40
ŽDANOKA v. LATVIA JUDGMENT
determined in detail by the legislature, leaving the courts of ordinary
jurisdiction only with the task of verifying whether a particular individual
belongs to the category or group covered by the statutory measure in issue.
This is particularly so in matters relating to Article 3 of Protocol No. 1. The
Court’s task is essentially to evaluate whether the measure defined by
Parliament is proportionate from the standpoint of this provision, and not to
find fault with the measure simply on the ground that the domestic courts
were not empowered to “fully individualise” the application of the measure
in the light of an individual’s specific situation and circumstances (see
paragraphs 112-15 above).
126. It is to be observed in this respect that section 5(6) of the 1995 Act
is worded in relatively narrow terms. The very fact that the restriction
relates only to those having “actively participated” in CPL activities at the
material time confirms that the legislature clearly distinguished between the
various forms of involvement in the party of its former members, as
correctly pointed out in the Constitutional Court’s decision of 30 August
2000.
127. Further, the Act conferred on individuals affected by the provisions
of section 5(6) the right to have determined by a court the issue of whether
they belonged to the category defined by the legislature, that is to say
whether they could be deemed to have been “active participants”. It is clear
that this was not an illusory right (see paragraph 45 above). The applicant
does not allege that the proceedings in her case were not adversarial. The
Court also recalls that it has accepted the domestic courts’ findings that the
applicant was more than a formal member of the CPL, that she had
participated in the party’s activities after the critical date of 13 January
1991, and that the CPL itself had taken an active role in the events of 1991,
including the abortive coup (see paragraphs 23 and 37-44 above). The
procedures applied in the applicant’s case, or indeed the conclusions
reached by the domestic courts in applying the relevant domestic legislation,
could not be considered arbitrary (see, by contrast, the Podkolzina and
Melnychenko cases referred to in paragraphs 107-08 above).
128. In view of the above considerations, the Court considers that the
impugned legislation was clear and precise as to the definition of the
category of persons affected by it, and it was also sufficiently flexible to
allow the domestic courts to examine whether or not a particular person
belonged to that category. In the present case, a sufficient degree of
individualisation as required by Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 was thus
effected by the Latvian parliament in adopting section 5(6) of the 1995 Act,
and thereafter by the domestic courts in establishing that the impugned
statutory measure applied to the applicant. There was no obligation under
Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 for the Latvian parliament to delegate more
extensive jurisdiction to the Latvian courts to “fully individualise” the
applicant’s situation so as to enable them to establish as a fact whether or