New Aspects of the Concept of Impeachment of a Judge and a Member of the Seimas (2022–2025)

Abstract

The grounds for the removal of a Member of the Seimas from office and the dismissal of certain high-ranking judges through impeachment proceedings, as established in Article 74 of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, were debatably expanded by new interpretations of the Constitutional Court and by political “precedents” formed in the parliamentary practice of the Seimas during 2022–2025. Particularly controversial is the new doctrinal concept established in the ruling of the Constitutional Court of 15 April 2022, according to which a judge of the Supreme Court of Lithuania may be dismissed not exclusively for a gross violation of the Constitution and a breach of oath, but also solely for bringing discredit upon the office of a judge. This interpretation must be assessed in light of the unprecedented situation that arose in Lithuania in 2019 regarding the dismissal of a judge of the said Court of Cassation following the finding by the Judicial Council that the judge had disgraced the office of a judge. Furthermore, three situations concerning the initiation and non-maximalist completion of impeachment proceedings against Members of the Seimas during 2023–2025 are also subject to debate. All of this encourages a systematic examination of the new aspects of the concept of the grounds for impeachment proceedings and their connection with the constitutional concept of dismissing a judge for bringing discredit upon the office of a judge.