

leaving open the possibili ty for fu rther grounds to be protected by the legislator. It also

eliminates the possibility of any hierarchy among the different grounds for discrimination.

Although the Constitution contains a clause on the direct effect of constitutional provisions

(Section 6), the Constitutional Court has not elaborated on the possibility of relying

thereon in disputes between private persons (h orizontal effect). The courts of general

jurisdiction should then rely on ordinary laws, namely on the Labour Code or the Equal

Opportunities Act (EOA) and the Equal Opportunities Act for Women and Men (EOAWM).

Moreover, the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court7 requires the courts to stay proceedings

and to refer a case to the Constitutional Court if there is uncertainty in regard to conformity

of legislation with constitutional provisions.

2.1.2 Other constitutional protection of equality between m en and women

Section 48(1) of the Constit ution also lays down the right to fair remuneration for work,

where the concept of ‘fair re muneration’ (in accordance with the jurisprudence of the

Constitutional Court)8 also includes the principle of remuneration without discrimination.

2.2 Equal treatment legislation

There are several pieces of domestic equality legislation. The Labour Code of 19 September

2016 (in force since 1 July 2017) mentions, among the p rinciples of labour law, the

principle of fair remuneration and the general principle of the equality of employees

irrespective of (inter alia) their gender, marital and family status as well as their intention

to have children. There is also a special article devoted to implementation of the principl e

of equal treatment in the area of employment (Article 26 of the Labour Code).

The Equal Opportunities Act for Women and Men (EOAWM) of 1998 and the Equal

Opportunities Act (EOA) of 2003 introduced the central concepts an d provide basic rules,

define the scope of their application, and establish the mechanisms for supervision and

enforcement. One of the Lithuanian p eculiarities, however, is a certain ‘double coverage’

of discrimination on the ground of sex in these two different Acts. The EOAWM is a special

law dealing with gender discrimination in particular , while the Equal Opportunities Act

(EOA) is intended to deal with discrimination on the grounds stipulated by the EU equality

directives of 2000 and a number of other domestic grounds, such as nationality, language,

4 Valstybs žinios 1992, No. 333.

5 Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos Respublikos konstitucinis teismas), 11 November

1998, available (in Lithuanian) at: https://www.lrkt.lt/lt/teismo-aktai/paieska/135/ta384/content.

6 Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania, 24 January 1995, available (in Lithuanian) at:

https://www.lrkt.lt/lt/teismo-aktai/paieska/135/ta422/content.

7 Supreme Court of the Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos Aukščiausias teismas), Survey No. A2-7, 2 June 1997.

Teismu praktika, No. 7.

8 Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania, 18 December 2001, available (in Lithuanian) at:

https://www.lrkt.lt/lt/teismo-aktai/paieska/135/ta332/content.