IŠIMTINĖ PADĖTIS: TEISINIAI PAGRINDAI IR IŠŠŪKIAI
STATE OF EXCEPTION: LEGAL GROUNDS AND CHALLENGES

Summary/Abstract: Straipsnyje analizuojami išimtinės padėties teisiniai pagrindai, jų transformacija ir iššūkiai šiuolaikinėje teisinėje sistemoje. Remiantis Senovės Romos teise parodoma, kaip susiformavo tradicinis nepaprastosios padėties modelis, atkeliavęs iki modernių konstitucijų. Išskiriami pagrindiniai nepaprastosios padėties principai, dominuojantys šiuolaikinėse konstitucijose ir tarptautinėje teisėje. Identifikuojamas demokratinių valstybių perėjimas prie neoficialios nepaprastosios padėties (legislatyvinio) modelio teisiniam ekstremalių situacijų reguliavimui. Tiriamos šio reiškinio priežastys, kurios yra siejamos su požiūrio į suspendavimo nuostatą pokyčiais. Šiame kontekste pastebimas teismų vaidmens išaugimas. Analizuojamos Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucinio Teismo, Jungtinės Karalystės Lordų Rūmų ir Europos žmogaus teisių teismo bylos. Atskleidžiamas teismų požiūris dėl valstybės veiksmų išimtinės padėties metu ir suspendavimo nuostatos taikymo ribų. Teismų praktika rodo, kad valstybės veiksmai krizės metu griežtai tikrinami. Straipsnyje taip pat atskleidžiami šiuolaikiniai iššūkiai demokratinėms valstybėms, nuolatinė krizių grėsmė, kurioje gyvename. Pateikiami tam tikri samprotavimai dėl situacijos rytų Ukrainoje. This paper aims to contribute to the discussion about the legal grounds of the state of exception, its origins and transformation in contemporary legal systems. The law in Ancient Rome demonstrate the beginning of traditional model of the state of emergency, which can be called constitutional dictatorship. Later it evolved and travelled to modern constitutions. Main principles of the traditional state of emergency that came from Ancient Rome to nowadays be the following: temporality, purpose of restoring the status quo, suspension of rights, prohibition to change constitution. These principles dominate in contemporary democratic constitutions and international law. Legal order should also make sense in cases where security is under threat and certainty is distorted by “exceptional” or “emergency” situations that surpass the notion of normality. However, legal system requires normal or ordinary conditions which make it possible to foresee the consequences of particular act. The focus of this analysis is the ways in which the state comprehends the lack of certainty that occur in emergency. The issue with present emergencies is that we reject the idea of giving unlimited power to state authorities and since it is unpredictable what measures may be necessary it becomes even more complicated to deal with emergencies. The shift in democratic states is observed from the traditional model of state of emergency to the unofficial state of emergency (legislative) model. The reasons of this change are associated with the complex procedure of the invocation of state of emergency and the altered view of the suspension clause, the ways in which its notion became narrower. Advocates of the narrow view of the suspension clause assert that it does not give any new emergency powers to the government. The outcomes of this process is also analysed in this paper. In this context the increasing role of the judiciary is indicated. Cases of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania, the House of Lords in the United Kingdom and the European Court of Human Rights are analysed. Judiciary views of the emergency powers and suspension clause are illustrated. Case law demonstrates that state’s actions in crisis are placed under scrutiny. However, courts granted state authorities with a wide margin of appreciation in the matters of emergency regulation. Courts deal with complex situations when they have to evaluate state actions in the state of exception on the grounds of ordinary law. Finally, contemporary challenges to liberal democracies are demonstrated, as well as the permanent threat of emergency that we live in. The state of emergency questions the grounds of state’s authority, its competence, the relations between law and politics. Some observations regarding the situation in the Eastern part of Ukraine are offered. Changing perspectives of contemporary crises in states and their courts are analysed.

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