The Saeima¹ has adopted and
the President has proclaimed the following law:

On International Treaties of the Republic of Latvia

The purpose of this Law is to regulate the conclusion, execution, denunciation of international treaties of the Republic of Latvia (hereinafter - the international treaties), and other issues related to international treaties.

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Section 1. The international treaties - irrespective of the title they have been given - are written agreements concluded between the Republic of Latvia and foreign states or other subjects of international law under the international public law.

Section 2. The international treaties of the Republic of Latvia shall be concluded as interstate treaties and intergovernmental treaties.

[13 June 2013]

II. CONCLUSION OF INTERNATIONAL TREATIES

Section 3. The Saeima of the Republic of Latvia (hereinafter - the Saeima) may take the decision to conclude any international treaty, stating in its decision the persons responsible for drafting the specific treaty and the scope and content of their authority.

The Cabinet shall take the decision to conclude an international treaty, except for the treaties provided in Section 7 of this Law.

Section 4. The President, the Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, without a special authorisation, may negotiate on the conclusion of international treaties, adopt the texts agreed upon, and sign such treaties in conformity with the provisions of Section 3 of this Law.

Section 5. Members of the Cabinet, within the scope of their competence, without a special authorisation, may negotiate on the conclusion of international treaties.

The heads of diplomatic missions or representatives accredited by the Republic of Latvia to an international conference or to an international organisation or one of its organs, without a special authorisation, may negotiate on the conclusion of international treaties only with the state of residence of such missions, the relevant international organisation, or one of its organs.

After receiving a positive opinion on the international treaty from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Finance, if the international treaty affects the State budget, the persons referred to in the Paragraphs one and two of this Section shall adopt the text of the international treaty agreed upon and sign the contract after receiving such authority.

[13 June 2013]

Section 6. If the decision to conclude an international treaty is taken by the Saeima, the authority to negotiate and sign the treaty shall be issued by the Saeima and signed by the President.

If the decision to conclude an international treaty is taken by the Cabinet, the authority to negotiate and sign the treaty shall be issued by a decision of the Cabinet and signed by the Prime Minister or the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

The scope of authorisation according to the decision of the Saeima or the Cabinet must be indicated in the authorisation.

Section 7. The following international treaties shall be entered into as interstate treaties:

1) peace agreements;

2) agreements on the basis of interstate relations;

3) [26 February 2004];

4) treaties on the borders of the Republic of Latvia;

5) treaties on participation of the Republic of Latvia in economic, military, and political communities;

6) [26 February 2004].

[26 February 2004]

Section 8. Interstate treaties are ratified by a law adopted by the Saeima, on the basis of which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall prepare an instrument of ratification to be signed by the President and co-signed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Section 9. The Saeima shall also ratify the following international treaties:

1) treaties settling the issues to be decided under the legislative process;

2) treaties on the residence (not related to training and manoeuvring) of the military personnel of the Republic of Latvia in foreign states, if the total number of personnel exceeds 200 persons and the period of residence exceeds one year;

3) treaties on the residence (not related to training and manoeuvring) of the military formations of foreign states in Latvia, if the total number of personnel exceeds 100 persons per event and the period of residence exceeds six months, except within the framework of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, including agreements made with separate member states thereof on the residence of military formations in Latvia;

4) treaties on the residence (not related to training and manoeuvring) of the military formations of such foreign states in Latvia, which are not member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation or of the European Union;

5) other treaties, if the ratification is explicitly provided for in the text of the treaty or if it is requested in a motivated application of the Cabinet.

[26 February 2004; 16 June 2016]

Section 10. Exchange of the instruments of ratification shall be performed by the President or the Minister for Foreign Affairs, or by their authorised persons.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall perform the exchange of ratification notes of the international treaty and inform on fulfilment of the necessary requirements for the treaty to come into force in the territory of the Republic of Latvia, as well as deposit the documents of accession and submit the international treaties to depositary.

Section 11. In conformity with the provisions of Section 7 of this Law, the decision on accession to multilateral international treaties shall be taken by the Cabinet, except in cases when:

1) the treaty provides for a different accession procedure;

2) a membership fee must be paid which is not provided for in the State budget.

In such cases, the Saeima shall adopt a law on accession to the international treaty.

Section 11.¹ Ratification methods and procedures for reservations, declarations, for reservation and declaration corrections, and reservation and declaration withdrawal shall be the same as for the ratification of an international treaty in relation to which the reservation or declaration is made.

[13 June 2013]

Section 11.² Translation and reproduction of international treaties shall be provided by the State Language Centre.

If a mistake has been found in the translation of such international treaty which has been ratified by a law and none of the authentic languages of which is Latvian, decision on the clarification of the translation shall be taken by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Saeima on the basis of the clarification of the translation submitted by the Cabinet. The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Saeima shall send the decision on the clarification of the translation of the relevant international treaty for publication in the official gazette Latvijas Vēstnesis and for information to the Chancery of the President.

[13 June 2013; 22 December 2021]

III. EXECUTION AND DENUNCIATION OF INTERNATIONAL TREATIES

Section 12. The Cabinet shall be responsible for the fulfilment of the obligations provided in the international treaties.

Procedures by which the representation of the interests of Latvia shall be ensured in international human rights institutions, and also the functions and rights of the representative of Latvia before international human rights institutions and the procedures for their enforcement shall be determined by the Cabinet.

Procedures by which the representation of the interests of Latvia shall be ensured in the settlement of international investment disputes, and also procedures for the cooperation, decision making and circulation of information of the institutions involved in the dispute shall be determined by the Cabinet.

[16 June 2016]

Section 13. If an international treaty ratified by the Saeima contains different provisions than legal acts of the Republic of Latvia, the provisions of the international treaty shall apply.

Section 14. The decision to denounce international treaties or suspend their operation shall be taken by the Cabinet.

If the international treaty was ratified by the Saeima or the Saeima adopted a law on accession to the international treaty, the Saeima shall adopt a law on denunciation of such international treaty, its suspension, or withdrawal.

IV. REGISTRATION AND PUBLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL TREATIES

Section 15. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall enter the international treaties into the Information System of Official Publications. The systematized international treaties are freely available free of charge on the website www.likumi.lv.

The Cabinet shall determine the information to be included in the Information System of Official Publications and the procedures for submitting such information to the holder of the abovementioned information system.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall inform of the conclusion of international treaties, extension of their term of operation, their suspension and termination, and of the reservations and declarations made by the Republic of Latvia in relation to the international treaties, publishing such information in the official gazette Latvijas Vēstnesis.

[13 June 2013]

Section 16. All international treaties and their translations and reproductions in Latvian shall be published in the official gazette Latvijas Vēstnesis.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall register international treaties in the Information System of Official Publications and keep the originals of international treaties or certified copies thereof, if original of such international treaty shall be kept only in the depository of the international treaty in accordance with the international treaty.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall permanently keep the originals of the international treaties to which the Republic of Latvia has acceded or which have been concluded by it since 4 May 1990, or certified copies of such treaties, ensuring their preservation and use.

[13 June 2013; 23 May 2019]

Transitional Provisions

[13 June 2013]

1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall begin to register the international treaties referred to in Section 15, Paragraph one of this Law in the Information System of Official Publications on 1 July 2014. As of this moment, the systematized international treaties concluded after 1 July 2014 shall be available on the website www.likumi.lv.

2. The international treaties concluded before 30 June 2014 shall be registered in the Information System of Official Publications by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in accordance with Section 15 of this Law, by 30 June 2019.

3. If the international treaties concluded by 30 July 2014 and their translations and reproductions in Latvian have not been published in the gazette Valdības Vēstnesis, gazette Latvijas Republikas Augstākās Padomes un Valdības Ziņotājs, gazette Latvijas Republikas Saeimas un Ministru Kabineta Ziņotājs, or official gazette Latvijas Vēstnesis, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall, by 30 June 2019, publish translations and reproductions in Latvian of such international treaties in the official gazette Latvijas Vēstnesis.

4. The Cabinet shall issue the regulations referred to in Section 12, Paragraph two of this Law by 31 December 2016. Until the day of coming into force of these regulations, the Cabinet Regulation No. 355 of 4 July 2014, Regulations Regarding the Representation in International Human Rights Institutions, shall be applied.

[16 June 2016]

5. The Cabinet shall issue the regulations referred to in Section 12, Paragraph three of this Law by 31 December 2016.

[16 June 2016]

The Law has been adopted by the Saeima on 13 January 1994.

President G. ULMANIS

Rīga, 26 January 1994

¹ The Parliament of the Republic of Latvia

Translation © 2022 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre)