Savickis and Others v. Latvia (relinquishment)

Information Note on the Court’s case-law 246

December 2020

Savickis and Others v. Latvia (relinquishment) - 49270/11

Article 14

Discrimination

Calculation of state pensions for permanently resident non-citizens excluding periods of employment accrued in other former USSR states: relinquishment in favour of the Grand Chamber

The applicants were born in different territories of the Soviet Union and came to Latvia at a later date, when it was one of the Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union. Upon their retirement, the applicants’ years of service outside Latvia were not included in the overall period of employment, for the purpose of calculating their pensions.

All but the third applicant brought unsuccessful complaints before the administrative court. All five applicants subsequently complained to the Constitutional Court, arguing that the law on state pensions was incompatible with the constitutional prohibition of discrimination and with relevant Convention rights. The Constitutional Court admitted that the legislator had established different principles in respect of Latvian nationals and “non-citizens”, and that these two groups were treated differently when calculating the overall period of employment. However, it drew a clear distinction between Andrejeva v. Latvia [GC] (55707/00, 18 February 2009, Information Note 116) and the present case, as Ms Andrejeva had resided in the territory of Latvia over the disputed periods. Having examined, inter alia, the question of State continuity, and noting that Latvia was not the successor of the rights and obligations of the Soviet Union, it found that the difference had objective and reasonable grounds.

The applicants complain under Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) in conjunction with Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property). They allege that the only reason for the refusal to include the periods of employment accrued outside Latvia during Soviet times was in fact based on the fact that they did not have Latvian nationality.

On 1 December 2020 a Chamber of the Court relinquished jurisdiction in favour of the Grand Chamber.

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This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.

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