The translation of this document is outdated.
Translation validity: 11.12.2013.–15.07.2019.
Amendments not included:
20.06.2019.
Text consolidated by Valsts valodas centrs (State
Language Centre) with amending laws of:
10 April 2001 [shall come
into force on 14 May 2003];
18 March 2004 [shall come into force on 26 March
2004];
3 November 2005 [shall come into force on 23 November
2005];
Judgment of the Constitutional Court of 23 November 2006
[shall come into force from 1 December 2006];
26 April 2007 [shall come into force on 25 May
2007];
11 December 2008 [shall come into force on 1 February
2009];
16 June 2010 [shall come into force on 14 July
2010];
14 November 2013 [shall come into force on 11 December
2013].
If a whole or part of a section has been amended, the
date of the amending law appears in square brackets at
the end of the section. If a whole section, paragraph or
clause has been deleted, the date of the deletion appears
in square brackets beside the deleted section, paragraph
or clause.
|
The Saeima1 has adopted
and
the President has proclaimed the following law:
On Meetings, Processions, and
Pickets
Chapter I
The Right to Organise Meetings, Processions, and Pickets, and to
Participate in Them
Section 1.
(1) The State guaranteed and protected expressions of freedom
of peaceful assembly are meetings, processions, and pickets.
(2) A meeting is organised for purposes of assembly, in order
to meet people and express ideas and opinions (for example,
regarding various socially significant of political, economic,
and social nature). Within the meaning of this Law, an assembly,
a meeting, or other similar assembly shall be treated as a
meeting.
(3) A procession is organised moving on the roads, streets,
squares, pavements, or other territories designed for traffic, in
order to express ideas and opinions (for example, regarding
various socially significant issues of political, economic, and
social nature). Within the meaning of this Law, a demonstration,
a procession, or similar movement shall be treated as a
procession.
(4) A picket is an event during which a person or persons are
expressing ideas and opinions (for example, regarding various
socially significant issues of political, economic, and social
nature) in a public place, using posters, slogans, banners, or
other means, but during which no speeches or public addresses are
made.
[10 April 2003; 3 November 2005; 23
November 2006; 26 April 2007; 14 November 2013]
Section 2.
(1) This Law shall not apply to:
1) public festivities, commemorative, entertainment, sports or
recreational events which are regulated by the Law On Safety of
Public Entertainment and Festivity Events;
2) events organised by religious organisations, which have
been registered in accordance with the procedures laid down in
the laws and regulations, in churches, houses of prayer,
cemeteries, in the land parcels owned by a church, or other
locations intended for this purpose;
3) wedding or funeral ceremonies;
4) promotional arrangements.
(2) If it is determined that the application does not apply to
the scope of this Law, it shall be examined in accordance with
the relevant law and regulation governing the relevant event.
[14 November 2013]
Section 3.
(1) In accordance with this Law, everyone has the rights to
organise peaceful meetings, processions, and pickets, and also to
participate in them.
(2) The exercising of this right shall not be subjected to any
limitations, except those laid down in the law, or necessary in a
democratic society in order to protect the interests of the State
and the public safety, prevent disorders or criminal offences,
safeguard public health and morality, and also the rights and
freedoms of others.
(3) The State shall not only provide the opportunities of
assembly, but also ensure that there are no interferences to the
assembly.
[10 April 2003]
Section 4.
The organiser of a meeting, procession and picket, the manager
of the event, the assistant to the manager of the event and the
person who maintains order in the event shall not be a person
who:
1) is less than 18 years old;
2) is not a citizen of Latvia or a person that has the right
to receive a non-citizen's passport issued by the Republic of
Latvia, or a person to whom a permanent residence permit is
issued;
3) seeks to use the abovementioned events for the purposes of
organisations the operation of which is prohibited in Latvia;
4) [10 April 2003];
5) within a year, has been punished in accordance with
administrative procedures for infringing meeting, procession, and
picket organisation or procedural requirements, or for petty
hooliganism, or for malicious non-compliance with legitimate
requirements of a police officer, or for infringement of rules of
the commencement or termination of public organisation's
operations;
6) is deemed to be incapacitated.
[10 April 2003; 3 November
2005]
Section 5.
(1) Meetings, processions, and pickets may also be organised
by legal persons that are registered in accordance with the
procedures laid down in the law of the Republic of Latvia, on the
condition that within a year, these persons have not been
punished for infringement of requirements of meeting, procession,
or picket organisation or procedure.
(2) In such case, they shall appoint one or several
responsible event organisers (hereinafter - organiser) who shall
meet the requirements laid down in Section 4 of this Law.
[3 November 2005]
Section 6.
(1) An organiser shall be responsible for compliance with this
Law during meetings, processions, and pickets.
(2) The organiser of the event shall be accessible by phone
indicated in event application, and the organiser shall provide
local government authorities and competent State institutions
with the information concerning the programme of the event upon
their request.
[26 April 2007]
Chapter II
General Provisions
Section 7.
(1) Meetings may be organised both indoors and outdoors.
(2) Meetings may be either open or closed.
(3) In open meetings, everyone who wishes has the right to
participate, including representatives of mass media. Limitations
may be set only in relation to premises or area of the territory
where the meeting is held.
(4) In closed meetings, only persons invited by the organiser
of the meeting may participate. Closed meetings shall be
organised only in locations that are not in public use during
such meetings.
Section 8.
Assembly place and procession route shall be selected so that
the event minimally interferes with the vehicle and pedestrian
traffic.
[3 November 2005]
Section 9.
(1) During meetings, processions, and pickets, an open access
for pedestrians and vehicles shall be provided to State and local
government authorities in whose neighbourhood the events are
held, and operations of these authorities may not be
restricted.
(2) During meetings, processions, and pickets, these events
may not interfere with the proceedings of any public event, any
event organised by State and local government authorities, or any
pre-notified meetings, processions, or pickets.
(3) Meetings, processions, and pickets shall not be organised
in private owned buildings tor on privately used land parcels
without a written consent from their owners or managers.
(4) Local government may issue binding rules regarding
procedures for organising meetings, processions, and pickets and
occurrence thereof in specific locations.
[26 April 2007]
Section 10.
(1) During meetings, processions, and pickets, the laws and
regulations governing public order shall be observed.
(2) During the abovementioned events, it is forbidden to
attack the independence of the Republic of Latvia, propose
forcible amending of the political system of Latvia, to call for
disobedience of laws, propagate violence, national and racial
hatred, open Nazism, fascism, or communism ideology, to propagate
war, or to praise or suggest committing criminal offences and
other law infringements.
[10 April 2003]
Section 11.
(1) A member of a meeting, procession, or picket, during the
event shall not:
1) hold in one's possession substances, weapons, or other
objects that by their nature are designed or can be used for
inflicting bodily injuries to human beings or damage to
property;
2) be equipped with passive means of protection (helmet, hard
hat, body armour, etc.);
3) conceal one's face behind a mask;
4) [3 November 2005];
5) use flags, coat of arms, anthems, and symbols (also in
stylized form) of former USSR, Latvian SSR, and Nazi Germany;
6) engage in anti-moral acts;
7) act in the manner that endangers safety and health of the
members of the meeting, procession, or picket, or the safety and
health of others, or affect them physically.
(2) Event organisers and members are prohibited to deliver to
the place of venue of event any objects abovementioned in
Paragraph one, Clause 1, 2, and 5 of this Section, and also hold
them in one's possession or in vehicles that are closer than 500
metres from the event place of venue.
[10 April 2003;3 November 2005; 26 April
2007]
Chapter III
Submission and Examination of an Application
[26 April
2007]
Section 12.
(1) The organiser shall submit an application for organising a
meeting and a procession, with the exception of:
1) closed meetings;
2) meetings that are not publicly announced;
3) meetings and processions organised by State institutions or
local governments;
4) meetings that are organised in the premises or territory of
a trade union, and also rented premises;
5) open meetings that are organised indoors.
(2) The organiser shall submit an application for organising a
picket, if the picket is publically announced.
(3) An application shall always be submitted if the meeting,
procession, or picket interferes with the vehicle or pedestrian
traffic.
[26 April 2007]
Section 13.
(1) The application shall be submitted to the local government
in the administrative territory of which the event is to be held.
If the event is to be held in the administrative territory of
several local governments, the application shall be submitted to
each local government. The local government shall send a copy of
the application to the relevant territorial State police
unit.
(2) The application shall be submitted not earlier than four
months and not later than 10 working days before the day of the
event. If an event is organised for an incident about which it
was reasonably impossible to know earlier than 10 working days in
advance, the application for organising such meeting, procession,
or picket shall be submitted as soon as possible, but not later
than 24 hours before the event takes place.
(3) Employees of the local government shall make a note on the
time the application was submitted on the application copy kept
by the applicant.
[26 April 2007; 16 June 2010]
Section 14.
(1) The application shall state the following:
1) type of the event (meeting, procession, picket);
2) purpose of the event;
3) event date, starting and ending time;
4) place of venue for a meeting or picket, route for a the
procession;
5) planned number of participants;
6) what kind of support is requested from local government and
police to facilitate undisturbed occurrence of the event;
7) organiser (one or several) and the phone number for
contacting the organiser;
8) manager of the event;
9) assistants to the event manager and persons for maintaining
order.
(2) When submitting the application, a natural person shall
present his or her passport, and a representative of a legal
person shall present his or her passport, and submit an
authorisation of the legal person to submit an application.
(3) For all the persons referred to in the application, their
given name, personal identity number, and place of residence
shall be indicated, but for legal persons - their full name,
legal address, and registration number.
(4) The following shall be appended to the application:
1) a list of persons maintaining order and their signatures
that prove their consent to participate in the event as persons
maintaining order, or a copy of an agreement, if the event
organiser hires commercial security guards for providing public
order and safety during the event;
2) a written consent for organisation of the event given by
the owner or manager of the place of venue of the event, if this
person is not the organiser of the event and the event is held on
the land privately owned by him or her or privately owned or
privately used land parcels.
(5) The number of persons for maintaining order shall be
determined by the organiser and calculated in such a way so the
event can proceed in a peaceful and organised manner. After
submitting the application, the organiser is entitled to replace
individual persons for maintaining order or increase their
number.
(6) If the number of participants of the planned event exceeds
one hundred, for every hundred of members no less than two
persons for maintaining order shall be assigned.
(7) For maintaining order, the organiser may invite commercial
security guards. If so, the number of persons maintaining order
shall be determined according to the provisions of Paragraph six
of this Section.
(8) Together with the application, the manager of the event
and the assistants to the manager shall submit a notification
that they are responsible for compliance with this Law during the
event.
[3 November 2005; 23 November 2006;
26 April 2007; 16 June 2010]
Section 15.
(1) After receiving an application, the local government shall
ascertain that all the provisions of this Law are complied
with.
(2) In addition to that laid down in Paragraph one this
Section, the local government shall ascertain that:
1) the event will not interfere with other previously
announced public events, events organised by the State or local
government, or previously announced meetings, processions, or
pickets;
2) the organisation of the event in the expected time and
location will not cause significant problems for vehicle or
pedestrian traffic;
3) the organisation of the event in the planned time,
location, and form, will not endanger the rights of others, the
democratic system of the State, public safety, welfare, or
morality.
(3) In order to prevent the conditions abovementioned in
Paragraph two of this Section, the local government together with
the organiser shall examine what changes are needed for the place
of venue, time, or form of the event. For the examination, police
and, when applicable, representatives of other concerned persons
shall be invited.
(4) When examining an application for organising a meeting,
procession, or picket, the local government shall take into
account the opinion of the police and other competent State
authorities regarding conditions abovementioned in Paragraph two
of this Section, and options to prevent them.
(5) [14 November 2013]
[26 April 2007; 14 November
2013]
Section 15.1
(1) In order not to endanger the participants of the event and
to prevent conditions referred to in Section 15, Paragraph two of
this Law, the local government is entitled to decide on
limitations regarding the place of venue, time, and form of the
event, without interfering with the purpose of the event, if it
cannot agree with the organiser on the changes necessary to be
introduced to the process of the event.
(2) Local government is entitled to take a decision to
prohibit the event if it is concluded that organising of the
event will endanger the rights of others, the democratic system
of the State, public safety, welfare, or morality, and these
risks cannot be prevented by limitations to the process of the
event.
[14 November 2013]
Section 16.
(1) The local government is entitled to take the decision
abovementioned in Section 15.1 of this Law, not later
than five working days prior to the date of the announced event.
If the application for the event is made pursuant to the
procedures and time period laid down in the second sentence of
Section 13, Paragraph two of this Law, then the local government
is entitled to take the decision abovementioned in Section
15.1 of this Law not later than six hours before the
announced event.
(2) If the conditions indicated in Section 15, Paragraph two
of this Law are determined after the time period laid down in
Paragraph one of this Section, the local government is entitled
to take the decision abovementioned in Section 15.1 of
this Law after clarifying the relevant conditions.
(3) If the conditions indicated in Section 15, Paragraph two
of this Law set in during the event, a police officer is entitled
to determined event limitations needed for maintaining public
order and safety, regardless of the decision taken by the local
government. It may be asked to document such action of a police
officer as a written decision, and it may be contested and
appealed in accordance with the procedures laid down in the
Administrative Procedure Law.
[14 November 2013]
Section 17.
(1) Limitations and prohibitions laid down by the local
government to organise the event may be appealed to the
Administrative District Court. Submitting an application to the
court shall not suspend the operation of the administrative
act.
(2) The court shall adjudicate the cases abovementioned in
Paragraph one of this Section within three days of the date the
application was received in accordance with the procedures laid
down by the Administrative Procedure Law.
(3) Defendant shall submit all the explanations and proof
during the hearing, meeting the amount of proof laid down for the
defendant in the Administrative Procedure Law.
(4) The judgement of the Administrative District Court made on
the issues abovementioned in Paragraph one of this Section shall
be enforced without delay.
(5) A judgement of the Administrative District Court that is
made regarding issues abovementioned in Paragraph one of this
Section, may be appealed by submitting a cassation complaint to
the Department of Administrative Cases of the Supreme Court
Senate.
[26 April 2007; 11 December
2008]
Chapter IV
Process of a Meeting, Procession, and Picket
Section 18.
(1) Meeting, procession, and picket may not start before the
time stated in its application.
(2) During a meeting, it is allowed to use a megaphone,
microphone, and other sound boosting devices, provided such use
is stated at the time of submitting the application for the
event, and the use of such devices is not limited or
prohibited.
(3) The event may not be started, if the organiser, event
manager, assistants to the manager and sufficient number of
persons for maintaining order are not present.
(4) The organiser, of the event, manager, assistants to the
manager and persons for maintaining order shall be present in the
place of venue of the event throughout the event.
(5) Persons for maintaining order shall have a certificate
issued by the organiser of the event, and they shall present it
when asked by a representative of the local government or a
police officer. During the event, persons for maintaining order
shall wear a bandage or other form of clearly visible signs.
[26 April 2007; 14 November
2013]
Section 19.
In meetings, processions, and pickets, there is freedom of
speech and linguistic freedom.
Section 20.
(1) The manager of a meeting, procession, or picket, and
assistants to the manager shall be responsible for compliance
with the provisions of this Law and for maintaining order during
the event. They shall maintain the order both personally, and
with the help of persons for maintaining order. If children are
participating in the event, the manager of the event shall
provide protection of the rights of these children, in accordance
with the Protection of the Rights of the Child Law.
(2) Participants of the event shall avoid actions that may
impede peaceful and organised event proceedings, and the
participants shall obey the instructions given by the manager of
the event, assistants to the manager, persons for maintaining
order and the members of the police.
(3) During a meeting, speeches can be made only when
authorised by the manager of the event or assistant to the
manager.
[18 March 2004]
Section 21.
(1) During open meetings, processions, and pickets, compliance
with this Law shall be controlled by representative of the local
government, and also employees of the police.
(2) An employee of the police is entitled to give binding
instructions to the organiser of the event, manager,
participants, and persons for maintaining order, in order to
ensure compliance with the requirements laid down in this Law in
conformity with specific conditions at the place of venue of the
event.
[26 April 2007]
Section 22.
During open meetings, processions, and pickets, it is allowed
to make audio and video recordings, to take photographs and to
film.
Section 23.
(1) If participants of a meeting, procession, or picket
infringe the provisions of this Law and do not obey the
instructions of the manager of the event, assistants to the
manager, and persons for maintaining order, the manager shall
either declare the event to be closed, or turn to an employee of
the police or representative of the local government to restore
order.
(2) If the participants of the event do not obey the
instructions given by an employee of the police or representative
of the local government regarding compliance with the
requirements of this Law, the member of the police or
representative of local government shall declare the event to be
closed, or shall demand that participants thereof leave the place
of venue of the event.
Section 24.
The Police shall not allow any meetings, processions, and
pickets, which are organised without compliance with the
requirements of this Law.
Chapter V
Liability for Infringement of this Law
Section 25.
The organiser, manager of meetings, processions and pickets
and assistants thereof, and also other participants shall be held
responsible according to the Law for infringements of the
provisions of this Law.
Transitional Provision
Section 17, Paragraph five of this Law shall not apply to
cases for which the District Administrative Court has adopted
judgement before 31 January 2009. The judgement for these cases
may be appealed in accordance with procedures laid down in the
Administrative Procedure Law.
[11 December 2008]
This Law was adopted by the Saeima on 16 January
1997.
President G. Ulmanis
Adopted 30 January 1997
1 The Parliament of the Republic of
Latvia
Translation © 2015 Valsts valodas centrs (State
Language Centre)