Defendants (criminal proceedings)

Lettonie

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Lettonie

How are minor road traffic offences dealt with?

If you have exceeded the speed limit (50 km/h in towns and 90 km/h outside towns) by up to 20 km/h then a police officer can give you a warning/ impose a fine of 5 LVL.

If you have exceeded the speed limit by 21-30 km/h then a police officer can give you a warning/ impose a fine of 20 LVL.

The amount of a fine increases the more you exceed the speed limit and can go up to 300 LVL and include the withdrawal of your driver’s licence for 3 – 6 months.

If you have parked in a prohibited place, a police officer can impose a fine of 20 LVL.

If you do not have a driver’s licence, car registration documents or certificate of roadworthiness etc. with you while driving, a police officer can give you a warning/ impose a fine of 2 LVL.

If you have been driving without headlights during daylight, a police officer can give you a warning/ impose a fine of 5 LVL. For the same violation during the hours of darkness / in conditions of poor visibility, a police officer can impose a fine of 30 LVL.

If you or your passenger are not wearing a seat belt while driving, a police officer can give you a warning/ impose a fine of 20 LVL.

A police officer draws up the report of the violation and can take a decision regarding the penalty on the spot. You can appeal against the penalty to a higher authority within 1 month of notification of the decision. The subsequent decision can be appealed again to the administrative district court. The claim should be submitted within 1 month.

Municipal police deal with violations of obligations by pedestrians. You can be charged with a fine of 5 to 20 LVL. You can challenge the decision in the administrative district court within 1 month.

If you have been driving while under the influence of alcohol with an alcohol concentration level of 0.2 – 0.5 ‰ and have held a driving licence for less than 2 years a police officer/ district / city court judge imposes a fine of 100 – 200 LVL involving withdrawal of your driver’s licence for 3 months. You can challenge the decision within 1 month to a higher authority and after that – to the administrative district court (for a fine imposed by a police officer) / regional court (for a fine imposed by a judge).

Will these offences appear on my criminal record?

Administrative penalties will appear on your criminal record. Information about those penalties is stored without seeking your consent in the active database of the Register of the Information centre of the Ministry of the Interior of Latvia for 1 year after they have been spent but afterwards the records are moved to the archive database of the Register.

Related links

Road traffic code

Code of administrative offences

Law on administrative proceedings

Law on Police

Law on the register of criminal records

State Police

Road traffic safety directorate

Last update: 11/08/2023

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