A case initiated with respect to joining the rural municipality of Murmastiena, the rural municipality of Varakļāni and the town of Varakļāni to the Rēzekne Region
On 2 September 2020, the 2nd Panel of the Constitutional Court initiated the case “On Compliance of Sub-para 31.15., 31.29. and 31.30. of “Annex to the Law on Administrative Territories and Populated Areas “Administrative Territories, Administrative Centres thereof and the Units of Territorial Division”” with Article 1, the Article 101 of the Satversme of the Republic of Latvia and the Third and Sixth Part of Article 4 as well as Article 5 of the European Charter of Local Self-Government”.
The Contested Norm
Sub-para 31.15. of “Annex to the Law on Administrative Territories and Populated Areas “Administrative Territories, Administrative Centres thereof and the Units of Territorial Division”” provides that the rural municipality of Murmastiena is part of the Rēzekne Region, Sub-para 31.29 provides that the rural municipality of Varakļāni is part of the Rēzekne Region, whereas Sub-para 31.10 provides that the town of Varakļāni is part of the Rēzekne Region.
The Norms of Higher Legal Force
Article 1 of the Satversme of the Republic of Latvia (hereafter – the Satversme): “Latvia is an independent democratic republic.”
Article 101 of the Satversme: “Every citizen of Latvia has the right, as provided for by law, to participate in the work of the State and of local government, and to hold a position in the civil service. Local governments shall be elected by Latvian citizens and citizens of the European Union who permanently reside in Latvia. Every citizen of the European Union who permanently resides in Latvia has the right, as provided by law, to participate in the work of local governments. The working language of local governments is the Latvian language.”
The third part of Article 4 of the European Charter of Local Self-Government (hereafter – the Charter) “Scope of local self-government”: “Public responsibilities shall generally be exercised, in preference, by those authorities which are closest to the citizen. Allocation of responsibility to another authority should weigh up the extent and nature of the task and requirements of efficiency and economy.
The sixth part of Article 4 of the Charter: “Local authorities shall be consulted, insofar as possible, in due time and in an appropriate way in the planning and decision-making processes for all matters which concern them directly.”
Article 5 of the Charter “Protection of local authority boundaries”: “Changes in local authority boundaries shall not be made without prior consultation of the local communities concerned, possibly by means of a referendum where this is permitted by statute.”
The Facts
The case was initiated on the basis of an application submitted by the Varakļāni Regiona Council On 10 June 2020, the Saeima adopted the Law on Administrative Territories and Populated Areas. The Annex to the Law defines the administrative territories, their administrative centres and the units of territorial division. In accordance with Sub-para 31.15., 31.29. and 31.30. the rural municipalities of Murmastiena and Varkļāni and the town of Varakļāni are part of the Rēzekne Region.
The Council holds that the rural municipality of Murmastiena, the rural municipality of Varakļāni and the town of Varakļāni had been joined to the Rezēkne Region without proper assessment of the possibility to include the rural municipality of Murmastiena, the rural municipality of Varakļāni and the town of Varakļāni in the Madona Region or to keep these territories as an independent region of Varkļāni.
Allegedly, the Saeima, in adopting the contested norms, has violated the principles of good governance and local government, has failed to comply with the subsidiarity principle and, also, did not engaged in proper consultations with the Council and inhabitants of the Varakļāni Region. The contested norms are said to be incompatible with Article 1 and Article 101 of the Satversme, the third and the sixth part of Article 4 as well as Article 5 of the Charter.
The Legal Proceedings
The Constitutional Court has requested the Saeima to submit a written reply on the facts of the case and the legal reasoning by 3 November 2020.
The term for preparing the case is 3 February 2021. The Court will decide on the type of procedure and the date for hearing the case after it has been prepared.
The decision on initiation of the case in Latvian is available here.
Press release in PDF available here.
Linked case: 2020-45-0106