The Constitutional Court will continue the dialogue with the Council of State of France and the Constitutional Council of the Republic of France
Latvia and France have agreed upon the new political declaration on the strategic partnership of Latvia and France and the action plan for 2018 ‒ 2022, the draft of which has been approved by an order of the Cabinet.[1] The common aims and activities are defined in the plan, reflecting the resolution to consolidate the partnership. It is significant that the judicial dialogue between the constitutional courts of both states has been proposed as one of the four lines of activities for promoting bilateral political cooperation. Promoting the united legal space in Europe is one of the priorities for the Constitutional Court.
During the last six months, the Constitutional Court has implemented several successful cooperation projects with France, which proves the close partnership in the field of law between the Constitutional Court of Latvia and judicial institutions of France.
Last year, on 6 December, the Constitutional Court, in cooperation with the Saeima, organised the discussion “Ensuring the Quality of Legal Acts”, with the participation of representatives from all branches of power in Latvia, as well as the invited foreign expert – Jean Gaeremynck, the Counsellor of the Council of State of France, the President of the Finance Section of the Council of State of France. Whereas on 8 December, the annual conference of the Constitutional Court “Constitutional Control and the State Budget” was held in the Saeima. The topic of the conference was examined from the perspective of the experience of four Member States of the European Union, including that of the Council of State of France.
An important example of cooperation between the Constitutional Court and the Council of State of France was the official visit of the delegation of the Constitutional Court to Paris, France, organised from 28 February to 2 March of the current year. During the visit, the delegation of the Constitutional Court met with the members of the Council of State of France, the judges of the Constitutional Council of France and of the Cassation Court, as well as the Minister for Justice of France Nicole Belloubet. Several issues of law that were important for both countries were discussed during the visit. In the framework of the visit, the delegation of the Constitutional Court also visited the Embassy of Latvia in France and met Imants Lieģis, the Ambassador of Latvia to France. A more detailed insight into the course of the visit was published in the magazine “Jurista Vārds”, the issue of 13 March 2018.
[1] Ministru kabineta 2018. gada 4. aprīļa rīkojums Nr. 145 “Par Politiskās deklarācijas par Latvijas un Francijas stratēģisko partnerību rīcības plānu 2018.-2022. gadam” (Available: https://likumi.lv/ta/id/298178-par-politiskas-deklaracijas-par-latvijas-un-francijas-strategisko-partneribu-ricibas-planu-2018-2022-gadam. Accessed on: 06.04.2018.).