Some remarks on the constitutional regulation of the institution of the head of state in the Republic of Latvia (with particular attention to historical antecedents and peculiarities of constitutional solutions).

Abstract

This article is an attempt to familiarize the Polish reader with the specifics of some Latvian constitutional solutions. Not very well known in Poland, because our specialist literature on the local constitutional and legal issues is not very rich, despite the fact that Latvia is a country historically, geographically and economically close to Poland, and currently also our military ally, important in the situation of growing tensions in Central and Eastern Europe.

The author deals primarily with the specifics of the Latvian constitution, which is a unique example of restoring the binding force of a legal act that had been practically ineffective for many years. In the 1990s, the legal force of the 1922 constitution was restored in Latvia, which had actually ceased to be in force in 1934 after the coup d'état (i.e. before the Soviet occupation of the country).

In this context, attention is drawn to the most important values ​​that guided the creators of this constitution, as well as the historical antecedents that formed its foundation. A special role in this context was played by the dogma of the special role of the nation as the subject of the highest authority. A nation that had just completed the process of rebirth that had been ongoing since the mid-19th century and for the first time in history could enjoy its own, independent state. Hence the strong emphasis in this constitution on the role of direct democracy and the very strong constitutional position of the local parliament.

Taking into account the above aspects, the author attempted to find solutions specific to Latvia defining the relations between the executive power (primarily the president) and the executive power. Finally, he concluded that it is quite justified to treat the solutions from the Latvian constitution as a very specific form of rationalization of the parliamentary-cabinet system. The basic argument in favor of this opinion is the unique solution assuming the actual political responsibility of the president before the parliament.

The last part of the article is devoted to the potential possibility of adapting certain Latvian solutions in the event of possible changes to the Polish constitution.