The Constitutional Court will evaluate the restrictions on the use of foreign languages ​​in pre-election campaigning

As the LETA agency clarified in court, the compliance of Article 5.1 of the Pre-Election Campaign Law with Article 100 of the Constitution will be evaluated in the case. The contested norm determines the use of language in pre-election campaigning.

The party’s application states that according to the contested norm, pre-election campaigning in Latvia can only be conducted in the national language, including the written language of Latgali or the Libyan language with translation into the official languages ​​of the European Union (EU) member states.

“Suskaņa” states that, for this reason, its election candidates and members of the political party cannot communicate with the voters in the public environment in the minority language, which is said to be better understood by them, but which is not the official language of any EU member state, by which they obviously mean Russian.

Such a ban has a negative impact on the diversity of opinions in the political discourse. The applicant believes that the contested provision violates the right to freedom of expression contained in Article 100 of the Constitution.

ST has invited the Saeima to submit a response to the court by June 11 with an outline of the factual circumstances of the case and the legal justification. The deadline for preparing the case is September 11. The court will decide on the type and date of the case review process after its preparation.