Constitution exam numbers and deadlines: the full cheat sheet

Constitution exam numbers and deadlines are where most points are lost: 141 or 140 Seimas members, a 4- or 5-year term, 3/5 or 2/3 of the votes. Below is every figure written into the text of the Lithuanian Constitution, each with its article number so you can check it.

The official Constitution basics exam has 20 questions with 3 options each, and you need 14 correct answers to pass. Wrong options are usually neighbouring numbers, so learn each figure together with the one it gets confused with.

How to use this cheat sheet

The tables follow the exam programme: state and human rights, Seimas, President, Government and courts, local government and finance, amendments. Work through one table at a time, then answer a few free practice questions to see which figures still get mixed up.

The state and human rights

Number	What it means	Article
300,000	Citizens with the right to vote who can demand a referendum	Art. 9
4/5	Of all Seimas members, to ratify a treaty changing the state borders	Art. 10
48 hours	Deadline to bring a person detained at the scene of a crime before a court	Art. 20
18 years	Citizens who have turned 18 by election day may vote	Art. 34
16 years	Education is compulsory until this age	Art. 41
50,000	Citizens who can submit a bill that the Seimas must consider	Art. 68

The Seimas: 141 members, 4 years, age 21

Number	What it means	Article
141	Number of Seimas members	Art. 55
4 years	Term of the Seimas	Art. 55
3/5	Of members must be elected for the Seimas to count as elected	Art. 55
21 years	Minimum age of a candidate on election day; must also permanently reside in Lithuania	Art. 56
Second Sunday of October	Regular elections, in the year the term ends	Art. 57
3/5	Of all members, for the Seimas to call early elections itself	Art. 58
30 / 60 days	The President may call early elections if the Seimas fails to decide on the Government programme in 30 days, or rejects it twice in 60 days	Art. 58
6 months	The President may not call early elections with under 6 months left of the presidential term, or since the last early elections	Art. 58
3 months	New elections must be held within 3 months of the decision	Art. 58
10 March – 30 June	Spring session	Art. 64
10 September – 23 December	Autumn session	Art. 64
1/3	Of members can propose an extraordinary session	Art. 64
15 days	First sitting of a new Seimas, counted from the election	Art. 65
Majority present	Ordinary laws are adopted by a majority of members taking part in the sitting	Art. 69
More than half / 3/5	Constitutional laws: adopted by more than half of all members, amended by at least 3/5	Art. 69
10 days	The President signs a law or returns it to the Seimas	Art. 71
More than 1/2 / 3/5	Override of a returned law: over half of all members (ordinary law), at least 3/5 (constitutional law)	Art. 72
3 days	The President must then sign the law	Art. 72
3/5	Of all members, for removal from office by impeachment	Art. 74
10 years	After impeachment, no oath-bound office for this long	Art. 74

Article 56 was amended in 2022; the current text says 21. Article 55 is explained line by line on its own page.

The President: 40, 3, 5 and 2

Number	What it means	Article
40 years	Minimum age by election day; must be a citizen of Lithuania by birth	Art. 78
3 years	Must have lived in Lithuania for at least the last 3 years	Art. 78
5 years	Term of office	Art. 78
2 terms	The same person may be elected no more than twice in a row	Art. 78
20,000	Voter signatures to register as a candidate	Art. 79
Last Sunday, 2 months before	Regular elections: the last Sunday two months before the end of the term	Art. 80
More than half / 1/3	First-round win: over half the votes with at least half of voters taking part; otherwise the most votes, but at least 1/3 of all voters	Art. 81
2 weeks	Run-off between the two leading candidates	Art. 81
Next day	Takes office the day after the previous term ends, after the oath in Vilnius	Art. 82
15 days	After a Government resignation, the President proposes a Prime Minister to the Seimas	Art. 84

Government, Constitutional Court and courts

Number	What it means	Article
Prime Minister and ministers	Composition of the Government	Art. 91
15 days	The Prime Minister presents the Government and its programme to the Seimas, counted from appointment	Art. 92
9 justices	Composition of the Constitutional Court	Art. 103
9 years, 1 term	Justices are appointed for nine years and one term only	Art. 103
1/3 every 3 years	The Court is renewed by one third every three years	Art. 103
3 + 3 + 3	Three candidates each from the President, the Speaker and the Supreme Court President; appointed by the Seimas	Art. 103
10 years	Minimum legal work experience for a justice	Art. 103
1/5	Of Seimas members can apply to the Constitutional Court	Art. 106
Final	Constitutional Court decisions are final and not subject to appeal	Art. 107
4 types of court	Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, regional courts, district courts	Art. 111
5 years	Term of the Chair of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania and of the State Controller	Art. 126, 133

More on how these bodies interact: the state institutions module.

Local government, budget and defence

Number	What it means	Article
4 years	Term of municipal councils and mayors	Art. 119
1 January – 31 December	The budget year	Art. 129
75 days	The Government submits the draft budget at least this long before the budget year ends	Art. 130
1/12	If no budget is approved in time, monthly spending is capped at 1/12 of last year's	Art. 132
5 members	State Defence Council: President, Prime Minister, Speaker, Defence Minister, Armed Forces Commander	Art. 140
6 months	Maximum duration of a state of emergency	Art. 144

Constitutional amendments and key dates

Number	What it means	Article
1/4 of the Seimas or 300,000 voters	Who may propose an amendment	Art. 147
3/4	Of all citizens with the right to vote, to change Article 1 by referendum	Art. 148
Chapters I and XIV	May be amended only by referendum	Art. 148
2 votes, 3 months apart	Other amendments: two Seimas votes with a break of at least three months	Art. 148
2/3	Of all members in favour at each of the two votes	Art. 148
1 year	A rejected amendment may be resubmitted no earlier than this	Art. 148
5 days / 1 month	The President signs within 5 days; in force no earlier than one month after adoption	Art. 149
25 October 1992	Constitution adopted by referendum; this date is Constitution Day	–
2 November 1992	Constitution entered into force	–
154 articles, 14 chapters	Size of the Constitution, plus the final provisions	–

Why those two dates differ is explained in our article on the 1992 referendum.

How to keep similar numbers apart

• 4 or 5 years? Bodies elected as a group serve 4 years (Seimas, municipal councils); single top offices serve 5 (President, Bank of Lithuania Chair, State Controller); Constitutional Court justices serve 9.
• 21 or 40? Seimas from 21, President from 40, plus the last 3 years living in Lithuania. The higher the office, the higher the number.
• 3/5, 2/3, 3/4, 4/5. The fraction grows with the weight of the decision: 3/5 for internal Seimas decisions (early elections, impeachment, amending constitutional laws), 2/3 for a constitutional amendment in the Seimas, 3/4 for Article 1 in a referendum, 4/5 for the state borders.
• 1/5, 1/4, 1/3. 1/5 of members can apply to the Constitutional Court, 1/4 can propose a constitutional amendment, 1/3 can propose an extraordinary session.
• 300,000, 50,000, 20,000. The biggest number goes with the biggest decision: a referendum or a constitutional amendment. 50,000 for a bill, 20,000 signatures for a presidential candidate.
• 15 days appears three times: the first sitting of the Seimas (Art. 65), presenting the Government (Art. 92), proposing a Prime Minister (Art. 84). Plus exam registration: 15 calendar days before the exam.
• 3, 5 and 10 days. 3 for a law adopted a second time (Art. 72), 5 for a law adopted by referendum and for a constitutional amendment (Art. 71, 149), 10 for an ordinary law (Art. 71).

FAQ

Does the exam ask exact dates, such as when sessions start?

Questions are drawn from the whole text of the Constitution, so the session dates (Art. 64), election day (Art. 57) and the budget year (Art. 129) can come up. There are few dates, so learn them.

Is the minimum age for a Seimas candidate 21 or 25?

In the current wording it is 21 (Art. 56, amended in 2022). If an older source gives a different figure, follow the text in force.

Do I need to learn the exam's own numbers too?

Not in the questions, but they matter: 20 questions, 14 correct to pass, 3 options, registration at migracija.lt no later than 15 calendar days before the exam, certificate within 3 working days. The full exam guide has the details.

To check whether the numbers have stuck, take a full 20-question mock exam with explanations: the premium version starts at €5.95.