Academic CentreDoctrine of State Continuity. Latvia’s Experience [PDF]
Dr. iur. Ineta Ziemele
Professor of International Law at Riga Graduate School of Law
Judge at the Court of Justice of the European Union
former President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia
former Judge and President of Section of the European Court of Human Rights
Dr. hist. Ainārs Lerhis
Senior Researcher at the Institute of Latvian History, University of Latvia
Senior Researcher at the Centre for East European Policy Studies (Riga)
Dr. iur. Jānis Pleps
Faculty of Law, University of Latvia
Assistant Professor at the Department of Legal Theory and History
Dr. iur. Jānis Lazdiņš
Faculty of Law, University of Latvia
Professor at the Department of Legal Theory and History
The article examines the scope and consequences the continuity of the Republic of Latvia in several domains and places them within a broader context of Latvia’s history. Firstly, it describes and analyses some functions of the State of Latvia which continued to be performed during the years of occupation by the USSR and Nazi Germany (1940–1990) and, secondly, the significance of the de iure effect of the Satversme of the Republic of Latvia of 15 February 1922 during the years of occupation and following the restoration of the independence of the state. The authors advance the thesis that the occupation regimes of the communist USSR and Nazi Germany failed to extinguish the existence of the Republic of Latvia as an internationally recognised subject of international law, moreover, Latvia in practice did not discontinue performing some functions of the state. Of course, full restoration of the independence of the state on the basis of values enshrined in the Satversme occurred only after coup d’état in the Soviet Union.
Keywords: foreign (diplomatic and consular) service, Satversme (Constitution of Latvia), state continuity, restoration of independence, denationalisation, property.
pp. 91–110
https://doi.org/10.22364/jull.14.06
Juridiskā zinātne / Law, No. 14, 2021
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Editor-in-Chief Prof. Jānis Lazdiņš, University of Latvia
Editorial Board
Journal of the University of Latvia “Law”
ISSN 1691-7677
https://doi.org/10.22364/jull.14
© University of Latvia, 2021