President of the Constitutional Court Ineta Ziemele gives a presentation at the conference dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Constitutional Court of Belarus
From 30 to 31 May, the President of the Constitutional Court Ineta Ziemele and the Head of the Court’s Legal Department Alla Spale attended the international conference, dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Constitutional Court of Belarus, on the development of constitutionality today (Modern Constitutional Development: the Role of Constitutional Review in Constitutionalisation of Law) in Minsk, Belarus.
Ineta Ziemele gave a presentation at the conference, examining a number of the rule-of-law aspects in connection with the growing rule of judicial power in contemporary society. She spoke about the importance of the Constitutional Court in Latvia, explained why the judgements by the Constitutional Court were sources of law and also provided an insight into the impact left by the rate of scientific and technological development in the 21st century on the judge’s role in society.
In her presentation, Ineta Ziemele outlined the role of the Constitutional Court within the Latvian constitutional order and the importance of ensuring the mechanism of checks-and-balances between the branches of power. She noted that the Constitutional Court’s task was to ensure the existence of an aligned and comprehensive legal system in Latvia and to guarantee that the branches of state power did not upset the balance of powers, which might lead to abuse of power. This means that the Constitutional Court, apart for administering justice in examining the compliance of legal norms with a legal norm of higher legal force, has also a broader function – ensuring the constitutional balance of the state power.
Ineta Ziemele explained that the broader function of the Constitutional Court, taken together with the nature of its judgements, was the grounds for asserting that the Constitutional Court’s judgements were a source of law. She drew attention to the fact that the Constitutional Court, in its judgements, not only examined a particular legal issue and provided an answer to it but also provided a broader vision, i.e., revealing the content and values of the general legal principles.
Focusing on the role of a judge in the 21st century, Ineta Ziemele admitted that this age demanded speed and effectiveness from the State, which, in turn, lead to the overlapping in the activities of the constitutional bodies. Ensuring human dignity, welfare and sustainability of society is no longer the responsibility of only the legislator and the executive power but also the responsibility of the judiciary. Ineta Ziemele underscored that, today, a judge’s role is becoming more significant than ever before. Therefore she urged to pay special attention to the criteria for selecting judges and the procedural aspects as well as the required guarantees for a judge’s office.
Ineta Ziemele concluded her speech by stating that the Constitutional Court served as a tool for promoting good legislation, focusing on the protection of citizens’ fundamental rights. She underscored that the task of constitutional courts was to reinforce the rule of law and to supervise the constitutional balance of the state power to ensure public trust in the State.