Text consolidated by Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre) with amending laws of:
28 September 2005 [shall come into force from 1 October 2005];
19 January 2006 [shall come into force from 1 February 2006];
21 December 2006 [shall come into force from 1 January 2007];
17 May 2007 [shall come into force from 21 June 2007];
22 November 2007 [shall come into force from 1 January 2008];
19 June 2008 [shall come into force from 23 July 2008];
29 June 2008 [shall come into force from 29 July 2008];
12 March 2009 [shall come into force from 1 July 2009];
11 June 2009 [shall come into force from 14 July 2009];
16 June 2009 [shall come into force from 1 July 2009];
14 January 2010 [shall come into force from 4 February 2010];
21 October 2010 [shall come into force from 1 January 2011];
8 July 2011 [shall come into force from 11 August 2011];
24 May 2012 [shall come into force from 1 July 2012];
15 November 2012 [shall come into force from 14 December 2012];
20 December 2012 [shall come into force from 1 April 2013];
10 January 2013 [shall come into force from 13 February 2013];
14 March 2013 [shall come into force from 1 April 2013];
23 May 2013 [shall come into force from 27 October 2013];
5 September 2013 [shall come into force from 20 September 2013];
12 September 2013 [shall come into force from 1 January 2014];
19 December 2013 [shall come into force from 1 January 2014];
29 May 2014 [shall come into force from 25 June 2014];
16 October 2014 [shall come into force from 1 February 2015];
15 January 2015 [shall come into force from 1 February 2015];
29 January 2015 [shall come into force from 25 February 2015];
8 July 2015 [shall come into force from 1 November 2015];
12 November 2015 [shall come into force from 2 December 2015];
18 February 2016 [shall come into force from 23 March 2016].
If a whole or part of a section has been amended, the date of the amending law appears in square brackets at the end of the section. If a whole section, paragraph or clause has been deleted, the date of the deletion appears in square brackets beside the deleted section, paragraph or clause.
The Saeima1 has adopted and
the President has proclaimed the following law:
Criminal Procedure Law
Part A General Provisions
Chapter 1 Basic Provisions of Criminal Procedure
Section 1. Purpose of the Criminal Procedure Law
The purpose of the Criminal Procedure Law is to determine the order of criminal procedure that ensures the effective application of the norms of The Criminal Law and the fair regulation of criminal legal relations without unjustified intervention in the life of a person.
[12March2009]
Section 2. Sources of the Rights of Criminal Procedure
(1) Criminal procedure is determined by the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia (hereinafter – Constitution), international legal norms, and this Law.
(2) In the application of the legal norms of the European Union, the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union shall be taken into account, and in the application of the legal norms of the Republic of Latvia, the interpretation of the appropriate norm provided in the judgment of the Constitutional Court shall be complied with.
(3) The norms of the criminal procedure of another state may be applied only in international co-operation on the basis of a request motivated by a foreign state, if such request is not in contradiction to the basic principles of the criminal procedure of Latvia.
[21October2010]
Section 3. Power of the Criminal Procedure Law in Space
The Criminal Procedure Law shall determine a uniform procedural order in all criminal proceedings that are performed by persons authorised to perform such proceedings for criminal offences existing within the jurisdiction of Latvia.
Section 4. Power of the Criminal Procedure Law in Time
The order of criminal proceedings shall be determined by the criminal procedure legal norm that is in effect at the moment of the performing of the procedural activity.
Section 5. Application of the Law in International Co-operation
The legal norm of a foreign state indicated in a request motivated by the foreign state may be applied in international co-operation without additional examining of the validity thereof.
Chapter 2 Basic Principles of Criminal Proceedings
Section 6. Mandatory Nature of Criminal Proceedings
The official who is authorised to perform criminal proceedings has a duty within his or her competence to initiate criminal proceedings and to lead such proceedings to the fair regulation of criminal legal relations provided for in The Criminal Law in each case where the reason and grounds for initiating criminal proceedings have become known.
[12March2009]
Section 7. Prosecution in Criminal Proceedings
(1) Criminal proceedings shall be performed in the interests of society regardless of the will of the person to whom the harm was inflicted, if this Law does not specify otherwise. The prosecution function in criminal proceedings on behalf of the State shall be implemented by a public prosecutor.
(2) Criminal proceedings shall be initiated for the offence provided for in Section 130, Paragraph two, Sections 131, 132, 136, 157, 168, 169, and 180, Section 185, Paragraph one, Section 197, Section 200, Paragraph one, and Section 260, Paragraph one of The Criminal Law, if a request has been received from the person to whom harm has been inflicted. Criminal proceedings may also be initiated without the receipt of a request from the person to whom harm has been inflicted, if such person is not able to implement his or her rights himself or herself due to a physical or mental deficiency.
[21October2010; 14March2013; 18February2016]
Section 8. Principle of Equality
The Criminal Procedure Law shall determine a uniform procedural order for all persons involved in criminal proceedings irrespective of the origin, social and financial situation, employment, citizenship, race, nationality, attitude toward religion, sex, education, language, place of residence, and other conditions of such persons.
Section 9. Criminal Procedural Duty
(1) In initiated criminal proceedings, each person has a duty to fulfil the requirements of an authorised official for performing criminal proceedings and to comply with the procedural order specified in the Law.
(2) The disputing of the legality and validity of a procedural requirement shall be performing in accordance with the procedures laid down in this Law, yet such disputing does not remove the duty to fulfil such requirement.
(3) The rights to an exception from the execution of the duty specified in Paragraph one of this Section shall be held only by persons for whom immunity from criminal proceedings has been specified.
Section 10. Immunity from Criminal Proceedings
Immunity from criminal proceedings completely or partially frees a person from participation in criminal proceedings, as well as from the provision of evidence and the issuance of documents and objects, and prohibits or restricts the right to perform the criminal prosecution of such person and to apply compulsory measures against such person, as well as the right to enter and perform investigative actions on the premises in the possession of such person.
Section 11. Language to be Used in the Criminal Proceedings
(1) The criminal proceedings shall take place in the official language.
(2) If a person who has a rights to a defence, a victim and his or her representative, a witness, specialist, expert, auditor, as well as other persons who a person directing the proceedings has involved in the criminal proceedings does not speak the official language, such persons have the right to use the language that such persons understand during the performance of procedural actions, and to use the assistance of an interpreter free of charge, whose participation shall be ensured by the person directing the proceedings. In the pre-trial proceedings, the investigating judge or court shall provide for the participation of an interpreter in the hearing of issues that fall within the jurisdiction of the investigating judge or court.
(21) A person who has the right to defence, if he or she does not have the knowledge of the official language, may use the language the person has knowledge of and during the meeting with the defence counsel use, free of charge, the assistance of an interpreter whose participation shall be ensured by the person directing the proceedings, in the following cases:
1) to prepare for the interrogation within the pre-trial proceedings or for the trial at a court hearing;
2) to draw up a written complaint regarding the conduct of an official who handles the criminal proceedings or regarding amending or revocation of a judgment and application of a procedural compulsory measure;
3) to draw up a document necessary for the trial of the case in a written procedure;
4) to draw up an appellate or cassation complaint.
(22) For a person who has the right to defence and who has been applied a security measure related to deprivation of liberty, the participation of the interpreter for exercising of the rights referred to in Paragraph 2.1 of this Section shall be ensured by the relevant place of imprisonment.
(23) The Cabinet shall determine the procedures and scope of ensuring the assistance of the interpreter in the cases referred to in Paragraphs 2.1 and 2.2 of this Section.
(3) In issuing procedural documents to a person involved in the criminal proceedings who does not understand the official language, such person shall be ensured, in the cases provided for by law, a translation of such documents in a language understood by such person.
(4) An official performing criminal proceedings may perform a separate procedural action in another language by appending a translation of the procedural documents in the official language.
(5) In the criminal proceedings, complaints received in another language shall be translated into the official language only in the case of necessity, which shall be determined by the person directing the proceedings. The person directing the proceedings shall ensure the translation into the official language of the appellate complaints and cassation complaints regarding court judgments received in another language.
(6) The provisions of this Section regarding the right of a person to use the language that the person has knowledge of and to use the assistance of an interpreter free of charge shall also apply to persons with hearing, speech or visual impairments. In issuing procedural documents to such persons in the cases provided for by the law, the availability of such documents in the language or the manner which such persons are able to perceive shall be ensured.
[19January2006; 23May2013; 18February2016]
Section 12. Guaranteeing of Civil Rights
(1) Criminal proceedings shall be performed in conformity with internationally recognised civil rights and without allowing for the imposition of unjustified criminal procedural duties or excessive intervention in the life of a person.
(2) Civil rights may be restricted only in cases where such restriction is required for public safety reasons, and only in accordance with the procedures laid down in this Law according to the character and danger of the criminal offence.
(3) The application of safety measures related to the deprivation of liberty, the infringement of the immunity of publicly inaccessible places, and the confidentiality of correspondence and means of communication shall be permitted only with the consent of the investigating judge or court.
(4) An official, who performs the criminal proceedings, has a duty to protect the confidentiality of the private life of a person and the commercial confidentiality of a person. Information regarding such confidentiality shall be obtained and used only in the case where such information is necessary in order to clarify conditions that are to be proven.
(5) A natural person has the right to request that a criminal case does not include information regarding the private life, commercial activities, and financial situation of such person or the betrothed, spouse, parents, grandparents, children grandchildren, brothers or sisters of such person, as well as of the person with whom the relevant natural person is living together and with whom he or she has a common (joint) household (hereinafter – the immediate family), if such information is not necessary for the fair regulation of criminal legal relations.
[12March2009]
Section 13. Prohibition of Torture and Debasement
(1) Debasement, blackmail, torture, the threatening of a person with torture or violence, or the use of violence shall not be allowed in criminal proceedings.
(2) If a person resists the performance of separate procedural actions, hinders the progress thereof, or refuses to duly fulfil his or her procedural duties, the security measures provided for in the Law for the ensuring of a concrete procedural action may be applied to such person.
(3) In order to overcome the physical resistance of a person, a performer of procedural actions or, on the basis of his or her invitation, employees of the State police may apply physical force in exceptional cases, without needlessly inflicting pain on such person or humiliating such person.