Seimas to consider proposal allowing MPs to waive their own immunity

The Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, has decided to consider a proposal to amend the Constitution to allow members of parliament to voluntarily waive their own legal immunity, LRT reports.

A draft amendment to Article 62 of the Constitution, prepared by politicians from various factions, was supported by 50 MPs, with 11 against and 32 abstaining. The proposed text states: “The Seimas’ consent to prosecute a member of the Seimas is not required if the member, in accordance with the procedure established by the Seimas Statute, expresses in writing their consent to be prosecuted for a specific case.”

Currently, the Constitution stipulates that an MP cannot be prosecuted, arrested, or have their freedom restricted in any other way without the Seimas’ approval. Under the existing rules, the parliament must always vote on whether to lift a colleague’s immunity, even if the MP in question agrees to its removal.

Jurgis Razma, one of the initiators of the proposal and a conservative MP, said: “We would avoid heated debates from the Seimas podium, for or against, and simply, like any other citizen, the MP would consent, and law enforcement could do their job.”

Last term, the Seimas Statute was amended to simplify the procedure if an MP whose immunity is to be lifted expresses such a will. The simplification means that no special commission is formed to investigate whether the prosecutor general’s request to prosecute an MP is politically motivated. To lift an MP’s immunity, at least half of the parliamentarians, or 71 out of 141, must vote in favor.

Razma explained: “MPs do give their consent and ask for their immunity to be lifted, but then we see that there are not 71 votes in the Seimas to support it, and we have a somewhat paradoxical situation where an MP asks for their immunity to be lifted, but the Seimas does not have enough votes to formalize it.”

The proposed constitutional amendment will be further discussed in the Legal Affairs Committee and is expected to return to the parliament during the autumn session. Constitutional amendments require at least 94 votes in favor in two separate votes, with a minimum three-month interval between them.