Information regarding cases on the reform of the language of education
In 2018 the Parliament and the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia adopted and amended a series of legislative acts with the aim to promote the use of the official language in the educational process, starting with pre-school education and ending with higher education. Several issues pertaining to the reform of the language of education have been disputed before the Constitutional Court; the Court has adopted four judgments in this respect and has suspended the proceedings and submitted a request for a preliminary ruling to the Court of Justice of the European Union in one case.
Pre-school education
On 19 June 2019 the Constitutional Court adopted a judgment in the case no. 2019-20-03, finding that the legal provisions pertaining to the language of education in pre-school educational institutions are compatible with the Constitution.
The judgment is available here.
The press-release concerning the judgment is available here.
Elementary education
On 23 April 2019 the Constitutional Court pronounced a judgment in the case no. 2018-12-01 in which it declared several legal amendments to be compatible with the Constitution, insofar as these pertained to the language of acquisition of elementary education.
The judgment is available here.
The press-release is available concerning the judgement is available here.
In its judgment of 13 November 2019 in the case no. 2018-22-01 the Constitutional Court found that legal provisions that pertained to the language used in the educational process in private educational institutions were constitutional.
The judgment is available here.
The separate opinions of judges Artūrs Kučs and Jānis Neimanis are available here and here.
The press-release concerning the judgement is available here.
Higher education
On 11 June 2020 the Constitutional Court pronounced a judgment in the case no. 2019-12-01 concerning the use of the official language in private universities. Part of the legal provisions disputed in that case were declared to be unconstitutional and at the same time the Court decided to separate part of the case in a new case in which it would decide upon the need to refer a request for a preliminary ruling to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The judgment on the case no. 2019-12-01 is available here.
The press-release concerning the judgement is available here.
In the case no. 2020-33-01 which was separated from case no. 2019-12-01 the Constitutional Court on 14 July 2020 decided to refer a several questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union. The decision (as translated by the CJEU) is available here.