Requirements to be Set for Voters’ Legislative Initiatives in the Republic of Latvia: Legal Regulation, Practice, and Recent Findings of Judicature

Abstract

The article is dedicated to legal regulation of the practice of voters’ legislative initiative in Latvia. The article examines changes to the regulation on this right of a totality of citizens and implementation thereof after 2010, when significant amendments were introduced to “Law on National Referendums, Initiation of Laws and European Citizens’ Initiative”. The article will provide an analysis of the practice of the Central Election Commission in deciding on registration of draft laws and draft amendments to the Satversme, submitted by voters. Since both the Satversme and the law provides that a draft law submitted by voters must be fully elaborated, the article examines criteria of assessment leading to the answer, whether the draft law should be recognised as being fully elaborated in its content and form. A special procedure has been established for appealing against decisions by the Central Election Commission, envisaging appeal against these decisions to the Supreme Court, therefore also the findings by the Supreme Court with respect to procedure for exercising the voters’ right to legislative initiative will be analysed. Some aspects in the regulation on voters’ legislative initiatives have been controversial, therefore the Supreme Court and members of the Saeima have submitted applications to the Constitutional Court, request examination of compatibility of regulation established in law with the Satversme, therefore the article will provide also an insight into the judicature of the Constitutional Court on issues of voters’ legislative initiatives.