Cases initiated about the amount of aid for restrictions on forest use due to microreserves
On Wednesday, 29 January, the Constitutional Court initiated two cases on conformity of Sub-paragraph 62.1 of Cabinet Regulation No. 171 of 7 April 2015, Regulations Regarding Granting, Administration, and Supervision of State and European Union Aid for Environmental, Climate, and Rural Landscape Improvements in the 2014–2020 Planning Period and also in the Transitional Period in 2021 and 2022, and Sub-paragraph 90.1 of Cabinet Regulation No. 197 of 18 April 2023, Procedures for Granting Aid from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development in Fulfilment of Area and Animal Related Commitments, with the first sentence of Article 91 and Article 105 of the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia.
The contested norms stipulate the amount of aid for the restrictions on the use of forests due to microreserves.
The cases were initiated based on constitutional complaints from private individuals. Microreserves have been established in the immovable properties of the applicants for the conservation of specially protected bird species and therefore certain restrictions on economic activities have been imposed in the respective territories of microreserves. The contested norms specify a certain amount of aid for the abovementioned restrictions. The applicants, however, consider that their right to own property are restricted by the contested norms due to the disproportionately small amount of aid. In addition, the applicants believe that the abovementioned norms provide for unjustified equal aid for different forest owners, thus also infringing the principle of legal equality. Hence, the amount of aid should be differentiated according to the actual property value and the actual situation in nature.
The Constitutional Court requested the Cabinet to submit letters of response detailing the factual circumstances of the case along with the legal justification thereof. The Court will decide on the procedure and date for hearing the cases once the cases are prepared.
Linked case: 2025-09-03
Linked case: 2025-10-03