The Constitutional Court has adopted a decision in the case on professional qualification requirements for housing managers
The Constitutional Court has adopted a judgment in the case No. 2009-74-01 “On Compliance of the First Part of Section 13 of the Law on Management of Residential Housing with Article 91 and Article 106 of the Satversme (Constitution) of the Republic of Latvia”.
The applicant Vitolds Peipiņš held that the norm providing that a manager must have vocational education necessary for managing residential housing and to present a document testifying at least the fourth professional qualification level is unconstitutional.
The Constitutional Court concluded that the contested norm, insofar as it applies to persons having accumulated practical experience in housing administration and has obtained another respective vocational education, is non-proportional and does not comply with the right enshrined in Article 106 of the Satversme, namely, the right to freely choose one’s employment and workplace according to one’s abilities and qualifications. The Court has concluded that the ability of a person to perform management of residential houses can be assessed not only based on a document testifying vocational education but also by testing the respective knowledge and skills according to a certain procedure.
The Constitutional Court has recognized that the contested norm shall, as from 1 July 2010, become void in relation to persons who have accumulated practical experience in housing administration and has another respective vocational education because the legislator is obligated to assess several possible solutions for assessing professional qualification of a manager and select the most appropriate one.
The Judgment of the Constitutional Court is final and not subject to appeal. The Judgment shall come into force on the date of publishing it in the newspaper “Latvijas Vēstnesis”.
Linked case: 2009-74-01