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

On Land Commissions

1. For the co-ordination of work and ensuring of lawfulness of the land reform, Saeima shall establish the Central Land Commission of the Republic of Latvia (hereinafter - the Central Land Commission). For the examination of matters regarding the drawing up of land property and taking decisions, town councils shall establish a land commission of the relevant town and rural territory councils shall establish a land commission of the relevant rural territory.

In the administrative territories of towns in which there are also lands of rural areas, the relevant town council may also establish a land commission that performs the functions allocated to the rural territory land commission by this Law.

The land commissions shall operate according to land and other legislative enactments in force in the Republic of Latvia.

The land survey work in rural territories and towns shall be performed by the State Land Service or its licensed performers of work.

[20 November 1991; 27 April 1993; 5 August 1993; 28 July 1994; 21 September 1995; 12 June 1996]

2. The composition and tasks of a rural territory land commission:

2.1. a rural territory land commission shall include:

the chairperson of the land commission appointed by the rural territory council;

the chairperson of the rural territory council or his or her deputy;

a representative of the State Land Service;

a land surveyor who works permanently in the territory of the rural territory.

Invited specialists may also participate in rural territory land commission meetings in an advisory capacity. If there is a great amount of work, the rural territory council may establish a working group of invited specialists;

2.2. a rural territory land commission shall:

2.2.1. register, summarise, and analyse requests for land and submit its decision in issues regarding the division of the land fund to the head of the work related to the rural territory land survey for implementation;

2.2.2. within 10 days, inform the requester of land in writing of receipt of the request, indicating the registration date and number of the request;

2.2.3. review and correct a rural territory land survey project and submit it to the rural territory council for approval;

2.2.4. within its competence, settle land disputes;

2.2.5. provide an opinion on land ownership rights, take the decision on the compensation for land ownership and rights of use, and following the determination (measuring) of land boundaries and drawing up of the deed for determination of land boundaries and preparation of a land boundary plan shall take the decision on:

- the restoration of land ownership rights;

- the transfer of land into ownership in return for a payment and the determination of the amount of the fee;

2.2.6. review proposals for measures that are necessary for ensuring unsatisfied requests for land;

2.2.7. review proposals for further utilisation of non-requested land;

2.2.8. provide opinions on raw data for the calculation of land tax;

2.2.9. review proposals for utilisation of rural territory common land;

2.2.10. take the decision on the aims of use of land to be sold to legal persons or obtained at auction and the area of land to be used for entrepreneurial activities;

2.2.11. take the decision on the approval of the area of a land parcel and boundary plan if a request for corroboration for entering a building (structure) into the Land Register has been submitted prior to the entering of the land into the Land Register.

[22 May 1991; 27 April 1993; 28 July 1994; 21 September 1995; 12 June 1996]

2.¹ The composition and tasks of a town land commission:

2.¹ 1. the town land commission shall include:

the chairperson of the land commission appointed by the town council;

the chairperson of the town council or his or her deputy;

a representative of the State Land Service;

a land surveyor who shall work permanently in the territory of the town;

the town's chief architect (architect).

Those town councils that do not have their own chief architect (architect) may delegate the relevant functions to the chief regional architect. Invited specialists may also participate in town land commission meetings in an advisory capacity. If there is a great amount of work, the town council may establish a working group (groups) of invited specialists;

2.¹ 2. the town land commission shall:

2.¹ 2.1. within 10 days, inform the requester of land in writing of receipt of the request, indicating the registration date and number of the request;

2.¹ 2.2. summarise and analyse requests for land and submit its decision to the town council for the drawing up of a land survey project as well as provide an opinion on the land ownership or land use rights and shall take the decision on compensation for land ownership, but following the measuring of land boundaries and the preparation of a deed for measuring land boundaries and a plan of land boundaries shall take the decision:

- on the restoration of land ownership rights;

- on the acquisition of land into ownership in return for a payment and approval of the amount of the fee;

2.¹ 2.3. review and correct a land survey project in the composition of the general building plan for the town and submit this to the town council for approval;

2.¹ 2.4. within its competence, settle land disputes;

2.¹ 2.5. co-operate with the land commissions of neighbouring rural territories and neighbouring towns regarding matters relating to the suburban areas, green belt, and land for collective communications, transport, and linear constructions for communication;

2.¹ 2.6. review proposals for measures that are necessary for ensuring unsatisfied requests for land, also in compliance with the recommendations from the land commissions of neighbouring rural territories and neighbouring towns;

2.¹ 2.7. review proposals for further utilisation of non-requested land;

2.¹ 2.8. provide opinions on raw data for the calculation of land tax;

2.¹ 2.9. take the decision on the aims of use of land to be sold to legal persons or obtained at auction and the area of land to be used for entrepreneurial activities;

2.¹ 2.10. take the decision on the approval of the area of a land parcel and boundary plan if a request for corroboration for entering a building (structure) into the Land Register has been submitted prior to the entering of the land into the Land Register.

[20 November 1991; 27 April 1993; 28 July 1994; 21 September 1995; 12 June 1996]

3. [12 June 1996]

4. The composition and tasks of the Central Land Commission of the Republic of Latvia:

4.1. The Central Land Commission shall be composed of two members of the Saeima, one representative from the State Land Service, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, the Office of the Prosecutor General, the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments, and the Land Commission of the city of Rīga as well as a representative from the working group of the Central Land Commission. Following recommendations from the relevant authorities and organisations and with the agreement of the members of the commission, the composition of the commission shall be approved by the Saeima. Specialists from various sectors may be invited to the work of the commission with advisory voting rights as well as representatives from socio-political and public organisations.

4.2. The Central Land Commission of the Republic of Latvia:

4.2.1. shall co-ordinate the work of the town council and rural territory council land commissions and monitor the conformity of decisions taken with legislative enactments in force;

4.2.2. is entitled to provide obligatory instructions corresponding with legislative enactments to legal persons, local governments, and State authorities and receive the requested information from them within 14 days;

4.2.3. [27 April 1993];

4.2.4. [28 July 1994];

4.2.5. shall determine the deadlines for cadastral survey and land appraisals;

4.2.6. shall propose and monitor the development of programmes for the taking of measures that are necessary to ensure unsatisfied requests for land and further use of non-requested land;

4.2.7. [12 June 1996];

4.2.8. shall review the disputes associated with the land use rights, land use, and property boundaries that have not been settled by town and rural territory land commissions, shall take the decision on these disputes within one month and, if necessary, prepare proposals for the Saeima.

Decisions taken by the Central Land Commission regarding disputes that are associated with the land use rights, land use, and property boundaries may be appealed to a court;

4.2.9. shall monitor the development of programmes to ensure unsatisfied requests for land and further use of non-requested land;

4.2.10. shall take decisions on the transfer of land into ownership in return for a payment in the cases provided for in Section 16 of the law On Land Privatisation in Rural Areas;

4.2.11. shall take decisions on the restoration of land ownership rights and the transfer of land into ownership in return for a payment in the cases provided for in Section 21, Paragraph four of the law On Land Privatisation in Rural Areas;

4.2.12. shall review the submissions received within the deadline specified in Section 16 of the law On the Completion of Land Reform in Rural Areas regarding the granting of property compensation certificates and shall take the relevant decisions until 29 December 2006.

4.3. If a rural territory or town land commission fails to fulfil its obligations or takes decisions that are in conflict with land reform and other legislative enactments for land as well as Cabinet regulations, the Central Land Commission has the right to propose that the rural territory council (town council) review the matter regarding the conformity of the chairperson of the rural territory (town) land commission with the position. If a rural territory council (town council) repeatedly allows the previously specified breaches or does not enforce court judgments, the Central Land Commission has the right to submit a proposal to the Cabinet regarding the dismissal of the relevant council.

[20 November 1991; 15 January 1992; 27 April 1993; 5 August 1993; 4 November 1993; 28 July 1994; 21 September 1995; 12 June 1996; 25 November 1996; 18 May 2006; 16 January 2014; 14 November 2019]

5. Activities of the land commissions:

5.1. the Chairperson of the Central Land Commission of the Republic of Latvia shall be elected by the Saeima from among its members;

5.2. a land commission shall elect a deputy chairperson (deputies) and a commission secretary from among its members;

5.3. the meetings of a land commission shall be convened by the chairperson or his or her deputy at least once a month;

5.4. a land commission shall have a quorum if more than half of the members of the land commission participate therein, including the chairperson of the commission or his or her deputy. A decision shall be taken by a majority vote of the members of the commission who are present. In the event of a tied vote, the chairperson of the land commission or his or her deputy shall cast the deciding vote. The Central Land Commission is entitled to resolve land disputes if not less than seven members of the commission are present in its meeting, including the chairperson of the commission or his or her deputy;

5.5. the members of the commission, representatives of the interested land users, interested officials, and citizens shall be informed of the time of the meeting five days before the date of the meeting. If these persons have not appeared at the meeting, the commission shall resolve the matters to be reviewed without their presence. In cases of land disputes, prior to convening a meeting, the chairperson of the commission (deputy) shall, involving the councillors of the relevant council as well as the relevant specialists, verify the basis of a submission and prepare a draft opinion;

5.6. land commissions, in resolving matters of land division or land disputes, shall inform the interested land users and the inferior land commissions of their decisions in writing within five days following the taking of a decision.

[22 May 1991; 20 November 1991; 5 August 1993; 28 July 1994; 21 September1995; 12 June 1996]

6. A decision of a rural territory or town land commission on the land use rights, use of land, and property boundaries may be appealed by the interested persons to the rural territory council (town council) or the Central Land Commission within one month after the notification of the decision. The decision of a rural territory council (town council) as well as the Central Land Commission may be appealed to a court.

A decision of a rural territory (town) land commission on the land ownership rights, the amount of the payment (charges) and compensation may be appealed by the interested persons to the rural territory council (town council) within one month after the notification of the decision. The decision of a rural territory council (town council) may be appealed to a court.

The decision taken by a rural territory (town) land commission or the decision taken by the appeal procedures specified in Paragraphs one and two of this Section on the land property boundaries, the restoration of land ownership rights, the transfer of land into ownership in return for a payment (charge), determination of the amount of the payment (charge) and on the compensation for land property shall be the basic document for the registration of land property in the Cadastral Register and its corroboration in the Land Registers as well as for the opening of an account for land compensation certificates.

The decision of a land commission on the restoration of land ownership rights, on the transfer of land into ownership in return for a payment (charge), and on the determination of the amount of the payment (charge) as well as compensation for land property shall come into effect if it has not been appealed by the interested persons within 10 days after the notification of the decision.

[21 September 1995; 12 June 1996]

7. Minutes shall be taken regarding each meeting of a commission which shall be signed by all the members of the commission who are present and the invited specialists; each member of the commission and each invited specialist has the right to append to the minutes his or her individual opinion.

The minutes of land commission meetings shall be permanently kept at the relevant:

rural territory council or town council;

the Central Land Commission of the Republic of Latvia.

[22 May 1991; 20 November 1991; 27 April 1993; 5 August 1993; 28 July 1994; 21 September1995; 12 June 1996]

8. The chairpersons of land commissions, their deputies, and secretaries shall be officials who are responsible for the fulfilment of their duties in accordance with the legislative enactments in force.

[22 May 1991]

9. Remuneration and payment of social taxes for the chairpersons of rural territory and town land commissions shall be financed from the State basic budget but the remaining financing of the commissions shall be covered from local government budgets. The expenditures for the maintenance of the Central Land Commission shall be covered from the State basic budget.

[25 November 1996]

10. The Central Land Commission of the Republic of Latvia shall be a legal person that has a current account in a bank and a seal.

The decisions of rural territory and town land commissions shall be signed by the chairperson of the relevant land commission.

[4 November 1993; 21 September 1995; 12 July 1996; 16 January 2014]

11. Rural territory and town land commissions shall terminate their activities within two months following the announcement of the completion of the land reform in the territory of the relevant local government or in the entire State. Within this period, rural territory and town land commissions shall hand over their archives to the relevant regional department of the State Land Service. Documentation shall be arranged according to archive regulations.

[14 November 2019]

[25 November 1996; 14 November 2019]

Transitional Provisions

1. From 1 January 1997 until 31 July 2009, the financing of town land commissions from the State basic budget and in accordance with Section 9 of this Law shall be performed by the State Land Service. The State Land Service shall, by 31 July 2009, terminate employment relationship with the chairpersons of town land commissions.

[25 November 1996; 12 June 2009]

2. If a municipality government has commenced its operation and there is a town in the municipality, the existing town land commission shall continue its work until the land reform is completed in the relevant municipality town in accordance with the procedures specified in laws and regulations and the respective decisions of the land commission shall be henceforth appealed to the municipality government.

[17 July 2008]

3. After 1 July 2009, the obligations of the town local government, town council, and town land commission laid down in this Law shall be continued to be performed by the relevant republic town government, republic town council, and republic town land commission until the completion of land reform.

[17 July 2008]

4. In 2009, the remuneration (salary, bonuses, etc.) laid down in accordance with this Law shall be determined in conformity with the law On Remuneration of Officials and Employees of State and Local Government Authorities in 2009.

[12 December 2008]

5. The Central Land Commission shall terminate its operation on 30 June 2021. The Central Land Commission shall arrange its archive documentation which is related to the land reform according to the requirements of laws and regulations in the field of document management and archives and hand it over to the State Land Service until 1 June 2021.

[14 November 2019]

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, 10 July 1990

Translation © 2023 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre)