The treaty of Lisbon makes European Union (EU) accession to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) an obligation of result. The issue has been intensely discussed for more than thirty years, arguing that such accession is necessary in view of the need to ensure the ECHR standard of fundamental rights protection in Europe. This question again gains prominence as the EU member states and the institutions seek to agree on the negotiation directives of EU accession to the ECHR. The (...) process brings up the difficulties involved in creating a mechanism which would both facilitate the autonomy of the EU legal order and enable individuals to bring claims against the EU to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). This involves the questions how it would be possible to ensure quick access to justice, and whether the ECtHR would continue to apply the doctrine of equivalent protection in relation to EU even after the latter becomes bound by the ECHR. The article argues that EU accession to the Convention is a prominent political step ensuring coherence of human rights protection mechanism in Europe. (shrink)

The paper presents the results of a preliminary study aimed at examining the validity and reliability of the newly constructed questionnaire Questionnaire on teaching for critical thinking. Conceptually, the paper is based on the generic model of teaching for critical thinking and its key dimensions. 209 teachers and educators (formal and non-formal education) in the Republic of Croatia participated in the study. The research participants were asked to complete an online survey questionnaire. The design of the questionnaire items followed the (...) mentioned generic model. The initial version of the survey questionnaire contained 46 items, and after the analyses, 36 items were retained. Factor analysis was performed and 6 factors were extracted (and 6 scales were constructed). Reliability of all scales is satisfactory – the coefficients of the internal consistency type Cronbach alpha range from.73 to.92. Through the conducted validation, the first research steps were taken in the confirmation of the validity and reliability of the questionnaire on teaching for critical thinking. In conclusion, the application of the questionnaire on teaching for critical thinking in further research can contribute to the improvement of teaching for critical thinking in the Republic of Croatia, and can thus contribute to the development of students’ critical thinking competency. (shrink)

Svrha ovog rada bila je utvrditi učestalost sudjelovanja učitelja Glazbene kulture u različitim aktivnostima informalnog cjeloživotnog učenja te saznati njihovo mišljenje o važnosti i doprinosu navedenog razvoju vlastitih kompetencija potrebnih za poučavanje Glazbene kulture. Utvrđeno je da učitelji najviše sudjeluju u informalnim aktivnostima učenja koje ne zahtijevaju dodatno izdvajanje vremena te shodno tome rjeđe sudjeluju u aktivnostima koje zahtijevaju veću njihovu pažnju. Osjećaju se kompetentnima u izvođenju svih glazbenih aktivnosti koje se provode u nastavi Glazbene kulture. Nadalje, vide doprinos (...) i važnost sudjelovanja u aktivnostima informalnog učenja, no podijeljeni su u razmišljaju trebaju li posvetiti više dodatnog vremena aktivnostima informalnog učenja te kada razmišljaju o tome bi li njihova nastava bila jednako kvalitetna da ne primjenjuju nova znanja stečena informalnim učenjem. (shrink)

U Republici Hrvatskoj biti ravnatelj/ica odgojno-obrazovne ustanove nije više samo funkcija nego i zanimanje. Obveze i prava ravnatelja/ica odgojno-obrazovnih ustanova proizlaze iz zakonske regulative, dok su kompetencije ravnatelja od 2020. određene standardom zanimanja i standardom kvalifikacije. Ovim se radom na temelju Standarda zanimanja i Standarda kvalifikacije ravnatelja/ica odgojno-obrazovnih ustanova kojima su određene kompetencije ravnatelja/ica odgojno-obrazovnih ustanova želio utvrditi stupanj ravnateljskih kompetencija stečenih formalnim nastavničkim obrazovanjem. Formalno nastavničko obrazovanje podrazumijeva stjecanje kompetencija za rad u odgojno-obrazovnim ustanovama. Te se kompetencije (...) u Republici Hrvatskoj stječu u okviru nastavničkih smjerova sveučilišnih diplomskih studija. Istraživanjem se procjenjivala razina stečenih kompetencija odnosno znanja i vještina tijekom takvog obrazovanja, a koja je primjenjiva u poslovima ravnatelja, a provedeno je metodom ankete na uzorku od 200 ravnatelja/ica osnovnih i srednjih škola u Republici Hrvatskoj. Anketirani ravnatelji/ice iskazali su zadovoljstvo kompetencijama stečenim formalnim nastavničkim obrazovanjem posebice za poslove koji se odnose na organizacijsko upravljanje odgojno-obrazovnim procesom i suradnju s roditeljima i vanjskim okruženjem. Međutim, istraživanjem su uočene grupe kompetencija koje ravnatelji/ice ocjenjuju kao nedostatne, uz naglašenu potrebu za profesionalizacijom ravnateljske funkcije. Dobiveni rezultati ukazuju na potrebu provođenja dodatnih programa edukacija ravnatelja/ica koji bi im omogućili stjecanje znanja i vještina koja nisu stekli formalnim obrazovanjem, a ključna su za upravljanje odgojno-obrazovnom ustanovom. (shrink)

Danas su nastavnici suočeni s brojnim izazovima, posebice u Hrvatskoj u kojoj je u tijeku provođenje opsežne reforme obrazovanja. Reforma obrazovanja stavila je u prvi plan drugačiju paradigmu procesa podučavanja i učenja koja zahtijeva od nastavnika neka nova znanja i vještine. Studije i analize pokazale su kako su upravo nastavnici najvažniji faktor ostvarenja obrazovnih ciljeva učenika. Pored stručnih kompetencija, za razvoj znanja, umijeća i stavova učenika od velike su važnosti i pedagoško-psihološko-didaktičko-metodičke kompetencije nastavnika. U ovom se radu uz pomoć (...) podataka prikupljenih upitnikom na uzorku od 115 studenata željelo detektirati u kojoj su mjeri studenti dviju visokoškolskih institucija – Fakulteta hrvatskih studija i Hrvatskog katoličkog sveučilišta – zadovoljni inicijalnom nastavničkom naobrazbom te smatraju li je pogodnom i dovoljnom za izazove koje nosi njihovo buduće zanimanje. Rezultati provedenog istraživanja pokazuju da su studenti u prosjeku zadovoljni kvalitetom studija i nastavničke naobrazbe te da preferiraju postojeći model stjecanja pedagoških kompetencija uz predmetni studij. Rezultati istraživanja analizirani su u kontekstu ispitivanja potrebe za sadržajnim i praktičnim osmišljavanjem novog načina stjecanja nastavničkih kompetencija, odnosno dorađivanjem ili proširivanjem studija nastavničke naobrazbe. Today, teachers are faced with numerous challenges, especially in Croatia, where extensive educational reform is underway. Education reform has placed a new teaching and learning paradigm in the foreground that demands new knowledge and skills from teachers. Studies and analyses show that teachers are the most important factor in reaching pupils’ educational goals. In additional to professional competencies, pedagogical, psychological, didactic, and methodical teacher competencies are of great importance to the development of knowledge. Using survey data from a sample of 115 students, this paper examines the extent to which students of two institutions of higher education – the Faculty of Croatian Studies and the Catholic University of Croatia – are satisfied with their initial teacher education, and whether they consider it appropriate and sufficient for the challenges their future careers hold. The results of this research show that students are, on average, satisfied with the quality of their studies and teacher education, as well as that they prefer the existing pedagogical competency attainment model that is added to the regular subject study. The research results are analysed in the context of examining the need for a new design of such programmes, their refinement or expansion of teacher education study programmes. (shrink)

Arbitration and insolvency proceedings are legal instruments governed by different objectives and different legal principles. While in arbitration the autonomy of the parties plays a major role, all insolvency proceedings are collective proceedings where autonomy of the parties is strictly limited, the majority of issues are regulated by binding legal provisions and strong controlling powers are vested into insolvency court. Therefore, in this article the authors analyse the issues of compatibility between insolvency proceedings and arbitration. The Lithuanian legal framework which (...) was in force until 30 June 2012 was ambiguous. According to the wording of Article 11 of the previous Law on Commercial Arbitration, disputes connected with bankruptcy shall not be submitted to arbitration. It was not entirely clear whether this provision was restricted to ‘core’ insolvency issues such as opening and conduct of the proceedings, appointment of the office holder, administration of the estate, liquidation etc. or it also included all other questions related with insolvency. The jurisprudence of the Lithuanian courts gave a broad meaning to the restriction expressed in the Law on Commercial Arbitration. Accordingly, such questions as verification of claims and disputes with the creditors were also excluded from arbitration after announcement of bankruptcy of the debtor. The authors argue that distinction should be drawn between cases in which an insolvent enterprise is a claimant and where it is a defendant. It is also important to draw a line between arbitration agreements entered into before announcement of bankruptcy and arbitration agreements concluded by the bankruptcy trustee with the consent of the majority of creditors. In this article, the new Law on Commercial Arbitration which has entered into force on 30 June 2012 is analysed and according to which an insolvent enterprise remains bound by arbitration agreement in both cases where it is a claimant and where it is a defendant. Several contentious issues of the new law are identified and analysed in the article, such as the position of other creditors in the proceedings, relation between arbitration and restructuring procedure, enforceability of arbitration agreement in cases where an insolvent enterprise lacks funding to pay arbitration costs etc. (shrink)

Allowing pupils to choose the content of their learning is an important step towards individualized development. Despite the need proclaimed by society for the development of competences in STEM area, educational cycles in this field are the least represented in the Croatian general education curriculum. This research was conducted in order to gain insight into pupils’ interests in the contents of technical culture and for school activities. The research was conducted on a stratified sample of primary school pupils in Croatia (...) aged 11 to 15 years. The analysis of the research results showed that the activities from ICT, robotics, programming and woodworking are the most attractive. When it comes to school activities, pupils most prefer sports activities, computer activities, experiments in science subjects and then technical activities. This result suggests that the school curricula needs to be redesigned so that pupils can develop according to their interests. Učenikova mogućnost izbora sadržaja učenja tijekom općeg obveznog obrazovanja važan je korak ka individualiziranom razvoju. Unatoč proklamiranim potrebama društva za razvojem kompetencija u tzv. STEM području, u hrvatskom su obrazovnom sustavu aktivnosti iz ovog područja najmanje zastupljene u kurikulumu općeg obrazovanja. Stoga je provedeno istraživanje interesa učenika za izbornu nastavu tehničke kulture te za aktivnosti koje bi odabrali kad bi mogli birati što će u školi učiti i raditi. Istraživanje je provedeno na stratificiranom uzorku učenika osnovnih škola u Hrvatskoj u dobi od 11. do 15. godine života. Analizom rezultata istraživanja ustanovljeno je da su aktivnosti iz IKT-a, robotike, programiranja i modelarstva najatraktivnija područja za izbornu nastave tehničke kulture. Kad je riječ o aktivnostima u školi, učenici bi najradije odabrali sportske aktivnosti, a potom slijede informatičke, prirodoznanstvene i tehničke aktivnosti. Ovakav nalaz ukazuje na nužnu preobrazbu školskog kurikuluma koji će učenicima omogućiti razvoj u skladu s njihovim interesima. (shrink)

Učenikova mogućnost izbora sadržaja učenja tijekom općeg obveznog obrazovanja važan je korak ka individualiziranom razvoju. Unatoč proklamiranim potrebama društva za razvojem kompetencija u tzv. STEM području, u hrvatskom su obrazovnom sustavu aktivnosti iz ovog područja najmanje zastupljene u kurikulumu općeg obrazovanja. Stoga je provedeno istraživanje interesa učenika za izbornu nastavu tehničke kulture te za aktivnosti koje bi odabrali kad bi mogli birati što će u školi učiti i raditi. Istraživanje je provedeno na stratificiranom uzorku učenika osnovnih škola u Hrvatskoj (...) u dobi od 11. do 15. godine života. Analizom rezultata istraživanja ustanovljeno je da su aktivnosti iz IKT-a, robotike, programiranja i modelarstva najatraktivnija područja za izbornu nastave tehničke kulture. Kad je riječ o aktivnostima u školi, učenici bi najradije odabrali sportske aktivnosti, a potom slijede informatičke, prirodoznanstvene i tehničke aktivnosti. Ovakav nalaz ukazuje na nužnu preobrazbu školskog kurikuluma koji će učenicima omogućiti razvoj u skladu s njihovim interesima. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to address the regulatory framework as one of the key factors determining the success of creation of single market for renewable energy. No one could possibly argue that non-discriminative and consistent legal regulation plays a big role in the creation of a single market. Therefore, the question of legal capability to create the single market for renewable energy and the overall quality of present regulatory framework is at the centre of this article. Our objective (...) is to analyse whether the single market for energy produced from renewable sources can be created under current legal regulation of the European Union Therefore, the first part of the article analyses the competence of the European Union to regulate the renewable energy sector and division of legislative powers between the Member States and the European Union. The goal of the first part is to answer the question whether the European Union has the competence to regulate renewable energy market. The second part of the article analyses the legal framework of measures for the promotion of renewable energy production used in each Member State. The goal of the second part of this article is to answer the question – whether all renewable energy producers are in equal competitive position, notwithstanding different legal frameworks of the Member States. (shrink)

Glavni cilj ovoga istraživanja bio je povijesno-komparativnom analizom nastavnih planova i programa, odnosno kurikuluma za osnovnu školu istražiti i analizirati ulogu, zastupljenost i načine realizacije školskih kurikuluma u razdoblju od 1951. do 2019. godine. Prema dobivenim rezultatima uočljivo je da se značaj, uloga i aktivnosti školskog kurikuluma razlikuju u različitim reformama, a analizom kurikulumskih dokumenata utvrđeno je da se aktivnostima i sadržajima iz područja školskog kurikuluma želi pridonijeti individualizaciji i fleksibilnosti nastavnog procesa, zadovoljavanju specifičnih mogućnosti, potreba i interesa učenika,povezivanju obiteljskog (...) doma te lokalne i šire zajednice sa školskim okruženjem, poticanju stvaralaštva, interdisciplinarnosti, zajedništva, stjecanju generičkih kompetencija i usavršavanju opće-obrazovnih kompetencija. Na temelju dobivenih rezultata i suvremenih odgojnoobrazovnih polazišta, autorice su predložile smjernice za suvremene školske kurikulume. The main goal of this research was to investigate and analyze the role, representation and ways of realization of school curricula in the period from 1951 to 2019 in the Republic of Croatia using a historical-comparative analysis of curricula, specifically primary school curricula. According to the obtained results, the authors conclude that the importance, role and activities of the school curriculum differ in different eras and within different reform attempts. The analysis of curriculum documents shows that the activities and contents of the school curriculum aim to contribute to individualization and flexibility of opportunities, according to the needs and interests of students, connecting the family home and local and wider community with the school environment, encouraging creativity, interdisciplinarity, togetherness, acquiring generic competencies and improving educational competencies. Based on the obtained results and the foundations of contemporary education the authors proposed guidelines for contemporary school curricula. (shrink)

Cilj je studije bio utvrditi učiteljsku procjenu znanja o simptomima, etiologiji i tretmanu ADHD-a te njenu povezanost sa sociodemografskim obilježjima učitelja, obilježjima škole i učiteljevoj samoprocjeni općeg znanja o ADHD-u. Prigodan uzorak činilo je 233 učitelja. Primijenjen je Upitnik učiteljskih znanja o ADHD-u trofaktorske strukture: Simptomi, Etiologija i Tretman ADHD-a, odgovarajuće pouzdanosti. Učitelji poznaju važnost tretmana za akademske i socijalne ishode učenika s ADHD-om te simptome ADHD-a, dok iskazuju nedovoljno poznavanje etiologije ADHD-a. Prisutne su zablude u identificiranju uzroka ADHD-a u (...) obiteljskim stresnim okolnostima. Učiteljska procjena općeg znanja o ADHD-u povezana je s višom razinom znanja o simptomima i tretmanu, radnim mjestom učitelja razredne nastave, dok je viša razina znanja o tretmanu povezana s nižom kronološkom dobi učitelja. Implikacije dobivenih nalaza ukazuju na značaj stjecanja kompetencija učitelja za poučavanje učenika s ADHD-om tijekom inicijalnog obrazovanja i trajnog profesionalnog razvoja, kao i osiguravanja podrške stručnjaka edukacijskih rehabilitatora. The aim of this study was to determine the teachers’ level of their perceived knowledge about ADHD and the connection between the teachers’ perceived knowledge and their sociodemographic characteristics, characteristics of the school they are affiliated with and their self-assessment of their general knowledge about ADHD. The sample was convenient and included 233 teachers. We used the Questionnaire of Teachers’ Knowledge of ADHD with three factored structure: Symptoms, Etiology of ADHD and Treatment of ADHD, with the adequate internal consistency. Teachers are aware of the importance of the treatment for the academic and social outcomes of students with ADHD. They also recognize the symptoms of ADHD. Their knowledge of the etiology of ADHD is insufficient. There are misconceptions related to identifying the cause of ADHD in family stressful circumstances. The teachers’ assessment of their general knowledge of ADHD is connected to higher level of knowledge about the symptoms and treatment, and position of primary school teacher. Higher level of knowledge about the treatment is connected to lower age of the teachers. Implications of these findings point out to the importance of obtaining the relevant competences during the initial study of the teachers as well as during their further professional development. The importance of professional support provided by educational rehabilitators is also highlighted. (shrink)

The paper is an analysis of Dworkin's attempt to develop, within liberal theory, a conception of community and associative obligations, where community is taken as a particular intrinsic value. Certainly, this attempt encounters various difficulties, like the insufficiently robust distinction between political community and other types of communities, as well as Dworkin's too narrow delimitation of the scope of activities and competences of political community. It is argued nevertheless that this endeavor is highly significant, complementing substantially the theoretical concerns of (...) standard liberal theories. U ovom radu autor analizira Dworkinov pokusaj da u okviru liberalisticke teorije razvije koncepciju zajednice i duznosti iz udruzivanja, pri cemu zajednistvo shvata kao posebnu intrinsicnu vrednost. Mada u ovom pokusaju iskrsavaju problemi, kao sto je nedovoljno jasno distingviranje politicke od drugih zajednica, kao i Dworkinovo preusko odredjenje domena aktivnosti i kompetencija politicke zajednice, autor smatra da je rec o izuzetno znacajnom poduhvatu, koji bitno upotpunjuje teorijska interesovanja standardnih liberalistickih teorija. (shrink)

Uloge edukatora u obrazovanju odraslih kontinuirano se mijenjaju, a sve ih se češće naziva mentorima, savjetnicima, motivatorima i evaluatorima, odnosno pridaju im se uloge za koje je nužno posjedovanje širokog spektra generičkih i specifičnih kompetencija. S obzirom na oskudan broj provedenih studija o kompetencijama edukatora u Republici Hrvatskoj, provedeno je istraživanje s ciljem ispitivanja i analiziranja stavova zaposlenika ustanova za obrazovanje odraslih o ključnim kompetencijama koje su potrebne za rad s odraslima te utvrđivanja stavova o važnosti pojedinih skupina (...) class='Hi'>kompetencija. U istraživanju je sudjelovao 91 ispitanik, a podaci su prikupljeni mrežnim anketiranjem. Rezultati istraživanja sugeriraju da zaposlenici ustanova za obrazovanje odraslih smatraju da je za rad s odraslima potrebno posjedovati društvene kompetencije, kompetencije savjetovanja odraslih polaznika, osmišljavanja i razumijevanja procesa učenja, poučavanja i vrednovanja, kompetencije razvoja obrazovnih programa i korištenja novih tehnologija te kompetencije kontinuiranog profesionalnog razvoja, kao i da razumiju njihovu važnost za proces obrazovanja odraslih. The roles of educators in adult education are constantly changing. Educators are increasingly called mentors, counselors, motivators, and evaluators: roles for which it is inevitable to have a wide range of generic and specific competencies. Given the scarce number of studies on the competencies of educators in Croatia, a survey was conducted to examine and analyze the attitudes of employees of adult education institutions on key competencies needed to work with adults and to determine attitudes about the importance of certain groups of competencies. The total number of participants in the research was 91. The data was collected through an online survey. The results of the research suggest that employees of adult education institutions believe that working with adults requires social and counseling competencies, competencies for designing and understanding learning, teaching, and evaluation, competencies for developing educational programs, using new technologies and continuous professional development. In addition, they understand the importance of competencies for the adult education process. (shrink)

Over the past few years, universities in Lithuania have make changes to the legal study programs—obligatory subject Criminology moved to list of alternative optional subjects. Therefore, is increasing the number of new lawyers, who have not studied criminology, which thinking about criminals, crime victims, crime, its causes and successful impact on crime, is based on stereotype understanding of a few centuries ago. However, the new lawyers, being professionals, pre-trial investigators, advocates, prosecutors, judges play a crucial role in criminal proceedings, to (...) decide the fate of people, how to use public resources for crime control and prevention. They will make speeches during the hearing in courts savour of their complete incomprehension of processes speaking about. Purpose of the article is to assess what criminological competencies are important to lawyers today, what are the possible consequences for the Lithuanian society if lawyers do not acquire these competencies. There are used the methods of analysis, aggregation, comparison and others. (shrink)

The concept of a comprehensive language curriculum provides an important basis for the development of student's plurilingual competence. It ensures the inclusion of all students' language skills in language education, the creation of cross-linguistic connections, and the development of language awareness and awareness of language learning. Factors that influence the implementation of this concept at the school level are, amongst others: school leadership, collaboration among school staff, appropriate teaching methods, and beliefs and attitudes of all members of the school as (...) an educational community. To determine possibilities for the implementation of comprehensive language curricula in Croatian primary schools, qualitative methods were used to investigate beliefs of language teachers, professional associates, and school principals about the development of students' plurilingual competence, as well as language teachers' teaching practice and the ways plurilingual education is supported at school level. Data analysis shows that the participants mostly have monolingual beliefs when it comes to the development of students' plurilingual competence. Also, although most teachers state that they make comparisons between languages in their teaching, a systematic cross-linguistic comparison and cooperation in the planning and implementation of language education are almost completely absent. (shrink)

The main subject of the present research is the enforcement of the European Union law in the domestic legal order. This topic was chosen considering the Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on the European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community and especially its declaration No. 17 on primacy of EU law. This article will explain the meaning of primacy of the European Union law and the resulting problems in some EU Member States, as well as possible solutions (...) to tackle the problems. The primacy of the European Union law over the national law was recognised as one of the constitutive principles of the European Union. The article includes relevant provisions of the Lisbon Treaty that deal with the rules concerning the legal requirements of the primacy of the European Union law in the EU primary law. The European Court of Justice has developed the meaning of the principle of primacy, which means that the European Union law should take precedence over national law (even over constitutional provisions) and should there be any conflicts between EU law and national law, every national court is obliged to apply the law of the European Union. The main issue of this article is analysing the principle of primacy of the European Union law over the Lithuanian law. (shrink)

A practising lawyer is not always aware of the fact that case decisions are more determined by legal doctrine – attitudes of authoritative lawyers and scientific legal discussion of other forms – than by changes in positive law. Regulations of specific case decisions are directly reliant on the ideas and statements of legal discussions – as one of the factors influencing the decisions of the courts. During the twenty years of independence, the form, content and argumentation of the Lithuanian court (...) judgments has fundamentally changed, especially with regard to the understanding of the courts (the judiciary) in terms of how unrestrained they are when interpreting a legal text and making decisions. The judicial discretion to interpret a legal text is treated diversely in various legal traditions and within the scope of the western legal tradition itself. In common law countries, the competence of a judge to deviate from a legal text or to create their own legal framework is treated with much greater understanding. In civil law tradition, the attempts of judges to take over the functions of the legislature are usually considered more critically. Even the representatives of comparative law emphasise that judges in civil law tradition countries tend to call the creation of legal rules differently – mostly as interpretation of the law. The discussion on the power of judges to create law through its interpretation has been taking place everywhere and at all times. Judicial discretion in decision-making is not due to individual factors such as era, social structure, cultural background, but is determined by some other factors that are not easy to identify. The interpretative activity of the courts is also influenced by the prevailing doctrinal regulations of judicial activity. It is the changes of the Lithuanian legal doctrines that could have encouraged the courts to determine the scope of their activity in the direction of its growth. After the restoration of independence, the Lithuanian legal community began an active discussion on whether legal positivism was the correct form of legal understanding. Studies appeared, in which legal positivism was seen exclusively negatively, reminding that it was specifically this legal concept that had eliminated values from law and was likely to be blamed for the ills of humanity such as the Holocaust or genocide. Numerous publications emerged calling judges to be active and reminding them to check every rule of law in accordance with its consistency with the principles of law and to disapply any rule of law that did not meet this requirement. Almost universally, lawyers (and especially the courts) were encouraged to move from mechanical (a priori improper) application of the law to the creative (a priori the best and aspirational) one. The courts were encouraged: they started to freely interpret legal rules, under which the legislature established their competence; although court judgments have become more reasoned, this did not prevent them from applying speculative or ambivalent arguments; criticism could be expressed to courts due to lengthy processes that are, objectively looking, not required, and for low activity in exercising their powers to prevent abuse of law. Respect for the legislature directly responsible for creating legal rules and taking care of legal protection, judicial recognition that a court should deviate from the legal text or otherwise create new rules only when it is objectively inevitable, and lawyers’ societal openness to discussion on various issues – these can become conceptual prerequisites for higher confidence in the courts. (shrink)

The article deals with the criteria upon which the powers of the Seimas (the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania) and the Government are delimited in the constitutional jurisprudence of Lithuania. It analyses how the Constitutional Court construes the principle of separation of powers as entrenched in the Constitution and evaluates the meaning of the provision of the Constitution that corresponding ‘relations are regulated by law’. If the Constitution provides that certain relations are regulated by means of a law, such (...) relations may be regulated only by means of a legal act, which takes the form of a law, and it is, therefore, not permissible to regulate such relations by Government resolutions or other acts of the executive. The most important elements of legal relations must be regulated (established) by means of a law, whereas Government resolutions might establish the procedure for the implementation of such laws. Rulings of the Constitutional Court reveal that once the powers of a specific branch of state power have been directly established in the Constitution, an institution of state power may not assume the said powers fr om another state institution. It may not transfer or waive them; and such powers may not be amended or limited by means of a law. The question remains, whether the provision of the Law on the Diplomatic Service wh ereby the candidacy of a diplomatic representative must be reviewed by the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs in advance is not in conflict with the Constitution. (shrink)