The Justices of the Constitutional Court meet with the Judges of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany
From 3 to 4 July, the Justices of the Constitutional Court visited the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany. During the visit, two working sessions were held to discuss topics that were relevant for the Constitutional Courts of both countries.
The first session, which was moderated by the President of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany Andreas Voßkuhle, began by a presentation given by the President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia Ineta Ziemele on the judicial dialogue between the national constitutional courts and the European courts. This topic was presented from the perspective of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany by the Judge Peter M. Huber, who mainly examined the dialogue with the Court of Justice of the European Union, highlighting the need to protect the constitutional identity of the Member States.
In the framework of the first session, Jānis Neimanis, the Justice of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia, provided an insight into the recent rulings by the Latvian Constitutional Court, whereas the Judges Gabiele Britz and Sibylle Kessal-Wulf spoke about the recent rulings of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany. It was underscored during the discussion that the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia was using also such legal solutions and arguments that were found in the case law of the constitutional courts of other states, inter alia, in the judicature of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany.
At the conclusion of the presentations and the following discussions of the first working session Andreas Voßkuhle admitted that the Judges of both Courts had a similar perspective on the relevant legal issues.
The second working session, which was moderated by the Vice-president of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany, Ferdinand Kirchhof, began by a presentation given by the Justice of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia Gunārs Kusiņš on the case law of the Latvian Constitutional Court in the field of taxes and the state budget. The Justice presented to the audience the most important findings of the Constitutional Court, drawing attention to the ones that were linked to the limits of the State’s discretion in adopting tax related legal regulation.
The topic of taxes and the state budget was continued by the Judge of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany Michael Eichberger. The Judge recognised that the tax regulation in Germany and Latvia differed greatly; however, the main principle was shared – insofar the legislator abided by the requirements that followed from the Constitution, it enjoyed great discretion in the field of taxes.
The next presentation in the second session was given by the Judge of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany Yvonne Ott. She examined in great detail the current challenges in exercising the fundamental rights and admitted that many issues related to this field had not yet been dealt with by the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany.
Artūrs Kučs, the Justice of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia, made a similar conclusion in his presentation. I.e., until now the Latvian Constitutional Court has not developed extensive case law regarding the protection of fundamental rights in the digital age, therefore the Justice referred to a number of cases heard by the Supreme Court, in which such legal cases had been examined.
Upon concluding the second session, Andreas Voßkuhle stated that Latvia and Germany had to perform similar tasks, however, it was more difficult for Latvia, because, in difference to Germany, its traditions of a democratic state governed by the rule of law were not as old. And exactly for this reason, Latvia deserved to be commended for its achievements. Ineta Ziemele, in turn, said that the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia and the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany were united by similar legal thinking and that their cooperation should be reinforced. Ineta Ziemele invited the German colleagues to visit Latvia.
Photos from the visit are available here.
Justices of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia together with the Judges of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany.
Photo: The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany.