Towards an Effective Constitution in Lithuania: the Role of the Constitutional Court

Abstract

This article deals with the role of the Lithuanian Constitutional Court in ensuring the effectiveness of the Constitution. This research is based on the assumption that the success of constitutional review in a given state is determined (and at the same time characterized) by the following key preconditions: the social, political and legal environment of the state; the scope of powers of the constitutional court; and the presence of a jurisprudential or living constitution. Therefore, in order to achieve the aim of this research, the following tasks are undertaken and dealt with: (1) to discuss the challenges and achievements of the Lithuanian Constitutional Court in the broader context of constitutional justice institutions of Central and Eastern European states; (2) to overview the Lithuanian constitutional justice model and its development; (3) to analyze the emergence of the jurisprudential or living constitution in Lithuania.