| Abstract [eng] |
A Precedent as a Source of Law Issues in Lithuania Summary A judicial precedent was established as a binding source of law in the Lithuanian law system by the resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Republic Lithuania, dated 28h March 2006, and the resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania, dated 24th October 2007. The question whether the institute of the common law tradition should have had to become a part of Lithuanian law system is still considered and discussed among the Lithuanian lawyers. This paper, which is based on the analysis of legal acts, works of Lithuanian law scientists and decisions of the Supreme Court of Lithuania and the Court of Appeals of Lithuania, seeks to analyse the background and circumstances under which the precedent institute was established in Lithuanian law system. A germ of the precedent already existed in the interwar Lithuania. However, due to the historical reasons and an intervention of the Soviet law, the precedent institute was not further developed. Later, after Lithuania announced independence, the role of Lithuanian courts and their jurisprudence has become important again. Finally, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania has stated that the same cases must be decided in the same way, i.e. they have to be decided not by creating new court precedents, competing with the existing ones, but by taking account of the already consolidated ones. |
