Attorney Aistė Žemaitienė explains why Lithuania’s citizenship referendum did not succeed and what can be done now to allow more people to keep multiple citizenships.
Hopes that more citizens could keep multiple citizenships were dashed when the results came in after Sunday’s referendum on expanding dual citizenship in Lithuania. It was organized five years after the first unsuccessful referendum; however, the results were about the same – multiple citizenship of Lithuania remains a possibility only for definite groups of individuals who meet strict criteria.
The idea of the referendum was to change the Constitution in a way that a constitutional law would describe the grounds and procedure of acquiring or losing Lithuanian citizenship. It is the Parliament that would have this constitutional law passed (and the draft was already arranged), so it would have been easier to have the regulation on citizenship changed.
However, Lithuania has one of the strictest regulations for referenda among democratic countries (and this part of the Constitution may be changed by referendum only), so even though most of the voters were in favor of the change, the goal was not achieved because of the requirement to have more than 50 percent of the eligible population, not just of those who voted, say yes.
Article 12 of the Constitution now states that, with the exception of individual cases provided by law, no one may be a citizen of both the Republic of Lithuania and another state at the same time, and the procedure for the acquisition and loss of citizenship shall be established by law. The Citizenship Act of Lithuania now allows dual citizenship for certain groups of people, for example, those who were citizens before the Soviet occupation of June 15, 1940, (as well as their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren) and who have been exiled from or left occupied Lithuania before March 11, 1990.
It is the Constitutional Court that checks whether laws and other legal acts adopted by the Parliament comply with the Constitution. The Constitutional Court made its ruling on the citizenship issue on November 13, 2006, explaining that cases of dual citizenship should be especially rare exceptions. In the same ruling, the Constitutional Court explained that if the legislature decides that there is no need to limit dual citizenship, it should first revise the corresponding provisions of the Constitution (such as Article 12) and do that by following the procedure which is established in the Constitution. Under Paragraph 2 of Article 148, Chapter I of the Constitution may be changed only by referendum.
As there is a political will to allow more dual citizens, and the majority of the nation also is in favor, what is the future of this question? The amendments to the Citizenship Act to allow those who have acquired citizenship of NATO member states or the alliance’s partners Austria, Ireland and Malta, to keep their Lithuanian citizenship, were registered by an MP last Monday.
However, since every law passed has to comply with the Constitution and the Constitutional Court has been strict in the past, this path has its limits. If this law is passed, somebody with the right to do so (like the Government, a group of MPs, or courts) can challenge it and file a petition with the Constitutional Court, and this may result in a ruling that would be quite the opposite of what the dual citizenship advocates want. The Constitutional Court’s ruling is final and not subject to appeal.
As the majority of the nation would like to see the change on multiple citizenship, and sovereignty belongs to the nation, changing the Constitution regarding this issue would still be the best way to go. For this reason, there are now talks about lowering the referendum threshold, so that a simple majority saying yes would suffice. It is the constitutional law on referenda that regulates this question, and constitutional laws may be altered by the parliament, albeit with a special majority of no less than 3/5 of all MPs. Perhaps we will see this happen sometime in the future.
There are many different ways other countries deal with similar situations. For example, the Constitution of India does not permit dual citizenship, however, the country decided to offer people of Indian origin Overseas Citizenship of India. This brings some of the desired benefits to its holders, such as the permission to live and work in the country indefinitely, although it does not grant the right to vote.
Polish non-citizens may get a similar document, the Karta Polaka (Pole’s Card), which is issued to a person who belongs to the Polish nation and meets certain criteria, mostly based on origin. This document also has many benefits, such as the right to preschool, primary and secondary education in Poland, among many others.
Lithuania also has made its first steps by offering a certificate of Lithuanian descent to people of Lithuanian origin, as well as the right to restore the citizenship of Lithuania certificate. Expanding these benefits, or even combining and/or creating a brand-new Lithuanian Card, could also be one of the options.
The right to restore the citizenship certificate is now issued to anyone who was him/herself or has at least one parent/grandparent/great-grandparent was a Lithuanian citizen until June 15, 1940. The certificate of Lithuanian descent is issued to a person whose at least one parent or grandparent was an ethnic Lithuanian and who considers himself/herself Lithuanian and declares that in writing.
While at the moment the certificate of Lithuanian descent allows one to apply for a permanent residency permit in Lithuania, it does not grant this right automatically and additional steps have to be taken. Lithuania could consider broadening the rights conferred to the certificate holders, for example, (almost) automatically allowing them to reside in the country. Especially since Article 32 of the Constitution states that everyone who is Lithuanian has a right to settle in Lithuania.
Attorney Aistė Žemaitienė, Attorney Aistė Žemaitienė Law Office
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
