U.S. English Foundation Research

LATVIA

Legislation

Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia

(Record No. 10, Paragraph 24)

Riga, February 22, 2005

Regulations No.137 (Issued in Accordance with Part I, Article 16 of the Law on State Administration Structure)

I. GENERAL MATTER

1. The Naturalization Board (hereinafter - the Board) shall be an institution of direct administration functioning under the supervision of the Minister of Justice and implementing a national policy in the field of the citizenship of Latvia.

II. FUNCTIONS, TASKS AND TERMS OF REFERENCE OF THE BOARD

2. The Board shall perform the functions as prescribed by the Law on Citizenship and other normative acts regulating the issues of the citizenship of Latvia.

3. In order to ensure the execution of the functions the Board shall carry out the following tasks:

   3.1. to consider persons' applications as regards persons' affiliation to the citizenship of Latvia in accordance with Paragraphs 1, 1¹, 1² and 1³ of Article 2 as well as Article 3¹ of the Law on Citizenship, to make a decision as regards person?s affiliation to the citizenship of Latvia or on dropping to review the application;

   3.2. to consider persons' applications on admittance to the citizenship of Latvia through naturalization and to prepare draft legal acts on granting the citizenship of Latvia through naturalization to be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers or to make a decision on refusal of naturalization;

   3.3. to organize the developing of the materials for testing the knowledge of the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia, the text of the national anthem and the history of Latvia and the proficiency in the Latvian language of persons who claim to the citizenship of Latvia through naturalization and to ensure the preparation of the necessary teaching and methodological aids;

   3.4. to test the knowledge of the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia, the text of the national anthem and the history of Latvia and the proficiency in the Latvian language of persons who claim to the citizenship of Latvia through naturalization;

   3.5. to review persons' applications as regards renunciation of the citizenship of Latvia and to make a decision on acknowledging the person as having lost the citizenship of Latvia or on refusal to acknowledge the person as having lost the citizenship of Latvia;

   3.6. to consider cases on verification files as regards deprivation of the citizenship of Latvia and to make a decision to drop a case on a verification file or to bring an action as to deprivation of the citizenship of Latvia;

   3.7. to consider persons? applications as regards restoration of the citizenship of Latvia;

   3.8. in accordance within its terms of reference to co-ordinate integration process of the society in the state;

   3.9. in accordance within its terms of reference to take part in developing draft documents of policy planning and normative acts as well as to give its opinion on draft normative acts developed by other institutions;

   3.10. to inform the society on the Board?s activities.

4. The Board shall have the right:

   4.1. to issue administrative acts in cases as prescribed by external normative acts;

   4.2. to request and to obtain the necessary information and documents from private persons for performing its functions in cases as prescribed by external normative acts.

III. STRUCTURE AND OFFICIALS OF THE BOARD

5. The Board shall be managed by the Board's head.

6. The Board's head, after his/her candidature has been approved in the Cabinet of Ministers, shall be appointed by the Minister of Justice. The Board's head shall be dismissed by the Minister of Justice on the grounds of the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers In absentia of the Board's head his/her duties shall be performed by an acting Board's head appointed by the Minister of Justice.

7. The Board's head shall perform the head's functions of an institution of direct administration as prescribed by the Law on State Administration Structure.

8. The Board's head shall develop the internal organizing structure of the institution.

IV. ENSURING OF LEGITIMACY OF FUNCTIONING OF THE BOARD AND GIVING ACCOUNTS

9. The Board's head shall ensure legitimacy of functioning of the Board. The Board's head shall be reliable for creating and functioning of the system of the internal control and the control of decisions of the institution.

10. The Board's head shall have the right to cancel a decision made or internal normative act issued by an official of the Board as prescribed by the external normative acts regulating the administrative process.

11. A private person shall be allowed to dispute an administrative act issued by an official and an actual action of an official or an employee of the Board by submitting a relevant application to the Board's head as prescribed by the external normative acts regulating the administrative process if in external legal acts it has not been prescribed otherwise.

12. A private person shall be allowed to dispute administrative acts and an actual action issued by the Board's head in the Ministry of Justice as prescribed by the external normative acts regulating the administrative process if in external normative acts it has not been prescribed otherwise. A decision of the Ministry of Justice shall be allowed to be appealed against in court.

13. The Board shall submit to the Ministry of Justice, no less than once a year, a report on the execution of its functions and the expenditure of the budget funds as well as it shall prepare a public annual report as prescribed by normative acts.

V. FINAL CLAUSE

14. To acknowledge the regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 351 "Regulations of the Naturalization Board" (November 21, 1995; Latvijas Vestnesis No. 185, 1995; No.177, 1996; No. 283, 1998; No. 25, 1999 and No. 60, 2001) as having lost their validity.

Prime Minister A. Kalvitis

Minister of Justice S. Aboltina

NOTE: This is an unofficial English translation (the Naturalization Board - J. Cibuls) for purposes of interpretation the original text in the Latvian language is to be regarded as official

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