By-laws of the Central Statistical Bureau

Issued pursuant to
Section 16, Paragraph one
of the State Administration Structure Law

I. General Provisions

1. The Central Statistical Bureau (hereinafter - the Bureau) is a direct administration institution under the supervision of the Minister for Economics.

2. The Bureau operates with the purpose of ensuring official statistics and coordinate official statistical system by following internationally recognised principles, provide users of statistical information with independent high-quality official statistics, as well as implement functional subordination with regard to other statistical institutions in the area of provision of official statistics.

II. Functions, Tasks and Rights of the Bureau

3. The Bureau shall perform the functions laid down in the Statistics Law.

4. In order to ensure performance of the functions the Bureau shall:

4.1. in accordance with the procedures laid down in laws and regulations, draft proposals for development planning documents, draft laws and regulations and informative reports in the area of provision of official statistics;

4.2. within the scope of the competence and financial resources of the Bureau, implement the official statistical programme;

4.3. ensure statistical planning and development, and also data extraction, processing and analysis;

4.4. disseminate the statistics prepared in accordance with the official statistical programme to domestic and foreign data users;

4.5. technically and organisationally maintain the official statistical portal;

4.6. develop and maintain a catalogue of forms and a list of statistical classifications, and also prepare and maintain a catalogue of statistical classifications;

4.7. in accordance with the procedures laid down in laws and regulations, participate in the development and improvement of administrative data source records under the supervision of public institutions, and also in taking decisions to terminate their use;

4.8. within the scope of its competence, improve methodology of the official statistics and ensure its international comparability;

4.9. on the basis of an agreement with public institutions, provide private individuals or international organisations with the services of statistical development, data extraction, processing, analysis and dissemination that are not included in the official statistical programme;

4.10. coordinate the introduction of general quality requirements for official statistics in statistical institutions;

4.11. improve and refine the quality of statistical services, consult data providers and users of statistics;

4.12. in accordance with the procedures laid down in laws and regulations, initiate and examine cases regarding violations in the area of provision of official statistics and data dissemination;

4.13. provide opinions on draft laws and regulations and policy planning documents prepared by other institutions;

4.14. conduct studies in the area of statistics by implementing national and international projects and programmes;

4.15. ensure functions of the Secretariat of the Statistical Council;

4.16. perform other functions specified in laws and regulations.

5. The Bureau shall have the following rights:

5.1. within the scope of its competence, to cooperate with public institutions and private individuals, request and receive the information necessary for the performance of tasks of the Bureau from public institutions and private individuals in accordance with the procedures laid down in the laws and regulations regarding operation of the public administration;

5.2. within the scope of the competence and financial resources of the Bureau, to develop and use new technological solutions for the provision of statistics;

5.3. to organise and manage seminars and conferences, and also to participate in events organised by international organisations with regard to the issues within the competence of the institution;

5.4. within the scope of the competence, to exchange information and experience with institutions of other countries and international organisations;

5.5. to participate and present its views for the protection of interests of Latvia in processes for the development and adoption of European Union laws and regulations, and participate in the development of different methodology documents, standards and other documents in the area of statistics.

5.6. within the scope of the competence, to conclude international cooperation agreements in the area of private law and coordinate international cooperation;

5.7. to conduct private-law transactions for ensuring the operation of the Bureau, lease and encumber with property rights the State immovable properties in the possession of the Ministry of Economics which have been transferred in the holding of the Bureau, as well as conduct other private-law transactions to ensure management of the abovementioned immovable properties or operation of the Bureau;

5.8. to provide paid services in accordance with the procedures laid down in laws and regulations;

5.9. to create working groups to address the issues within the competence of the Bureau and invite officials of public institutions and private individuals to participate therein, and call upon experts and conclude agreements with them in order to provide in-depth expertise in the issues of the sector of statistics;

5.10. to issue administrative acts or decisions of the Bureau in the cases specified in external laws and regulations.

III. Structure of the Bureau

6. The Bureau shall be managed by the President of the Bureau. The Minister for Economics shall appoint the President of the Bureau to office upon approval of the nomination thereof by the Cabinet, and release him or her from office.

7. The President of the Bureau shall perform the functions of a head of a direct administration institution specified in the State Administration Structure Law and other laws and regulations.

8. The President of the Bureau shall establish an internal organisational structure of the Bureau.

IV. Ensuring Lawfulness of the Operation and Reporting of the Bureau

9. Lawfulness of the operation of the Bureau shall be ensured by the President of the Bureau. The President of the Bureau shall be responsible for the creation and operation of the systems for internal control of the institution and for inspection of decisions of the Bureau.

10. The administrative acts issued by the President of the Bureau and his or her actual actions may be contested before the Ministry of Economics in accordance with the procedures laid down in the laws and regulations regarding administrative proceedings. A decision by the Ministry of Economics may be appealed to the court.

11. The administrative acts issued by the Bureau in the area of provision of official statistics may be contested by submitting a relevant application to the President of the Bureau. The decision of the President of the Bureau may be appealed to the court.

12. The Bureau shall, in accordance with the procedures laid down in laws and regulations, provide reports to the Ministry of Economics on the performance of functions of the Bureau and use of the State budget resources.

V. Closing Provisions

13. Cabinet Regulation No. 994 of 30 November 2004, By-laws of the Central Statistical Bureau (Latvijas Vēstnesis, 2004, No. 192; 2007, No. 189; 2010, No. 8), is repealed.

14. Sub-paragraph 4.5 of this Regulation shall come into force on 1 January 2020.

Acting for the Prime Minister -
Minister for Finance Dana Reizniece-Ozola

Deputy Prime Minister,
Minister for Economics Arvils Ašeradens

Translation © 2019 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre)