Latvia

Abstract

Latvia is the only post-Communist country in Central and Eastern Europe that reinstated its old interwar constitution. From 1993, when this occurred, until 2014, the constitution was amended twelve times and many more proposals to do so were presented to the parliament. Among the most important topics in this regard are the introduction of a constitutional court and a chapter on fundamental human rights, adapting the 1922 constitution to contemporary circumstances. However, the most intensively debated amendments—nationally and internationally—were those on ethnic questions. Several amendments on this topic were adopted, and several more proposed. Debates on ethnic matters develop along a pro-Latvian nationalistic versus a pro-Russian nationalistic cleavage.

Appendix: Constitutional Politics in Latvia 1993–2014

Dates of amendment and implementation	Articles	Constitutional sub-fields	Short analysis of the reform process
01/27/1994/ 02/26/1994	Art. 8	• Elections • Legislature	• Regular amendment by parliament with broad two-thirds majority (final vote: 74-to-4 majority with 3 abstentions) • Main actors: members of the Saeima • Duration: about 3 months
06/05/1996/ 06/26/1996	Art. 85	• Constitutional court	• Regular amendment by parliament with broad two-thirds majority (final vote: 75-to-0 majority with 1 abstention) • Main actors: members of the Saeima • Duration: about 5 months
12/04/1997/ 12/31/1997	Art. 10–11, 13, 30, 35, 37, 39, 45, 81, 84	• Legislature • Elections • Executive • Emergency provisions • Judiciary	• Regular amendment by parliament with broad two-thirds majority (final vote: 67-to-1 majority without abstentions) • Main actors: members of the Saeima • Duration: about 9 months
10/15/1998/ 11/06/1998	Art. 4, 77, 82, 89–116	• Preamble and basic principles • Constitutional amendment provisions • Human and civil rights • Editorial changes	• Regular amendment by parliament with broad two-thirds majority (final vote: 74-to-0 majority with 5 abstentions) • Main actors: members of the Saeima • Duration: about 5 months
04/30/2002/ 05/24/2002	Art. 18, 21, 101, 104	• Legislature • Local self-administration • Preamble and basic principles	• Regular amendment by parliament with two-thirds majority (final vote: 72-to-15 majority with 1 abstention) • Main actors: members of the Saeima • Duration: about 2 months
05/08/2003/ 06/05/2003	Art. 68, 79	• Legislature • EU membership • Editorial changes	• Regular amendment by parliament with broad two-thirds majority (final vote: 88-to-0 majority without abstentions) • Main actors: government, members of the Saeima • Duration: about 4 months
09/23/2004/ 10/21/2004	Art. 69, 71–72, 98, 101	• Legislature, EU membership, elections	• Regular amendment by parliament with broad two-thirds majority (final vote: 74-to-1 majority without abstentions) • Main actors: members of the Saeima • Duration: about 5 months
12/15/2005/ 01/17/2006	Art. 110	• Human and civil rights	• Regular amendment by parliament with two-thirds majority (final vote: 65-to-6 majority with 9 abstentions) • Main actors: members of the Saeima • Duration: about 2 months
05/03/2007/ 05/31/2007	Art. 40, 81	• Executive • Emergency provisions	• Regular amendment by parliament with unanimous voting (final vote: 67-to-0 majority without abstentions) • Main actors: members of the Saeima • Duration: about 2 months
04/08/2009/ 04/29/2009	Art. 14, 49	• Executive • Legislature • Civic participation • Elections	• Regular amendment by parliament with broad two-thirds majority (final vote: 85-to-3 majority without abstentions) • Main actors: members of the Saeima • Duration: about 2 months
09/19/2013/ 10/18/2013	Art. 85	• Constitutional court	• Regular amendment by parliament with broad two-thirds majority (final vote: 81-to-1 majority with 1 abstention) • Main actors: members of the Saeima • Duration: about 5 months
06/19/2014/ 07/22/2014	Preamble	• Preamble and basic principles	• Regular amendment by parliament with two-thirds majority (final vote: 69-to-28 majority without abstentions) • Main actors: members of the Saeima • Duration: about 5 months