Recent practice of the Constitutional Court due the illegal construction

ECOVIS Miškinis, Kvainauskas ir partneriai advokatų kontora

The construction industry is always closely affected by the law, because there is so much construction that violates requirements of legal acts. Accidents injure not only the legal system, but also cause negative material consequences for the producers or for the honest owners. 

The Constitutional Court of Lithuania made a ruling and decided that the earlier edition of Article 4.103 of the Civil Code of Lithuania, and Article 28 of the Law of Construction of Lithuania violated the Constitution of Lithuania. The previous legal regulation provided limited rights of the Court on the case due the construction, which violates requirements of legal acts. The

Court was able to take one of these decisions:
1) to oblige the producer to demolish the building, or
2) to oblige the producer to reconstruct this building.

There were no additional possibilities for the Court to take into account whether this violation of the construction was fundamental or not. The Constitutional Court declared that the matter relating to elimination of the consequences of construction, which violates the requirements of legal acts, shall be decided by the Court in the manner prescribed by the law. The legislator must determine the criteria and circumstances on which the Court would be able to assess the case facts and to make a decision according to the principles of proportionality, justice, cleverness – not only to oblige the producer to demolish the building or to reconstruct the building, but also to select other appropriate sanctions.

The Constitutional Court pointed out that the new regulation will not legitimize illegal constructions (especially in protected areas), but will make the legal system more flexible and clear.