Act of Independence of Lithuania of Jonas Basanavičius, who led the Council of Lithuania when the Act of 16 February was signed. The Jonas Basanavičius Prize is bestowed for distinguished work within the previous five years in the fields of ethnic and cultural studies. Act of Independence of Lithuania The Act of Reinstating Independence of Lithuania () or Act of 16 February was signed by the Council of Lithuania on 16 February 1918, proclaiming the restoration of an independent State of Lithuania, governed by democratic principles, with Vilnius as its capital. The Act was signed by all twenty representatives of the Council, which was chaired
Capital punishment in Lithuania the criminal code but was retained in the military law (). Article 14 of the military law provided for death penalty for eight crimes, mostly directed against the state, the military, or the officials, but also included armed robbery with murder. The provisional constitution of 1920 even spoke about the abolition of the death penalty. However, Lithuania with brief interruptions remained under the martial law until November 1938 when it was lifted due to German pressure in the months before the ultimatum of March 1939. Historian Sigita Černevičiūtė counted at least 146 executions in interwar Lithuania, though records are incomplete