Ignatāne v. Latvia
Encyclopedia
Ignatāne v. Latvia was a case decided by the United Nations Human Rights Committee
in 2001.
party. Since 1993, she had a valid language aptitude certificate issued by five experts and stating that she had level 3 proficiency (the highest level) in Latvian language.
On 5 February 1997, a Latvian language examination of Mrs. Ignatāne was carried out by one inspector. On 11 February, she was struck off the list by decision of the Riga Election Commission, on the basis of an opinion issued by the State Language Board (SLB) to the effect that she did not have the required proficiency in the official language. Ignatāne's appeal was refused by Latvian courts. She filed a complaint before HRC, being represented by Tatjana Ždanoka
.
Therefore, the Committee concluded that the annulment of the author's candidacy pursuant to a review that was not based on objective criteria and which the State party has not demonstrated to be procedurally correct violated article 25 (right to participate in public life) of ICCPR, in conjunction with article 2.
), but reintroduced (for elected councillors) in 2010.
Human Rights Committee
The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a United Nations body of 18 experts that meets three times a year for four-week sessions to consider the five-yearly reports submitted by 162 UN member states on their compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,...
in 2001.
Facts and proceedings
Mrs. Ignatāne stood for Latvian local elections to be held in March, 1997, as a candidate of Movement of Social Justice and Equal RightsEqual Rights (Latvia)
Equal Rights was a political party in Latvia, mainly supported by the Russian minority.ER was founded on the basis of the "Equal Rights" faction of the Supreme Soviet as an NGO in 1993. The Equal Rights faction had been founded in April, 1990, after the Latvian parliamentary election, 1990.The...
party. Since 1993, she had a valid language aptitude certificate issued by five experts and stating that she had level 3 proficiency (the highest level) in Latvian language.
On 5 February 1997, a Latvian language examination of Mrs. Ignatāne was carried out by one inspector. On 11 February, she was struck off the list by decision of the Riga Election Commission, on the basis of an opinion issued by the State Language Board (SLB) to the effect that she did not have the required proficiency in the official language. Ignatāne's appeal was refused by Latvian courts. She filed a complaint before HRC, being represented by Tatjana Ždanoka
Tatjana Ždanoka
Tatyana Arkad'evna Zhdanok, , born May 8, 1950 in Riga, is a Latvian politician and Member of the European Parliament and a co-Chairperson of For Human Rights in United Latvia; part of the European Greens–European Free Alliance group. Zhdanok is co-chairperson of ForHRUL since 2001...
.
HRC views
The Committee noted that, in this case, the decision of a single inspector, taken a few days before the elections and contradicting a language aptitude certificate issued some years earlier, for an unlimited period, by a board of Latvian language specialists, was enough for the Election Commission to decide to strike the author off the list of candidates for the municipal elections. [..] the State party does not contest the validity of the certificate as it relates to the author's professional position, but argues on the basis of the results of the inspector's review in the matter of the author's eligibility. [..] the State party has not contested counsel's argument that Latvian law does not provide for separate levels of proficiency in the official language in order to stand for election, but applies the standards and certification used in other instances. [..] the first examination, in 1993, was conducted in accordance with formal requirements and was assessed by five experts, whereas the 1997 review was conducted in an ad hoc manner and assessed by a single individual (para. 7.4.).Therefore, the Committee concluded that the annulment of the author's candidacy pursuant to a review that was not based on objective criteria and which the State party has not demonstrated to be procedurally correct violated article 25 (right to participate in public life) of ICCPR, in conjunction with article 2.
Aftermath
In November, 2001, the government amended procedural regulations so that language inspectors would only be entitled "to inspect the authenticity of the state language proficiency certificate", not whether candidate's skills to that in certificate. In 2002, the language requirements for candidates were abolished (see Podkolzina v. LatviaPodkolzina v. Latvia
Podkolzina v. Latvia was a case argued before the European Court of Human Rights and decided in 2002.-Facts:Mrs. I. Podkolzina, member of Equal Rights party was included in the list of the candidates of the National Harmony Party for 1998 parliamentary elections, submitted in July...
), but reintroduced (for elected councillors) in 2010.