Constitutional justice in Latvia. A young Court, a strong institution

Abstract

Constitutional justice is a relatively recent acquisition in the constitutional system of the Republic of Latvia. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, when democracy was restored in Latvia, the necessity to establish a Constitutional Court was intensively debated: Latvia chose the European, centralized, model of constitutional review, based on ad hoc Constitutional Court, separated by the ordinary judiciary, and specialized in constitutional adjudication. The Latvian Constitutional Court has frequently referred to comparative law in his judgments and today this practice is still in use, confirming the general trend according to which it is an important tool to reinforce the legitimization of a new Constitutional Court.