On Thursday, 2 February, the Saeima adopted in the third and final reading amendments to the State Ensured Legal Aid Law, which provide that henceforth Latvian nationals living abroad will be able to obtain state funded legal assistance in solving legal disputes abroad pertaining to child custody rights (temporary or permanent revocation). 

On Thursday, 2 February, the Saeima ratified the Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, aimed at strengthening the global movement to counter climate change. 

On Wednesday, 1 February, Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima, met at the Saeima with Marek Kuchciński, Speaker of the Polish Sejm, who, accompanied by a delegation, is in Latvia on an official visit. Speaker Mūrniece noted that defence and security issues are at the heart of the cooperation between Latvia and Poland, that the two countries are close allies, and that Poland is one of Latvia’s most important partners within NATO.

On Thursday, 19 January, the Saeima adopted Air Passenger Data Law in the final reading. The law creates a legal framework for the establishment of Passenger Name Record (PNR).

On Thursday, 12 January, Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima, met with Saulius Skvernelis, the newly appointed Prime Minister of Lithuania, for whom Latvia is the first foreign visit in his office. Speaker Mūrniece emphasised that Latvia and Lithuania have always been close partners, but mutual support and coordinated action is even more important now in light of unprecedented geopolitical challenges.

On Thursday, 12 January, the Saeima adopted in the final reading amendments to the Law on the State Border; they provide that, with the aim of strengthening border security and facilitating the work of border guards, rivers along the Eastern border have now been included in the state border zone.

On Thursday, 22 December, the Saeima submitted for examination to the Citizenship, Migration and Social Cohesion Committee a draft decision on granting citizenship to the world renowned dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov based on his exceptional merits on behalf of Latvia. 

On Thursday, 22 December, the Saeima adopted in the third and final reading a law establishing stricter supervision of the work of insolvency administrators, as well as introducing free-market principles in the legal protection process. 

On Tuesday, 20 December, the Saeima adopted in the final reading the fast-track amendments to the Micro-enterprise Tax Law and the Law on State Social Insurance, according to which as of 1 January 2017 the micro-enterprise tax rate is set at 15% of turnover and the introduction of the proposed minimum social insurance contributions is called off. 

Latvia is ready for a close cooperation as Estonia will become the presiding country both in the Council of the European Union (EU) and in the Baltic region next year. This was stressed by Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima, on Friday, 16 December, when meeting in the Saeima with Sven Mikser, the new Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia.