Case initiated about inclusion of Murmastiene and Varakļāni rural territories and the town of Varakļāni in Madona municipality
On Monday, 13 January, the Constitutional Court initiated the case on conformity of Sub-paragraphs 26.18, 26.23, and 26.24 of the Annex to the Law on Administrative Territories and Populated Areas, as well as Section 2 of the law “Amendments to the Law on Administrative Territories and Populated Areas” of 13 June 2024, insofar as it deletes Paragraph 43 of the Annex, with Articles 1 and 101 of the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia.
The contested norms provide for the inclusion of Murmastiene and Varakļāni rural territories and the town of Varakļāni in Madona municipality.
The case was initiated on the basis of an application submitted by 20 members of the Saeima. The applicant believes that the contested norms were not adopted in compliance with the principle of good legislation. Moreover, the legislator has disregarded the provisions laid down in the Law on Historical Regions of Latvia. The contested norms constitute an infringement of this Law due to the prescribed amalgamation of Varakļāni municipality which forms part of the historical region of Latgale with Madona municipality which almost entirely forms part of the historical region of Vidzeme. In view of the applicant, the legislator has been also acting arbitrarily by disregarding the criteria of the administrative and territorial reform and failing to properly balance interests of the local community, in particular, the advantages and disadvantages of the specific solution for administrative and territorial division.
The Constitutional Court requested the Saeima to submit by 13 March 2025 a letter of response detailing the factual circumstances of the case along with the legal justification thereof. The deadline for the preparation of the case is 13 June 2025. The Court shall decide on the procedure and date for hearing the case once the case is prepared.
Linked case: 2025-04-01