On 23 January, President Edgars Rinkēvičs referred back to the Saeima for a second review the law “Amendments to the Law on Compensation for Damage Caused in Criminal Proceedings and Administrative Offence Proceedings”, which was adopted by the Saeima on 15 January 2026.
“Having reviewed the text of the Law, the preparatory materials, and the views expressed at the meeting dedicated to examining the request for reconsideration, it is commendable that the legislator has clearly provided in the Law for the right of an affected property owner to receive compensation for damage caused in criminal proceedings within a reasonable time. In this way, the regulation is aimed at the effective implementation of the right to compensation for damage provided for in the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia. (..) At the same time, a dispute remains as to what constitutes the legal basis for compensation for damage. Namely, at what point does the affected property owner acquire the right to compensation for damage – when the decision lifting the seizure of property owned or possessed by that person enters into force, or when the final decision in the criminal proceedings, in which the seizure of that private person’s property was applied, enters into force. The regulation currently included in the Law directly affirms the right of a property owner affected in criminal proceedings to receive compensation for damage within a reasonable time, however, at the same time it also creates new situations of legal uncertainty,” the President writes in his letter to the Speaker of the Saeima, Daiga Mieriņa.
The President expresses the view that there is a need for clear legal regulation that not only ensures the right of the affected property owner to compensation for damage within a reasonable time, but also, as far as possible, excludes situations in which compensation is paid for the lifting of a seizure on property that is later recognised in criminal proceedings as criminally acquired. The regulation currently proposed by the Law does not ensure this.
“If the legal basis for compensation for damage caused to an affected property owner is a decision that has entered into force lifting the seizure of property owned or possessed by that person prior the final settlement of criminal legal relations, a clear and precise legal mechanism is required to recover the compensation paid out in cases where that property is later nonetheless recognised in criminal proceedings as criminally acquired. Moreover, the legal norm protecting the affected property owner’s right to compensation must be sufficiently clear to eliminate doubts as to its interpretation, so that the state would be unable to recover the compensation paid in such cases. It is also necessary to ascertain whether the rights of the affected property owner under other laws are sufficient to enable that person to properly protect their rights, including ensuring that the affected property owner has access, within criminal proceedings, to the information necessary for the protection of their rights,” the President's letter states.
The President points out that, while comprehensively protecting the public interest in a fair settlement of criminal legal relations as a whole, the legislator must also find a balance between the individual right, enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia, to receive compensation for damage within a reasonable time, and the need to establish a fair and generally applicable solution. Such a solution could, for example, provide that, as a general rule, the affected property owner may claim compensation for damage after the final decision in the criminal proceedings has entered into force, while also allowing for compensation to be paid immediately after the lifting of the seizure if the person directing the proceedings has become convinced that the seized property was not criminally acquired or connected to a criminal offence.
Pursuant to Article 71 of the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia, the President calls on the Saeima to once again review the law “Amendments to the Law on Compensation for Damage Caused in Criminal Proceedings and Administrative Offence Proceedings”, adopted by Parliament on 15 January 2026, and to improve the solution for the protection of the rights of affected property owners.
Attached is President Edgars Rinkēvičs' letter No. 20 of 23 January 2026 regarding the referral of the law “Amendments to the Law on Compensation for Damage Caused in Criminal Proceedings and Administrative Offence Proceedings” for a second review