Keynote presentation by President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia Aldis Laviņš “Constitutional traditions and constitutional endurance”
Keynote presentation
Constitutional traditions and constitutional endurance
President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia Aldis Laviņš
25 October 2022
Gerbiamosios ponios, gerbiamieji ponai, konferencijos dalyviai!
Lietuvos Konstitucinio teismo šeima!
Latvijos Respublikos Konstitucinio Teismo šeimos vardu iš visos širdies sveikinu Jus Lietuvos Konstitucijos priėmimo trisdešimtųjų metinių proga! Mes visada glaudžiai, kartu ėjome pirmyn, būtent šiuo sudėtingu laiku mūsų draugystė ir savitarpio palaikymas kaip niekada buvo stiprūs!
It is a great pleasure for me to open the first session, which is devoted to the topic of constitutional traditions and constitutional endurance. Let me start my presentation with some general remarks concerning constitutional endurance.
The law understands constitutional endurance as the expected lifetime for a constitution, namely, how long it lasts between its adoption and its replacement by a new constitution. Constitutional endurance usually refers to the capacity of a constitution to resist attacks against its structure and underlying principles. Constitutions that are not resilient to such kinds of attacks are more likely to be replaced.
As a general matter, a constitution is intended for “continuous, extended use”, because it provides rules for the future. Although, as we can see from comparative constitutional law research, sometimes the result could be quite opposite. Constitutional law scholars from the University of Chicago once calculated that the predicted lifetime for constitutions in the world does not exceed 20 years.
Some countries, such as Uruguay, have seen extended periods of stability followed by collapse and a series of short-lived constitutions. Other states, such as Mexico, at the beginning of independence, undertake a period of experimentation that results in a stable constitutional regime. Still, others tend to rewrite their constitutions quite frequently, and it may seem that they will never arrive at a stable framework of national law. But, in those countries where a constitution becomes the embodiment of a state system, the constitution may be endurant for a long period, as it is in the United States of America, where the constitution is in force for more than 200 years. Yet Sweden, in the eyes of researchers, is a perfect example showing how some may opt to replace their constitution while the political situation is stable.
From this short guidance across the globe, let me turn to the experience of my country. And I believe that my appearance at this session regarding constitutional endurance is not a coincidence, because the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia – Satversme – as one of the oldest constitutions in Europe is still in force and, this year, it marks its one-hundredth anniversary.
At the time when the Latvian Constitution was drafted, members of the Constitutional Assembly emphasised that the drafting of each law and, in particular, the Constitutional Law, should be viewed from the perspective of the future. This is required, because the Constitution would determine the order of the state for generations to come. We must be wise and try to look into the ages ahead of us.
At the same time, the founders of the Constitution were inspired by the best experience of other European countries, choosing the drafting approach that may seem excessively concise when compared to the detailed elaborated constitutions of today. In a hundred years with just 15 constitutional amendments, its wording has not been subject to substantial modifications. However, this does not mean that the foundations of the state are old-fashioned. The abstract terminology of the constitution should not mean that the understanding of its terms at the time of its adoption should be preserved and left unchanged. Instead, the content of these terms may develop over the course of time without changes to its wording. In Latvia, the Constitution is perceived as a living organism that breathes the spirit of the times and takes legal conclusions from the contemporary system of law.
Therefore, the text of the Constitution is flexible and allows to interpretate it dynamically, in the light of contemporary needs. It provides us with greater possibilities for interpretation, especially through the decisions of the Constitutional Court. Hence, the role of the Constitutional Court is to precise the contents of constitutional norms in individual cases, instead of the application of the classical methods of interpretation. In addition, with a concise constitutional document, many matters of constitutional law are regulated in greater detail through legislative enactments – specifying various aspects of operating constitutional institutions and enforcing fundamental rights.
In the forthcoming part of my speech, I will suggest several examples and aspects for discussion, which could be considered significant for the endurance and sustainability of the constitution:
(1) For example, the Satversme, within its unchanged 100-year-old architecture, also made it possible to find a way for state bodies to work remotely in unprecedented conditions of the Covid pandemic during the state of emergency. This issue was also examined by the Constitutional Court in the case of administrative-territorial reform. According to the text of the Constitution, the parliament shall hold its sittings in Riga and, only in extraordinary circumstances, it may convene elsewhere. The Court concluded that the arguments about holding the parliament session on the e-parliament – a tool for remote work – essentially refer not to the place where the parliament session was held, but to the way the parliament session was conducted, that is, to the implementation of the democratic process opportunities on the e-parliament platform.
(2) Secondly, we all know that climate change, environmental conservation, and the green course are currently being discussed a lot in Europe and around the world. All of this is already included in our Constitution – both sustainability and responsibility towards future generations and the right of every person to live in a favourable ecological environment.
(3) Thirdly, when fiscal discipline clauses were introduced in all European Union countries after the previous economic crisis, we had the opportunity to establish that this has already been stated in the Constitution since 1922, namely, you cannot spend state budget money irresponsibly; you can spend only when you can indicate where this money will actually be taken from.
(4) And I finish my examples with another unique characteristic of the Latvian constitution – during the 1990–1993 period, following the restoration of independence, Latvia did not adopt a new constitution to reflect the legal realities of that decade. Instead, we reintroduced the pre-war constitution, which had been suspended for over fifty years.
No experience of this kind has ever been undertaken by another state. This leads to the conclusion that the values represented in the constitution may support and uplift an independent state through the ages, maintaining the doctrine of national continuity on a foundation of sustainability.
In conclusion, I would like to emphasise that the values incorporated in the constitution also encourage us to look beyond the horizon – the sustainability of the state is only feasible in a sustainable world. For this reason, I believe one of the keys to constitutional endurance is this: the sustainability of values and the general principles underpinning the democratic state (as they are reflected in basic law) cannot be maintained within the framework of a national legal system alone. It is a process that requires comprehensive consideration and international dialogue. Therefore, the Satversme is open to international and European Union law, and the result of the interpretation of the constitution should always ensure the mutual harmony of these norms.
Dear colleagues, with each round anniversary, an enduring, sustainable constitution serves as a reminder of relevant, timeless values. They encourage us to think about today and about tomorrow, to act, and to apply constitutional regulations in a way that contributes to the sustainability of our nations and the world in general!
Tegyvuoja Lietuva, stipri jos Konstitucija ir Konstitucinis Teismas!