Assets Disclosure by Public Officials: Latvia

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Punishment for Breach

What is the punishment for not filing the declaration?

According to Section 29 if a public official does not provide the information required by the authority or the public official authorized by law regarding the sources of acquisition of property, including financial resources, or cannot justify the acquisition of income or financial benefit from a legal source, it shall be presumed that the public official has acquired the property prohibited by this Law, including financial resources, and he or she is hiding this fact from the State.

What is the penalty for making inaccurate statements on this declaration?

According to Section 30, any income or assets obtained in irregular way will accrue to the state.

Can an official be prosecuted for violating this law?

Section 30states that (1) Persons shall be held liable for violations of this Law as specified in regulatory enactments. Civil liability shall also apply to public officials in accordance with the provisions of this Section; (2) Income and financial benefits obtained by violating the restrictions specified in this Law or a proportional augmentation thereof shall accrue to the State, by presuming that by violating the restrictions determined by the State and illegally obtaining income or financial benefits, the public official has caused such harm to the State administrative order as is to be evaluated in financial terms and is proportional to the value of augmentation of income, financial benefits and property that are obtained in a prohibited way; (3) If a public official does not compensate voluntarily the losses caused to the State, the State authority or the public official authorised by law has a duty to perform the necessary actions in order to claim compensation for the losses caused in accordance with the procedures determined by law; (4) Compensation for losses shall be requested in accordance with the procedures determined in the Civil Procedure Law; (5) The recovery of losses from the public official shall take place regardless of whether the public official is subject to administrative or criminal liability for violating the provisions of this Law.