Podkolzina v. Latvia
Encyclopedia
Podkolzina v. Latvia was a case argued before the European Court of Human Rights
and decided in 2002.
party was included in the list of the candidates of the National Harmony Party
for 1998 parliamentary elections, submitted in July. At the time of the registration of its list of candidates the party supplied the Central Electoral Commission with all the documents required, including a copy of the certificate attesting to the fact that the applicant knew the State's official language – Latvian.
On 6 and 7 August 1998 an examiner employed by the State Language Inspectorate, went to the applicant's place of work and examined her to assess her knowledge of Latvian. The examiner then drew up a report to the effect that the applicant did not have an adequate command of the official language at the “third level”, the highest of the three categories of competence defined in Latvian regulations and the one then required for eligibility in parliament. By a decision of 21 August 1998 the Central Electoral Commission struck the applicant's name out of the list of candidates.
The NHP, acting on the applicant's behalf, asked the Riga Regional Court to set aside the above decision. The court held that there had been no breach of the law.
, and later by W. Bowring, a British barrister. The Latvian Government were represented by their agent K. Maļinovska. By a decision of 8 February 2001 the Chamber declared the application admissible.
Considering the Riga Regional Court's judgment, ECHR held that its sole basis was the certificate drawn up by the State Language Centre after the examination in issue; it did not rule on the other evidence in the file. The Court therefore considered that "in admitting as irrebuttable evidence the results of an examination the procedure for which lacked the fundamental guarantees of fairness, the Regional Court deliberately avoided providing a remedy for the violation committed" (see para. 37). Therefore the Court has found a violation of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 in the case and ordered Latvia to pay Podkolzina 9000 euros. The Court found it unnecessary to examine complaints under Articles 13 and 14 separately.
and US government.
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
and decided in 2002.
Facts
Mrs. I. Podkolzina, member of 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 was included in the list of the candidates of the National Harmony Party
National Harmony Party
The National Harmony Party was a political party in Latvia.The party identified itself as a social-democratic party. It supported further liberalisation of the citizenship law by granting citizenship to each non-citizen who had lived in Latvia for at least 10 years...
for 1998 parliamentary elections, submitted in July. At the time of the registration of its list of candidates the party supplied the Central Electoral Commission with all the documents required, including a copy of the certificate attesting to the fact that the applicant knew the State's official language – Latvian.
On 6 and 7 August 1998 an examiner employed by the State Language Inspectorate, went to the applicant's place of work and examined her to assess her knowledge of Latvian. The examiner then drew up a report to the effect that the applicant did not have an adequate command of the official language at the “third level”, the highest of the three categories of competence defined in Latvian regulations and the one then required for eligibility in parliament. By a decision of 21 August 1998 the Central Electoral Commission struck the applicant's name out of the list of candidates.
The NHP, acting on the applicant's behalf, asked the Riga Regional Court to set aside the above decision. The court held that there had been no breach of the law.
Proceedings
The applicant was represented before ECtHR first by I. Oziša, member of Latvian Human Rights CommitteeLatvian Human Rights Committee
Latvian Human Rights Committee is a human rights non-governmental organization in Latvia. It is member of international human rights and anti-racism NGOs FIDH, AEDH and ENAR. Co-chairpersons of LHRC since 2004 are Aleksejs Dimitrovs, Genadijs Kotovs and Natalija Jolkina...
, and later by W. Bowring, a British barrister. The Latvian Government were represented by their agent K. Maļinovska. By a decision of 8 February 2001 the Chamber declared the application admissible.
Judgment
On 9 April 2002 ECHR has delivered a unanimous judgment. The Court emphasised that the validity of the applicant's certificate was never questioned by the Latvian authorities. It further noted that it was issued to the applicant after an examination organised by a board composed of five examiners. The Court noted that "the procedure followed differed fundamentally from the normal procedure for certification of linguistic competence, which is governed by the above-mentioned regulation of 25 May 1992. In particular, the additional verification to which the applicant was subjected was carried out by one examiner instead of a board of experts and the examiner was not required to observe the procedural safeguards and assessment criteria laid down in the regulation. Thus the full responsibility for assessing the applicant's linguistic knowledge was left to a single civil servant, who had exorbitant power in the matter. Moreover, the Court can only express its surprise over the fact – related by the applicant and not disputed by the Government – that during the examination the applicant was questioned mainly about the reasons for her political orientation" (see para. 36).Considering the Riga Regional Court's judgment, ECHR held that its sole basis was the certificate drawn up by the State Language Centre after the examination in issue; it did not rule on the other evidence in the file. The Court therefore considered that "in admitting as irrebuttable evidence the results of an examination the procedure for which lacked the fundamental guarantees of fairness, the Regional Court deliberately avoided providing a remedy for the violation committed" (see para. 37). Therefore the Court has found a violation of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 in the case and ordered Latvia to pay Podkolzina 9000 euros. The Court found it unnecessary to examine complaints under Articles 13 and 14 separately.
Aftermath
Though the ECtHR judgment didn't require Latvia to abolish language requirements for candidates, it did so in May, 2002, after indication of desirability in preparation for NATO accession from George RobertsonGeorge Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen
George Islay MacNeill Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, is a British Labour Party politician who was the tenth Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, between October 1999 and early January 2004; he succeeded Javier Solana in that position...
and US government.