The Meeting of Chairs of Senate Departments convened by the President of the Supreme Court has examined the issue of jurisdiction of a case, determining that an application for a compulsory inspection of a dwelling by a building inspector must be examined by a court of general jurisdiction.

The Valmiera Municipality Building Authority had applied to the Vidzeme District Court for a compulsory visual inspection of an apartment on suspicion of unauthorized construction. A district court judge refused to accept the Building Authority's application, stating that such an inspection of the building should be considered as an inspection of the site of an administrative violation, which is to be carried out in accordance with the Law on Administrative Liability, not the Civil Law. An ancillary complaint was filed with the Vidzeme Regional Court regarding the judge’s decision.

Finding that the matter of the jurisdiction of such cases has different interpretations in the practice of the Senate Departments, the Regional Court inquired Senate about the jurisdiction of the application.

The decision of the Meeting of Chairs of Senate Departments stated that ensuring a legal building process is in the best interest of the whole society. The decision explains that the rights of the building inspector to enter premises with the court authorization and to verify the legality of construction work, as provided for in the construction supervision procedure, are part of a uniform system that the legislator has provided for in the legal provisions of various sectors for cases when urgent intervention in a person's fundamental rights is necessary. The protection of fundamental rights is not tied to the specific type of proceedings in which the authority takes action - that is, it does not depend on whether the action is necessary to achieve the objectives of administrative proceedings or administrative violation proceedings.

The application for such an authorization and the proceedings to be initiated in connection with it are a special control mechanism established by the legislator, in which a judge of a court of general jurisdiction decides on the admissibility of the planned restriction of a person's fundamental rights. Although neither the Construction Law nor other legal acts regulate the procedural rules for examining such an application by the authority responsible for construction control, it must be acknowledged that the legislator has granted the competence to examine such applications to a judge of a court of general jurisdiction in independent proceedings.

The Meeting of Chairs of Senate Departments concluded that the application submitted by the Building Authority in accordance with Section 18, Paragraph three of the Construction Law shall be examined in proceedings before a court of general jurisdiction for granting the authorization of compulsory enforcement of the rights provided.

In accordance with Section 50, Paragraph five of the law "On Judicial Power", the President of the Supreme Court convenes Meetings of Chairs of Senate Departments to resolve the issue of jurisdiction of a case submitted by a judge or court. The President participates in these meetings with voting rights.

 

Information prepared by the Division of Communication of the Supreme Court

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