Constitutional amendments prohibiting restriction of unvaccinated persons rejected

On Thursday, 13 January, Latvian Central Election Commission (CVK) decided against registering Constitutional amendments submitted by Brīvību tautai association. The amendments in question proposed prohibiting imposing restrictions against people who are not vaccinated for Covid-19.
CVK representative Laura Zaharova explains that the commission refused registering the amendments because the majority of members of the commission decided the proposed amendments cannot be considered fully developed and therefore do not meet the requirement of compliance with the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia.
The amendments proposed by Brīvību tautai for Article 111 of the Constitution suggested making it prohibited to impose restrictions based on whether or not residents have or have not received medication from Covid-19 or its variants.
After listening to arguments presented by authors of the legislative draft and opinions voiced at the meeting, three CVK members voted in favour of registering it for signature-collection, whereas the other five voted against.
In accordance with the Law on National Referendums, Legislative Initiatives and European Citizens’ Initiative, CVK is to make its decision based on submitted initiatives’ compliance with requirements of the law and whether or not it is fully developed in form and content.
CVK concluded that the association meets the necessary requirements but the Constitutional amendments cannot be considered fully developed. In accordance with court practice, a legislative draft cannot be considered fully developed content-wise if it covers topics that cannot be governed by law or if they conflict with the Constitution, its principles and values or Latvia’s international obligations. This requirement also extends to legislative drafts proposed by citizens, explains CVK representative.
CVK’s decision is subject to appeal at the Supreme Court’s Department of Administrative Cases within one month’s time of it coming into force.
When reviewing this legislative proposal, CVK did not ask other institutions for their opinions because the Ministry of Justice, the ombudsman, Ministry of Health and Saeima’s Legal Affairs Office had previously provided their opinions on similar amendments. After reviewing different opinions, CVK concluded that many institutions believe such a Constitutional amendment project would breach the Constitution and certain international principles.