Commission Report (2002): Latvia

Political criteria

Some progress has been made in addressing the deficiencies of the judicial system, however the legal framework still needs to be completed, including the adoption of the new Law on Criminal Procedure. Progress was made in adopting the Law on Public Administration regarding the judiciary, but several pieces of legislation still need to be adopted (the Law on Judicial Powers, the Law on Sworn Court Bailiffs, the Civil Procedure Law as well as the policy document on court administration). While some issues were addressed through interim legislation, no notable progress was achieved regarding alleviation of courts, workload, elimination of backlog of pending court cases and ensuring the enforcement of court decisions in practice. While preparations to improve remunerations of judges have started, the process needs to be completed without delay, and sufficient funding needs to be ensured. Training of judges continued, but should be intensified. Some progress was made to improve courts' infrastructure and computerisation. Little was done to promote access to justice. Good progress was however made in the field of fight against corruption in continuing the implementation of the anti-corruption strategy, the adoption of a legal framework to strengthen the administrative capacity in view of the establishment of the anti-Corruption Bureau in line with the requirements of the Action Plan. However, the appointment of its head should not further delay the start of its operation and thus the implementation of the Action Plan. Moreover, adequate means to ensure effective implementation of the existing anti-corruption legislation are also required. International co-operation has been improved.

Regarding human rights and protection of minorities, some initial progress was achieved in terms of legislative changes aiming at the reduction of pre-trial detention for juveniles, in line with the requirements of the Action Plan, but the issue still continues to pose a very serious problem. Continued attention is to be paid ensuring that the responsible authorities only apply and enforce the Language Law and its implementation regulation in line with the principles of justified public interest and proportionality, international standards and the Europe Agreement. Progress was made on promoting integration of non-citizens into Latvian society, notably through increased support to facilitate the integration process, through language training and information campaigns, including the establishment of the Society Integration Foundation as required by the Action Plan, but process of naturalisation remains slow. The abolition of linguistic requirements in the election law was a positive development. While generally progress was made in this field, the whole process needs to be accelerated significantly and sufficient funding to encourage further integration and adequate language training are to be provided. Therefore, the Accession Partnership priorities related to the political criteria have been partially met. Implementation of the measures under the Action Plan isslightly delayed.

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