Konstituciniai rinkimų teisės principai

ENFollowing the adoption by the Seimas of a new codified legal act covering all elections, the Electoral Code, which was adopted as a constitutional law in accordance with item 6 of Article 2 of the Constitutional Law on the List of Constitutional Laws, the report analyses how the main constitutional principles of electoral law are reflected and implemented in that code. It is stressed that the codification of the legal regulation applicable to all types of elections in a single legal act, by harmonising electoral procedures as much as possible, thus avoiding regulatory fragmentation on individual issues, is also one of the recommendations of the Venice Commission. Moreover, the approval of the Electoral Code by means of a constitutional law implies that the legal act regulating elections will have to be amended in a more complex manner (compared to the amendment of other laws), thus creating the preconditions for ensuring the stability of the electoral legal regulation. The legislature’s decision to codify the legal regulation of elections in a higherranking legal act demonstrates once again that elections are an extremely important area of social relationships, which is significant for the life of society and the state. During elections, the important constitutional rights are implemented: the right to elect representatives of the Nation in national and European parliaments, the right to elect the Head of State and self-government representatives, the right to stand for election to the said posts, the right to participate in the governance of one’s country. However, only such elections will be considered democratic and, therefore, lawful where the constitutional principles of elections are complied with.The Constitutional Court, while stressing the importance of the elections of representative bodies, has repeatedly stated that, in a constitutional democracy, political representative bodies must not be formed in such a way as to raise doubts about their legitimacy and lawfulness, including whether the principles of elections, which are part of a democratic state under the rule of law, have been violated in the process of electing the respective individuals. The constitutional principles of electoral law are important for the implementation of both active and passive electoral rights. Some of the principles of electoral law are expressis verbis enshrined in the Constitution (such as universal, equal, and direct suffrage, as well as secret ballot), others are revealed and developed in the official constitutional doctrine (for example, the principles of a fair electoral process, the transparency of elections, fair electoral competition, fair elections). Over the last few years, the constitutional jurisprudence has developed the principle of the publicity of information relevant to the voters about subjects implementing the passive electoral right – the individual elements of that principle have been revealed even in several constitutional justice cases. For example, the ruling of the Constitutional Court of 27 April 2022 dealt with the scope of the information contained in a candidate’s electoral poster where that information is linked with criminal acts committed by the candidate in the past.It is stated in that ruling that the principles of the transparency of elections and of the publicity of information about candidates presuppose the legislature’s duty to lay down, by regulating the provision of information on electoral posters, such a legal regulation that would take account of the fact that the criminal act committed by a person can be varied in nature, it can be committed not only intentionally, but also negligently, and it can be more dangerous or less dangerous, so that the voters, having detailed information about him or her, might decide on the suitability of the candidate. When drafting the new Electoral Code, these provisions of the official constitutional doctrine have been taken into account in paragraph 5 of Article 76 of the Electoral Code. Under the Constitution, information relevant to the voters about subjects exercising the passive electoral right is also the information that a person seeking to be elected a member of the Seimas holds another office incompatible with the duties of a member of the Seimas, inter alia, in another political representative institution to which he or she has been elected. This was clarified by the Constitutional Court in its ruling of 28 May 2021. However, in the opinion of the Constitutional Court, such information is public and easily accessible, so the voters have the opportunity to take it into account, to form in a free and uncontrolled way an opinion about the respective candidate taking part in an election, inter alia, the seriousness of his or her intentions to hold the relevant elective office, and decide whether to vote in favour of the candidate or the list of candidates on which he or she is entered. [...]. [From the publication]