Conceptually supports changes in criminal law to lower the threshold of criminal liability

Today, the Saeima conceptually supported the amendments to the Criminal Law proposed by the Legal Commission and the Ministry of Justice, which would reduce the threshold for the amount of illegal financing of parties to ten minimum monthly salaries, which would trigger criminal liability.

Currently, criminal liability arises if parties are illegally financed in a large amount, or at least 50 of the minimum monthly salary. On the other hand, ten minimum monthly wages are considered a significant amount in the sense of the law.

As of January 1, 2024, the minimum monthly wage in Latvia is 700 euros, so ten minimum wages are 7,000 euros.

TM, evaluating what was discussed in the permanent Criminal Law working group, points out that the threshold of illegal financing currently set in the Criminal Law, from which criminal liability arises, is too high for persons to be held criminally liable for illegal financing of political parties. In addition, it is not uncommon for several persons to contribute sums of money separately without reaching the specified amount, and it is difficult for the controlling authority to prove that the said persons have acted in a group with a common intention.

Therefore, it is proposed to reduce the threshold from up to ten minimum monthly wages. The proposed amendments were supported by the Permanent Criminal Law Working Group of the TM.

Previously, in the Legal Commission, Prosecutor General Juris Stukāns expressed the opinion that criminal liability for illegal financing of parties should start from the first cent, because no illegally obtained cent should be used to enter the Saeima.

The question of these amendments was previously brought up in the Latvian Television program “What’s happening in Latvia?”, and the need to accept these amendments was also emphasized by the head of “Providus”, expert Iveta Kažoka.

In the second round, the Legal Commission decided to forward these amendments for consideration in the Saeima. Several parliamentarians emphasized that, given the low level of public trust in parties and politicians, it is necessary to move towards making such changes.