Case Regarding Amendments to the Law “Law on National Referendums, Legislative Initiatives and European Citizens’ Initiative” Initiated
On 4 March 2013 the 1st Panel of the Constitutional Court initiated a case “On the Compliance of Section 22(1) (in the wording of the Law of 8 November 2012, which enters into force on 1 January 2015) and of Para 4 and Para 5 of Transitional Provisions with Article 1 and Article 2 of the Satversme of the Republic of Latvia.”
Contested Norms
Section 8 of the Law of 8 November 2012 “Amendments to “Law on National Referendums, Legislative Initiatives and European Citizens’ Initiative”” as regards the wording of Section 22(1) provides: “Section 22. (1) Not fewer than one-tenth of the electorate, upon indicating their name, surname, personal identity number and the date of signing, shall have the right to submit to the Central Election Commission a fully elaborated draft law or draft amendment to the Satversme within 12 months as of the day when the draft law or the draft amendment to the Satversme has been registered with the Central Election Commission.”
Para 4 and Para 5 of Transitional Provisions of “Law on National Referendums, Legislative Initiatives and European Citizens’ Initiative” provide:
“4. Until 1 January 2015 no fewer than 30 000 voters, upon indicating their name, surname, personal identity number and the date of signing, shall have the right to submit to the Central Election Commission a fully elaborated draft law or draft amendment to the Satversme. The draft law or the draft amendment to the Satversme may be submitted within 12 days as of the day when the draft law or the draft amendment to the Satversme has been registered with the Central Election Commission. Within these 12 months each signature must be certified by a sworn notary or at the custody court, which performs notarial functions. The custody court shall set the fee for certifying the signature in connection with collection of signatures in favour of a draft law or draft amendment to the Satversme, taking into consideration the direct administrative costs of certifying a signature, however, not exceeding half of the sum, which is stipulated by the law, for certifying the authenticity of a signature at a custody court.
5. If until 1 January 2015 no fewer than 30 000 voters, upon indicating their name, surname, personal identity number and the date of signing, submit to the Central Election Commission a fully elaborated draft law or draft amendment to the Satversme, the Central Election Commission shall set a term of 21 day, during which the forms for collecting signatures, which the voters can sign, shall be accessible in places defined by the Council of each republican city or region.”
Norms of Higher Legal Force
Article 1 of the Satversme: “Latvia is an independent democratic republic.”
Article 2 of the Satversme: “The sovereign power of the State of Latvia is vested in the people of Latvia.”
The Facts
The Application was submitted by twelve members of the 11th Saeima. They express the opinion that the contested norms violate the right of the totality of citizens to participate in democratic legislative procedure. I.e., the contested norms unfoundedly raise the threshold for the signatures of the citizens having the right to vote, as the result of which the possibilities of Latvian citizens to exercise the legislative right set out in the Satversme have been significantly narrowed. The Applicant holds that such restriction is not legitimate.
Legal Proceedings
The Constitutional Court has asked the Saeima to provide a reply on the facts of the case and legal substantiation by 4 May 2013.
The term for preparing the case is 4 August 2013.
Linked case: 2013-05-01