Complaint prepared by TI Latvia on behalf of 50 people to be reviewed by constitutional court

Dispute concerns territorial planning in a luxury neighbourhood in the Garkalne Parish

The Latvian Constitutional Court has agreed to hear a case involving the territorial plans of the Garkalne Parish – ones which provide for construction of luxury villas in the territory which is flooded by the Lielais Baltezers lake. The court will decide whether the plan is in line with Latvia’s constitution. The application was prepared by Transparency International Latvia, and it was filed by 50 residents of the Garkalne area and the city of Rīga.

The territorial plans that have been approved by the Garkalne Parish Council speak to construction along the shores of the Lielais Baltezers lake – a territory which is subject to flooding. The plans were approved despite the fact that construction is banned in such territories. The Council ignored the law on protected zones, and it did not consider public proposals when the territorial plans were being drawn up. The Council also did not organise a second phase of public hearings, thus violating the right of the public to take part in the designing of territorial plans and to preserve a favourable environment in which they live.

Local residents began the fight over preserving the flooding shores of the lake in 2002. They repeatedly submitted petitions to the chairman of the Garkalne Parish, to the minister for regional development and local government affairs, Māris Kučinskis, and the minister for the environment, Raimonds Vējonis, but none of these institutions of governance or responsible government officials halted the illegal Garkalne Parish territorial plan.

TI Latvia supports the right of local residents to file appeals before the Constitutional Court, because the Garkalne Parish Council grossly violated certain rights which are guaranteed by the Latvian Constitution when it designed and approved territorial plans – these rights have to do with the right of people to live in a favourable environment. The Garkalne Parish territorial plan would destroy important environmental values and landscapes.

The territorial plan is one of the most important instruments for using, but also protecting territories. The development of territorial plans is not a formality – it is regulated so as to identify and consider various interests before determining which of them should be seen as a priority in conducting further work. The interests of all involved parties must be balanced out, weaker participants must be protected, and the government must represent all of the interests of the public.

Under the auspices of its “Territorial Planning and Construction” project, TI Latvia helped local residents to prepare the petition for the Constitutional Court.

For additional information:

TI Latvia has received funding from the Soros Foundation Latvia in support of its “Territorial Planning and Construction” project. It is monitoring several territorial plans and has gone to court in order to seek the repeal of illegally issued construction permits. The aim of the project is to promote the development of sustainable territorial plans and to make sure that territorial plans are taken into account during construction processes.

Contact information:

Kristaps Markovskis
Legal analyst, TI Latvia
+371-29-588908
kristaps.markovskis@delna.lv