Since the 11th Saeima convened, the Presidium has received submissions from 63 MPs renouncing the use of hard copies of documents related to plenary sittings. A symbolic green spruce is glued on their file boxes.
Press releases
Lībiņa-Egnere: Initiation of referendums on draft laws should not be used for probing public opinion (23.07.2012.)
It is noteworthy that currently 10,000 citizens, including youths who have reached the age of 16, can introduce in the agenda of the Saeima any matter that has to be reviewed according to legislative procedure; therefore, referendums on draft laws should no longer be regarded as referendums for probing public opinion, emphasised Deputy Speaker Inese Lībiņa-Egnere on 20 July at the conference The Arithmetic of People’s Will: Elections and Referendums in Latvia.
Ilmārs Latkovskis: Understanding among Latvian soldiers would be a good sign for Latvia’s future (20.07.2012.)
“To reach understanding and reconciliation among Latvian soldiers would be a good sign for Latvia’s future. However, there are attempts to hinder this process,” said Ilmārs Latkovskis, Chairman of the Social Cohesion Committee of the Saeima, after meeting with President Andris Bērziņš.
On Wednesday, 18 July, members of the Citizenship Law Amendments Subcommittee of the Saeima reviewed amendments to the Citizenship Law and agreed on enabling Latvian expatriates to acquire dual citizenship, Latvians in exile and their descendants to retain their citizenship, and ethnic Latvians and Livs permanently residing outside Latvia to be granted citizenship.
European Affairs Committee and NGOs agree on a cooperation mechanism for negotiations on EU cohesion funds and direct payments (16.07.2012.)
The European Affairs Committee of the Saeima and representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) will continue close cooperation and undertake specific measures to coordinate their positions in the decisive phase of negotiations on distributing European Union’s (EU) Multiannual Financial Framework for 2014-2020, with special emphasis on cohesion funds and direct payments both of which have been defined as Latvia’s priority matters. This was the common agreement reached between the members of the European Affairs Committee and representatives of NGOs, who met on Friday, 13 July, in the Saeima.
On the 93rd anniversary of the establishing of the Latvian army, I would like to thank each Latvian soldier who enables us to feel safe and protected today. On this day I would especially like to commemorate and pay my deepest respect to those soldiers who fought for Latvia’s independence and freedom at historic moments crucial for our country. The security of our country is unimaginable without the Latvian National Armed Forces.
In negotiations on the new multiannual financial framework of the European Union (EU), some progress has been achieved in the areas which Latvia considers as priorities, including cohesion financing for the period of 2014 – 2020. However, in the further negotiation process Latvia has to continue actively defending its interests in areas crucial to our country. Members of the European Affairs Committee of the Saeima arrived at this conclusion on Friday, 6 July, after hearing a report by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the EU multiannual financial framework negotiations.
Saeima appoints Jānis Bordāns as the Minister of Justice (06.07.2012.)
On Thursday, 5 July, the Saeima held an extraordinary sitting in which Jānis Bordāns was appointed as the Minister of Justice.
Mandate Committee assigns the Ministry of Justice to study other countries’ experience in expelling MPs (06.07.2012.)
On Wednesday, 4 July the Mandate, Ethics and Submissions Committee of the Saeima commenced its work on the collective submission “Responsibility for breaching the Saeima members’ oath”, and assigned the Ministry of Justice to provide information on the domestic practice in cases where judges or employees of the State Audit Office breach their oath of office.
Saeima conceptually supports amendments to the Commercial Law which will restrict illegal takeovers of businesses (06.07.2012.)
On Thursday, 5 July, the Saeima in the first reading gave conceptual support for the Draft Law on the Amendments to the Commercial Law, which stipulates that in case of changes in a capital company’s composition, a notarised signature will be necessary. The amendments set out specific cases when signatures will need to be certified by a sworn or notary public or when documents will need to be signed with a secure electronic signature. The Draft Law stipulates that signatures in a capital company’s application will need to be notarised when submitting to the Enterprise Register (ER) significant changes, for example, in the composition of the company’s council, board of directors or liquidator.