fundamental right. At the same time, one should take into account that the provisions
of the Constitution basically do not grant persons the rights to a specific amount of
social security, and the State should refrain from excessive interference with the
financial relations of its citizens.
Therefore, the amount of social security granted by the State may vary depending
on the amount of funds at the disposal of the State. However, the fundamental
rights of persons established by the Constitution are binding to the legislator
irrespective of the economic situation in the State.
25. The Applicants maintain that the impugned legal provisions restrict the
fundamental constitutional rights. The replies of the Saeima also expressio verbis state
that the impugned provisions restrict the fundamental rights of persons. The
Constitutional Court has ruled that if the pensions granted in compliance with the
procedure established by the law are not disbursed in full amount, the rights to social
security in the case of old age granted by Article 109 of the Constitution and specified
in the Law on State Pensions are restricted (cf., e.g., Paragraph 2 of the Concluding
Part of the Constitutional Court Judgment in the Case No. 2001-12-01 passed on 19
March 2002 and Paragraph 10 of the Constitutional Court Judgment in the Case No.
2004-21-01 passed on 6 April 2005).
Hence, the Disbursement Law restricts the fundamental rights of persons granted
by Article 109 of the Constitution.
26. The rights granted by Article 109 of the Constitution may be restricted if such a
restriction is established by the law, justified by a legitimate end and conforms to the
principle of proportionality (cf., e.g., Paragraph 26 of the Constitutional Court
Judgment in the Case No. 2007-04-03 passed on 9 October 2007).
The restriction of fundamental rights is established by the law, namely, it is included in
the Disbursement Law adopted by the Saeima on 16 June 2009 and announced by the
President of the State on 30 June 209. The Case does not contain any materials that
would call into question the legitimacy of the adoption of the impugned provisions.
At the same time, it should be pointed out that haste in the context of preparation and
adoption of the impugned provisions, as well as the fact that society was not duly and
timely informed prior to the adoption of these provisions, should be viewed negatively
38
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents