CAT/C/CR/31/3
page 2
B. Positive aspects
4.
The Committee notes with appreciation the ongoing efforts by the State party aimed at
strengthening human rights in Latvia. In particular, the Committee welcomes the following:
(a)
(b)
Legislative measures:
(i)
The establishment of the Constitutional Court in 1996 and the inclusion in
the Constitution of chapter VIII devoted to fundamental human rights;
(ii)
The establishment of the National Human Rights Office in 1995, which
has the mandate, inter alia, to review complaints of human rights
violations, as well as to submit to the Constitutional Court cases of legal
provisions it believes are at variance with the Constitution of Latvia;
(iii)
The entry into force of the new Asylum Law in September 2002, aimed at
bringing the national asylum system further into alignment with the
European Union acquis on asylum and related international standards.
The new Asylum Law also introduced two forms of complementary
protection (“alternative status”) for asylum-seekers;
(iv)
The entry into force of the new Immigration Law in May 2003 which,
inter alia, provides a maximum length of detention for foreigners arrested
in violation of the Law and the right of an arrested foreigner to submit a
complaint to a prosecutor, to contact the consulate and to have access to
legal aid;
(v)
The entry into force of the new Criminal Law, which introduced the
concept of progressive execution of sanctions and established alternative
sanctions, with a view to reducing the problem of overcrowding in
prisons;
(vi)
The draft new Criminal Procedure Law that aims at simplifying the legal
proceedings and would, inter alia, decrease the time for bringing a suspect
before a judge from 72 to 48 hours;
(vii)
The draft new Amnesty Law, providing either for the release or the
reduction of the term of imprisonment of those groups at risk, such as
minors, pregnant women, women with infant children, disabled persons
and the elderly;
Administrative measures:
(i)
The adoption in 2002 of the Regulation on the Internal Rules of the
Remand Prisons, setting standards for conditions of detention and basic
rights and obligations of detainees;