From now on, the links between legal norms and the Constitutional Court’s rulings and the Supreme Court’s findings will be available on the site Likumi.lv
Today, on 13 March, the official journal “Latvijas Vēstnesis”, in cooperation with the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court, organised a press conference to inform about the new solution ensuring the accessibility of court rulings. The President of the Constitutional Court Ineta Ziemele, the Chief Judge of the Supreme Court Ivars Bičkovičs, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice Raivis Kronbergs and the chairperson of the board of the state limited liability company “Latvijas Vēstnesis” Daina Ābele participated in the press conference, which was moderated by Ketija Strazda, the Assistant to the President of the Constitutional Court.
From left: State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice Raivis Kronbergs, President of the Constitutional Court Ineta Ziemele, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Ivars Bičkovičs, the chairperson of the board of the state limited liability company “Latvijas Vēstnesis” Daina Ābele. Photo: Latvijas Vēstnesis.
Ineta Ziemele, the President of the Constitutional Court, upon opening the press conference, drew attention to the right, included in Article 90 of the Satversme of the Republic of Latvia, to know one’s rights. She reminded that, in a democratic state governed by the rule of law, a person might not use the opportunities offered to him or her without knowing their rights. Ineta Ziemele underscored that the State’s obligation to create a mechanism allowing a person to known his or her rights followed from Article 90 of the Satversme and that this initiative proved that the State was performing its obligation.
In conclusion of her address, Ineta Ziemele also emphasised that, in a democratic state governed by the rule of law, a legal norm was alive, that it lived through courts’ rulings, regulatory enactments, as well as the decisions adopted by the state and local government institutions.
Ivars Bičkovičs, the Chief Judge of the Supreme Court, underscored that the Supreme Court, through the involvement in this project, had played an active role in providing legal education to society. When speaking about the importance of this project, he added that this initiative had given the possibility to add to the “dry” text of the law “continuation”, revealing how the particular norm had been interpreted in the respective case.
Raivis Kronbergs, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, highlighted the principle of good governance, recognising that the linking of the legal norms with the Constitutional Court’s rulings and the Supreme Court’s findings was an excellent example of the implementation of this principle. Moreover, the accessibility of judicature to the general public was ensured in a convenient and comprehensible form.
At the conclusion of the conference, Daina Ābele, the chairperson of the board of the state limited liability company “Latvijas Vēstnesis”, provided an insight into the course of this project. She noted that his idea was closely linked to the society’s wishes, identified in surveys conducted by “Latvijas Vēstnesis” in responses to the question on how to ensure information that would be better comprehensible to society. Daina Ābele emphasised that Latvia was among the few European countries, where a solution that was so accessible had been provided to explain legal norms to the general public. She explained that the project had been implemented by using only the intellectual and actual resources of the involved institutions, without additional financing.
On innovations to the site of legal acts Likumi.lv:
On the site Likumi.lv, legal norms are linked to the rulings by the Constitutional Court and to the references to the findings made by the Supreme Court or the Senate.
Portal LV: Tiesas spriedumu un likumu sasaiste – vienotas tiesību izpratnes veicināšanai (explanation).
Informative video available here: