SAVICKIS AND OTHERS v. LATVIA JUDGMENT B. The Constitutional Court’s initial ruling (2001) 39. The domestic legislation providing for the differences in the calculation of State pensions on the basis of Latvian citizenship was reviewed by the Constitutional Court (Satversmes tiesa) in 2001, in proceedings instituted by twenty members of the Parliament. The Constitutional Court considered that the contested provision, namely Paragraph 1 of the transitional provisions of the State Pensions Act, did not concern the right of property, as the pension entitlements for the respective time periods were based on the principle of solidarity and did not create a direct link between the contributions and the amount of pensions. Accordingly, it found that the contested provision was not at variance with Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 and did not infringe Article 14 of the Convention. Additionally, the Constitutional Court pointed out that the distinction made under the domestic law was objectively justified by the nature and principles of the Latvian pension system and did not amount to a discrimination within the meaning of the Constitution. The question of the aggregate periods of employment outside Latvia prior to 1991 with respect to persons not holding Latvian citizenship had to be resolved by means of international agreements, and Latvia should not be required to assume the obligations of another State (for a translation of the Constitutional Court’s main arguments, see Andrejeva v. Latvia [GC], no. 55707/00, § 37, ECHR 2009). C. The Court’s judgment in the Andrejeva case 40. The conformity of Paragraph 1 of the transitional provisions of the State Pensions Act with Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 and Article 14 of the Convention was put before the Court in the Andrejeva case, cited above. In its judgment, the Court started by pointing out that in Stec and Others v. the United Kingdom ((dec.) [GC], nos. 65731/01 and 65900/01, ECHR 2005-X) it had abandoned the distinction between contributory and non-contributory benefits for the purposes of the applicability of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1. The Government’s argument that, from the standpoint of public international law, Latvia had not inherited the rights and obligations of the former Soviet Union as regards welfare benefits, was found to be misconceived in the instant case, as the Latvian State had decided of its own accord to pay pensions to individuals in respect of periods of employment outside its territory, thereby creating a sufficiently clear legal basis in its domestic law. Accordingly, the presumed entitlement to such benefits fell within the scope of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 and rendered Article 14 of the Convention applicable (ibid., §§ 76-80). 41. Having regard to the conclusions it would reach later in its judgment, the Court considered it unnecessary to determine whether the domestic courts’ finding that the fact of having worked for an entity established outside 8