Lithuanian government rejects specific legal advisor role for MPs

The Lithuanian government has expressed its opposition to formally establishing a distinct legal position for a "Member of Parliament's legal advisor." The cabinet argues that such a move would be inconsistent with the current legal framework governing the formation of parliamentary teams, which emphasizes flexibility and personal trust.

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The current legal regulation is based on the Member of Parliament's freedom of choice and the flexibility of their team, rather than establishing specific professional specializations at the law level.

According to the government's resolution, the existing legal framework is based on a Member of Parliament's freedom to choose their team members. Introducing a specific, legally defined role for a legal advisor would unduly narrow this discretion and could lead to demands for differentiating other team positions based on specialization. This, the government contends, would disrupt the coherence, flexibility, and systemic consistency of the parliamentary support system.

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Establishing a separate position for a Member of Parliament's legal advisor at the law level would unreasonably narrow the Member of Parliament's discretion in forming a political (personal) confidence team for parliamentary activities and would create prerequisites for analogously differentiating other positions in this team by specialization.

The government further stated that creating a new specialized position at the legislative level is neither necessary nor sufficient to achieve the stated goal of attracting highly qualified legal professionals. It suggests that the nature of a civil servant's functions and their required qualifications are determined by institutional needs and specific job descriptions, not solely by a title enshrined in law.

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The nature of the functions performed by a civil servant and the special qualifications required for the position are determined not by the job title enshrined in law, but by the institution's operational needs and the specific job description prepared based on them.

Instead of creating a new title, the government proposed that if specialized legal expertise is needed, it can be ensured by setting a requirement for a university-level legal education within the existing "Member of Parliament's advisor" position and clearly defining legal functions in the job description. The government doubts that simply adding the title "Member of Parliament's legal advisor" would inherently qualify the role as legal work or make these positions more competitive in the job market without addressing qualification requirements and remuneration conditions.

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Simply establishing the job title 'Member of Parliament's legal advisor' at the law level would not in itself create a legal basis for considering such a position as a legal position or recognizing it as related to legal work according to the legal profession.