Amendments to the Civil Procedure Law provide that as of 1 April this year, the payment of security deposit for submitting any ancillary complaint in a civil case, including one filed before the Supreme Court (Senate), will constitute EUR 80 instead of the previous EUR 70. This means that if the ancillary complaint is lodged after 31 March, the new amount of the security deposit is payable irrespective of when the term for appealing against the decision in question commenced.

The Civil Procedure Law has also been amended extensively in relation to the determination of the amount of state fees for filing a claim application or other type of application in court. The procedure has been made simpler and clearer, state fees are now fixed, the complex calculation of fee percentage has been abandoned, the litigation costs are partly included in the amount of state fees. It has also been clarified that when claim applications are filed in court, the state fee is payable for each individual claim contained in the claim application. In addition, the amount of certain fees has changed.

The minimum rate of the state fee for filing the claim application in court is now set at EUR 80 for a claim of financial nature up to EUR 1 000 (the maximum rate is EUR 25 000 for a claim of financial nature where the amount of the claim exceeds EUR 750 000), and EUR 300 for claims of financial nature which do not need to be assessed and for claims of non-financial nature. This means that with the entry into force of this amendment to the Civil Procedure Law, the state fee of EUR 300 is payable for filing a claim for the dissolution of joint property ownership, and consequently the decision of the General Meeting of Senators of the Senate’s Department of Civil Cases of 28 January 2020 "State fee for filing a claim for the dissolution of joint property ownership", which stated that a state fee of EUR 70 is payable for the claim for the dissolution of joint property ownership, should no longer be taken into account with regard to the amount of the fee. At the same time, the decision mentioned below should be taken into account in determining the type of such claim, namely that the claim for termination of joint property ownership should be recognized as a claim of financial nature that does not need to be assessed.

The extensive amendments to the Civil Procedure Law that have been in force since 1 April provide for additional significant changes: interim protection against violence is made more effective and a fairer distribution of legal costs in disputes arising out of family law is provided. The rules of procedure on enforcement by notice have also been improved. The notice is now deemed to have been served on a debtor if it is sent to the debtor's official electronic address or, if this is not possible, it is sent to the debtor by registered mail.

 

Information prepared by

Rasma Zvejniece, Head of the Division of Communication of the Supreme Court

E-mail: rasma.zvejniece@at.gov.lv, telephone: +371 67020396, +371 28652211