The President of the Supreme Court has recognized that there is no reason to satisfy the request of the Riga Regional Court's judicial panel to convene a general meeting of senators of the Senate Department of Criminal Cases to discuss the issue of whether a person against whom criminal prosecution has been initiated prior to his/her election as a member of the Saeima (parliament) and who became a member of the Saeima during the trial of the case has the immunity from criminal proceedings provided for a Saeima member.

In response to the application of the Collegium of the Riga Regional Court, the President of the Supreme Court states that the Saeima has already examined the applications of several courts and has given consent to continue the trial in criminal cases in which the members of the Saeima are the accused persons. In practice and according to doctrine, so far, no disagreements have been found regarding the understanding of the immunity from criminal proceedings of a member of the Saeima.

Moreover, the application did not indicate specific circumstances that would attest for a non-uniform practice in the application of Sections 29 and 30 of the Constitution, but in fact the application requested to decide on a necessary court decision during the trial of a specific criminal case and to establish how the court should act in the actual situation.

Article 491 of the Law on Judicial Power stipulates that the General Meeting of Senators of the Senate Department is a collegial body convened by the President of the Supreme Court aiming to discuss topical legal issues in order to ensure uniformity in the application of legal norms.

 

Information prepared by

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

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