Lithuania’s parliament on Tuesday appointed Tomas Davulis as president of the Constitutional Court.
In a secret ballot, 67 members of parliament voted in favour, three were against, and six abstained. One ballot was declared invalid.
Davulis has served as a judge of the Constitutional Court since 2023. His nomination for the presidency was proposed by President Gitanas Nausėda.
During his presentation to the Seimas in early April, the candidate pledged to increase the court’s accessibility and to consider diverse arguments when hearing constitutional justice cases.
He noted that despite the introduction of the individual constitutional complaint mechanism in Lithuania in 2019, the number of individual complaints accepted for consideration has been decreasing annually. According to Davulis, the number of applicants is also in decline.
The candidate said more active efforts by the court are necessary to educate, motivate, and provide explanations to the public. He also emphasised the importance of developing a dialogue with the courts, which are the source of the majority of cases reaching the Constitutional Court.
Davulis has 28 years of experience in legal pedagogy, scientific research and lawmaking. Prior to his appointment to the court, he worked at Vilnius University, where he served as the dean of the Faculty of Law for 10 years.
The new president is being appointed following the end of Gintaras Goda’s term in March. Currently, the court is temporarily led by another judge, Vytautas Mizaras.
Under the law, the permanent president of the Constitutional Court is appointed by the Seimas from among the court’s judges upon the nomination of the president.
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