Constitution of Latvia
Encyclopedia
The Constitution of Latvia is the fundamental law of the Republic of Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
. It was adopted by, as it states itself, the people of Latvia, in a freely elected Constitutional Assembly
Constituent assembly
A constituent assembly is a body composed for the purpose of drafting or adopting a constitution...
, on 15 February 1922 and came into force on 7 November 1922. It was influenced by ideas of the Weimar Constitution
Weimar constitution
The Constitution of the German Reich , usually known as the Weimar Constitution was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic...
and Swiss Federal Constitution
Swiss Federal Constitution
The Federal Constitution of 18 April 1999 is the third and current federal constitution of Switzerland. It establishes the Swiss Confederation as a federal republic of 26 cantons , contains a catalogue of individual and popular rights , delineates the responsibilities of the...
. Although the initial bill
Bill (proposed law)
A bill is a proposed law under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act or a statute....
consisted of two parts, the second part—which regulated citizens' rights and obligations—was voted down; a chapter on fundamental human rights was added only by amendment in 1998. After the 1934 coup d'etat
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
a declaration was passed which assigned functions of the parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
to the Cabinet of Ministers until a new constitution could be drafted, thereby partly suspending the constitution. A new constitution was never drafted and during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Latvia was annexed by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. In 1990 the parliament of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic
Latvian SSR
The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Latvian SSR for short, was one of the republics that made up the Soviet Union. Established on 21 July 1940 as a puppet state during World War II in the territory of the previously independent Republic of Latvia after it had been occupied by...
declared the annexation of Latvia illegal, as it was done by ignoring the Constitution of Latvia and both the constitution and Republic of Latvia still existed de jure
De jure
De jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact".De jure = 'Legally', De facto = 'In fact'....
, thereby restoring the independence of Latvia. The constitution, except for the Articles 1, 2, 3 and 6, was suspended by the same declaration in order to be reviewed; the constitution was fully reinforced by the first assembly of the fifth Saeima
Saeima
Saeima is the parliament of the Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the popular vote. Elections are scheduled to be held once every four years,...
in 1993. The constitution establishes six bodies of government; it consists of 115 articles arranged in eight chapters.
Etymology
In Latvian, satversme is a synonym of 'constitution' (konstitūcija). The term was coined by Atis KronvaldsAtis Kronvalds
Atis Kronvalds or Kronvaldu Atis was Latvian writer, linguist and pedagogue.-Early life:Kronvalds was born to a tailor family, but was raised by priests of Durbe. After studies in Liepāja he became a private teacher. In 1860 he started to study medicine at the University of Berlin; however, he...
, one of the leaders of Latvian romantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs...
in the 19th century. The movement was trying to promote Latvian culture after centuries of Baltic German influence and encourage use of Latvian. Kronvalds and like-minded individuals introduced several new terms intended to be used over loanwords in everyday use. He derived the term "satversme" from -tver- ("to hold"), combining it with the prefix
Prefix
A prefix is an affix which is placed before the root of a word. Particularly in the study of languages,a prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the words to which it is affixed.Examples of prefixes:...
"sa-", indicating something longlasting and strong, the -sm- suffix
Suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs...
, and a feminine
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
ending
Inflection
In grammar, inflection or inflexion is the modification of a word to express different grammatical categories such as tense, grammatical mood, grammatical voice, aspect, person, number, gender and case...
, -e, to illustrate how a constitution holds together all other laws.
History
The Constitution was drafted by the Constitutional Assembly of LatviaConstitutional Assembly of Latvia
Constitutional Assembly of Latvia was Latvia's first elected legislative body. It's main task was creating the constitution of Latvia - Satversme, which is still in effect to this day. The speaker of Assembly was Jānis Čakste, who later became the first president of Latvia...
(Satversmes sapulce), which consisted of 150 members elected in general elections. The initial bill
Bill (proposed law)
A bill is a proposed law under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act or a statute....
was elaborated by a Constitutional committee (Satversmes komisija) and consisted of two parts. It was influenced by ideas of Weimar Constitution
Weimar constitution
The Constitution of the German Reich , usually known as the Weimar Constitution was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic...
and Swiss Federal Constitution
Swiss Federal Constitution
The Federal Constitution of 18 April 1999 is the third and current federal constitution of Switzerland. It establishes the Swiss Confederation as a federal republic of 26 cantons , contains a catalogue of individual and popular rights , delineates the responsibilities of the...
. 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 was voted down on 5 April 1922. 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, a coup d'etat
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
led by Kārlis Ulmanis
Karlis Ulmanis
Kārlis Augusts Vilhelms Ulmanis was a prominent Latvian politician in pre-World War II Latvia during the Latvian period of independence from 1918 to 1940.- Education and early career :Ulmanis studied agriculture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich and...
took place; the subsequent cabinet of Ulmanis passed a declaration
Declaration
Declaration may refer to:* Declaration , specifies the identifier, type, and other aspects of language elements* Declaration , when the captain of a cricket team declares its innings closed...
that gave the functions of parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
to the Cabinet of Ministers until a new constitution was drafted, which never happened. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
a Soviet government
Latvian SSR
The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Latvian SSR for short, was one of the republics that made up the Soviet Union. Established on 21 July 1940 as a puppet state during World War II in the territory of the previously independent Republic of Latvia after it had been occupied by...
was established 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
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, 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 Constitution of the Soviet Union
1936 Soviet Constitution
The 1936 Soviet constitution, adopted on December 5, 1936, and also known as the "Stalin" constitution, redesigned the government of the Soviet Union.- Basic provisions :...
. It was adopted a month after, on 25 August 1940. On 18 April 1978 the government of the LSSR adopted a new constitution. On 4 May 1990 the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia
Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia
Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia was the transitional parliament of Latvia from 1990 to 1993, after the restoration of independence. The Supreme Council was elected on 1990 as the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR. On 1990 it declared the restoration of independence of Latvia and began a...
declared Latvia independent 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"
Overview
The Constitution of Latvia is a codified constitution and currently consists of 116 articles arranged in eight chapters:- Chapter 1: General Provisions (articles 1-4)
- Chapter 2: Saeima (articles 5-34)
- Chapter 3: The President (articles 35-54)
- Chapter 4: The Cabinet (articles 55-63)
- Chapter 5: Legislation (articles 64-81)
- Chapter 6: Courts (articles 82-86)
- Chapter 7: The State Audit Office (articles 87-88)
- Chapter 8: Fundamental human rights (articles 89-116)
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, designeted 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 CourtConstitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia
Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia is an independent court, which was established in 1996 on basis of amendments in law "On Judicial Power" and in the Constitution of Latvia made in 1994. It acts in accordance with the Constitutional Court Law and the Constitution....
, 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.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.
State Audit Office
The Constitution establishes the State Audit Office 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 rightsHuman rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
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 ageVoting age
A voting age is a minimum age established by law that a person must attain to be eligible to vote in a public election.The vast majority of countries in the world have established a voting age. Most governments consider that those of any age lower than the chosen threshold lack the necessary...
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
Latvian language
Latvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small 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
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. 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.
External links
- Text of the Constitution with amendments up to 2009
- Latvian Law guide
- The Constitution of Latvia by Dr. Iur. Ringolds Balodis