By-law of the Council for Implementation of the Memorandum of Co-operation between Non-governmental Organisations and the Cabinet

Issued pursuant to
Section 13 of the State Administration Structure Law

I. General Provisions

1. The Council for Implementation of the Memorandum of Co-operation between Non-governmental Organisations and the Cabinet (hereinafter - Council) is an advisory authority, whose purpose is to promote the achievement of the objectives laid down in the Memorandum of Co-operation between Non-governmental Organisations and the Cabinet (hereinafter - Memorandum).

2. The Council shall operate in conformity with the co-operation principles laid down in the Memorandum.

II. Tasks and Rights of the Council

3. The Council shall have the following tasks:

3.1. to provide proposals to the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and ministries regarding issues, which are within the competence of the Council in accordance with the Memorandum and this Regulation, including improving the participation of the society in local, regional, national and European Union level;

3.2. to provide proposals to the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and ministries regarding laws and regulations and development planning documents, which concern the operation of non-governmental organisations (horizontal issues of the sector of non-governmental organisations);

3.3. to approve the implementation priorities and the annual work plan of the Memorandum, determining the persons, institutions or non-governmental organisations responsible for execution, the time period for execution, as well as to ensure the control of executing the implementation priorities and the work plan of the Memorandum and annual evaluation of execution;

3.4. according to the criteria stipulated by the Council, in conformity with the opinion of the non-governmental organisations which signed the Memorandum, to evaluate the progress of implementation of the Memorandum and to review issues related to further development of co-operation between non-governmental organisations and the Cabinet, including to decide on proposals for implementation of the Memorandum.

4. The Council has the following rights:

4.1. to invite experts, representatives of ministries and other institutions for provision of information, as well as for work in the Council in advisory capacity;

4.2. according to the competence, to request and receive from State and local government institutions the information necessary for carrying out the tasks of the Council;

4.3. to create working groups for the preparation of individual issues within the competence of the Council;

4.4. to provide proposals to other advisory councils, commissions and working groups on issues within the competence of the Council, as well as to participate in their meetings as invited representatives.

III. Composition of the Council

5. The membership of the Council (members of the Council with the right to vote) shall include:

5.1. the Director of the State Chancellery (chairperson of the Council);

5.2. a representative of the Prime Minister's Bureau;

5.3. the State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance;

5.4. the State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice;

5.5. the State Secretary of the Ministry of Culture;

5.6. the State Secretary of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development;

5.7. the State Secretary of the Ministry of Welfare;

5.8. the head of the Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre;

5.9. eight directors of such non-governmental organisations which signed the Memorandum. They shall be elected to the Council for a specific term of OFFICE - a year and six months - in accordance with Paragraphs 7, 8, 9 and 10 of this Regulation.

6. The following persons shall participate in the Council meetings (in advisory capacity):

6.1. a representative of the Society Integration Foundation;

6.2. a representative of the Ombudsman;

6.3. representatives of organisations representing social partners:

6.3.1. a representative of the Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia;

6.3.2. a representative of the Employer's Confederation of Latvia;

6.4. representatives of relevant ministries and other representatives upon invitation of the Council.

7. Two months before the end of the term of office of the Council members referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.9 of this Regulation the Secretariat of the Council shall announce that new candidates for the position of the Council members may be nominated (indicating a time period for submitting applications), by publishing information on the website of the Cabinet.

8. Non-governmental organisations shall nominate candidates for election to the Council by submitting a written application to the Council, which shall include the following information regarding the non-governmental organisations and the candidate nominated thereby:

8.1. the name and field of activity of the non-governmental organisation;

8.2. the given name, surname, field of activity and experience of the candidate;

8.3. information regarding participation and achievements of the candidate in implementation of the Memorandum (during the last 12 months);

8.4. the vision of the candidate regarding development of implementation of the Memorandum and motivation for work in the Council (for example, in the form of presentation, video-story, audition recording).

9. The Secretariat of the Council shall arrange electronic voting by publishing the list of candidates proposed by non-governmental organisations and the information referred to in Paragraph 8 of this Regulation on the website of the Cabinet, stipulating the time period until which voting takes place and indicating the way in which votes should be submitted. All non-governmental organisations that have signed the Memorandum may participate in the voting.

10. Those eight candidates who have received the highest number of votes may be elected to the Council. If the authorisation of an elected Council member is terminated prior to the end of the term of office, the next candidate who received the highest number of votes shall take his or her position until the end of the relevant term of office.

11. The chairperson of the Council shall have a deputy. The deputy chairperson of the Council shall be appointed by the Council from amongst the directors of non-governmental organisations in the membership of the Council by voting with simple majority of votes, and his or her term of office shall last until the end of the term for electing a representative. The deputy chairperson of the Council shall carry out the duties of the chairperson of the Council during absence of the chairperson of the Council, as well as manage the Council meetings in the cases and according to the procedures referred to in Chapter IV of this Regulation.

12. The chairperson of the non-governmental organisation referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.9 of this Regulation and elected to the Council may be proposed for work in the Council repeatedly for not more than two terms of office in succession.

13. The director of a non-governmental organisation is excluded from the membership of the Council, if the non-governmental organisation which nominated the member of the Council is liquidated or withdraws from the Memorandum. The Council is entitled to decide on exclusion of the director of the non-governmental organisation from the Council Membership, if he or she does not participate in three Council meetings during a 12-month period without a justified reason.

IV. Work of the Council

14. The work of the Council shall be managed by the chairperson of the Council and the deputy chairperson of the Council in rotation. The duties of the chairperson of the Council referred to in this Chapter shall also apply to the deputy chairperson of the Council when he or she is chairing the Council meetings. The Council shall agree on the order in which the chairperson and the deputy chairperson of the Council shall chair the Council meetings.

15. The Council shall take decisions at Council meetings. The chairperson of the Council shall convene a regular meeting not less than once a month (usually on the last Wednesday of each month), unless the Council has decided otherwise. The chairperson of the Council shall convene an extraordinary meeting upon proposal by no less than five members of the Council. Co-ordination of individual issues with the Council may be arranged in electronic form.

16. The chairperson of the Council shall:

16.1. approve the agenda for the meetings of the Council;

16.2. convene and chair meetings of the Council;

16.3. sign the protocol of the meeting and other Council documents.

17. The Council shall take decisions by a simple majority vote. Each member of the Council shall have one vote. The Council shall have a quorum if not less than half of the members of the Council participate in a meeting thereof. A decision shall be deemed taken, if more than half of the Council members who participated in voting have voted for it. In the event of a tied vote, the vote of the chairperson of the Council meeting shall prevail.

18. If a Council member is not able to participate in a Council meeting due to justified reasons, he or she shall notify the Secretariat of the Council thereof not later than on the previous working day before the Council meeting. In such case the Council member shall authorise a representative of the authority or organisation to participate in the relevant Council meeting or also may himself or herself participate therein from distance (for example, using teleconference communication), informing the Secretariat of the Council thereof accordingly.

19. A representative of any non-governmental organisation may also participate in the Council meetings as an invited person in order to express an expert opinion on the issue reviewed, as well as experts (specialists) and representatives of other organisations and institutions invited by the chairperson of the Council or deputy chairperson of the Council may also participate therein.

20. The Council meetings shall be recorded in minutes and in audio format. The Secretariat of the Council shall ensure the recording of the Council meetings in minutes. The agenda, participants to the meeting and persons who participated in debates regarding the relevant issue, as well as the decisions taken shall be indicated in the minutes of the Council meeting. The purpose of making an audio record of the Council meeting shall be to record the course of the meeting and the debates occurring therein and to ensure that each particular person who has spoken during the meeting and his or her speech are recognisable. Where necessary, the audio recording shall be used for the specification of a draft protocol decision of the relevant meeting and evaluation of the validity of objections, as well as for clarification of the arguments used during the decision-making process.

21. Prior to signing the minutes of the Council meeting the Secretariat of the Council shall send draft minutes for co-ordination to participants of the Council meeting in electronic form. The minutes of the Council meeting shall be published on the website of the Cabinet.

22. The audio recording of the Council meeting shall be available at the Secretariat of the Council. In order to become acquainted with the audio recording, a written application shall be lodged to the Secretariat. After co-ordination with the Secretariat the audio recording may be listened to at the premises of the State Chancellery or received as a reference to a link with the audio recording in electronic form. The audio recording shall not be processed according to the needs of the user.

23. Where clarification of opinions of the Council members or co-ordination of an issue (document) is carried out in electronic form, a Council member shall provide an answer to the e-mail sent by the Secretariat within 10 working days or within the time period indicated in the e-mail. Where the referred-to time period for providing an answer is not conformed to, it shall be deemed that the issue has been harmonised by default.

24. The functions of the Secretariat of the Council shall be carried out by the State Chancellery. The State Chancellery, upon carrying out the functions of the Secretariat of the Council, shall ensure the fulfilment of the tasks laid down in this Regulation, including:

24.1. ensure circulation of information between the Secretariat and the Council members regarding convening of the Council meetings (not later than five working days before the Council meeting);

24.2. prepare a draft agenda of the Council meeting and materials submitted for examination at the Council meeting;

24.3. ensure circulation of information between the Council, the organisations, institutions and officials that signed the Memorandum and other persons who are involved in solving the issues within the competence of the Council;

24.4. provide consultations to the State administration institutions and non-governmental organisations regarding co-operation of the State administration and civil society;

24.5. ensure publishing of the agenda and minutes of the Council meetings, as well as other important information (including priorities and annual work plan approved by the Council) on the website of the Cabinet, as well as storage and availability of an audio recording of a Council meeting, if an audio recording of a Council meeting is requested;

24.6. ensure control of execution of the decisions taken by the Council, as well as once a year shall provide a report to the Council on the course of execution of decisions and on the tasks not carried out.

V. Closing Provisions

25. Cabinet Regulation No. 22 of 10 January 2006, By-law of the Council for Implementation of the Memorandum of Co-operation between Non-governmental Organisations and the Cabinet (Latvijas Vēstnesis, 2006, No. 8; 2008, No. 118), is repealed.

26. The term of office of representatives of non-governmental organisations who were acting in the membership of the Council with the right to vote until the day of coming into force of this Regulation, shall end when new representatives of non-governmental organisations are elected in accordance with this Regulation. New elections shall be announced not later than until 31 January 2014.

Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis

Minister for Culture Dace Melbārde

Translation © 2014 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre)