A case on the use of language in the pre-election campaign has been initiated
According to the application of the political party “”Saskaņa” Social Democratic Party”, a case has been initiated before the Constitutional Court on compliance of Section 5.1 of the Pre-election Campaign Law with Article 100 of the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia.
The contested provision provides for the use of language in the pre-election campaign. The application states that in accordance with the contested provision a pre-election campaign may be conducted only in the official language (including written Latgalian language) or Liv language with a translation in the official languages of the Member States of the European Union. Due to this reason, the candidates put forth by the applicant and the members of the political party cannot publicly communicate with the voters in a language of minority nations which they understand best but which is not an official language of a Member State of the European Union. The prohibition allegedly has negative impact on diversity of opinions in the political discourse. Therefore, the applicant considers that the contested provision infringes its right to freedom of expression included in Article 100 of the Constitution.
The Constitutional Court invited the institution that has issued the contested law – the Saeima – to submit to the Constitutional Court a reply with the explanation of the actual circumstances of the case and the legal basis by 11 June 2024.
The deadline for preparing the case is 11 September 2024. The Court will decide on the procedure and date for hearing the case once the case is prepared.
Related Case No. 2024-06-01
Linked case: 2024-06-01