Conference “Relation Between Legal Acts of 16th of February 1918 and 11th of March 1990”
Last month Lithuania lived in high spirits: the centenary of the state was celebrated, the fluttering tricolors were pleasing to the eye, a large number of citizenship-building events were organized and the celebration of the restoration of independence was welcomed. The Faculty of Law of Vilnius University can also celebrate the active activities of students and teachers to celebrate these beautiful holidays, and one of them is the conference “Relation Between Legal Acts of 16th of February 1918 and 11th of March 1990“
The festive conference was opened by the broadcast speech of the Chairman of the Supreme Council, one of the signatories of the Act of Independence, Professor Vytautas Landsbergis. The signatory shared his impressions and memories of the 1990s, and also provided some critical insights: “was everything finally done?”. Calling Lithuania a restitutionary state, the honored guest addressed the young generation, leaving them to evaluate the events of March 11 themselves, to research them, and also wished the students “success in the path of life and justice”.
Later, the signatory of the Act of Independence, VU Faculty of Law professor Jonas Prapiestis, joined the podium. This speaker drew attention to the fact that the lecturers of the Faculty of Law of VU made a great contribution to the declaration of Lithuania’s independence. They prepared the draft Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, most of the signatories who signed the Act were educated at Vilnius University. The speaker was also happy that the lawyers of the then Lithuania had enough qualifications to prepare the most important documents of independent Lithuania.
Pleased to note, that Birutė Valionytė, president of the Signatories Club, also spoke at the conference. She noticed that the restoration of independence happened thanks to proactive and determined people. For the sake of interest, the interviewer recalled the exact date and time of the declaration of independence: March 11, 10 p.m. 03 minutes. She recalled that the discussion on the date of the declaration of independence was interrupted by Vytautas Landsbergis’ call to Stasys Lozoraitis in Washington. S. Lozoraitis’ call to vote determined that the details were immediately agreed upon and the vote took place already on March 11. “The message from Washington was: We will not disturb you. S. Lozoraitis translated it like this – tomorrow or never. And thanks to this emphasis, we have already decided to move forward,” the signatory said.
Birutė Valionytė wished the young generation to be the legal “legs” of the state – people responsible for the further creation and nurturing of Lithuania.
Associate Professor Ramutė Ruškytė, a former judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania, considered the possibilities of Lithuanian citizens contributing to the Lithuanian legislature, discussed the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, and called the preamble of this document “poetic” because it was drafted by Justinas Marcinkevičius himself. Finally, one of the main organizers of the conference, Associate Professor Vaidotas Vaičaitis of the Faculty of Law of VU spoke, who discussed the main intersections of the acts of February 16 and March 11 and emphasized that in addition to the 1918 the act of February 16th would not have been the act of March 11th.
