Constitution of Latvia

Etymology

In Latvian, satversme is officially used instead of 'constitution' (konstitūcija), while in everyday conversations "konstitūcija" is often used. The word was created by Atis Kronvalds, one of the leaders of the First Latvian National Awakening in the 19th century. The movement was trying to promote Latvian culture after centuries of Baltic German influence and encourage use of the Latvian language. Kronvalds and like-minded individuals created and introduced many new words and terms intended to be used over Germanic loanwords to modernize Latvian. He derived the term "satversme" from the root -tvert- ("to grip"), combining it with the prefix "sa-", which yields the word satvert (to grasp), adding the -sm- suffix and the feminine ending "-e", creating a word that in its meaning is similar to "holder", to illustrate how a constitution holds together all other laws.

History

The Constitution was drafted by the Constitutional Assembly of Latvia (Satversmes sapulce), which consisted of 150 members (later 152) elected in April 1920 in general elections. The initial text was elaborated by a Constitutional committee (Satversmes komisija) and consisted of two parts. It was influenced by ideas of the Weimar Constitution and the Swiss Federal Constitution. The first regulated the state's institutions; the second, citizens' rights and obligations. The committee presented its work on 20 September 1921. The first part of the bill was passed on 15 February 1922, while the second part on 5 April 1922 received 62 "Yes" votes, 6 "No" votes and 62 abstentions, which were counted as "No", and therefore was not adopted, mostly because Latgale parties were against it. On 20 June 1922 a law was passed that set the new constitution to come into force at 12 a.m. on 7 November 1922.

On 15 May 1934 Latvian coup d'état led by Kārlis Ulmanis took place; the subsequent cabinet of Ulmanis passed a declaration that gave the functions of parliament to the Cabinet of Ministers until a new constitution was to be drafted, which never happened. In 1940 Latvian SSR was established by occupying Soviet Union forces and a parliament called the "People's Saeima of Latvia" was elected. The legality of this parliament and its decisions is questioned–Soviets considered that the constitution was nullified by Ulmanis' coup d'état, so the People's Saeima never formally annulled it. However, Latvian lawyers and historians observe that the constitution was still in effect, since Ulmanis' declaration only assigned the functions of the Saeima to the cabinet and did not cancel any part of the constitution, and that the People's Saeima was elected in accordance with the constitution of Russian SFSR, not in accordance with that of Latvia, and thus it had no legal rights to legislate, and by declaring accession to the Soviet Union, it broke the first article of the Satversme.

After declaring accession to the USSR, the People's Saeima drafted a Constitution of LSSR on the basis of the 1936 Soviet Constitution. It was adopted a month after, on 25 August 1940. On 18 April 1978 the government of the LSSR adopted a new constitution modeled on the 1977 Soviet Constitution.

On 4 May 1990 the Supreme Soviet of LSSR declared restoration of Latvia's independence and adopted articles 1, 2, 3 and 6 of the constitution of 1922. The rest of the constitution remained in abeyance until it was reviewed to fit the modern situation, thus the constitution was fully reinforced by 5th Saeima on 6 July 1993 in accordance to 14 article of law "On organisation of job of Supreme Council of Republic of Latvia" In 1992 neighboring Estonia voted on a new Constitution of Estonia as did Lithuania with Constitution of Lithuania, as their pre-war constitutions had been written and amended during their authoritarian regimes, while Ulmanis regime had not changed anything in the democratic Satversme of 1922.

Overview

The Constitution of Latvia is a codified constitution and currently consists of 116 articles arranged in eight chapters:

Thus the constitution establishes five government bodies - the Saeima, the President, the Cabinet, the Courts and the State Audit Office.

Key principles

Articles 1, 2, 3 and 6, which establish the legal basis of the state's political system, were the first to be adopted after the restoration of independence. These articles, along with articles 4 and 77, can only be amended if submitted to a national referendum:

Saeima

The Saeima, the parliament of Latvia, consists of 100 members, designated by the constitution as representatives of the people. It is elected in general, equal and direct elections for a term of four years, by secret ballot based on proportional representation of voters in each electoral district. The Constitution describes in general how the Saeima should work, noting that the Saeima should also establish rules of order to regulate its internal operations and order.

Executive branch

Executive power is vested in the President and the Cabinet of ministers. The President however is not politically responsible for carrying out his duties and all his orders have to be signed by the Prime Minister or by the appropriate Minister who thereby becomes responsible for this order. There are two exceptions to this rule - the President can single-handedly decide to dissolve the Saeima and when a new government is formed it is up to him to choose a new Prime Minister. The cabinet is formed by the Prime Minister.

Courts

The Constitution establishes district (city) courts, regional courts, the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court, and rules that, in the event of war or a state of emergency, military courts can also be established. Judges are to be appointed by the Saeima and this decision is irreversible, the Saeima can forcibly remove a judge from office only upon a decision of the Judicial Disciplinary Board or a judgment of the Court in a criminal case.

Legislation

Under the constitution, the right to legislate has been granted to the Saeima. Draft laws may be submitted to the Saeima by the President, the Cabinet or committees of the Saeima, by more than five MPs or by one-tenth of the electorate if provisions to do so, set out in the Constitution, are met. Laws are to be adopted by the Saeima and proclaimed by the President.

State Audit Office

The State Audit Office of the Republic of Latvia is an independent collegial supreme audit institution, a key element in the State’s financial control system serving public interest by providing independent assurance on the effective and useful utilization of central and local government resources.

The Constitution establishes the State Audit Office of the Republic of Latvia as an independent collegial institution and describes the process of appointing Auditors General - the procedure is essentially the same as when appointing judges, with the exception that Auditor General has a fixed term of office. The State Audit Office controls how the state financial resources are used.

Fundamental human rights

Although the constitutional bill included a chapter that was to regulate citizens' rights and obligations this was not originally adopted. The chapter on human rights was added as part of constitutional amendment in 1998.

Amendments

Provisions for amendments are stated in articles 76-79 of the constitution. Amendments to most articles can be made by the Saeima. Articles 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 77 are exceptions, as article 77 requires a referendum to amend these articles. During the interwar period amendments were rare–only one amendment was made and one major amendment was almost passed, but was never adopted due to the coup. Since the renewal of independence, however, eight amendments have been made.

In 1994 the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18. In 1996, the Constitutional Court was established. In 1997, major changes to the articles regulating the process of elections and the functions of Saeima, the President (including prolonging their terms of office from 3 to 4 years) and the Cabinet were made. In 1998, aside from adding chapter eight (fundamental human rights) to the constitution, official status was secured to the Latvian language, the requirement for a referendum to change articles 4 and 77 was made, and article 82 was fully changed; it now defines types of courts in Latvia. In 2002, requirement for members of Saeima to give a solemn promise to acquire their mandate was added. Official status for the Latvian language was further secured by making it the working language of state and municipal structures. In 2003, several amendments were made in order for Latvia to join the European Union. In 2004, amendments to certain rights of the president and citizens were made. In 2006, an amendment that defined that marriage as the union of one man and one woman was added. In 2007, article 40 was amended and article 81 was abolished. In 2009, possibility for electorate to dissolve the Parliament was introduced.

Preamble

On 19 June 2014 Preamble of the Constitution of Latvia was adopted by Saeima. Preamble text initially presented by European Court of Justice judge Egils Levits on 2013 described all basic values of the Republic of Latvia and Latvians. Levits draft of preamble to the Satversme stated the following:

In order to ensure the existence of the Latvian nation through the centuries, preservation and development of the Latvian language and culture, [and] prosperity of every human being and people [of Latvia] as a whole, the Latvian people;

having regard for the fact that, as a result of the consolidation of nation and the formation of national consciousness on 18 November 1918, the Republic of Latvia that has been proclaimed on the lands historically belonging to Latvians has been established upon the immutable will of the Latvian nation and its inextinguishable right to self-determination in order freely to self-determine and as a nation‑state to build the future in its own state;

bearing in mind that the people won their state during the Latvian War of Liberation, that it did not recognize the occupation authorities, and that it resisted them, and on the basis of state continuity, restoring state independence, it regained its freedom;

expressing gratitude to the state’s founders, honouring its freedom-fighters, and commemorating the victims of retaliations by invaders’ forces;

in awareness that the Latvian state’s basic task is to promote the spiritual, social, cultural, and material welfare, ensuring legal order, safety, environmental protection, and conservation of nature and reconciling economic development with human values and necessities;

recognizing that the traditions of Latvian democracy are the citizens’ direct participation in the conduct of public affairs and the parliamentary republic, and providing that the Latvian state in its activities especially respects principles of democracy and the rule of law and principles of a national and social state, [and that Latvian state] recognize and protect human rights, including minority rights;

recognizing the inviolability of the independence of the Latvian state, its territory, its territorial integrity, the sovereignty of the people, the Latvian language as the only state language, [and] the democratic set-up of the state, and that it is the responsibility of everyone to protect these values;

pointing out that all have a duty to take care of themselves, their kinsmen, and the common good of society and to behave responsibly toward their fellow human beings, society, the state, the environment, nature, and future generations;

being aware that Latvian ethno-cultural Weltanschauung [dzīvesziņa, literally ‘wisdom of life’] and Christian values significantly shaped our identity; that the values of the society are freedom, honesty, justice, and solidarity; that family is the basic unit of the society; and that work is a foundation for growth and prosperity of everyone and the nation as a whole;

emphasising that Latvia is actively participating in international affairs; protecting its interests; and contributing to the human, sustainable, democratic, and responsible development of Europe and the world at large, in line with the national anthem ‘God Bless Latvia!’, which expresses the idea of a free nation-state in its freely elected Constitutional Assembly, have strengthened the Latvian national constitutional order and adopted the following Satversme of the state .

Controversy of Preamble

There was a considerable amount of discussion in Latvia about the initiative for a Preamble and its contents. For example, some far-left organizations stated that text aims to anchor in the State Constitution an "Ethnic Latvian Nation" as the primary principle of sovereignty, in contrast to the current multi-ethnic country which is composed of the "people of Latvia". Others opposed mentioning of "Christian values" and "Latvian life-wisdom" as outdated and not fitting for the 21st century. Legal scholar Kristine Jarinovska states that idea Levits has proposed is to describe all basic values of the Republic of Latvia in order to put a stop to misuse of popular will. A referendum to approve or disapprove the initiative to add an inviolable preamble to the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia is not necessary, stated Justice Minister of Latvia Jānis Bordāns.