| Abstract [eng] |
Greta Adomonytė Nation is a community of people that serves as the source of power, which forms the government of the state. The government is obliged to establish legal foundations that would restrict the power of the government and define the relations between the individual and the state. The most important legal document that enshrines these principles is the Constitution. The 1917-1922 period in Lithuania is characterized by the formation of legal and political foundations. The aim of the intelligentsia to have a free and independent state laid the foundations for the two most important institutions of that time - the Lithuanian Council and the Constituent Parliament. The Lithuanian Council, which acted earlier than the Constituent Parliament, marked the stage of temporary government. During this period, the Council represented the Lithuanian nation, declared Lithuania's independence, and established the Basic Laws. Since the Council was not an authorized institution of the nation, the Constituent Parliament had to be convened as soon as possible to continue the work and complete the stage of temporary government. The Constituent Parliament was the first parliament elected by democratic elections, forming the principles of a parliamentary state, and authorized by the nation to adopt the first permanent Constitution on August 1, 1922. Both the decision of the Lithuanian Council adopted on February 16, 1918, and the Resolution of the Constituent Parliament adopted on May 15, 1920, reflect the founding nature of the state's work by institutions. These actions reflect the restoration of the state and the formation of constitutional foundations. The Constituent Parliament acted not only as a founding government institution but also performed the functions of a regular parliament: it adopted various laws regulating various aspects of the state's life, resolved practical issues of the state's life, and so on. Such duality, when an institution performs both founding and established government functions, deserved closer examination. |
