interpreted in Protocol 1, Article 1 of the Convention (cf., e.g., ECtHR Judgment in the
Case Stec and Others v. the United Kingdom [GC], nos. 65731/01 and 65900/01, 12
April 2006, para. 51).
In view of the aforesaid, the Constitutional Court concluded that the rights to pension
fall under the fundamental rights to social security granted by Article 109 of the
Constitution. In this case, there were reasons for acknowledging that the said article of
the Constitution guarantees higher protection for the persons’ rights to pension. At the
same time, it should be pointed out that the decrease of pension disbursement amount
prescribed in the impugned legal provisions should also be considered in the context of
principles derived from Article 1 of the Constitution and Protocol 1, Article 1 of the
Convention, taking into account both the protection of property rights provided therein
and the Latvian system of pension financing.
Therefore, the compliance of the impugned legal provisions with Article 109 of
the Constitution should be determined first.
21. None of the Cases was declared admissible following a constitutional claim
concerning the compliance of Article 2, Paragraph One of the Disbursement Law –
insofar as it pertains to the long service pensions specified in the provision – with the
legal provisions of higher legal force. Furthermore, the Application submitted by
twenty members of the Saeima, on the basis of which the case No. 2009-68-01 was
declared admissible, does not contain substantiation for deeming that the deduction
from the aforementioned long service pensions does not comply with the requirements
of legal provisions (acts) of higher legal force.
The Saeima pointed out that the arguments included in its replies in the cases
No. 2009-52-01, No. 2009-63-01 and No. 2009-65-01 can be applied by analogy to the
case Nr. 2009-68-01. Cases No. 2009-63-01 and No. 2009-65-01 were declared
admissible with respect to Article 3, Paragraph One of the Disbursement Law – insofar
as this paragraph pertains to service pensions, which are analogous to pensions
specified in Article 2 of the Disbursement Law.
The Constitutional Court stated that it follows from the principle of economy of legal
costs that it would not be cost-effective to adjudicate repeatedly the matters that can be
adjudicated within a specific case. The decisive factor is whether the matter to be
adjudicated is closely related to the provisions impugned in the Case as well as
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