Constitutional Court head calls for establishing bill review institution

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A new institution should be established consisting of legal experts, economists, policy experts and historians to analyze whether bills fit the Satversme (Constitution) prior to becoming law, said the newly-elected chairwoman of the Latvian Constitutional Court in an interview with Latvian Radio on May 18.

After underscoring the need for a progressive leap in improving the quality of laws in Latvia, Ziemele described a proposal to create a new institution tasked with reviewing bills.

"Our constitutional system is lacking an individual, independent, authoritative institution that could review bills, bill packets and policy documents and put forth an opinion whether they fit the Constitution and the aims stated in its introduction," said Ziemele.

She said the Constitutional Court cannot take on this responsibility as it is tasked with post factum management.

Ziemele stressed that during the twenty years since the court is operational, residents not institutions were the ones who turned to the court most often and thus helped improve Latvia's legal system.

Ineta Ziemele was on May 8, 2017 elected the chairwoman of the Latvian Constitutional Court for a three year term.

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