The Constitutional Court is attended by Koen Lenaerts, President of the Court of Justice of the European Union, and Judge Ineta Ziemele
Today, on 24 October, the Constitutional Court of Latvia was attended by Mr Koen Lenaerts, President of the Court of Justice of the European Union, and Ms Ineta Ziemele, Judge of the aforementioned Court to discuss the topical matters of the Court of Justice of the European Union and further cooperation with the judges of the Constitutional Court within the framework of the court dialogue.
The judges discussed common responsibility of the Constitutional Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union, and their specific roles in the process of ensuring individual’s rights in Latvia and in the common European legal space.
Judges of the Constitutional Court also discussed with the President of the Court of Justice of the European Union about the court’s strategic goals drawing special attention to the priorities of international cooperation. The parties agreed to organise a mutual visit for judges of the Constitutional Court and judges of the Court of Justice of the European Union in 2023.
Mr Aldis Laviņš, President of the Constitutional Court of Latvia, and Mr Koen Lenaerts, President of the Court of Justice of the European Union, welcomed the previous cooperation between the Constitutional Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Active dialogue with the Court of Justice of the European Union is being maintained within the procedure of preliminary ruling procedure. According to Article 68 of the Satversme (Constitution) of the Republic of Latvia, along with the ratification of the Treaty of Accession of Latvia to the European Union, laws of the European Union have become an integral part of the legal system of Latvia. The Constitutional Court has also admitted that, when ascertaining contents of the national laws and regulations and applying them, the democracy-strengthening laws of the European Union and their interpretation corroborated in the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union must be taken into account.
Common events for the strengthening of rule of law in the European judicial area are also being organised within the framework of the court dialogue. In March 2021, the Court of Justice of the European Union organised a webinar which was attended by the judges of the Constitutional Court of Latvia, Supreme Court of Latvia and the Court of Justice of the European Union. Whereas, in September 2021, the Constitutional Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union organised the conference “EUnited in Diversity: between the Constitutional Traditions Common to the Member States and National Identities”, which, for the first time in the history of the European Union, brought together judges from the constitutional courts of the Member States of the European Union and the Court of Justice of the European Union to find a common understanding through a dialogue on how to balance the idea of the European unity with the various constitutional traditions of the Member States and national identities.
Koen Lenaerts, President of the Court of Justice of the European Union, and Judge Ineta Ziemele have also participated in the second podcast episode of the Constitutional Court regarding the dialogue between the constitutional courts and the Court of Justice of the European Union. The podcast episode is available here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3LclCpoi37Npr9zRPsQXlf