A Case Initiated regarding the Norms of the Binding Riga City Council Regulations that Restrict Making Noise
On 19 December 2013 the 1st Panel of the Constitutional Court initiated a case “On Compliance of Para 4.1 and Para 15 of the Binding Regulations of 19 June 2007 of the Riga City Council “Public Order Regulations in Riga” with the first and the third sentence of Article 105 of the Satversme”.
Contested Norms
“4. Within the administrative territory of Riga it is prohibited to:
4.1. make noise, if it disturbs the peace of persons in the vicinity, the normal functioning of offices and organisations, but is not connected with traffic or events, which have been approved by the executive director of the Riga City, and the noise is not permanent by nature. The person, guilty by his or her actions or failure to act for creating permanent noise, which exceeds the norms or cut-off values of noise, shall be made liable in accordance with the procedure set out by law; [..]
15. For disregarding the requirements set out in Para 4.1, if the violation has been committed in the period from 7.00 to 23.00, natural persons shall be imposed a monetary fine up to one hundred lats, but legal persons – up to five hundred lats. If the violation has been committed in the period from 23.00 to 7.00, natural persons shall be imposed a monetary fine from twenty lats up to one hundred and fifty lats, but legal persons – from two hundred lats up to six hundred lats. If this violation has been committed repeatedly within a year from the moment the decision on imposing the fine has been adopted, irrespectively of the time when the violation has been committed, natural persons shall be imposed a fine from one hundred to two hundred fifty lats, but legal persons – from five hundred up to one thousand lats.”
Norm with Higher Legal force:
The first and the third sentence of Article 105 of the Satversme: “Everyone has the right to own property. Property rights may be restricted only in accordance with law.“
The Facts
The case has been initiated having regard to the constitutional complaint of the limited liability company “Iridejas3”. The applicant notes that it has opened a bar, which in the evenings functions also as a club with dancing. In order to engage in business activities, music must be played in the bar. However, playing of music creates noise and the applicant has been imposed administrative sanctions in accordance with the contested norms.
The applicant holds that the contested norms prohibit it to engage in business activities and, thus, its right to own property has been ungroundedly infringed upon.
Legal Proceedings
The Constitutional Court has asked the Riga City Council to provide a reply on the facts of the case and legal substantiation by 19 February 2014.
The term for preparing the case is 19 May 2014. The Court shall decide upon the procedure and the date for hearing the case after the case has been prepared.
Linked case: 2013-21-03