The Latvian direct democracy tools in a comparative European context

Abstract

This article analyses and compares the legal tools of direct democracy in Latvia and other European countries. Based on comparison, the author draws concludes the shortcomings of the legal framework of direct democracy in the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia. The author analyzes functioning of the direct democracy tools in Latvian practice and compares them with similar tools in other European countries, expressing his criticism towards Latvian legislation on the referendum and people’s initiative, finding that some mechanisms included in the Constitution are old-fashioned and ineffective. The article identifies actual shortcomings of the legal framework of the referendum and popular initiative both at the level of the Constitution and that of the law and makes suggestions for improvements of the mechanisms of direct democracy, particularly taking into account the experience of the other Baltic countries. Este artículo analiza y compara las herramientas legales de la democracia directa en Letonia y en otros países europeos. Sobre la base de la comparación, el autor extrae conclusiones sobre las deficiencias del marco legal de la democracia directa letona. El autor analiza la legislación y la práctica letona sobre el referéndum y la iniciativa popular comparándola con las de otros países europeos, incluido el referéndum sobre la disolución del Parlamento, expresando críticas de que una serie de institutos parecen anticuados e ineficaces. El artículo identifica las deficiencias actuales del marco legal del referéndum y de la iniciativa popular tanto a nivel constitucional como legislativo e indica sugerencias para mejorar los mecanismos de la democracia directa letona, particularmente teniendo en cuenta la experiencia de otros países bálticos.

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“…Regulation of direct democracy in Latvia is enshrined in the Constitution (Satversme) and the law On National Referendums, Legislative Initiatives, and European Citizens' Initiative (1994). Latvia is one of the few countries in Europe in which the citizens have a full range of initiative and referendum rights which enable them to launch initiatives to amend the Constitution, create a new law, or veto a decision taken by Parliament (Trabucco, 2020). There has been a total of 11 national referendums in Latvia, four of which were organized during the first period of independence (1923,1927,1931,1934), while the rest were held in the second period of independence.…”

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“…F. Trabucco in his article ìThe Latvian Direct Democracy Tools in a Comparative European Contextî analyzes and compares the legal tools of direct democracy in Latvia and some other European countries (Trabucco 2019). He investigates the legal norms of the Fundamental law of Latvia in the direction of possibilities of public participation in the decision-making process and makes suggestions for improvements of the mechanisms of direct democracy and propose to take into account experience of other Baltic States.…”