Dvidešimt septynių antstolių atleidimo konstituciniai aspektai

LTLietuvos Respublikoje pastaraisiais metais nebuvo tokio valdingo, originalaus ir diskutuotino ministro individualaus sprendimo, susijusio su teisine sistema, kaip teisingumo ministro sprendimas iš karto atleisti... beveik trečdalį (27!) dirbančių antstolių. Toks sprendimas ir jį numatantis įstatymuose nustatytas reglamentavimas, viena vertus, priskirtinas administracinės teisės sričiai, kita vertus, nepaprastai reikšmingas konstituciniu („tarpdalykiniu“) atžvilgiu. Jis verčia gilintis į įstatymų leidėjo teisėkūrą (jos aiškumą, pagrįstumą), iš kurios atsirado ministro pareiga (ne nuožiūros teisė) priimti valdymo aktą pagal atitinkamą faktą - „laiku neįgijus aukštojo teisinio universitetinio išsilavinimo". Tad kyla klausimas, ar nebuvo pažeisti atleistų antstolių teisėti lūkesčiai, teisinės valstybės konstitucinė samprata. Atrodytų, kad trūksta tam tikros juridinės logikos arba ją sunku perprasti: penketą ir daugiau metų antstolio funkcijas vykdę (ir patirtį bei stažą sukaupę!) asmenys buvo laikomi tinkamais, tačiau nuo tam tikros datos imami laikyti nebetinkamais, nes negavo diplomo, kurio anksčiau nereikėjo... Vaizdžiai tariant, valstybė davė valtį ir irklus, tačiau pusiaukelėje pareikalavo išlipti, pasiteisindama, kad apie galimą išlaipinimą buvo iš anksto informuota... Ar tokia laikysena suderinama su Konstitucija?.

ENOne of the most interesting 'interdisciplinary' issues of the Lithuanian constitutional and administrative law in recent years was the lawful decision of the Minister of Justice of 1st October 2007 to dismiss 27 bailiffs (almost a third of the total number of Lithuanian bailiffs) who failed to acquire a university legal education by an established date. From the point of view of the Constitution, the problem was caused not by the decision of the Minister itself; rather, it was conditioned by the mandatory norms of the laws that formed the grounds for this decision. It was determined that: a) in accordance with the 'Lawon Bailiffs'of 2000, all bailiffs were obliged to acquire a university degree Ein law (single cycle, bachelor's or master's degree) by 31st November 2007. In the meantime, only those persons could be employed to start serving as bailiffs who had commenced their studies in law or had them successfully completed; b) all bailiffs who had lost their status as public servants as a consequence of the reform and became subjects of semiprivate economic activity, were expected, in accordance with the Law on Bailiffs of 2002, not only to establish and maintain a bailiff's office from their own or borrowed funds but also to acquire a university degree in law by 31st November 2007. The persons who failed to get such a university diploma had to be dismissed from office.The law failed to provide for: a) any exceptions, i.e. manifestly important circumstances (e.g. serious illness, pregnancy, a newborn child and the related constitutional guaranties of maternity leave) that could objectively prevent a bailiff from meeting the above-mentioned deadline; b) the right of a bailiff to apply to the Minister of Justice for the extension of the established time limit, and the right (duty) of the Minister to satisfy such an application upon the existence of valid objective (and constitutionally significant) grounds. Such a regulatory deficiency could be viewed as insufficiently (incompletely) conforming to the principle of the State ruled by law (and its constituent element - the principle of legitimate expectations of an individual) as well as the principle of responsible government, which has since 2004 been repeatedly inferred by the Constitutional Court from various provisions of the Constitution. Such aspects and the related constitutional doubts should be dully evaluated by the administrative courts that are examining complaints submitted by the discharged bailiffs. Provided that such doubts are grounded (and, according to the author of the article, they definitely are), the courts ought to apply to the Constitutional Court with a request to examine the conformity of the above-mentioned laws to the Constitution.