SAVICKIS AND OTHERS v. LATVIA JUDGMENT The Court heard addresses by Ms Līce, Ms Nikuļceva, Mr Kuzmins and Mr Galperin and the replies given by Ms Līce, Ms Nikuļceva and Mr Kuzmins to questions put by judges. THE FACTS 10. The applicants were born between 1938 and 1948 and live in various cities of Latvia. 11. The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. I. THE GENERAL HISTORICAL BACKGROUND TO THE CASE 12. The historical background, namely the incorporation of the Baltic States into the Soviet Union in 1940, has been described in the cases of Ždanoka v. Latvia [GC] (no. 58278/00, §§ 12-13, ECHR 2006-IV); Kuolelis and Others v. Lithuania (nos. 74357/01 and 2 others, § 8, 19 February 2008); Vasiliauskas v. Lithuania [GC] (no. 35343/05, §§ 11-12, ECHR 2015); and Sõro v. Estonia (no. 22588/08, § 6, 3 September 2015). 13. On 4 May 1990, the Supreme Council of the “Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic” (“SSR”, one of the fifteen “Soviet Socialist Republics” of the USSR), the legislative assembly elected on 18 March of the same year, adopted the Declaration on the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia, which declared Latvia’s incorporation into the USSR in 1940 unlawful under international law and acknowledged that the fundamental provisions of the 1922 Constitution (Satversme) were still in force. A transitional period, aimed at the restoration of de facto sovereignty, was instituted. Negotiations with the USSR were to be initiated in accordance with the 1920 Peace Treaty between Latvia and Russia. During this period, various provisions of the Constitution of the Latvian SSR and other applicable legal acts remained in force in so far as they did not contradict the fundamental provisions of the 1922 Constitution (see paragraphs 60-61 below). 14. On 21 August 1991, the Supreme Council passed a constitutional law proclaiming full independence with immediate effect (see paragraph 62 below). The transitional period established under the 4 May 1990 Declaration on the Restoration of Independence was abolished. 15. On 8 December 1991, Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine signed the Minsk Agreement, declaring the end of the Soviet Union’s existence and setting up the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). 16. On 21 December 1991, eleven sovereign States, former polities of the USSR – but not Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Georgia – signed the Alma-Ata Declaration, which confirmed and extended the Minsk Agreement setting up the CIS. It was noted in the Alma-Ata Declaration that “with the establishment of the CIS, the USSR ha[d] cease[d] to exist” and that the CIS 3