As a matter of fact, in the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia [1] there are few coordination norms, and, it should be noted, the detailed coordination mechanisms are not described in them.
The coordination norms themselves can be combined into three large groups.
Firstly, these are rules on various kinds of approvals, the issuance of consent in connection with the special status of officials.
For example, according to Article 29 of the Latvian Constitution, a member of the Seimas cannot be arrested, he cannot be searched, or his personal freedom is otherwise restricted, unless the Seimas consents. According to Article 30 of the Constitution, without the consent of the Seimas, no criminal prosecution or administrative fines can be initiated against a member of the Seimas. By virtue of Article 54 of the Constitution, the President of a State can be held criminally liable only with the consent of the Seimas, by a majority of at least two-thirds of the votes.
Secondly, it is the actual coordination norms on the coordination of any actions and documents between the authorities, their parts, as well as with the population of Latvia.
For example, as provided for in Article 79 of the Latvian Constitution, the amendments to the Constitution submitted to the popular vote are considered adopted if at least half of all eligible voters agree with them.
Thirdly, these are rules on the creation and activity of collegial bodies of power, which have separate coordination powers.
For example, by virtue of Article 25 of the Latvian Constitution, the Sejm elects commissions, determining the number of their members and their tasks. Commissions have the right to demand information and explanations necessary for their activities from individual ministers and self-government bodies, as well as to summon responsible representatives of relevant ministries and self-government bodies to their meetings for clarification. Commissions can act in the intervals between sessions.
According to Article 87 of the Constitution, state control is an independent collegial institution.
Initially, one of the significant drawbacks of coordination regulation in Latvia is the extremely rare and often unsuccessful application of a coordination mechanism by the legislator - the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia.
Having conducted a study on the official website of the Seimas of the Republic of Latvia on the Internet, we found that coordination norms are present in less than 1% of legal acts, which is less than most European countries. At the same time, the concepts of “coordination” and “cooperation”, “cooperation” are often mixed.
A similar situation is observed with respect to the regulatory legal acts of the President of the Republic of Latvia. Coordination standards are used by the executive power in the person of the Government of the Republic of Latvia, ministries and departments, although here they are extremely rare.
It should also be noted that the majority of coordination norms concern either international treaties and agreements, or general normative acts of the Baltic countries, that is, as it were “introduced from the outside”, not caused by the needs of the national legal system.
Literature:
1. Constitution of the Republic of Latvia // https://www.cvk.lv/pub/public/29171.html
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