The punishment for violence against family members will become more severe. Also, increased penalties for a range of other violent crimes as well as cruelty to animals have been adopted. This is provided for by the amendments to the Criminal Law adopted by the Saeima on Thursday, 6 June.
Cruel or violent treatment of a person with whom the perpetrator is in the first or second degree of kinship, or of a spouse, former spouse, if physical or mental suffering has been caused thereby to the abovementioned person, may be punished with deprivation of liberty for a period of up to three years, temporary deprivation of liberty or probationary supervision. Such a penalty may also be imposed if the perpetrator has or has had a permanent intimate relationship with the victim or shares a (single) household with him or her.
“Domestic violence causing not only physical but also psychological suffering, is a major problem. On 1 May, the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating domestic violence entered into force in our country. The amendments to the Criminal Law are one of the practical tools to protect the population of our country from violence,” says Andrejs Judins, Chair of the Legal Affairs Committee responsible for the progress of the draft law in the Saeima.
The amendments increase the sentence for a number of other violent offences, including intentional bodily injury, threats of murder or serious bodily injury, with reasonable grounds to fear that the threat may be carried out, stalking, unlawful deprivation of liberty, abduction, and others. Community service or monetary fines will no longer be sentenced in such cases.
For encouraging or assisting suicide or attempted suicide, cruel treatment of the victim or systematically degrading a person’s dignity, deprivation of liberty for a period of up to five years may be applied instead of the previous sentence of three years. However, if the injured person has been in material or other dependence from the perpetrator – for a period of up to seven years (instead of previous five), excluding the possibility of applying temporary deprivation of liberty, probationary supervision or community service.
Likewise, the amendments increase punishment for animal cruelty. Such criminal offences, as a result of which an animal has died or been mutilated, may be subject to deprivation of liberty for a period of up to five years (previously three years), temporary deprivation of liberty or probationary supervision, with the deprivation of the right to keep animals of specific or all species for a period of up to five years (previously three years). The changes were based on a collective application signed by 31 000 citizens entitled “Real prison sentences for animal torturers and murderers’.
The amendments also aim to eliminate the possibility of applying community service as a punishment for driving under the influence of alcohol, narcotic, psychotropic, toxic or other intoxicating substances. It will also not be possible to apply community service for refusing test for intoxicating substances or leaving the scene of the accident.
For the use of the identity of another person, if substantial harm has been caused thereby to the state, local government or person whose identity has been used, or if it has been committed for the purpose of revenge, greed or blackmail, the punishment will be deprivation of liberty for a period of up to one year, temporary deprivation of liberty, community service, or a fine. In turn, if it is carried out in conjunction with taking the Latvian language proficiency test or other knowledge test prescribed by the Citizenship Law, in order to create an opportunity for a person to acquire Latvian citizenship by naturalisation procedure, the punishment will be deprivation of liberty for up to two years instead of the current one year sentence.
Saeima Press Service