Constitutional Court Justice Artūrs Kučs takes part in the conference in honour of the 25th anniversary of the Constitutional Court of Moldova
From 19 to 20 January, the Constitutional Court Justice Artūrs Kučs and Assistant to the Justice Eva Vīksna participated in the conference Constitutional justice and public reaction: when decisions of constitutional courts do not agree with the opinion of the majority of society dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Constitutional Court of Moldova. Justice Artūrs Kučs spoke on the Latvian Constitutional Court’s experience of building a dialogue with society.
In his address, the justice introduced those present to the Latvian Constitutional Court’s practice in connection with the public. Having regard to the conference theme, the justice particularly analysed the communication experience that the Constitutional Court of Latvia had in the case on the publication of remuneration for state officials and employees (No 2018-11-01), which caused a wide public debate last year when the judgment was adopted.
Justice Artūrs Kučs. Photo: Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia
Artūrs Kučs noted that there had been different ideas in society about the content of the judgment, e.g. that the Constitutional Court had got in the way of openness in the state administration by prohibiting the publication of remuneration paid to the employees of governmental institutions. The justice explained: in the case in question, the Constitutional Court had found that the regulation did not comply with the criterion demanding that a restriction on the fundamental rights of an individual must be established by law. Artūrs Kučs concluded that, although courts are accustomed to the practice of communicating with the public only through decisions and judgments, there are cases when judges should engage in communication with society to shape the understanding of court rulings.
During the visit, Artūrs Kučs and Eva Vīksna met with the Ambassador of Latvia to Moldova Uldis Mikuts and the President of the Constitutional Court of Moldova Vladimir Țurcan to discuss the results of the project for exchange of experience between the two courts and to talk about further cooperation.
Photo: Constitutional Court of Moldova
Information on the projects of cooperation between the Constitutional Court of Latvia and the Constitutional Court of Moldova is available here.