On Tuesday, the 21st of November, at the age of 82 the first Chairman of the Constitutional Court and one of the founders of the 4th of May 1990 Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia Aivars Endziņš passed away, as confirmed by his son Jānis Endziņš.
Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs extended his sympathy to Endziņš’s relatives and colleagues on social media. “Endziņš’s contribution to the restoration of Latvia’s independence, promotion of the rule of law and creation of the Constitutional Court is invaluable,” said the president.
Born on the 8th of December, 1940, Endziņš was a doctor of law, author of more than a hundred scientific publications. He graduated from the Faculty of Law of the State University of Latvia in 1968, and from the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University in 1972. He further improved his knowledge at the US Supreme Court and the US National Center for Justices in Williamsburg, as well as at the French Constitutional Council and the Council of State.
Between 1972 and 1990 he was a lecturer at the University of Latvia, later – at the Latvian Police Academy, and was its professor. He also taught at the Turiba School of Business.
Between 1990 and 1993 Endziņš served as a member of Latvia’s Supreme Council. He was a member of the group that wrote the project for the Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia developed on the 4th of May 1990. Endziņš was the chairman of the Supreme Council’s Commission on Legislative Affairs and a member of the Praesidium. He was later elected to the 5th and 6th Saeima, where he served as assistant chairman in the Legal Affairs Committee, as well as the chairman. [In 2007, then in the Saeima opposition – parties Saskaņas centrs and Jaunais laiks
proposed him as their candidate for the post of President of Latvia.
Valdis Zatlers was elected president in the end. BNN]
In 1996 Endziņš was approved as judge of the Constitutional Court by the Saeima.
From 1992 to 1995, Endziņš served as a special guest of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (EPPA), but from 1995 to 1996 he was a member of the ERC, and from 1995 to 1996 he was head of the Latvian delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
He has also served as the head of the Latvian delegation to several conferences of the Interparliamentary Union. From 1995 to October 2019, he was the representative of Latvia as an independent expert in the Council of Europe Commission on Democracy through Law.
Endziņš was awarded with the Order of the Three Stars, the 1991 commemorative sign of the participants of the barricades, as well as the Italian State Order Grande Ufficiale and the Lithuanian State Order of Merit for the benefit of Lithuania.