On 11 February, President of Latvia Egils Levits held a swearing-in ceremony at the Riga Castle for the new Constitutional Court judge Irēna Kucina.
In his address to the new justice of the Constitutional Court, President Levits underlined that a move of a high-ranking Presidential Chancery official to the Constitutional Court as one of its judges is a big achievement for the presidency of Latvia. President praised Irēna Kucina’s exceptional legal knowledge and extensive professional experience acquired over 16 years of employment with the Ministry of Justice. Irēna Kucina, Egils Levits said, has admirable change management, problem-solving and ad hoc reasoning skills. According to President Levits, Madam Kucina’s proficiency in European Union law will be a great asset for the Constitutional Court.
Her ability to combine public office with doctoral activities of a legal scholar and teaching professor at the University of Latvia is also noteworthy, added President of Latvia, as ‘ability to combine science and practical application is very important for a lawyer because a scholar can make claims that a judge cannot’.
Egils Levits also addressed current judges of the Constitutional Court who witnessed the oath-giving ceremony. ‘Constitutional Court follows the path of the Court of Justice of the European Union. You have also developed a new discipline: value-oriented legal interpretation. It is a new field, which requires Constitutional Court to impartially decide whether democratically legitimate constitutional bodies have followed these values. That is not an easy task. It indicates that Constitutional Court of Latvia is expected to be the constitutional yardstick when democracy is in crisis, as it is now. It must find balance between democracy and the rule of law,’ President Levits said.
President of Latvia Egils Levits thanked President of the Constitutional Court, Sanita Osipova, for leading the Constitutional Court through major projects over the past decade.