Republic of Latvia Cabinet Regulation No. 606 Adopted 7 September 2021

Rules of Procedures of the Cabinet

Issued pursuant to
Section 15, Paragraphs three and five, Section 22,
Paragraphs one and two, Section 27, Paragraph two,
Section 28, Paragraph six, and Section 29,
Paragraph two of the Cabinet Structure Law
and Section 11, Paragraph five of the Development
Planning System Law

I. General Provisions

1. The Rules of Procedures of the Cabinet prescribe the following issues of internal procedures and activities of the Cabinet:

1.1. the types of the documents to be examined by the Cabinet, the procedures for the agreement, submission, progression, and examination thereof, and also the procedures for preparing the decisions taken by the Cabinet;

1.2. the procedures by which the Prime Minister shall control the implementation of the Declaration of the Intended Activities of the Cabinet (hereinafter - the Declaration) and the action plan for the implementation of the Declaration (hereinafter - the action plan);

1.3. the procedures for developing and approving the action plan for the implementation of the Declaration;

1.4. the procedures for preparing meetings of State Secretaries and the course thereof;

1.5. the procedures for preparing the Cabinet Committee sittings and the Cabinet sittings and the course thereof;

1.6. the procedures for applying for participation in meetings of State Secretaries, the Cabinet Committee sittings, and the Cabinet sittings, and also the course of participation, and the participation restrictions;

1.7. the procedures for using, storing, and archiving audiovisual and sound recordings of the Cabinet sittings, the Cabinet Committee sittings, and meetings of State Secretaries;

1.8. the procedures for ensuring the fulfilment of the tasks assigned in laws, decisions of the Saeima, statements of the President, legal acts issued by the Cabinet, and also the procedures for ensuring the fulfilment of the tasks assigned by the Prime Minister in respect of the submission and examination of drafts in the Cabinet;

1.9. the procedures for arranging the absence of members of the Cabinet and other public officials while on a foreign business trip, a leave, and due to sickness;

1.10. the procedures for using the State information system intended for ensuring the operation of the Cabinet, the amount of information to be included therein, and the circulation procedures thereof;

1.11. the procedures for the succession of matters of a member of the Cabinet.

2. The Cabinet shall, according to its competence, examine the following documents:

2.1. draft development planning documents (hereinafter - the planning documents);

2.2. external legal acts:

2.2.1. international treaties or drafts thereof;

2.2.2. draft laws;

2.2.3. draft decisions of the Saeima;

2.2.4. draft Cabinet regulations;

2.3. internal legal acts:

2.3.1. draft Cabinet instructions;

2.3.2. draft Cabinet recommendations;

2.3.3. draft protocol decisions of the Cabinet sittings;

2.4. draft Cabinet orders;

2.5. informative statements;

2.6. draft documents of the official opinion of Latvia for examination in authorities of international organisations and the European Union:

2.6.1. draft national position of the Republic of Latvia regarding European Union affairs (hereinafter - the national position);

2.6.2. draft position of the Republic of Latvia regarding cases to be examined by the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Free Trade Association Court or within the scope of pre-trial proceedings of the infringement procedure provided for in Articles 258, 259, and 260 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (hereinafter - the position);

2.6.3. draft national position of the Republic of Latvia regarding international law issues (hereinafter - the national position in international law issues);

2.6.4. informative statements on the participation of Latvia in the proposal, preparation, and taking of decisions of the European Union and informative statements on informal meetings of the Council of the European Union;

2.7. draft Cabinet documents to be submitted to a court of the Republic of Latvia (hereinafter - the document to be submitted to the court);

2.8. draft Cabinet letters to the Saeima, the Ombudsman, or another public authority or official (hereinafter - the draft Cabinet letter).

3. The laws and regulations regarding the procedures for carrying out an initial impact assessment of a draft legal act shall determine the procedures for drawing up an initial impact assessment report (hereinafter - the annotation) and the subjects thereof (sections of the annotation).

4. The laws and regulations that determine planning documents of all levels, types, and time periods, the content contained therein, the procedures and time periods for the developing, approving, updating thereof, the reporting procedures, and also the invalidation procedures shall govern the procedures for developing the draft planning documents.

5. The draft national position shall be developed and agreed upon in accordance with the laws and regulations regarding the development, agreement, approval, and updating of national positions.

6. The draft position shall be developed and approved in accordance with the laws and regulations regarding the development and approval of positions.

7. The draft national position in international law issues shall be developed and approved in accordance with the laws and regulations regarding the development, agreement, and approval of the national positions in international law issues.

8. A ministry shall be responsible for informing the public of the content of and substantial changes in the documents referred to in Paragraph 2 of this Regulation which are of significance to the sector and important to the public interest (hereinafter - the drafts). In preparing information for the public on the draft to be examined and the decisions taken at a meeting of State Secretaries, a Cabinet Committee sitting, and a Cabinet sitting, the following principles shall be conformed to:

8.1. the ministry shall, in a timely manner, plan and ensure communication with the public in respect of the drafts and the decisions taken;

8.2. the ministry shall ensure that all facts included in the information are true and clearly understandable. The information shall include the purpose and nature of the decision taken, explaining what problems and situations it will resolve;

8.3. for the purpose of public information, appropriate communication channels and tools shall be used which correspond to the habits of acquisition and use of information of the target audience;

8.4. the ministry shall take into account the laws and regulations governing the availability of information and the protection of an official secret;

8.5. if inaccuracies have been detected or additions are required after dissemination of information, the ministry shall immediately specify the information by clearly and unambiguously indicating clarifications;

8.6. the ministry shall electronically send to the State Chancellery and valsts sabiedrība ar ierobežotu atbildību "Latvijas Vēstnesis" [State limited liability company Latvijas Vēstnesis] the information disseminated to the mass media on the drafts and decisions taken by the government.

9. The Cabinet instruction shall determine the procedures by which a draft that contains information for official use only in accordance with the Freedom of Information Law shall be prepared, agreed upon with ministries and other authorities, and also submitted to and examined by the Cabinet, and declassified.

10. The Cabinet instruction shall determine the procedures by which a draft that contains a subject matter of an official secret in accordance with the law On Official Secret shall be agreed upon with ministries and other authorities, and also submitted to and examined by the Cabinet.

11. If, in relation to a draft, it is also necessary to make amendments to other legal acts which are hierarchically of the same level, then drafts regarding the necessary amendments shall also be submitted to the Cabinet for examination concurrently with the prepared draft. In submitting such related drafts, the responsible ministry may append one joint annotation (except for draft laws) to them which has been prepared in accordance with the laws and regulations referred to in Paragraph 3 of this Regulation.

12. Unified control over the fulfilment of the tasks assigned to the Cabinet in laws, decisions of the Saeima, and statements of the President, the tasks assigned in legal acts of the Cabinet, protocol decisions of the Cabinet Committee sittings, and protocol decisions of a meeting of State Secretaries, and the tasks (resolutions) assigned by the Prime Minister (hereinafter - the task) in ministries, subordinate institutions, and the State Chancellery shall be performed in accordance with the laws and regulations regarding unified control over the fulfilment of the tasks.

II. Succession of Matters of a Member of the Cabinet and the Action Plan

13. In the cases of resignation of the Cabinet and the Prime Minister specified in the Cabinet Structure Law, each ministry and an institution subordinate to the Prime Minister (hereinafter - the responsible ministry) shall prepare and submit electronically to the Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre the information on the implementation of the action plan and the tasks the fulfilment of which is to be continued, indicating the linkage between such tasks and the objectives and tasks of the National Development Plan. If the responsible ministry proposes new measures when providing information on the tasks carried out and the tasks the fulfilment which is to be continued, it shall complete Section two of the Annex to this Regulation.

14. The Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre shall, within three working days after receipt of the information referred to in Paragraph 13 of this Regulation, submit the information compiled to the Prime Minister or the candidate for the office of the Prime Minister.

15. The State Secretary of the relevant ministry and the head of an institution subordinate to the Prime Minister shall, within three working days after the Saeima has passed a vote of confidence to the new member of the Cabinet, submit the following information to a member of the Cabinet:

15.1. on draft planning documents, informative statements, and draft legal acts under development and progression in the responsible ministry;

15.2. on legal proceedings in which the responsible ministry is involved;

15.3. on the implementation of the budget and the number of employees of the responsible ministry in the current year and three previous years.

16. A minister shall withdraw drafts the progression of which has become obsolete within five working days after the Saeima has passed a vote of confidence to the new member of the Cabinet. If the minister has not withdrawn the drafts, the State Chancellery shall continue to take the drafts forward to the Cabinet.

17. Each responsible ministry shall, in cooperation with the social partners of the government, representatives of the civil society, cooperation partners, and associations and foundations representing the sector (field) (hereinafter - the non-governmental organisations), prepare draft action plan measures (Annex) and submit them electronically to the Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre within a month after the Saeima has passed a vote of confidence to the new Cabinet.

18. Not more than five measures for the implementation of each task of the Declaration shall be indicated in the draft action plan.

19. The Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre shall combine the measures submitted by the responsible ministries into a unified draft action plan according to the tasks referred to in the Declaration. Where necessary, the Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre shall request the responsible ministries to clarify or delete measures submitted by the ministries for the implementation of the tasks of the Declaration, and also shall clarify the measures according to the current development policy. The Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre shall submit the draft action plan to the Prime Minister.

20. If the draft action plan prepared does not provide for the measures for the fulfilment of any of the tasks included in the Declaration, the Prime Minister shall determine the ministry responsible for the implementation of this task. The responsible ministry shall, within seven working days after receipt of the task from the Prime Minister and in accordance with Annex to this Regulation, submit the information on the measures for the implementation of the relevant tasks to the Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre electronically and indicate the time periods for the fulfilment thereof.

21. Where necessary, the Prime Minister shall organise individual deliberations regarding the draft action plan. The Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre shall ensure organisation of the abovementioned deliberations and making of the necessary changes in the draft action plan.

22. The Cabinet shall approve the action plan by a Cabinet order. The order shall determine the procedures for updating the action plan and providing reports.

23. The responsible ministries shall, according to a Cabinet order, prepare information on the course of the implementation of the measures provided for in the action plan. Information shall be indicated by completing the relevant column in the action plan and submitted electronically to the Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre.

24. After receipt of the information, the Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre shall compile it and submit it to the Prime Minister, and also post it on the website of the Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre.

25. Any changes in the action plan upon proposal of the Prime Minister shall be approved by a Cabinet order.

26. After approval of the action plan or the changes therein, the Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre shall, according to a Cabinet order, prepare the updated action plan and post it on the website of the Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre, and also send it to the responsible ministries and the State Chancellery for posting on the website of the Cabinet. Each responsible ministry shall ensure that the sections of the action plan measures which fall within its competence are posted on the website of the ministry.

III. Ranks of Members of the Cabinet

27. Members of the Cabinet shall have the following ranks:

27.1. the Prime Minister;

27.2. the Deputy Prime Minister;

27.3. a minister, a Minister for Special Assignments.

28. Within the scope of one rank, the member of the Cabinet who has held the relevant position for a longer period of time shall have a higher rank. If the duration of holding a position is equal, the official who has worked in the public administration for a longer period of time shall have a higher rank.

29. Working places of members of the Cabinet during the Cabinet sittings and Cabinet Committee sittings shall be determined according to the rank. Ranks of the members of the Cabinet shall be applied by the chairperson of the sitting during a Cabinet Committee sitting or a Cabinet sitting, giving the floor in the debate on a matter to be examined and determining which member of the Cabinet will co-sign (the second signature) the draft adopted by the Cabinet.

IV. Unified Portal for the Development and Agreement of Draft Legal Acts

30. The Unified Portal for the Development and Agreement of Draft Legal Acts (hereinafter - the TAP Portal) is a State information system that is used to ensure the operation of the Cabinet, to inform the public, and to participate in drafting of a legal act.

31. The State Chancellery shall be the manager of the TAP Portal. The following functions and tasks shall be specified for the manager of the TAP Portal:

31.1. to ensure the work of the Cabinet in terms of content and organisation;

31.2. to ensure the course of the Cabinet sittings, Cabinet Committee sittings, and meetings of State Secretaries;

31.3. to ensure preconditions for uniform preparation and agreement of drafts;

31.4. to agree upon and control the fulfilment of the tasks assigned and to ensure traceability of the course of the fulfilment of the tasks;

31.5. to ensure a participatory environment for the involvement of the society in the creation of drafts;

31.6. to ensure that the general information contained in the TAP Portal is open and accessible to the public.

32. The development of the drafts, public participation, agreement, approval of the drafts, sending thereof for publication, and handing thereof over to the National Archives of Latvia, and also circulation and control of tasks is ensured in the TAP Portal.

33. A file of a legal act (hereinafter - the LA file) shall be created in the TAP Portal for each draft that is prepared on the basis of a task or upon initiative of an institution. The LA file shall include information corresponding to each type of the draft and to the set of information to be mandatorily prepared - an annotation, opinions, a certified statement regarding the objections and proposals made in opinions (hereinafter - the certified statement), and other documents and information which confirm the lawfulness of legal relations regulated in the draft (for example, documents confirming property rights) in the absence of which it is impossible to take a decision on the merits. A unique identification number shall be assigned to the LA file automatically by which it is possible to trace all stages of the draft progress.

34. The following shall be involved in exchange of the information necessary for ensuring the operation of the TAP Portal:

34.1. the Information System for the Control of Transposition and Introduction of Legal Acts of the European Union (ESTAPIKS) which hands over information to the TAP Portal in an online data exchange mode in order to ensure that legal acts of the European Union are transposed at national level and receives information on legal acts through which legal acts of the European Union are transposed;

34.2. the State Information System for Working with European Union Documents (ESVIS) (hereinafter - the ESVIS System) which hands over the following in an online data exchange mode:

34.2.1. the draft national position;

34.2.2. the informative statement if it refers to the participation of Latvia in the proposing, preparation, and taking of decisions of the European Union;

34.2.3. the informative statement prepared prior to informal meetings of the Council of the European Union and the information related thereto;

34.3. the Official Publication and Legal Information System which, upon request, hands over, in an online data exchange mode, a consolidated version of legal acts in the form of structured data and a link to the publication of the adopted legal act in the official gazette Latvijas Vēstnesis and on the website at www.likumi.lv. The Official Publication and Legal Information System shall receive from the TAP Portal the data of a legal act adopted by the Cabinet (files and structured data), including the unique identification number, in an online data exchange mode;

34.4. the Unified State Archives Information System of the National Archives of Latvia which receives data and files of the LA file from the TAP Portal;

34.5. the legislative database of the Saeima which hands over the link to the draft law to the TAP Portal in an online data exchange mode.

35. The TAP Portal shall have the following environments:

35.1. the public environment where information on the list of the LA files and the generally accessible information included in the LA files, information on public participation, agendas and minutes of meetings of State Secretaries, Cabinet Committee sittings, and Cabinet sittings, reports not to be examined at Cabinet sittings, tasks assigned to institutions, and declassified documents are available in online mode, without authentication;

35.2. the working environment which is used to carry out all the activities related to the drafts and referred to in this Regulation. A user shall authenticate in the working environment online, using electronic identification means of the user;

35.3. the environment of the course of sittings which is used for the Cabinet sittings, Cabinet Committee sittings, and meetings of State Secretaries.

36. A user of the working environment of the TAP Portal shall be an official, an employee of a public authority, or another person who carries out the activities referred to in Paragraph 32 of this Regulation. The user of the working environment shall use the functionality of the TAP Portal according to the rights granted by the TAP Portal administrator of the authority.

37. The head of the authority shall determine such individual users of the working environment who have access to restricted access information in the TAP Portal in conformity with the principle of "a need to know basis". Information "For official use" is posted in the working environment, using an encryption method recognised by the Constitution Protection Bureau.

38. The public participation in the public environment of the TAP Portal which has been provided for in the laws and regulations regarding the procedures for public participation is ensured electronically, using an electronic service created for this purpose and authenticating by electronic identification means available in this electronic service.

39. During a Cabinet sitting, a Cabinet Committee sitting, and a meeting of State Secretaries, the participants thereof shall work with the drafts in the environment of the course of sittings of the TAP Portal to the extent of the rights granted thereto.

40. The electronic signing tool of the TAP Portal (hereinafter - the system tool) shall:

40.1. confirm the respective activities of a specific system user within the scope of the LA file or information beyond it;

40.2. confirm the time when activities with the LA file or the relevant information have been carried out (time stamp);

40.3. record data which enable to ascertain that the LA file or the relevant information has not been changed since the moment of the signing thereof.

41. In the TAP Portal:

41.1. a user shall sign structured data and files with the system tool;

41.2. a member of the Cabinet shall sign drafts adopted at a Cabinet sitting with a secure electronic signature, except for Cabinet orders which a minister shall sign with the system tool (the second signature);

41.3. a document signed with the system tool shall have public credibility.

42. Information which, in accordance with this Regulation, has been submitted to the State Chancellery, a ministry, or another authority in online mode, and also has been published in the TAP Portal shall have public credibility, and it shall not require an electronic signature.

43. The responsible ministry shall develop, agree upon, and submit the drafts referred to in Sub-paragraphs 2.6.1 and 2.6.4 of this Regulation to the State Chancellery, using the ESVIS System. Information which, in accordance with this Regulation, has been submitted to the State Chancellery, using the ESVIS System, shall have public credibility, and it shall not require an electronic signature.

V. Preparation of Drafts

44. A set of information to be mandatorily prepared for the LA file shall be defined in the TAP Portal for each type of draft. In order to confirm the lawfulness of the legal relationship regulated in the draft, the in addition the necessary information and documents in the absence of which it is impossible to take a decision on the merits shall be appended to the LA file.

45. An annotation shall be appended to a draft Cabinet order regarding granting of citizenship according to naturalisation procedures or an authorisation or refusal to retain Latvian citizenship or citizenship of another country. The information provided by the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs shall be indicated in the annotation.

46. The LA file shall be prepared, using the relevant functionality of the TAP Portal and completing the fields intended for the specific type of draft in the TAP Portal. The relevant policy area available in the TAP Portal shall be indicated for each draft. The draft shall be prepared, using a structured template. If the relevant structured template is not available, the document shall be appended in the form of a file according to the document formats supported by the TAP Portal.

47. The informative statement is information or a report on the course of resolution of an issue within the competence of the Cabinet, on the implementation of a planning document supported by the Cabinet, or the enforcement of a legal act, and it shall not cover conceptual matters.

48. The informative statement which refers to the participation of Latvia in the proposal, preparation, and taking of decisions of the European Union or which is drawn up prior to informal meetings of the Council of the European Union shall contain guidelines on agenda items of the relevant meeting binding upon the representative of the Republic of Latvia. The draft protocol decision of a Cabinet sitting which is appended to the informative statement shall indicate the authorisation of the official to represent the Republic of Latvia in a relevant ministerial meeting.

49. If a draft provides for further action in relation to solving of the issues referred to in the draft or impact assessment of the sectoral policy, the relevant tasks shall be included in the draft protocol decision of a Cabinet sitting.

50. The responsible ministry shall ensure:

50.1. the veracity and topicality of the facts and data, and also assessment referred to in the developed drafts and the information related thereto (in the LA file);

50.2. the assessment of the information to be submitted in accordance with requirements of the Freedom of Information Law and other laws and regulations governing availability of information, and also, where necessary, the indication of restricted access on each relevant item of information. The State Chancellery shall not amend the status of availability of the submitted information on its own initiative;

50.3. the conformity of the developed drafts with the legal provisions of the same level and higher legal force, and also with the international commitments of Latvia;

50.4. the conformity of the developed drafts with the requirements for the preparation of drafts laid down in laws and regulations.

VI. Agreement of Drafts and Provision of Opinions

51. The responsible ministry shall direct the prepared draft for agreement, indicating the ministries or authorities with which this draft should be agreed upon. The ministry or authority with which the draft is to be agreed upon shall receive information in the TAP Portal.

52. It shall be necessary to receive an opinion (consent to a draft):

52.1. from the following ministries:

52.1.1. the Ministry of Finance (except for draft Cabinet orders regarding an authorisation to combine positions);

52.1.2. the Ministry of Justice (except for draft Cabinet orders regarding an authorisation to combine positions and regarding allocation of financial resources from the State budget programme "Funds for Unforeseen Events", regarding reallocation of appropriation and regarding breakdown of long-term commitments by years or the clarification thereof, granting of the Cabinet award, drafts regarding awarding of monetary prizes for outstanding achievements in sport, culture, and also academic competitions, contests, and games, regarding draft documents to be submitted to a court, and also draft letters of the Cabinet);

52.1.3. the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

52.1.3.1. on an international treaty or a draft thereof, or another draft affecting the international commitments of the Republic of Latvia;

52.1.3.2. on a draft Cabinet order regarding the participation of officials in international missions and operations;

52.1.3.3. on an informative statement on the participation of Latvia in the proposal, preparation, and taking of the decisions of the European Union;

52.1.3.4. on an informative statement prior to informal meetings of the Council of the European Union;

52.1.4. other ministries the field of competence of which is directly affected by the draft or tasks are intended for them in the draft, or the representatives of which are intended to be included in the relevant council, commission, or working group;

52.2. from the following authorities:

52.2.1. the State Chancellery if a draft refers to the institutional structure and principles of operation of the public administration, and also changes in the number of positions and remuneration (except for teachers);

52.2.2. the Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre on any draft planning document and draft informative statement regarding execution of planning documents, and also on such draft which refers to the mutual coherence of development planning documents of the national level and the conformity thereof with the requirements of laws and regulations and which affects issues regarding the management of capital shares of a public person;

52.2.3. the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments if it is necessary to agree upon a draft with local governments in accordance with the law governing activities of local governments;

52.2.4. the Public Utilities Commission if a draft is related to the regulation of public utilities;

52.2.5. the Competition Council if a draft is related to the issues regarding the protection and development of competition;

52.2.6. the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau if a draft refers to an authorisation to combine positions;

52.2.7. organisations of the National Tripartite Co-operation Council - the Employers' Confederation of Latvia and the Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia - if a draft affects interests of employers and employees;

52.2.8. authorities the representatives of which are intended to be included in the relevant council, commission, or working group, or a candidature for the official of which is to be accepted, appointed, transferred to another position, dismissed from the position, or granted a special service rank;

52.2.9. the Latvian National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation if a draft refers to the international commitments of the Republic of Latvia in the UNESCO area of activities (education, science, culture, environment, information and communication, mass-media activities);

52.2.10. working groups, advisory councils, and other authorities with which the agreement of draft laws and regulations is prescribed in an external regulatory enactment or if the need for agreement arises directly from the provisions of an external regulatory enactment which determines the competence thereof.

53. The Ministry of Finance shall not agree upon the drafts which are related to the draft law of the current annual State budget and the preparation thereof, the draft medium term budget framework law and the preparation thereof, and also ensuring of the budget execution process, with other ministries and institutions in the cases specified in the Law on Budget and Financial Management and the current annual State budget law, but shall rather consult with the Ministry of Justice during the development process in order to ensure the principle of legality and with the State Chancellery if additional funds for reimbursement are provided for.

54. The informative statement need not be agreed upon with other ministries or authorities if no further action is intended in respect of the issue referred to in the informative statement or it is not related to the competence of other authorities, and also the draft protocol decision of the Cabinet if it is not related to the competence of other authorities.

55. In taking a draft forward for agreement, the responsible ministry shall determine the following time period for the provision of an opinion:

55.1. in accordance with the general procedures - from 10 working days;

55.2. in accordance with the urgency procedures - up to three working days. The urgency procedures may only be applied in exceptional cases where an issue needs to be resolved immediately in relation to the setting in of such consequences unfavourable to the State which affect significant public interests or international financial, economic, or security interests of the State. Urgency should be substantiated on the merits, indicating the specific unfavourable consequences. Delay of the time period for the fulfilment of a task known previously in a timely manner is not considered grounds for urgency.

56. The time period for the provision of an opinion shall start on the next working day following the day a draft is taken forward for agreement in the TAP Portal. Ministries and other authorities shall, each working day, follow up the list of drafts handed over for agreement and provide an opinion according to their competence.

57. The provider of an opinion may extend the time period for the provision of an opinion referred to in Sub-paragraph 55.1 of this Regulation and stipulated by the responsible ministry by three working days if it is not able to provide the opinion within the time period stipulated by the responsible ministry due to objective reasons. Such extension of the time period may only be applied once to a draft under agreement, and it shall refer to all providers of the opinion.

58. Ministries or other authorities shall agree upon a draft by providing an opinion. The opinion shall be provided on each draft individually. The opinion shall be approved by the State Secretary or an authorised official thereof, and also the head of the authority providing the opinion or an authorised official thereof.

59. A ministry or another authority may not refuse to provide an opinion if the relevant draft directly affects the issues within the competence thereof.

60. In accordance with the competence specified in laws and regulations, a ministry or another authority shall in its opinion:

60.1. express objections, providing appropriate grounds for them, and, where necessary, suggest the recommended wording;

60.2. make proposals of recommendatory nature;

60.3. indicate the supported version if the draft provides for several versions of the solution. In agreeing upon the draft without objections and proposals, the provider of the opinion shall support the version offered by the responsible ministry.

61. In providing an opinion on a draft, a ministry or an authority shall also assess the information which is indicated in the annotation appended to the draft in accordance with the laws and regulations regarding the procedures for carrying out the initial impact assessment of a draft legal act.

62. If it is not possible for an authority to create its account in the TAP Portal or to provide an opinion by using an e-service, it shall provide the opinion outside the TAP Portal, and the responsible ministry shall complement the certified statement as appropriate.

63. If a ministry or another authority not indicated as the provider of an opinion has provided an opinion on a draft within the specified time period, the responsible ministry shall also assess this opinion, and also invite a representative of the relevant ministry or authority to participate in the agreement process.

64. If a ministry or another authority has not prepared an opinion in accordance with the requirements referred to in Paragraph 60 of this Regulation, it shall overall be of recommendatory nature.

65. If ministries and other authorities have supported a draft without objections or proposals or only made proposals, or have failed to provide an opinion within the time period specified in Paragraph 55 of this Regulation (default agreement), the draft shall be considered as agreed upon.

66. If objections and proposals have been made in opinions on a draft, the responsible ministry shall assess them, clarify the draft, and complete a certified statement. If the opinion has been provided after the specified time period, the responsible ministry has the right to continue to take the draft forward for submission to the State Chancellery without clarifying it and without processing the certified statement regarding the objections and proposals referred to in the opinion.

67. If a ministry or another authority has expressed objections to a draft within the specified time period, the responsible ministry shall, after assessment of the objections, re-take forward the certified statement and clarified draft (annotation thereof) to the ministries and other authorities which have provided the opinion or confirmed, in accordance with the prescribed procedures, that they do not have objections, and also to the ministries and other authorities which are affected by the significant changes made in the draft (hereinafter in this Chapter - the participants in agreement).

68. If, during clarification of a draft, the responsible ministry has taken into account the objections of the participants in agreement and, following taking forward of the certified statement and the clarified draft, no objections to the clarified draft have been received from the participants in agreement within five working days, the draft shall be considered as agreed upon, and the responsible ministry shall prepare the draft for submission to a Cabinet sitting.

69. In order to reach an agreement on the objections not taken into account, the responsible ministry shall take forward the draft accompanied by the supplemented certified statement for re-agreement and convene a joint inter-institutional meeting. In convening the meeting, the responsible ministry shall, five working days in advance, send electronically to the participants in agreement (to the official electronic address of the authority and the e-mail address of the developer of the opinion) information on the meeting, indicating the ministries and other authorities the objections of which are the reason for convening the meeting. The participants in agreement shall delegate such persons to the meeting who are authorised to express the official position of the ministry (authority).

70. According to the results of the inter-institutional meeting, the responsible ministry shall clarify the draft, supplement the certified statement, and take it forward to the participants in agreement.

71. If the participants in agreement do not attend the inter-institutional meeting or fail to provide, within five working days, a reply regarding the clarified draft taken forward for re-agreement, the objections made by the participants in agreement and not taken into account shall be considered as withdrawn.

72. After re-agreement the responsible ministry shall update the certified statement and submit the draft for examination to a meeting of State Secretaries, a Cabinet Committee sitting, or a Cabinet sitting respectively.

73. If the draft agreed upon is to be submitted to:

73.1. the Ministry of Economics in order to provide information to the European Commission on the development of a legal act, the responsible ministry shall take the draft forward in accordance with the procedures for agreeing upon technical regulations;

73.2. the Ministry of Finance in order to send it to the European Central Bank, the responsible ministry shall take the draft forward in accordance with the procedures for agreeing upon financial regulations.

74. Drafts which refer to the development of the civil society and activities of associations and foundations (horizontal issues of the civil society, democratic culture, and human rights), including tax and financial issues, shall, prior to the examination thereof in the Cabinet, be submitted to the State Chancellery (Secretariat of the Council for the Implementation of the Memorandum of Cooperation between Non-governmental Organisations and the Cabinet) for examination at the Council for the Implementation of the Memorandum of Cooperation between Non-governmental Organisations and the Cabinet, reflecting in the annotation the issues decided at a meeting of the Council for the Implementation of the Memorandum of Cooperation between Non-governmental Organisations and the Cabinet accordingly.

VII. Submission of Drafts for Examination at the Cabinet, the Cabinet Committee, and a Meeting of State Secretaries, the Assessment Thereof, and Determination of Progression

75. Drafts shall be submitted to the State Chancellery that organises and controls the course of the progression and examination thereof at meetings of State Secretaries, Cabinet Committee sittings, and Cabinet sittings.

76. A member of the Cabinet is entitled to submit a draft which has been developed by a ministry, an institution subordinate to the Secretariat of a Minister for Special Assignments, the office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the State Chancellery, or the Prime Minister (hereinafter - the ministries), for examination at a Cabinet Committee sitting or Cabinet sitting.

77. Heads of other State and local government authorities, and also of non-governmental organisations and social partner organisations of the government (hereinafter - another authority) are only entitled to submit a draft for examination at a Cabinet Committee sitting or Cabinet sitting through a member of the Cabinet who holds political responsibility for the relevant field, sector, or sub-sector.

78. If the relevant member of the Cabinet refuses to take forward a draft prepared by other authorities for examination at the Cabinet, the head of the authority is entitled to submit it, together with a reasoned refusal of the relevant minister in writing, to the Prime Minister for taking of the final decision on taking of the draft forward. If the Prime Minister takes the decision to take the draft forward for examination at the Cabinet, the Prime Minister shall be considered the submitter of the draft.

79. The State Secretary of a ministry, the head of the Secretariat of a Minister for Special Assignments, the Director of the State Chancellery, the head of an institution subordinate to the Prime Minister, or a member of the Cabinet is entitled to submit a draft for examination at a meeting of State Secretaries.

80. Heads of other authorities are only entitled to submit a draft for examination at a meeting of State Secretaries through a State Secretary of the ministry the competence of which includes dealing with the issues covered by the draft.

81. An official who has submitted a draft is entitled to withdraw the draft submitted for examination at a meeting of State Secretaries, but a member of the Cabinet is entitled to withdraw the submitted draft at any stage of examination of the draft.

82. The State Chancellery shall, within seven working days after submission of a draft to the State Chancellery, assess the conformity of the draft with the following:

82.1. the procedures for agreeing upon drafts laid down in this Regulation;

82.2. the requirements for the preparation of drafts laid down in laws and regulations;

82.3. the requirements for the preparation of an annotation of the draft laid down in laws and regulations;

82.4. laws and other legal acts, and also the existing planning documents, the Declaration, and the action plan (where necessary).

83. In taking into account the opinions of ministries and other authorities and the result of the legal assessment referred to in Paragraph 82 of this Regulation, the State Chancellery shall prepare an opinion on a draft to the Prime Minister or the Director of the State Chancellery and make a proposal for further progression of the draft or ensure legal and editorial preparation of the draft.

84. After legal and editorial preparation of the draft the State Chancellery shall agree upon it with the responsible ministry.

85. The State Chancellery shall include on the draft agenda of a Cabinet sitting the drafts which have been subject to legal and editorial preparation.

86. A draft shall usually be prepared within 10 working days after assessment by the State Chancellery (Paragraphs 82, 83 of this Regulation) or supporting of the draft at a Cabinet Committee sitting or a meeting of State Secretaries if the submitter is a member of the Cabinet, or after receipt of the agreed upon (clarified) wording of the draft respectively.

87. The State Chancellery shall not perform legal and editorial preparation of planning documents, informative statements, and annotations of legal acts. If the planning document, informative statement, or annotation requires any clarifications, they shall be made by the responsible ministry, and a member of the Cabinet shall re-submit the clarified planning document, informative statement, or annotation.

88. The Prime Minister shall take a decision on progression of the drafts submitted to the Cabinet.

89. If no further action is intended in respect of the issue referred to in the informative statement or if it is not related to assessment of the impact of sectoral policies, then it is not necessary to take forward the informative statement submitted by a member of the Cabinet for examination at a Cabinet sitting.

90. If, according to a decision of the Prime Minister, it is not necessary to examine the informative statement at a Cabinet sitting in accordance, the State Chancellery shall post it in section "Sēdē neskatāmie ziņojumi" [Statements not to be examined at the sitting] in the TAP Portal.

91. After receipt of information from the European Commission and European Union Member States on agreement of draft technical regulations or after receipt of information from the European Central Bank on agreement of draft financial regulations, a member of the Cabinet shall submit the clarified draft to the State Chancellery.

VIII. Procedures for Examining Drafts at a Meeting of State Secretaries and the Course Thereof

92. Meetings of State Secretaries are usually organised once a week at the State Chancellery or remotely. The Director of the State Chancellery or an official who replaces the Director of the State Chancellery (hereinafter - the chairperson of the meeting) shall convene meetings of State Secretaries, approve agenda of meetings, and chair meetings.

93. The following shall participate in a meeting of State Secretaries:

93.1. with voting rights - the Director oft he State Chancellery, State Secretaries, and heads of Secretariats of Ministers for Special Assignments (hereinafter - the members with voting rights);

93.2. in an advisory capacity - Parliamentary Secretaries, the head of office of the Prime Minister, the head of office of the Deputy Prime Minister, officials of the State Chancellery, the head of the Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre or an authorised representative thereof, a representative of the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau, a representative of the State Audit Office, a representative of the Office of the Prosecutor General, a representative of the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments, a representative of the Public Utilities Commission, a representative of the National Tripartite Co-operation Council, a representative of the Competition Council, a representative of the State Data Inspectorate, the Ombudsman or an authorised representative thereof, a representative of the planning council, a representative authorised by the Council for the Implementation of the Memorandum of Cooperation between Non-governmental Organisations and the Cabinet, and a representative of non-governmental organisations.

94. The following shall be examined at a meeting of State Secretaries:

94.1. drafts on which no agreement has been reached in the agreement process, except for drafts that do not require a political and conceptual decision;

94.2. drafts which have not been clarified, as decided at the meeting of State Secretaries;

94.3. draft national position or other issues related to the development of draft national position in respect of which the Meeting of Senior Officials in the European Union Affairs (hereinafter - the Meeting of Senior Officials) has decided that they are to be examined at a meeting of State Secretaries;

94.4. draft official opinion of the Republic of Latvia for defending the national development goals in international organisations or the issues related to the development thereof if it is not possible to agree on the division of responsibilities and competences of ministries or other authorities;

94.5. other issues currently relevant to the public administration.

95. A State Secretary, the head of the Secretariat of a Minister for Special Assignments, the head of office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Director of the State Chancellery, the head of an institution subordinate to the Prime Minister or an authorised representative thereof shall report on the submitted draft or an issue related thereto at a meeting of State Secretaries.

96. The members with voting rights present at a meeting of State Secretaries shall take decisions on drafts submitted for examination by unanimous vote. If no agreement is reached, a draft may be taken forward for examination at a Cabinet Committee sitting in accordance with the prescribed procedures. If no agreement is reached on a draft national position or an issue related thereto, it shall be submitted to the Cabinet in accordance with the laws and regulations regarding development, agreement, approval, and updating of the national position.

97. Only such draft which has been supported at a meeting of State Secretaries without amendments or with amendments on which an agreement has been reached during the meeting shall be taken forward for examination at a Cabinet sitting.

98. If it is necessary to make amendments to a draft which are not clearly formulated and recorded in the minutes of a meeting of State Secretaries or it is necessary to agree upon the draft with ministries and other authorities, the draft shall not be supported and the responsible ministry shall clarify it and submit for re-examination at a meeting of State Secretaries.

99. Minutes shall be taken of meeting of State Secretaries. The persons with voting rights who have participated in the meeting shall be indicated in the minutes, and also the persons who have spoken about the relevant issue shall be indicated at each issue, and the decisions taken shall be indicated.

100. The chairperson of a meeting of State Secretaries shall sign the minutes of the meeting not later than on the next working day following the meeting.

101. The participants with voting rights of a meeting of State Secretaries are entitled, within two working days after making the minutes of the meeting public in the TAP Portal, to submit objections for examination at the meeting in respect of the content of the abovementioned minutes. Objections shall be made in the form of a new draft protocol decision, and the grounds for the objections shall be indicated in the annotation. The abovementioned amendments shall be examined at the next meeting of State Secretaries.

IX. Procedures for Examining Drafts at a Cabinet Committee Sitting and the Course Thereof

102. The Cabinet Committee (hereinafter - the Committee) shall examine:

102.1. drafts in respect of which an agreement has not been reached at a meeting of State Secretaries;

102.2. drafts in respect of which objections have been made or significant clarifications have been proposed at a Cabinet sitting;

102.3. drafts in respect of which the State Chancellery has significant legal or editorial objections during the preparation thereof for examination at a Cabinet sitting;

102.4. repeatedly:

102.4.1. drafts supported at a Committee sitting which have not been clarified, as decided at the Committee sitting;

102.4.2. drafts not supported at the Committee sitting.

103. The composition of the Committee shall be the composition of the Cabinet, and no quorum shall be required at a Committee sitting for taking of a decision. The Prime Minister shall determine the time and place of a Committee sitting.

104. Enlarged Committee sittings are organised in order to agree upon views of the Cabinet and local governments. The Prime Minister shall convene and chair the enlarged Committee sittings, and members of the Cabinet and representatives of local governments shall participate therein in accordance with the agreement entered into. The Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments shall organise nomination of representatives of local governments for the enlarged Committee sitting.

105. The following persons may participate in a Committee sitting in an advisory capacity:

105.1. the officials specified in laws or their authorised officials;

105.2. a representative of the Office of the Prosecutor General;

105.3. persons invited by the Prime Minister;

105.4. persons invited by a member of the Cabinet;

105.5. an assistant or an advisor of a member of the Cabinet;

105.6. the Parliamentary Secretary of a ministry;

105.7. a State Secretary or deputies thereof;

105.8. the head of office of the Prime Minister, the head of office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Director of the State Chancellery and the authorised officials thereof, the head of the Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre and the authorised representative thereof;

105.9. the Ombudsman or the authorised persons thereof;

105.10. the Director of the State Data Inspectorate or the authorised persons thereof;

105.11. the Director of the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau or the authorised officials thereof;

105.12. a representative of the Republic of Latvia in the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Free Trade Association Court;

105.13. a representative authorised by the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments;

105.14. a representative authorised by the planning council;

105.15. a representative authorised by the Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia and a representative authorised by the Employers' Confederation of Latvia;

105.16. a representative of non-governmental organisations authorised by the Council for the Implementation of the Memorandum of Cooperation between Non-governmental Organisations and the Cabinet.

106. A member of the Cabinet or an authorised representative thereof shall report on the submitted draft at a Committee sitting.

107. If it is necessary to make amendments to a draft which have not been clearly formulated during a Committee sitting or it is necessary to agree upon a draft with ministries or other authorities, the draft shall not be supported. The relevant draft shall be clarified and submitted for re-examination at a Committee sitting.

108. The Committee shall take the decision to take a draft forward for examination at a Cabinet sitting by unanimous vote.

109. An official designated by the Director of the State Chancellery shall take the minutes of a Committee sitting. The persons with voting rights who have participated in the Committee sitting, the decisions taken on each issue, and persons who have spoken about the relevant issue shall be indicated in the minutes of the Committee sitting.

110. If an issue is urgent and a draft examined and supported at a Committee sitting is to be examined at the next Cabinet sitting on an exceptional basis, it shall be indicated in the minutes of the sitting.

111. The chairperson of a Committee sitting and the Director of the State Chancellery or an official authorised by the Director of the State Chancellery shall sign the minutes of the Committee sitting. If the Committee sitting has been chaired by several chairpersons of the sitting, all chairpersons of the sitting shall sign the minutes.

112. Objections to the minutes of a Committee sitting shall be submitted in accordance with the procedures laid down in Section 147 of this Regulation.

X. Procedures for Examining Drafts at a Cabinet Sitting and the Course Thereof

113. The following shall be taken forward for examination at a Cabinet sitting:

113.1. drafts which have been agreed upon in accordance with the procedures laid down in this Regulation;

113.2. drafts supported at a Committee sitting and a meeting of State Secretaries;

113.3. drafts submitted in relation to the determination of emergency situation and state of exception in the country (in accordance with the law On Emergency Situation and State of Exception) or concern the issues of the prevention and management of situations of threat to national security;

113.4. matters of the Cabinet (Section 120 of this Regulation);

113.5. drafts the urgency of which is substantiated;

113.6. a draft law of the current annual State budget (package of draft budget laws), a draft medium term budget framework law, draft legal acts related to the preparation thereof, and also draft legal acts and information related to ensuring of the budget execution process in the cases specified in the current annual State budget law and the Law on Budget and Financial Management;

113.7. drafts which, in accordance with the Freedom of Information Law, contain restricted access information or, in accordance with the law On Official Secret, are the subject matter of an official secret or contain the subject matter of an official secret;

113.8. draft documents of the official opinion of Latvia for examination in authorities of international organisations and of the European Union;

113.9. draft documents to be submitted to a court;

113.10. draft Cabinet letters;

113.11. informative statements unless they have been diverted for posting in the section "Statements not to be examined at the sitting" in the TAP Portal in accordance with Section 90 of this Regulation.

114. The State Chancellery shall include the draft national position, the draft position, the informative statement on the participation of Latvia in the proposal, preparation, and taking of decisions of the European Union, and the informative statement on informal meetings of the Council of the European Union on the agenda of the nearest Cabinet sitting or of the Cabinet sitting indicated by a member of the Cabinet.

115. Drafts diverted for examination at a Cabinet sitting shall be included on the draft agenda in the appropriate sections depending on the results of the agreement of a draft, the type of a draft, the use restriction of a draft stipulated by the submitter, and other criteria. If the draft is included on the agenda in the section of fully agreed upon drafts, during a sitting these drafts shall be adopted without discussions and all together.

116. If during a sitting the Cabinet decides to combine two or more drafts, it shall be determined concurrently which ministry will prepare the combined annotation of the draft.

117. If during a sitting the Cabinet decides to combine two or more drafts and to publish them urgently, the State Chancellery shall combine the drafts without combining the annotations thereof.

118. Cabinet sittings shall be organised on site, remotely, or as a survey via video conferencing, conference calls, and also other information technology tools in accordance with the procedures stipulated by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister shall determine the time and place of Cabinet sittings.

119. The officials referred to in Section 28, Paragraph four of the Cabinet Structure Law, the participants with voting rights of a meeting of State Secretaries, and the officials invited by the Prime Minister shall participate in Cabinet sittings in an advisory capacity when examining specific agenda items.

120. A member of the Cabinet may ask the Prime Minister to examine a draft as a matter of the Cabinet at a Cabinet sitting. A matter of the Cabinet is a draft which requires a political and conceptual decision or vote of the Cabinet on the merits thereof. The Prime Minister may at any moment declare a draft to be a matter of the Cabinet upon his or her own initiative.

121. A member of the Cabinet may request the Prime Minister to examine a draft at a Cabinet sitting in accordance with the urgency procedures in conformity with the conditions for the application of urgency referred to in Sub-paragraph 55.2 of this Regulation.

122. The responsible ministry shall submit the draft referred to in Paragraph 121 of this Regulation to the State Chancellery not later than three working days before a current Cabinet sitting (usually on Thursday before 12:00). If the responsible ministry requests to include a draft in an extraordinary Cabinet sitting in accordance with the urgency procedures, the draft shall be submitted to the State Chancellery not later than three hours before the beginning of the sitting.

123. The Prime Minister shall determine in which part of a Cabinet sitting the drafts submitted are to be examined.

124. In submitting such draft for examination at a Cabinet sitting which contains restricted access information, the special designations determined in the laws and regulations regarding protection of the relevant information shall be used and the information on the use restrictions of the draft shall be indicated on each document appended which contains the use limitation.

125. In submitting drafts for examination at a Cabinet sitting without any use restriction, a member of the Cabinet may, where necessary, request that a discussion on such documents is organised in the closed part of the Cabinet sitting.

126. A draft on which a use restriction has been imposed is examined in the closed part of a Cabinet sitting.

127. The Prime Minister or a person who replaces him or her in accordance with the procedures laid down in laws and regulations (hereinafter - the chairperson of a Cabinet sitting) shall chair a Cabinet sitting, determining the debate procedures and duration.

128. The Director of the State Chancellery or an authorised official thereof shall take the minutes of Cabinet sittings. The persons with voting rights who have participated in a Cabinet sitting, the decisions taken on each issue, and the persons who have spoken about the relevant issue and the results of voting (if voting has occurred) shall be indicated in the minutes of the Cabinet sitting. It shall also be indicated in the minutes of the Cabinet sitting if a member of the Cabinet refuses to participate in taking of a decision due to the restrictions specified in laws and regulations, and also due to ethical or other reasons.

129. Decisions shall be taken at a Cabinet sitting in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Cabinet Structure Law. If votes are tied (the number of votes in favour is equal to the number of votes against and abstentions), the chairperson of the Cabinet shall have the deciding vote.

130. The Prime Minister shall decide on the start time and type of a sitting, taking into account the need to ensure quorum of the participants with voting rights in the sitting.

131. Members of the Cabinet who, according to a decision of the Prime Minister, participate in a sitting in a manner different from other members of the Cabinet shall, where possible, during the sitting work in the environment of the course of sittings of the TAP Portal or, not later than an hour before the beginning of the sitting, express their views in the field "Comments" on all agenda items (on each item separately or an agenda section in general) working in the environment of the course of sittings of the TAP Portal.

132. The State Chancellery shall compile views of the members of the Cabinet who, according to a decision of the Prime Minister, participate in a sitting in a manner different from other members of the Cabinet and who have taken the opportunity to express their views on issues of the sitting before the beginning of the sitting, and shall inform the chairperson of the Cabinet sitting. The chairperson of the Cabinet sitting shall inform at the sitting as to which members of the Cabinet participate in the sitting in a manner different from other members of the Cabinet, and also of views of such members of the Cabinet on the items included in the agenda of the sitting.

133. Where necessary, during a Cabinet sitting the State Chancellery shall organise communication with a member of the Cabinet who participates in the Cabinet sitting in a manner different from other members of the Cabinet.

134. If a debate takes place on any agenda item at a Cabinet sitting after which voting is required but a member of the Cabinet, according to a decision of the Prime Minister, participates in a manner different from other members of the Cabinet and it is not possible for him or her to work in the environment of the course of sittings of the TAP Portal during the sitting, the State Chancellery shall, upon assignment of the chairperson of the sitting, rapidly organise communication with this member of the Cabinet. If the attempt to organise the communication fails, the chairperson of the Cabinet sitting shall, where possible, postpone examination of the item.

135. The State Chancellery shall indicate information in the minutes of a Cabinet sitting on participation of such members of the Cabinet in the sitting (Paragraph 134 of this Regulation) by adding an additional mark according to the type of different participation.

136. Where it is necessary to convene an extraordinary Cabinet sitting regarding a specific event in respect of which it is necessary take a Cabinet decision without delay but on which no debate, conceptual decision, or vote is required, the Prime Minister may, for reasons of expediency, assign the State Chancellery to organise the course of the Cabinet sitting as a survey by seeking views of members of the Cabinet on the issue to be examined at the sitting without inviting members of the Cabinet to participate in the sitting on site or remotely.

137. If an extraordinary Cabinet sitting was organised as a survey (Paragraph 136 of this Regulation), an additional mark "as a survey", and also the participants of the sitting and the decision taken according to result of the survey shall be indicated in the minutes thereof.

138. If any member of the Cabinet, according to a decision of the Prime Minister, participates in a Cabinet sitting in a manner different from other members of the Cabinet and has not worked in the environment of the course of sittings of the TAP Portal during the sitting, or an extraordinary Cabinet sitting takes place as a survey, the State Chancellery shall ensure that views of members of the Cabinet are recorded appropriately.

139. If a member of the Cabinet has objections or additional considerations in respect of an individual issue to be discussed at a Cabinet sitting, he or she shall make them known during examination of the relevant issue, prepare his or her separate opinion and add it to the issue to be examined in the environment of the course of sittings before the end of the sitting. The State Chancellery shall ensure that the separate opinion of a member of the Cabinet submitted in writing is included in the minutes of the Cabinet sitting.

140. A draft or another document shall be accepted or supported at a Cabinet sitting if the text thereof has been prepared and ready for signature or, as the case may be, sending to an addressee.

141. During a sitting the chairperson of the Cabinet sitting shall accurately formulate the proposals expressed and supported at the Cabinet sitting for recording in the minutes of the Cabinet sitting.

142. If it is necessary to make substantial amendments to a draft which have not been prepared in writing during a sitting or it is necessary to agree upon a draft with the relevant ministries or other authorities, the draft shall not be supported (adopted).

143. If a draft, in accordance with this Regulation, has been examined at a Cabinet sitting as a matter of the Cabinet or in accordance with the urgency procedures and has been adopted or supported, the State Chancellery shall ensure the legal and editorial preparation thereof within five working days, unless it has been specified otherwise in the minutes of the Cabinet sitting.

144. If a draft is supported (adopted) at a Cabinet sitting and it is assigned to make clarifications therein, the submitter shall, within a week after the Cabinet sitting, unless another time period has been indicated in the minutes of the Cabinet sitting, clarify the draft, as decided at the sitting, and submit the clarified draft to the State Chancellery.

145. A member of the Cabinet has the right to request during a Cabinet sitting that the State Chancellery agree upon with him or her any prepared draft protocol decision of the Cabinet sitting.

146. The chairperson of a Cabinet sitting and the Director of the State Chancellery shall sign the minutes of a Cabinet sitting. If the Cabinet sitting has been chaired by several chairpersons of the sitting, all chairpersons of the sitting shall sign the minutes.

147. Members of the Cabinet are entitled, within two working days after the minutes of a Cabinet sitting have been made public in the TAP Portal, to submit objections to the content of the abovementioned minutes for examination at a Cabinet sitting. Objections shall be prepared in the form of a new draft protocol decision, and grounds for the objections shall be indicated in the annotation. The abovementioned amendments shall be examined at the next Cabinet sitting.

XI. Application Procedures, Restrictions, and Procedures for the Course of Participation at Cabinet Sittings, Cabinet Committee Sittings, and Meetings of State Secretaries

148. A member of the Cabinet, a State Secretary, the head of an institution, a representative authorised by social partners of the government and non-governmental organisations shall, prior to applying persons for participation in a meeting of State Secretaries, a Cabinet Committee sitting, or a Cabinet sitting (hereinafter - the sitting), assess the efficiency of their participation, taking into account that sound recordings of the open parts of the sittings are made and the open part of Cabinet sittings has live coverage.

149. The person appointed by the relevant ministry, institution, social partner of the government, or non-governmental organisation shall register the persons applied for the participation in the sitting in accordance with Paragraph 148 of this Regulation in the TAP Portal at the relevant issue of the sitting not later than a working day before the sitting, indicating the given name, surname, position, e-mail address of the person applied. In the case of examination of issues submitted in accordance with the urgency procedures, persons may be applied before the beginning of a Cabinet sitting.

150. The submitter shall ensure that the persons in respect of whom it is intended to take a decision are invited to the Cabinet sitting if the Cabinet examines a draft regarding the acceptance of candidatures of officials for a position, the appointment of officials to a position, or the dismissal thereof from a position.

151. The appointed person referred to in Paragraph 149 of this Regulation shall, where necessary, update the record regarding the persons applied for examination of a specific agenda item of the sitting at the relevant issue of the sitting in the TAP Portal before the beginning of the sitting.

152. The responsible ministry shall inform a person who has been invited to participate in the sitting for examination of an urgent issue of the time (agenda) of examination of the issue.

153. The representatives of social partners of the government and non-governmental organisations who have provided opinions have the right to participate in the closed part of a Cabinet sitting at which the draft national position is examined. Information on the representative to be invited shall be submitted electronically to the State Chancellery before the sitting.

154. An official of the State Chancellery shall register a person who has been invited to participate in the sitting on site prior to going to the chamber. The person who has been invited to participate in examination of a specific agenda item of the sitting shall only participate in the examination of this item and then shall leave the chamber immediately. Persons who have arrived for examination of the next agenda item are invited to the chamber.

155. Only the persons to whom the administrator of the sitting has sent a personal invitation shall connect to the sitting remotely. The person invited shall connect to the sitting, indicating his or her given name, surname, and authority represented. The persons invited to examination of a specific issue may only join (connect to) the sitting during examination of the relevant issue and shall leave the sitting (disconnect from it) immediately after examination of the issue. During the sitting the persons invited shall only turn the camera on when the chairperson of the sitting gives the floor to them.

156. If the person invited disturbs order during the sitting, the chairperson of the sitting may exclude him or her from the sitting.

157. After the sitting the State Chancellery shall publish the list of participants of the sitting.

XII. International Treaties or Drafts Thereof to be Examined by the Cabinet

158. If an international treaty or a draft thereof which is endorsed in accordance with Section 31, Paragraph one, Clause 2 of the Cabinet Structure Law is submitted to the Cabinet for examination and if it is intended to sign the abovementioned treaty or the draft thereof, a ministry shall indicate such official in the draft protocol decision of the Cabinet sitting appended thereto who is authorised to sign the treaty or the draft thereof and the draft authorisation (in the Latvian language appending the translation thereof in the relevant foreign language, indicating that it is a translation), except for the case where the authorisation is determined by law.

159. If an international treaty is to be endorsed at the Saeima without prior signature thereof, the Cabinet shall support a draft law on endorsement of the abovementioned treaty.

160. If an international treaty or a draft thereof is to be endorsed at the Saeima following previous signature thereof, a ministry shall provide for the support of the Cabinet to signature of the international treaty or the draft thereof in the draft protocol decision of the Cabinet sitting appended to the abovementioned treaty or the draft thereof and shall indicate the official who is authorised to sign the draft international treaty, and also the draft authorisation (in the Latvian language appending the translation thereof in the relevant foreign language, indicating that it is a translation), except for the case where the authorisation is determined by law.

161. After signature of the international treaty, a member of the Cabinet shall, within 30 days, submit a copy of the signed treaty (in the cases provided for in this Regulation - also a translation thereof), a clarified draft law on endorsement of the treaty at the Saeima, and an updated annotation of the draft law to the State Chancellery.

162. If it is intended to sign an international treaty or a draft thereof in several languages and one of these languages is the Latvian language, and in the event of disagreement none of the languages prevails, the international treaty or the draft thereof shall only be submitted in the Latvian language. Also the international treaty or the draft thereof in a foreign language (preferably in the English or Russian language) shall be appended to the information.

163. If it is intended to sign an international treaty or a draft thereof in several languages and one of these languages is the Latvian language, and in the event of disagreement one of the languages prevails, the international treaty or the draft thereof shall be submitted in the Latvian language and the language which prevails in the event of disagreement.

164. If it is intended to sign an international treaty or a draft thereof in a foreign language, it shall be submitted in the language in which it will be signed and a translation thereof in the Latvian language shall be appended thereto.

165. The original international treaty and a translation thereof (if the treaty is not signed in the Latvian language) shall be submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for storage within 10 working days after signature thereof, sending electronically also the text of the treaty and the translation thereof.

166. If an error is detected in the translation of the international treaty which has been endorsed by law and one of the authentic languages of which is not the Latvian language and this error complicates correct application of provisions of the international treaty, the translation shall be corrected in accordance with the procedures for correcting translations of international treaties indicated in the State Chancellery's guide to developing legal acts, and the Ministry of Justice shall prepare the relevant informative statement and submit it to the Cabinet for examination.

167. The State Chancellery shall send the informative statement on proposals to be supported for correcting translations of international treaties which has been examined by the Cabinet and the relevant translations of international treaties to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Saeima electronically.

168. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall notify of the entry into force of an international treaty in the official gazette Latvijas Vēstnesis and ensure publication of texts of the international treaties referred to in Section 158 of this Regulation (in accordance with Sections 162, 163, and 164 of this Regulation).

XIII. Procedures for the Circulation of Drafts to be Submitted to a Court

169. Upon receipt of a document of the Constitutional Court or another court addressed to the Cabinet, the State Chancellery shall prepare a task (resolution) of the Prime Minister and take it forward to the responsible ministry.

170. The responsible ministry shall prepare a draft document to be submitted to the Constitutional Court or another court which includes statement of the factual circumstances, legal grounds, and counter arguments of the case, agree upon it with the ministries or authorities involved, and submit the draft agreed upon for examination at a Cabinet sitting.

171. Upon receipt of a draft document to be submitted to the Constitutional Court or another court which has been prepared by the responsible ministry, the State Chancellery shall carry out the legal assessment thereof, supplement it, where necessary, with legal arguments, perform editorial preparation thereof, agree upon it with the responsible ministry, and include on the agenda of a Cabinet sitting.

172. The responsible ministry shall ensure representation of the Cabinet before a court.

173. The responsible ministry shall assess the decision to continue, terminate, or suspend proceedings and, where necessary, prepare and submit to the Cabinet a relevant draft document to be addressed to a court.

174. The responsible ministry and the State Chancellery shall ensure representation of the Cabinet before the Constitutional Court but if the State Chancellery has had significant objections during the course of development of the disputed legal act which have not been taken into account in the agreement and adoption process of the legal act, the responsible ministry shall ensure the preparation of the draft document to be submitted to the Constitutional Court, the submission thereof to the Cabinet, and the representation of national interests in the Constitutional Court.

175. The State Chancellery shall, on a regular basis, carry out analysis of rulings of the Constitutional Court, inform the Prime Minister of the findings included in decisions, and, where necessary, prepare a relevant draft task (resolution) of the Prime Minister regarding the necessary amendments to the regulatory framework.

XIV. Making, Storage, and Use of Audiovisual and Sound Recordings and Ensuring of Live Coverage of Cabinet Sittings, Cabinet Committee Sittings, and Meetings of State Secretaries

176. The State Chancellery shall ensure live video coverage of the open part of Cabinet sittings on the website of the Cabinet.

177. The State Chancellery shall make sound recordings of Cabinet sittings, Committee sittings, and meetings of State Secretaries (hereinafter in this Chapter - the sittings) in order to record the course of the sitting, debates taking place therein, and what specific persons have said. A sound recording shall be, where necessary, used to clarify a draft protocol decision of the relevant sitting and to assess the grounds for objections, and also to ascertain the arguments used in the decision-making process.

178. Sound recordings of the open parts of the sittings shall be available in the public section of the TAP Portal.

179. In order to ensure that the sound recording made corresponds to the objective referred to in Paragraph 177 of this Regulation:

179.1. the participant with voting rights of the sitting and another person who wishes to speak about an agenda item of the sitting shall only take the floor after being invited by the chairperson of the sitting. In inviting a person to speak, the chairperson of the sitting shall call the given name, surname, and position of the relevant person;

179.2. if the chairperson of the sitting has failed to call the given name, surname, and position of the specific participant with voting rights or of another person, the relevant person shall state his or her given name, surname, and position himself or herself before taking the floor. The relevant person shall also comply with this requirement each time before repeatedly taking the floor during the relevant sitting in relation to the same or another issue;

179.3. a person shall switch on the microphone prior to speaking.

180. If the participant with voting rights of the sitting or another person fails to meet the conditions referred to in Paragraph 177 of this Regulation, the chairperson of the sitting is entitled to interrupt the speaker in order to ensure that the speaker states his or her given name, surname, and position and uses the microphone.

181. The State Chancellery shall make separate sound recordings of the open part and closed part of the sittings, store the recordings in media, and hand them over to the archives of the State Chancellery. Audiovisual and sound recordings of the open part of a Cabinet sitting shall be stored and used in accordance with the procedures laid down in the laws and regulations regarding national archives.

182. In order to access sound recordings of the open part of the sitting handed over to the archives, a person shall submit a written application to the State Chancellery. Upon agreement thereof with the State Chancellery, the person shall receive an indication to the link of the sound recording. The sound recording is not processed according to the user needs.

183. In order to access a sound recording of the closed part of a Cabinet sitting which contains restricted access information, a person shall submit a written application to the State Chancellery in accordance with the procedures for requesting information laid down in the Freedom of Information Law. After approval of the application, the State Chancellery shall ensure access to the relevant sound recording in accordance with the procedures for the circulation of restricted access information laid down in laws and regulations.

184. A sound recording of the closed part of a Cabinet sitting which contains a subject matter of an official secret shall be stored and used in accordance with the laws and regulations governing protection of a subject matter of an official secret.

XV. Preparation, Signature, Publication, and Declassification of the Cabinet Decisions

185. The decisions taken at a Cabinet sitting and the tasks assigned to individual ministries, other authorities, or officials shall be recorded in the minutes of the Cabinet sitting.

186. Only amendments in respect of which a decision has been taken at a Cabinet sitting, and also corrections (refinements) related to the abovementioned amendments, or editorial refinements may be made to the text of a legal act supported (adopted) by the Cabinet prior to the signature thereof.

187. The legal act supported (adopted) by the Cabinet and the information related thereto to which the temporary status of restricted access has been granted shall be prepared in accordance with the following conditions:

187.1. if the status of restricted access has been determined until taking of a decision at a Cabinet sitting:

187.1.1. the State Chancellery shall prepare the (adopted) legal act with generally accessible status according to the decision of the sitting;

187.1.2. a ministry shall remove indications of use restriction from the informative statement, planning document, and other relevant information according to the decision of the sitting and ensure that generally accessible information is posted in the TAP Portal;

187.2. if the status of restricted access has been determined for another time period and a ministry has not extended it, then upon expiry of the time period:

187.2.1. the ministry shall declassify the structured information prepared in the TAP Portal (a legal act, an annotation), and it is automatically shown in the public section "Declassified documents" of the TAP Portal;

187.2.2. the ministry shall declassify the unstructured document (file) and post it in the TAP Portal, and it shall be automatically shown in the public section "Declassified documents" of the TAP Portal.

188. The State Chancellery shall ensure that a draft document adopted or supported at a Cabinet sitting is handed over for signature.

189. Draft decisions, draft laws of the Saeima, regulations, recommendations, instructions supported (adopted) at a Cabinet sitting, documents of the Cabinet to be submitted to a court of the Republic of Latvia, and Cabinet letters shall be signed, using a secure electronic signature and time stamp. Cabinet orders supported (adopted) at a Cabinet sitting shall be signed by a member of the Cabinet with the system tool but by the Prime Minister - with a secure electronic signature and time stamp.

190. The Director of the State Chancellery and the chairperson of a sitting shall sign the minutes of Cabinet sittings with a secure electronic signature.

191. If imprecision of technical nature is detected in a signed or published legal act the correction of which does not change the essence of the legal act, then the State Chancellery shall, upon agreement with the responsible ministry, prepare and send the corrected legal act or refinement in the published legal act for publication in the official gazette Latvijas Vēstnesis.

192. Regulations, instructions, recommendations, and orders adopted at a Cabinet sitting shall be signed consecutively by the relevant member of the Cabinet (the second signature) who has submitted a draft for examination at a Cabinet sitting and by the Prime Minister (the first signature).

193. If the submitter of a draft (a member of the Cabinet) is not present at a Cabinet sitting, the legal act issued by the Cabinet shall be signed, instead of the relevant minister (the second signature), by the minister who replaces him or her on the relevant day of the Cabinet sitting.

194. If the Prime Minister or acting Prime Minister has submitted a draft for examination at the Cabinet, the Cabinet shall, during a Cabinet sitting, take the decision which minister shall sign (the second signature) the relevant legal act and a relevant record thereon is made in the minutes of the Cabinet sitting.

195. The State Chancellery shall, normally within three working days after a Cabinet sitting unless another time period has been specified in the minutes of the sitting, send the following electronically, appending an extract of the minutes of the Cabinet sitting:

195.1. to the Saeima with an accompanying letter signed by the Prime Minister:

195.1.1. the draft law supported at the sitting (in the cases provided for in this Regulation - also the text of the international treaty) and the annotation thereof;

195.1.2. the draft decision of the Saeima supported at the sitting and the annotation thereof;

195.1.3. the legal acts of the Cabinet adopted at the sitting and to be sent to the Saeima;

195.2. the Cabinet letter signed by the Prime Minister and supported at the sitting;

195.3. documents to other addressees according to the task assigned in the minutes of the sitting with an accompanying letter signed by an official of the State Chancellery.

196. Cabinet regulations, instructions, and recommendations shall be dated as of the day of adoption thereof. Cabinet orders shall be dated as of the day of signature thereof.

197. The State Chancellery shall send the legal act issued by the Cabinet, and also the planning document supported by the Cabinet and the legal act approving it for publication in the official gazette Latvijas Vēstnesis. The issuer of the official gazette Latvijas Vēstnesis shall ensure that the received legal acts are published.

198. Enforcement of the Cabinet regulations, instructions, recommendations, or orders shall be the responsibility of the submitter of the relevant draft (a member of the Cabinet) or of the ministry, another authority, or official indicated in the relevant legal act.

199. Where necessary, the submitter of the relevant draft (a member of the Cabinet) shall provide an explanation regarding the legal act issued by the Cabinet.

XVI. Orders and Tasks (Resolutions) of the Prime Minister and Ensuring of the Fulfilment Thereof

200. Ministries shall prepare draft orders of the Prime Minister in their document management system and submit them to the State Chancellery in accordance with the laws and regulations governing electronic communication.

201. In addition to the cases referred to in the Cabinet Structure Law, the Prime Minister shall by his or her order:

201.1. appoint the head of office of the Prime Minister;

201.2. appoint acting Prime Minister in his or her absence or if he or she is otherwise impeded to fulfil his or her duties;

201.3. appoint the Deputy Prime Minister or acting minister in the absence of the Deputy Prime Minister or the minister or if he or she is otherwise impeded to fulfil his or her duties;

201.4. grant leave to the Director of the State Chancellery, the head of office of the Prime Minister, and the head of an institution subordinate to the Prime Minister.

202. The Prime Minister shall establish a working group by an order for the purpose of carrying out a specific task. The composition of the working group, the range of issues to be discussed, the operation, and the tasks to be carried out within a specific time period shall be determined in the order.

203. In submitting a draft order of the Prime Minister to the State Chancellery, a member of the Cabinet shall append an accompanying letter. The grounds for the development, the information on agreement, the availability status of the order, and any other information shall be indicated in the accompanying letter. In submitting a draft order regarding the working group, a letter or another document under which the relevant person is authorised to participate or agrees to participate in the working group, unless the person is a representative of the submitting ministry, shall be appended to the accompanying letter or such information shall be indicated in the accompanying letter.

204. The State Chancellery shall prepare a draft order of the Prime Minister for signature. The order of the Prime Minister shall be dated as of the day of signature thereof.

205. The State Chancellery shall send an order of the Prime Minister for publication in the official gazette Latvijas Vēstnesis. The issuer of the official gazette Latvijas Vēstnesis shall ensure that the received order of the Prime Minister is published.

206. The Prime Minister shall assign tasks (resolutions) to members of the Cabinet, the head of office of the Prime Minister, the Director of the State Chancellery, and heads of other subordinated public administration institutions.

207. Each official referred to in the task (resolution) shall be responsible for the fulfilment of the tasks (resolutions) of the Prime Minister. An official who has been indicated first in the task (resolution) shall ensure the fulfilment of the assigned task to be carried out jointly.

208. The time period for the fulfilment of a task assigned in an order of the Prime Minister shall be two months from the day of signing the order of the Prime Minister, unless another time period for the fulfilment has been specified in the order. A proposal to amend the time period for the fulfilment specified in the order of the Prime Minister shall be submitted to the State Chancellery in the form of a draft order of the Prime Minister.

209. The time period for the fulfilment of a task (resolution) assigned by the Prime Minister shall be 10 working days from the day of receipt of the task (resolution) (except for the task referred to in Paragraph 213 of this Regulation), unless another time period for the fulfilment has been provided for in the task (resolution) or another external regulatory enactment.

210. The time period for the fulfilment of an urgent task (resolution) assigned by the Prime Minister shall be three working days from the day of receipt of the task (resolution), unless another time period for the fulfilment has been specified.

211. The State Chancellery shall only control such tasks (resolutions) assigned in orders of the Prime Minister in respect of the fulfilment of which the Cabinet or the Prime Minister is to be informed in writing or in which the preparation and submission of a draft to the Cabinet has been specified.

212. In sending a response to the State Chancellery regarding the fulfilment of a task assigned in an order of the Prime Minister, the number and date of the executed document shall also be indicated.

XVII. Ensuring Enforcement of Laws and Decisions of the Saeima

213. In order to ensure the fulfilment of the tasks assigned to the Cabinet in laws, decisions of the Saeima, and statements of the President, the Prime Minister shall, where necessary, assign a task (resolution) to the relevant member of the Cabinet.

214. The time period for the fulfilment of the tasks (resolutions) referred to in Paragraph 213 of this Regulation shall be determined in accordance with the time period specified in law within which the Cabinet issues the relevant legal act or, where such time period has not been specified in law, according to the time period for coming into force of the law, but if this time period has already expired or is shorter than two months, then the time period for the fulfilment of the task shall be two months from the day of receipt of the task.

XVIII. Ensuring the Fulfilment of the Tasks Assigned by the Cabinet and a Meeting of State Secretaries

215. The fulfilment of a task assigned in a protocol decision of a meeting of State Secretaries, a protocol decision of a Cabinet sitting, a protocol decision of a Committee sitting, or a legal act of the Cabinet shall be the responsibility of the ministry, another authority, or official which has been indicated first, unless it has been specified otherwise in the relevant document.

216. The State Chancellery shall only control such tasks in respect of the fulfilment of which the Cabinet or the Prime Minister is to be informed in writing or in which the the preparation and submission of a draft to the Cabinet or the State Chancellery has been specified.

217. The time period for the fulfilment of the tasks assigned in a protocol decision of a meeting of State Secretaries, a protocol decision of a Committee sitting, a protocol decision of a Cabinet sitting, or a legal act of the Cabinet shall be two months, unless it has been specified otherwise.

218. The Cabinet shall take the decision to recognise a task assigned at a Cabinet sitting as obsolete and terminate the control thereof. If the task has been assigned upon initiative of the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister shall take the decision to recognise the task as obsolete and terminate the control thereof.

XIX. Procedures for Arranging the Absence of Members of the Cabinet and Other Public Officials While on a Foreign Business Trip, a Leave, or Due to Sickness

219. A member of the Cabinet (hereinafter in this Chapter - the minister) shall, not later than three working days before the planned absence, submit a submission to the Prime Minister. The time of and reasons for absence shall be indicated in the submission, and also a minister who will replace him or her during the absence may be recommended.

220. If the absence of a minister has not been foreseeable (for example, absence due to sickness), the minister shall immediately, as soon as possible, submit a submission to the State Chancellery regarding the absence.

221. The minister shall indicate the purpose of a business trip and the issues to be addressed in the submission regarding a foreign business trip. An official invitation and agenda shall be appended to the submission, and also the officials with whom the minister intends to meet shall be indicated.

222. The Prime Minister shall assign, by an order, the fulfilment of the relevant duties to another minister upon request of the minister to be replaced or proposal of the State Chancellery, and also may assume the fulfilment of the duties of the minister in the planned absence himself or herself.

223. Upon receipt of an instruction of the Prime Minister on replacement of the minister during his or her absence, the State Chancellery shall prepare a relevant draft order of the Prime Minister, and also inform the minister who will fulfil the duties of the absent minister thereof.

224. If, due to unexpected reasons, the minister referred to in the order of the Prime Minister cannot replace the minister in the planned absence, he or she shall immediately inform the Prime Minister thereof in writing. The State Chancellery shall prepare and submit a proposal to the Prime Minister to assign the fulfilment of the duties of the minister in the planned absence to another minister.

225. If the minister replaced resumes the fulfilment of his or her duties before expiry of the time period for absence specified in the order of the Prime Minister (if no time period has been indicated - when the reason for absence no longer exists), he or she shall immediately inform the Prime Minister thereof. The State Chancellery shall, on the basis of the information provided, prepare a relevant draft order of the Prime Minister.

226. The State Chancellery shall prepare a draft order of the Prime Minister regarding a leave or foreign business trip of a member of the Cabinet, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Prime Minister, the Director of the State Chancellery, the head of office of the Prime Minister, and heads of other public administration institutions subordinate to the Prime Minister.

227. The State Chancellery shall agree upon a draft order of the Prime Minister regarding a foreign business trip of a minister (except for a draft order regarding a foreign business trip of the Minister for Foreign Affairs) with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall, within 24 hours, after signature of the order of the Prime Minister:

277.1. where necessary, prepare notes regarding receipt of a visa for the relevant foreign embassies;

277.2. inform the relevant diplomatic and consular mission of the Republic of Latvia of the expected official foreign business trip and agree upon the necessary assistance with the organisation and course thereof.

228. The State Chancellery shall send the signed order of the Prime Minister to the relevant ministries in accordance with the laws and regulations governing electronic communication.

229. A minister, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Prime Minister, the Director of the State Chancellery, the head of office of the Prime Minister, and heads of other public administration institutions subordinate to the Prime Minister shall, within five working days after expiry of the time period of a foreign business trip, submit a written report to the Prime Minister on the course and results of the business trip (a copy thereof - to the Minister for Foreign Affairs), indicating the official representatives with whom he or she has met and the issues that have been discussed.

XX. Closing Provisions

230. Cabinet Regulation No. 300 of 7 April 2009, Rules of Procedures of the Cabinet (Latvijas Vēstnesis, 2009, No. 58, 121; 2010, No. 33; 2011, No. 143; 2012, No. 74; 2014, No. 195, 249; 2016, No. 235; 2020, No. 112), is repealed.

231. Starting from 9 September 2021, circulation of the documents in the System for Circulation of Documents and Control of Tasks (DAUKS) of the State Chancellery is only ensured in the TAP Portal.

232. Drafts and the information related thereto which have been submitted to the State Chancellery until 8 December 2021 via the System for Circulation of Documents and Control of Tasks (DAUKS) are migrated to the TAP Portal by creating a LA file with the unique identification number for each draft.

233. Drafts which have been submitted to the State Chancellery for announcement at a meeting of State Secretaries until 7 September 2021 are announced at a meeting of State Secretaries on 9 September 2021.

234. Drafts which have been announced at a meeting of State Secretaries until 9 September 2021 or sent for agreement without announcement at a meeting of State Secretaries until 9 March 2022, and also a draft law of the State budget for year 2022, an annotation, annexes, and explanations thereof, a draft medium term budget framework law for years 2022-2024, an annotation, annexes, and explanations thereof, proposals for the abovementioned draft laws for the 2^nd reading at the Saeima may be posted in the TAP Portal in the form of unstructured files.

235. The relevant requirements laid down in Cabinet Regulation No. 300 of 7 April 2009, Rules of Procedures of the Cabinet, shall be applied to the agreement (opinions, a certified statement) of the drafts referred to in Paragraphs 233 and 234 of this Regulation.

236. Ministries shall ensure that original drafts and the information related thereto which have been prepared outside the TAP Portal until 9 March 2022 are handed over to the National Archives of Latvia.

237. If State security institutions have not been provided with an appropriate solution of authority in the TAP Portal for work, then they shall perform the activities necessary for the circulation of drafts and tasks outside the TAP Portal. The responsible ministries shall ensure that the information prepared by State security institutions is included in the TAP Portal.

238. The Regulation shall come into force on 9 September 2021.

Prime Minister A. K. Kariņš

Minister for Finance J. Reirs

 

Annex
Cabinet Regulation No. 606
7 September 2021

Action Plan of the Government for the Implementation of the Declaration Regarding the Intended Activities of the Cabinet

Section and scope of action of the declaration	Number of the task assigned in the declaration	Task assigned in the declaration	Measure of the action plan	Result of activity	Number of the task of the National Development Plan (hereinafter - the NDP) and the NDP indicator (if applicable)	Responsible ministry	Co-responsible ministries	Performance deadline (dd.mm.yyyy)	Course of implementation of the measure	Indication if the measure is to be continued
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
I. Key measures of the ministry
Indicate the section or scope of action according to the declaration		Specific task assigned in the declaration	Several ministries may prepare one or more (but not more than five) measures for the fulfilment of the same task of the declaration	Indicate the final product of the functions specified in laws and regulations and of the implementation of the measures specified in planning documents of ministries and the institutions subordinate thereto, goods which are created by an institution, and services which are provided by an institution to external clients	Indicate the number of the NDP task without the text of the task and the number of the NDP indicator without the text			Indicate the final performance deadline of the measure which does not exceed the term of office of the relevant Cabinet
II. New measures (where necessary, the section shall be completed within the cope of succession in matters of a member of the Cabinet)
Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable	Measure	Indicate the final product of the functions specified in laws and regulations and of the implementation of the measures specified in planning documents of ministries and the institutions subordinate thereto, goods which are created by an institution, and services which are provided by an institution to external clients	Indicate the number of the NDP task without the text of the task and the number of the NDP indicator without the text

Minister for Finance J. Reirs

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