The Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia has adopted a law:

On the Land Reform in the Rural Areas of the Republic of Latvia

Chapter One
General Provisions

Section 1. Objective of the Land Reform

The objective of the land reform is to reorganise the legal, social, and economic relationships of land property and the use of land in the countryside during a gradual privatisation in order to promote the renewal of the traditional rural lifestyle of Latvia, to ensure the economic use and protection of natural and other resources, preservation and raising of soil fertility, increase of qualitative agricultural product production.

Section 2. Tasks of the Land Reform

(1) To establish legal grounds for the protection of the rights of users and owners of land.

(2) To develop economic and territorial conditions for the economic use and protection of land and other natural resources.

(3) To grant land for use to natural and legal persons in return for payment but to the citizens of the Republic of Latvia who shall express such a wish to restore land ownership rights or to transfer land into ownership without or with remuneration in accordance with the procedures prescribed by law.

(4) To ensure the formation of farms¹ and home farms² in conformity with a rational territorial plan.

(5) To retain such land area to the present land users without which it is impossible to use the buildings, structures, and production facilities of public necessity for the intended purposes.

(6) To create pre-conditions for further consistency of land use area and external boundaries as well as for the preservation and restoration of farmsteads.

(7) To determine the size of the sections of land to be granted for non-agricultural purposes in accordance with the intended norms or project documentation.

Section 3. Basic Provisions of the Land Reform

(1) The land reform shall cover all the land of the Republic's rural areas and the users thereof.

(2) The land reform shall be performed integrating it with other elements of agricultural reform.

(3) On the ground of equal rights, the land use forms of natural and legal persons or the property of citizens of the Republic of Latvia to land may exist concurrently.

(4) The land shall be granted for permanent use to natural persons with a transition of rights to other persons or for permanent use to legal persons upon request thereof.

(5) The citizens of the Republic of Latvia have the right to freely choose and to exercise ownership rights to land, forms of land use and economic organisation, conforming to the interests and possibilities thereof.

(6) The rights of the legal persons registered in Latvia to acquire land into ownership are regulated by other laws.

[22 January 1992; 10 November 1994]

Section 4. Procedures for the Performance of the Land Reform

(1) The land reform shall be performed in two rounds: the first round from 1990 to 1996, the second round within a period of 10 to 15 years commencing from 1 January 1993.

(2) Within the scope of the first round of land reform, i.e. until 20 June 1991, the former land owners or their heirs, all present land users and new land requesters shall submit the requests for the allocation of land for use in rural areas. The new land requesters shall indicate the time period from which they wish to commence the use of land but it shall not be later than 1 November 1996. After examination of the land requests, a land survey project shall be compiled for each rural territory according to which the decisions on the allocation of land for permanent use shall be taken and the land boundaries on site shall be determined.

(3) The following shall be performed during the second round of land reform:

- the restoration of land ownership rights or transfer of land into ownership without remuneration or with remuneration to the citizens of the Republic of Latvia;

- the inventory of the land undistributed during the first round of the land reform, the development and implementation of programmes for the acquisition thereof;

- the survey of boundaries and territory of the granted land and preparation of plans of land use units;

- the cadastral survey of land and other natural resources and evaluation of immovable property.

(4) The granting of land for use and termination of the rights of use of land during the second round of the reform shall be performed according to general procedures in conformity with the law of the Republic of Latvia On Land Use and Land Survey and other legislative acts related to land.

[22 January 1992]

Section 5. Land Commissions

The co-ordination of work and ensuring of the lawfulness of the land reform shall be performed, in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Latvia On Land Commissions, by the Land Commission of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia and land commissions of districts, rural territories as well as the land commissions of such villages and towns under the administrative jurisdiction of which is also land of rural areas³.

Section 6. Legal Grounds for the Land Reform

The land reform shall be performed in compliance with this Law and the following laws in force in the Republic of Latvia:

- law On Land Use and Land Survey;

- law on environmental protection;

- law on land commissions and

by-laws regarding the implementation of the land reform as well as other legal acts.

[22 January 1992]

Chapter Two
Submission and Examination of the Requests for Granting Land

Section 7. Land Requesters

(1) Citizens and residents of legal age of the Republic of Latvia as well as the former land owners of the Republic of Latvia residing abroad (according to the situation on 21 July 1940) or their heirs have the right to submit a request for the allocation of land for permanent use for the maintenance, restoration of farms or home farms or for the formation of new ones, for the maintenance or construction of residential houses, summer cottages, the maintenance of individual orchards or formation thereof or for other purposes. If land has been also requested in other rural territories, the place of submission of such requests, the aim of use and area of land shall be indicated in the application.

(2) The executive committees of the rural territory or district Councils of People's Deputies shall submit land requests for the purpose of local government and individual subsidiary farms.⁴

(3) Legal persons shall submit requests for the allocation of land for permanent use for the purpose of their activities.

Section 8. Content and Justification of the Request

(1) Within the request for the allocation of land for permanent use, the area of land under request and the aim of its use shall be indicated in conformity with Section 12 of this Law.

(2) The justification of the size of the land area and economic activities as well as a site plan or scheme of the land shall be appended to the request.

Section 9. Deadline and Place for the Submission of the Land Request

(1) The requests for the allocation of land for permanent use shall be submitted, until 20 June 1991, to the Council of People's Deputies of such rural territory in the territory of which the section of land under request is located.

(2) Any other previously announced deadlines for submission of a land request shall be harmonised with the provisions of this Law.

Section 10. Legal Consequences of Non-compliance with the Land Request Deadline

Former land owners or their heirs, present land users or the new land requesters who have not requested land for use until the time period specified in Section 9 of this Law shall lose the priority specified in Section 12 of this Law and may receive land for use according to general procedures.

Section 11. Land Term Requests

(1) The land requesters referred to in Section 7 of this Law may submit a request for the allocation of land for use, indicating a time period from which they wish to commence the use of the land but it shall not be later than 1 November 1996.

(2) If the land requester wishes to receive the land in several rounds, the initial area of the requested section of land, areas of sections of the land to be requested in the next rounds, and preferable time periods for allocation shall be indicated in the application.

Section 12. Order for Satisfaction of Land Use Requests

(1) Former land owners (according to the situation on 21 July 1940) or their heirs have the priority of receiving the land for use to the whole previously owned area regardless of the fact whether the land has or has not been allocated to them in perpetuity or permanent use at the moment of coming into force of this Law, except for the cases when the following is legally present on the land area previously owned by them or on a part thereof:

- farms or home farms have been established if within the boundaries thereof there are no buildings owned by the former owners of this land;

- residential houses have been purchased or built or the construction thereof has been commenced, retaining land for a home farm to the owners of such houses;

- such nature protection sites of national significance have been established the land of which has been transferred for use to nature protection institutions and other national specially protected nature objects (or the parts thereof) the list of which shall be approved by the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia at the request of the Environmental Protection Committee of the Republic of Latvia;

- historical, cultural, and archaeological monuments have been located;

- deposits of mineral resources of industrial significance the list of which shall be approved by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia;

- the land requested by local governments;

- the land necessary for selection, experiments, scientific research, and education;

- such structures, buildings or orchards of industrial and public significance owned by natural or legal persons for the use of which a minimum land area shall be kept in accordance with building projects and other agricultural enactments in force if the former land owners or their heirs as well as natural persons who wish to establish new farms do not, upon mutual agreement, compensate owners the value of such immovable property.

If it is not possible to assign for use the land previously owned by the former owners (according to the situation on 21 July 1940) or their heirs or a part of it due to the abovementioned exceptions, then, with their consent, they shall be granted an equivalent land area within the boundaries of a rural territory or district.

(2) After satisfaction of the requests of former land owners (according to the situation on 21 July 1940) or their heirs and satisfaction of the requests received in the exceptional cases referred to in Clause 1 of this Section, the land shall be allocated for use in the following order:

1) for the enlargement of the existing farms and home farms;

2) for the establishment of new farms and home farms if a residential house and production buildings of the land requester are located or the construction thereof has been commenced on the section of land under request;

3) for the establishment of new farms and home farms if there is not a residential house owned by the land requester on the section of land under request, the preference shall be given to the inhabitants of that rural territory;

4) for the construction of individual residential houses;

5) for the other needs of inhabitants;

6) to legal persons - the land which is in their permanent use at the moment of coming into force of this Law;

7) to legal persons - the land which is being requested for permanent use anew.

[25 February 1992]

Section 13. Further Procedures for the Examination of Unsatisfied Land Requests

(1) If it is not possible to satisfy all land requests for granting land in the territory of the relevant rural territory, the rural territory land commission shall, with the consent of the requesters, submit the unsatisfied requests to a district land commission.

(2) The district land commission shall, with the consent of the land requesters, send the requests to other rural territories the territory of which includes free land.

(3) The Land Commission of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia shall compile the unsatisfied requests for the allocation of land in the territory of the district and after co-ordination with the land requesters shall send to the districts the territory of which includes free land, or organise the development of programmes for the acquisition of areas necessary for the satisfaction of requests.

Section 14. Further Use of Non-requested Land

(1) The land not requested during the first round of the land reform shall remain under the supervision of the Councils of People's Deputies of the relevant rural territories.

(2) The State Land Service shall perform the inventory of such land and shall, jointly with the local Councils of People's Deputies, develop programmes for the acquisition and further use thereof.

[27 April 1993]

Section 15. Taxation of Term Request Sections of Land with a State Fee

(1) A single State fee of the following amount shall be applied to the natural and legal persons for whom the land is reserved with an indicated term for commencement of use of land:

- up to 1 year, in the amount of 30 % of the annual land tax;

- for 2 years, in the amount of 55 % of the annual land tax;

- for 3 years, in the amount of 75 % of the annual land tax;

- for 4 years, in the amount of 90 % of the annual land tax;

- for 5 years, in the amount of 100 % of the annual land tax.

(2) Provisions of this Section shall not apply to the former land owners (according to the situation of 21 July 1940) or their heirs.

Chapter Three
Land Survey Work

Section 16. Procedures for Development, Co-ordination, and Approval of Rural Territory Land Survey Projects

(1) Rural territory land survey projects shall be developed by the State Land Service in co-ordination with the Councils of People's Deputies of rural territories.

(2) The rural territory land survey projects shall meet the requirements specified in this Law and in the by-laws regarding implementation of the land reform in the Republic of Latvia as well as in the law of the Republic of Latvia On Land Use and Land Survey.

(3) Development of rural territory land survey projects shall be completed until 31 January 1992. The schedule for project development within a district shall be jointly compiled by the district land commission and the State Land Service and submitted to the Land Commission of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia.

(4) The rural territory land survey project shall be put out for public display at least two weeks prior to the examination thereof at the rural territory land commission. The beginning of the display shall be duly announced in a district newspaper.

(5) If land users, land requesters, and inhabitants of the rural territory have objections to particular project solutions, they shall submit them to the rural territory land commission in writing within a period of 10 days after expiration of the project display term.

(6) The rural territory land survey project shall be examined by the rural territory land commission, and after co-ordination with the rural territory land commission it shall be approved by the Council of People's Deputies of the rural territory.

[22 January 1992; 27 April 1993]

Section 17. Allocation of Land for Use

(1) Decisions on the granting of land to land users shall be taken by the Council of People's Deputies of the rural territory on the basis of the approved rural territory land survey project, but in undisputed cases also on the basis of the primary land survey project. In particular cases provided for in the law of the Republic of Latvia On Land Use and Land Survey, the decisions on the granting of land may be also taken by other State and administration authorities.

(2) The sections of land wherein national specially protected nature objects, cultural, historical, and archaeological monuments are located shall be allocated for use only on condition that legislative enactments regulating the legal regime of such objects shall be complied with. The relevant State authority shall conclude an agreement regarding it with the land user.

(3) The land may be allocated to a natural person for the establishment of one farm only.

(4) The decisions on the granting of land shall include only those areas and boundaries of sections of land which are intended for immediate use.

(5) In cases of land term requests, the area and boundaries of land to be reserved for satisfying such requests shall be indicated in the decisions.

(6) The land of a term request shall be transferred to a former or another land user for limited use until the time of expiration of the request.

[25 September 1991; 22 January 1992]

Section 18. Allocation of the Granted Land

(1) Land users shall be familiarised with the boundaries of land granted during the first round of the land reform within a period of two months after taking the decision on granting the land.

(2) The establishment of boundaries of the granted land, affirming the boundaries of the established land parcels with boundary marks and compiling acts of determination of boundaries shall be performed by persons certified in land cadastral surveying.

[27 April 1993; 28 September 2006]

Section 19. Order and Terms for Delimitation of the Granted Land

The order for delimitation of the granted land shall be specified by rural territory land commissions but terms by the Land Commission of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia.

Section 20. Cadastral Survey of Land and other Natural Resources and Evaluation of Immovable Property

The existing land evaluation data shall be used during the first round of land reform, but, during the second round of land reform, the cadastral survey of land and other natural resources as well as the evaluation of buildings, structures, and other objects on the granted land shall be performed in compliance with the by-laws regarding cadastral survey of natural resources and evaluation of immovable property.

Section 21. Development, Registration, and Issuance of a Land Use Plan

When the granted land has been delimited and surveyed, a person certified in land cadastral survey shall prepare a land boundary plan and, having registered it in the State Immovable Property Cadastre Information System, shall issue such plan to the land user.

[28 September 2006]

Section 22. Financial and Material Provisions for Land Reform Work

(1) The Cabinet shall determine the procedures for and order of the examination of applications and performance of land cadastral survey from the State budget funds if it is related to the restoration of land ownership rights or compensation of a land property by land of an equivalent value for the former land owners who owned a land property in the Republic of Latvia on 21 July 1940 and their surviving spouses, children and grandchildren, politically repressed persons, and persons with Group I disability. The land cadastral survey shall be performed from the State budget funds if it is related to the restoration of land ownership rights or compensation of a land property by land of an equivalent value only within such administrative territory in which the former land properties are located.

(2) The State Land Service shall take decisions on land cadastral survey which is to be performed from the State budget funds and shall organise the land cadastral survey works to be performed from the State budget funds.

[14 June 2007; 22 September 2011 / The second sentence of Paragraph one, insofar as it applies to the persons the ownership rights of whom have been restored by granting land of an equivalent value in another administrative territory due to circumstances independent of the will of the person has been declared null and void as of 1 December 2011, but insofar as it applies to the persons the ownership rights of whom have been restored by granting land of an equivalent value in another administrative territory due to circumstances independent of the will of the person and for whom such land has not yet been surveyed because they have initiated legal proceedings, the second sentence of Paragraph one has been declared null and void from the moment of adoption by judgment of the Constitutional Court of 28 November 2011. The new wording of Paragraph two shall come into force on 1 January 2012. See Paragraph 3 of the Transitional Provisions]

Section 23. Performers of Land Reform Work

The land reform work shall be performed by the State Land Service and persons certified in land survey and land cadastral survey according to the competence in cooperation with the local governments.

[28 September 2006]

Chapter Four
General Provisions for the Restoration of Land Ownership Rights or the Transfer of Land into Ownership of Citizens

[27 April 1993]

Transitional Provisions

[14 June 2007]

1. The Cabinet shall, by 1 October 2007, issue the regulations referred to in Section 22, Paragraph one of this Law.

2. Until the day of coming into force of the Cabinet regulations referred to in Section 22 of this Law, but not later than until 30 April 2007, Cabinet Regulation No. 16 of 26 October 1993, Regarding Procedures for Financing Land Reform and Land Privatisation Works, shall be in force insofar as it is not in contradiction to this Law.

3. Amendment to Section 22, Paragraph three of this Law shall come into force on 1 January 2012.

[22 September 2011]

4. Valsts sabiedrība ar ierobežotu atbildību "Latvijas Valsts mērnieks" [State limited liability company Latvian State Land Surveyor] shall complete the commenced land cadastral survey works which are to be performed from the State budget funds until 1 January 2012. If, however, any of the abovementioned works are not completed within this time period, the State limited liability company Latvian State Land Surveyor shall transfer to the State Land Service the matters related to these works and the funds received for the performance thereof.

[22 September 2011]

5. The State limited liability company Latvian State Land Surveyor shall, by 1 February 2012, transfer to the State Land Service all the documentation accumulated in respect of the land cadastral survey performed from the State budget funds.

[22 September 2011]

Chairperson of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia A. Gorbunovs

Secretary of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia I. Daudišs

Rīga, 21 November 1990

¹ Farms shall mean agricultural holdings the land users (owners) of which have been granted the land by the decision of local government for the development or maintenance of farms.

² Home farms shall mean agricultural holdings in the ownership of the land user (owner) of which there is a residential house or structures necessary for the work of a craftsman, and these holdings are of a subsidiary farm character. This definition shall be also applied to the newly established home farms in which the abovementioned structures are not yet present but which shall be built within the time period specified in the document of granting of land.

³ As the People's Deputy Councils and the land commissions of villages and towns thereof under the administrative jurisdiction of which is also land of rural areas perform the same functions in implementation of the land reform as the People's Deputy Councils of rural territories and the land commissions thereof, the words "rural territory" shall hereinafter in this Law also refer to the villages and towns under the jurisdiction of which also lies the land of rural areas.

⁴ Individual subsidiary farms shall mean agricultural holdings (including vegetable gardens and service land) which are granted for limited use on the basis of a rental contract by local governments or other legal persons from their land to the citizens of the Republic of Latvia who live in State or co-operative apartments as well as in personal apartments or houses if they do not use land usable for agriculture on a permanent basis or there is not enough of it, and the basic occupation of at least one family member able to work takes place outside the subsidiary farm.

Translation © 2023 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre)