International conference “Lithuanian Independence Act of February 16, 1918: Restoration of Statehood in Baltic and Eastern European regions“ (SLS’2018)
On February 5th, 2018, the traditional fifth spring conference of legal science was held at the Faculty of Law of VU. This year it was organized by the Department of Public Law and was dedicated to the centenary of the restoration of the state. At the international conference “Lithuanian Independence Act of February 16, 1918: Restoration of Statehood in Baltic and Eastern European regions”, representatives of Vilnius, Latvia, Tallinn, Belarus, Lodz and Ukraine’s Koreshkov Universities gave their presentations. During the conference, VU Faculty of Law alumnus and member of Seimas Rimantė Šalaševičiūtė presented the 1918 February 16 Facsimile of the act.
The scientists revealed in their reports that each act of independence is unique and emphasizes the uniqueness of its state and the country’s situation at that time. For example, Latvia and Estonia do not even have specifically signed acts of independence. “In Estonia, they wanted to publish a manifesto for several days in a row, but it was not always possible, because, for example, although in 1918 February 22 the city of Tartu was free, but the bolsheviks had blocked the road and there was no way to enter the city. Therefore, the manifesto was transcribed on thin paper, hidden in shoes and no one signed it for security reasons. So on February 24 only published the manifesto – posted it in the city, and on February 25 already announced independence, that it was announced on February 24”, said Professor Peeter Järvelaid.
VU Faculty of Law professor Jevgenij Machovenko pointed out that in 1918 The Act of Independence of Lithuania is a continuation of the Statutes of Lithuania, as well as the legislation of those times, in other terms – it is possible to see the continuity of the tradition of the LDK. Associate professor Vaidotas Vaičaitis tried to scientifically and at the same time wittily compare the acts of independence of the Baltic countries and said that the acts of independence of Latvia and Lithuania mentioned only the right to vote, while in Estonia various human rights were mentioned, including freedom of speech, assembly or even the right to strike. In addition, the scientist pointed out that although the act of February 16 mentioned that the capital of Lithuania is Vilnius, unfortunately this did not become a reality, and capitals were not mentioned in other acts, but there were no problems with their existence.
