On Thursday, 20 January, the Saeima adopted in the third reading amendments to the Law on Police. The amendments stipulate that the police may take a decision to separate persons posing a threat from persons in need of protection without a written application of the latter.

Juris Rancāns, Chair of the Defence, Internal Affairs and Corruption Prevention Committee of the Saeima, which is responsible for the progress of the Draft Law, had previously stressed: “We must prevent situations where the police are unable to appropriately respond to violence, especially domestic violence, for an extended period of time, and the situation results in, for instance, murder.”

According to the summary of the Draft Law, the amendments will apply to cases presenting an immediate threat that the person who is at a dwelling or nearby can inflict harm on the life, freedom, or health of a person in need of protection.

Police officers were previously only able to take a decision on separation on the basis of a written application of a person in need of protection.

The amendments were necessary to prevent cases when there is an immediate risk of violence, but police officers do not have the authority to separate the person who poses a threat, because the person in need of protection refuses to submit an application needed to take a decision on separation.

The amendments also expand on the range of signs relevant to the prevention of discrimination in the work of the police. As stated by the authors of the proposal at the Ministry of the Interior, the amendments were necessary because the current scope of the signs of discrimination that may cause unfair treatment is more narrow than the scope enshrined in the Constitution of Latvia, and it does not include all of the possible types of discrimination, including discrimination due to sexual orientation and gender identity.

Saeima Press Service