Law professors from Japan visit the Constitutional Court
Today, on 20 September, professors of law from Japanese universities visited the Constitutional Court. At the Constitutional Court the guests were welcomed by the Justice Daiga Rezevska and Advisors to the Constitutional Court Kristaps Tamužs and Uldis Krastiņš.
The professors were provided an insight into the development of the legal system in Latvia following restoration of its independence. The discussion focused, in particular, on the general principles of law.
The Justice Daiga Rezevska told the members of the delegation about the place of the general legal principles as a source of law within the Latvian legal system. She emphasized that the Satversme [the Constitution] contained the written legal norms and also comprised the general principles of law that were derived from the basic norm, namely, the will expressed by the sovereign, that Latvia was an independent democratic republic.
Daiga Rezevska drew attention to the fact that the Satversme was adopted in 1922 but was still applicable today, therefore the legal norms that it comprised were interpreted in accordance with the spirit of time through the general legal principles, the doctrine of law and the case law. Then the discussion turned to the methodology used by the Constitutional Court in applying the general principles of law.
The representatives of the Court presented to the guests the collection of the most important judgements by the Constitutional Court in English, comprising the most significant judgements adopted and promulgated by the Constitutional Court, as well as the report on the Constitutional Court’s work in 2017, which, inter alia, included also descriptions on the cases heard in the previous year and highlighted the major findings by the Court.
The Constitutional Court was visited by professors Katsuya Ichihashi, Humito Sato and Rie Yasuda from the Nagoya University, Takio Honda from Ryukoku University, Kyoto, as well as Igor Tsay, the deputy director of the Centre of Public Law Studies, who represented the University of World Economy and Diplomacy, Tashkent.
The Justice of the Constitutional Court Daiga Rezevska, the Advisers to the Court Kristaps Tamužs and Uldis Krastiņš with the law professors from Japan. Photo: Ketija Strazda.