President Rinkēvičs asks Saeima to think again on Istanbul Convention exit

In a letter to the Speaker of the Saeima, President Rinkēvičs expresses the opinion that after the adoption of this Law in the final reading, significant questions remained unanswered, which legislators should reconsider, and therefore a second review of the law is necessary.

“There is no doubt that it is the Saeima that has the right to decide on Latvia’s withdrawal from an international agreement approved by the Saeima. There is also no doubt that there may be a justified need to withdraw from an international agreement. However, serious concerns are caused by the contradiction between the legislature and the executive branch on a matter in which the legislature has clearly granted the executive branch significant competence, but in which the legislature has not provided a proper assessment of the executive branch’s opinion, which it expressed within the competence granted by the legislature. In the system of separation of powers, dialogue between the branches and cooperation in promoting common national goals are essential,” the President’s letter states.

"The ratification and denunciation of the Convention during one Saeima term sends a contradictory message to both Latvian society and Latvia's allies internationally about Latvia's readiness to fulfill its international obligations in good faith. Such uncertainty and unpredictability of the state's actions are not appropriate in the European legal space," said President Rinkēvičs.

In his letter, the President of Latvia draws attention to the fact that Latvia's action in withdrawing from a Council of Europe convention that ensures the protection of human rights is unprecedented and that setting such a precedent goes far beyond Latvia's domestic legal policy issues and may threaten the common European architecture of the rule of law.

"It should also be taken into account that Latvia would be the first European Union member state to withdraw from an international human rights treaty. It should be seriously assessed whether such action is compatible with the principle of loyal cooperation enshrined in the Treaty on European Union and the obligation of the European Union Member States to assist each other in carrying out tasks to achieve the objectives of the European Union, including equality between women and men referred to in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, with genuine mutual respect," the President of the Republic emphasized.

"There is no dispute that the Saeima, under certain circumstances and having completed the preparatory work, can decide to withdraw from an international agreement through an appropriate procedure. Unfortunately, we must conclude that the necessary preparatory work has not been completed for such withdrawal to be properly justified," stated the letter of President Edgars Rinkēvičs to the Speaker of the Saeima, Daiga Mieriņa (ZZS) – who herself voted in favour of the Convention two years ago and against it last week.

In an interesting twist, taking into account the considerations expressed in his request for a second reading, the President also suggested that the matter might be better off being considered by the next Saeima, due to be elected in eleven months' time. In essence that means he's asking Saeima deputies to park the entire issue for the best part of a year. Whether they are willing to do so is doubtful.

Rinkēvičs has a constitutional right to request that Saeima thinks again, but he cannot unilaterally reverse their decision. A majority of Saeima deputies voted for Latvia to exit the convention last week, as the result of a rebellion by one of the three ruling coalition parties, the Greens and Farmers Union (ZZS) which teamed up with all the opposition parties in parliament.

The decision – which came 2 years after ZZS voted to ratify the Convention – has sparked widespread condemnation, both domestically and internationally. A signature collection drive urging Rinkēvičs to send the legislation back to the Saeima has become the most popular such initiative of its kind, with more than 60,000 people backing a rethink. A rival signature collection drive launched on Monday which backs Latvia's exit from the Convention has collected just over 3,000 signatures so far.

Once the President has referred the law back to the Parliament for another reading, the Saeima is then obliged to refer the President's specific objections to the responsible committee and decide on a deadline for submitting proposals and reviewing the law again. However, it is not obliged to incorporate the President's suggestions or to alter its previous position. If the Saeima does not amend the law – as seems the most likely outcome in this case – the President cannot raise objections a second time without triggering a head-to-head constitutional clash that would put his Presidency on the line and initiate a potential referendum on the repeal of the law.

On Thursday, November 6th, further protests against the withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention will take place in several cities in Latvia as well as outside some Latvian embassies in other countries.