On 27 March, President Edgars Rinkēvičs and the Minister of Justice Inese Lībiņa-Egnere held a meeting at the Riga Castle. During the meeting, the parties discussed issues in the domain of penal policy, the application of coercive measures of an educational nature to children, as well as changes in the application of penalties following amendments to the Criminal Code adopted over the last six months.
The President stressed the importance of addressing issues of penal policy in cases with national security considerations. President Rinkēvičs also endorsed the training programme aimed at raising the competence and awareness of Latvian judges regarding current developments in the field of national security and their legal aspects.
During the meeting, E. Rinkēvičs expressed his conviction that further work is required to expand the availability of the educational coercive measure of “therapeutic homes” for high-risk, vulnerable adolescents. This measure would provide adolescents with therapy-based support services in dealing with behavioural problems and enable them to fully re-integrate into society.
The meeting also brought to attention the issue of current sentencing practices for offences against national security. For example, the summary prepared by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Latvia on 20 first-instance and appeal cases from 2017 to 2024 indicates a lack of clarity in distinguishing the court's arguments regarding the form of sentence (i.e. deprivation of liberty, probation monitoring, fine, etc.) from the arguments regarding the severity of the sentence (i.e. the length of deprivation of liberty or the amount of the fine).
In the past, the courts have rarely engaged in the evaluation of the nature and impact of the criminal offence on national security, instead placing a greater emphasis on the defendant's character traits in determining the sentence. However, it is the nature and impact of the criminal offence on national security that should be the primary factors in determining the sentence.
Additionally, the parties discussed the issue of remuneration at the Prison Administration.
