Procedures by which Institutions Place Information on the Internet

Issued pursuant to
Section 10, Paragraph six of the
Freedom of Information Law

I. General Provisions

1. These Regulations prescribe the procedures, by which institutions shall place information on the Internet in order to ensure availability thereof.

2. These Regulations shall apply to institutions of direct administration and to derived public persons, except for local government institutions.

3. Each institution shall develop a home page for the placing of information on the Internet. Institutions of direct administration shall ensure that the information included in the database of institutions of direct administration does not differ from the information indicated on the home page of the institution.

4. Information placed on the home page of an institution shall be updated at least once a week.

5. The national coat of arms and the national flag shall be used on the home page in accordance with the procedures specified by Law.

6. The head of an institution shall be liable for the compliance with these Regulations.

7. An institution need not develop any of the home page sections referred to in Paragraph 10 of these Regulations if the information to be placed therein is to be classified as restricted access information or functions and tasks of the institution are not related to the information to be included in the section.

8. If information to be included in a section of a home page is placed in the database of institutions of direct administration, the information need not be placed in the relevant section but a link to the database of the institutions of direct administration may be indicated.

9. A supervisory institution need not develop a home page if all the information specified in these Regulations regarding the supervisory institution is included on the home page of the institution of direct administration.

II. Structure of Home Pages

10. A home page shall have the following sections:

10.1. information regarding the institution;

10.2. contacts;

10.3. services;

10.4. current events;

10.5. sectoral policy;

10.6. European Union;

10.7. international co-operation;

10.8. regulatory enactments and development planning documents;

10.9. publications and statistics;

10.10. [4 August 2008];

10.11. links;

10.12. information in foreign languages (indicate language designation);

10.13. public procurements;

10.14. public participation; and

10.15. easy to read.

[4 August 2008; 27 April 2010]

III. Content of Home Pages

11. The following information shall be included in sections of a home page:

11.1. the section "Information regarding the Institution" shall include:

11.1.1. a description of the institution (place in the State administration, tasks, functions, action lines);

11.1.2. brief information about the institution's history;

11.1.3. a brief biography and a photograph of the administrative and, where appropriate, political head of the institution;

11.1.4. a schematic description of the structure of the institution with information regarding the competence and responsibility of each structural unit. The institution shall indicate institutions subordinate thereto; and

11.1.5. [4 August 2008];

11.2. the section "Contacts" shall include:

11.2.1. the official electronic mail (hereinafter - e-mail) address of the institution;

11.2.2. the working hours of the institution and procedures for the reception of visitors;

11.2.3. the contact information of the structural units of the institution (position, given name, surname, telephone number and e-mail of the official);

11.2.4. the details of the institution, indicating the address, telephone and fax numbers, registration number and bank details, if such are necessary for the receipt of services;

11.2.5. the formats to be used for electronic communication, as well as an indication "For more comfortable and faster exchange of information we advise using means of electronic communication"; and

11.2.6. the preferable graphic supplementary elements - a map of the location of the institution with a reference to the closest public transport, logo of the institution (where such exists);

11.3. the section "Services" shall include a list of the services provided by the institution, as well as a link to the relevant service in the uniform portal of services (www.latvija.lv). Local governments, in relation to which information regarding the services provided thereby is not available in the uniform portal of services, shall insert at least the following information regarding services:

11.3.1. the activities, which a person should perform in order to receive a service, and the list of the documents necessary for the receipt of the service, indicating a link to an application form (which is available in electronic form), or a corresponding electronic service and an indication regarding the necessary annexes;

11.3.2. the time period, during which the institution takes a decision regarding provision of the service (informs whether the service will be provided); and

11.3.3. the fee for the service (if any) in accordance with the price list of paid services;

11.4. the section "Current Events" shall include:

11.4.1. announcements of the institution to the mass media (information to the press) and short reports regarding the most important issues;

11.4.2. a calendar of the most important planned events;

11.4.3. [4 August 2008];

11.4.4. [4 August 2008];

11.4.5. [4 August 2008];

11.4.6. [4 August 2008];

11.4.7. information of the relevant sector, which the institution wishes to publicise and which is current and to be discussed in society; and

11.4.8. information regarding job vacancies in the institution;

11.5. the section "Sectoral Policy" shall include:

11.5.1. a description of the sector or sub-sector;

11.5.2. an action plan for execution of a government declaration and a reference to the relevant article of the government declaration, as well as information regarding execution of the action plan;

11.6. the section "European Union" shall include:

11.6.1. information regarding current issues related to the European Union, which are within the competence of the institution, and European Union regulatory enactments;

11.6.2. information regarding the role and the tasks of the institution in expressing the interests of Latvia in institutions of the European Union and regarding the opportunities of society to engage in formulation of the opinion of Latvia;

11.6.3. particulars regarding the sources of information on issues regarding the relevant sector in relation to the participation of Latvia in the European Union; and

11.6.4. information regarding the working groups and councils organised by the European Union, regarding officials who represent the Republic of Latvia therein, and the contact person who may provide information regarding the issues examined in the working groups and councils;

11.7. the section "International Co-operation" shall include:

11.7.1. current events of the sector and measures performed and planned by the institution in relation to the participation of Latvia in international organisations; and

11.7.2. particulars regarding the sources of information in issues related to the relevant sector in connection with the participation of Latvia in international organisations;

11.8. the section "Regulatory Enactments and Development Planning Documents" shall include:

11.8.1. the regulatory enactments regulating the operation, tasks and functions of the institution (ministries and secretariats of special assignments ministers shall indicate the by-laws and rules of procedure of the institution);

11.8.2. the most important regulatory enactments regulating the relevant sector, which are to be regarded as unofficial texts of legal acts, with a reference to the official publication in the newspaper Latvijas Vēstnesis [the official Gazette of the Government of Latvia];

11.8.3. development planning documents; and

11.8.4. international documents significant to the relevant sector;

11.9. the section "Publications and Statistics" shall include:

11.9.1. annual public reports of the institution;

11.9.2. publications prepared by the institution. If a publication is not available in electronic form, it shall be indicated where the relevant publication is available; and

11.9.3. studies conducted by the institution or a reference to the Internet site where information regarding the studies conducted by the institution is available;

11.10. [4 August 2008];

11.11. the section "Links" shall include:

11.11.1. a list of subordinate institutions and links to the Internet home pages thereof;

11.11.2. links to the home pages containing information related to the field of activity of the institution in the Republic of Latvia and foreign states; and

11.11.3. other links, including links to the home page of the Cabinet and the official portal of the European Union;

11.12. the section "Information in Foreign Languages", if thus more efficient popularisation or provision of services of the State institution is ensured, shall include:

11.12.1. a description of the State institution (place in State administration, tasks, functions, action lines);

11.12.2. current information;

11.12.3. publications, which the State institution has issued in the relevant foreign language; and

11.12.4. publications of international documents, which are significant to the relevant sector;

11.13. the section "Public Procurements" shall include information regarding public procurements of the institution in accordance with the requirements of the regulatory enactments regulating public procurement, as well as information regarding the contracts entered into by the institution (also contracts, which have been entered into without the procedures specified in the Public Procurement Law), according to which public works are performed, goods are supplied or services are provided:

11.13.1. the type of the contract (public works, goods or services);

11.13.2. the date of entering into the contract and validity period thereof;

11.13.3. the subject-matter of the contract;

11.13.4. the supplier; and

11.13.5. the contract price (including value added tax), if such has been specified in the contract;

11.14. the section "Public Participation" shall include:

11.14.1. information regarding the co-operation of the institution with non-governmental organisations (information regarding co-operation partners, short description of co-operation principles, contact persons in the institution for co-operation with non-governmental organisations;

11.14.2. information regarding the most important working groups and councils of the institution; and

11.14.3. information regarding the planned public discussions and the public discussions that have taken place, regarding participation possibilities therein and documents submitted to the institution or documents prepared by the institution, which have been transferred for public discussion;

11.15. the section "Easy to Read" shall, in readily comprehensible language. include a short descriptive information regarding the institution and other information, which the institution deems necessary.

[4 August 2008; 27 April 2010]

12. The date and time of updating of the information placed shall be indicated on the home page.

13. Institutions are prohibited to place information on a home page, which is neither directly nor indirectly related to implementation of the functions of the institution.

[27 April 2010]

14. An institution may supplement a home page with new sections and improve the content of the home page pursuant to the field of activity of the institution.

IV. General Requirements for Home Pages

15. In order to make a home page more convenient for browsing, it shall require:

15.1. a home page sitemap;

15.2. an introductory page in Latvian, which includes brief information regarding an institution and a news window (an introductory page is not required if it only contains a language menu);

15.3. on each page - a link to the opening page, as well as links to pages of a higher level, if the server of the home page has a structure of several levels;

15.4. a search engine;

15.5. any institutions, for the receipt of services of which a submission on a special form is required - access to the relevant forms and a possibility to print them from the home page or to fill them in directly on the home page, as well as explanations regarding the correct filling in of forms. If forms are being filled in several languages, explanations shall be provided also in the relevant languages;

15.6. a possibility to send a letter to the institution by electronic means (in the format approved by the institution);

15.7. interactive elements (for example, "Your Question", "Guest Book", "Comments", "Forum", "Discussion", "Survey"); and

15.8. an opportunity to send proposals regarding the home page.

V. Technical Requirements for Home Pages

16. A home page shall be available without interruption twenty-four hours. If preventive measures are being taken, due to which public availability thereof may be discontinued, an appropriate announcement shall be placed on the home page about it. The manager of the home page, taking into account the importance of the information published on the home page, requirements of users thereof and other conditions, shall determine a procedure and the minimum term, during which operation of the home page shall be renewed, if public availability thereof has discontinued due to unexpected technical reasons.

17. A home page shall be developed so that it would be possible to view it on a screen with a minimum resolution of 800 x 600 pixels.

18. A meta feature or an HTTP header parameter, in which the format of the used character set and data is determined, shall be introduced in all pages.

19. In order to ensure availability of the content of a home page, the home page shall comply with the following technical requirements:

19.1. the information published on the home page shall be available in written form, as well as in the form of pictures and sound. The home page shall provide for a possibility to select the font size, as well as information in the form of pictures and sound shall be supplemented with an opportunity to select text version as much as possible;

19.2. text and pictures (also graphs) shall be visible and comprehensible also in a black-and-white version;

19.3. the home page shall be shown regardless of the browser version used, as well as if there are no auxiliary technologies, if technologies are not supported or are disabled;

19.4. clear and constant navigation principles - information of orientation, navigation rows, site map -, which facilitate orientation of a person in the home page, shall be ensured;

19.5. access to functionality, which is independent from the equipment, shall be ensured (also with the management of the keyboard); and

19.6. the supply of individual home page content units shall be ensured, using Really Simple Syndication channels and evaluating the usefulness of publishing the content units and use of the service.

[4 August 2008]

VI. Safety of Home Pages

20. An institution shall develop a home page so that unsanctioned access to the home page would not be possible in the edit mode.

21. An institution shall conduct regular monitoring of a home page, if possible, using automated home page audit tools.

22. An institution shall ensure environmental and logical protection of home page information systems.

23. An institution shall ensure protection of the web server against unsanctioned access from an external computer network.

24. An institution shall ensure making of backup copies of information resources, including the web server, at least once a month, as well as the storage thereof and updating of the content of the home page.

VII. Domain Names and Names of E-mail Addresses

25. An institution shall use uniform procedures for making of domain names and names of e-mail addresses. Domain names and names of e-mail addresses referred to in Annex to these Regulations shall be used in correspondence and publications of the institution. Usage of existing domain names in addition to the domain names referred to in Annex to these Regulations shall be permissible.

26. Institutions, except for the National Armed Forces and local governments, shall use the following domain names and names of e-mail addresses:

26.1. www.institution.gov.lv (www.structuralunit.institution.gov.lv - where appropriate);

26.2. given name.surname@institution.gov.lv (givenname.surname@structuralunit.institution.gov.lv - where appropriate).

27. Structural units of the National Armed Forces shall use the following domain names and names of e-mail addresses:

27.1. www.unit.mil.lv;

27.2. given name.surname@unit.mil.lv.

28. Local governments shall use the following domain names and names of e-mail addresses:

28.1. www.localgovernment.lv;

28.2. given name.surname@localgovernment.lv.

29. Letters with diacritical marks (macrons and cedilla) shall not be used in home page and e-mail addresses.

30. Institutions shall place home pages only on servers belonging to them or registered in Latvia.

31. Usage of the domain name "gov.lv" shall be registered and usage thereof shall be monitored by the State joint stock company "State Information Network Agency".

VIII. Closing Provisions

32. Requirements of Paragraph 30 of these Regulations shall not be applicable to representation offices of institutions in foreign states, which do not have a possibility to place home pages on servers of the Republic of Latvia, but only on servers of such states, in which they are accredited.

33. Institutions, home pages of which are reconstructed or developed anew, shall take into account the requirements of these Regulations. Institutions, which have developed home pages, shall modify them pursuant to the requirements of these Regulations in the following time periods:

33.1. up to 1 July 2007 the domain names and e-mail addresses shall be updated;

33.2. up to 1 July 2008 the structure and content of the home page shall be updated, as well as the content of the page shall be corrected, in compliance with the requirements of Chapters IV and V of these Regulations; and

33.3. up to 1 July 2013 the fulfilment of the requirements referred to in Sub-paragraphs 10.15, 11.15, 19.1 and 19.6 of these Regulations shall be ensured.

[4 August 2008; 27 April 2010]

34. Requirements of these Regulations in relation to local governments shall come into force within six months after the completion of the administrative-territorial reform.

[4 August 2008]

Prime Minister A. Kalvītis

Special Assignments Minister for
Electronic Government Affairs I. Gudele

[4 August 2008; 27 April 2010]

Annex
Cabinet Regulation No. 171
6 March 2007

Domain Names and Names of E-mail Addresses to be Used by the Cabinet, the State Chancellery, Ministries and Secretariats of Special Assignments Ministers

Special Assignments Minister for
Electronic Government Affairs I. Gudele

Translation © 2010 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre)