14th Saeima Holds Final Session With 26 Items on Agenda

Members of Latvia's parliament, the 14th Saeima, will gather on Thursday, 29 October, for their final session of this term. The newly elected 15th Saeima will hold its first session next week. Speaker Daiga Mieriņa (Union of Greens and Farmers) will address the deputies at the start of the sitting, the Saeima press office told the portal Delfi. The agenda contains 26 items.

Final reading

In the final reading, deputies will decide on the draft Architecture Law, intended to create conditions for high-quality spatial environment and landscape development and management, while strengthening the role of the architect and landscape architect professions.

They will also vote in the final reading on amendments to the Road Traffic Law that would make it simpler and quicker to complete an agreed notification of a road accident. Amendments to the Criminal Law would introduce criminal liability for sexual acts involving animals, while changes to the Environmental Impact Assessment Law aim to improve the assessment process, reduce bureaucracy and give investors more clarity.

Third reading

In the third reading, deputies will consider amendments allowing people to volunteer for the state defence service from the age of 17. They will also examine amendments to the Consumer Rights Protection Law that set new requirements for repairing goods and make it easier to find and compare repair services. A new bill on liability for damage caused by defective goods and services, setting out how such harm is to be compensated, is also up for a third-reading vote.

First reading and added items

In the first reading, parliament will consider amendments to the law on the entry into force and application of the restored 1937 Civil Law's introduction, inheritance law and property law parts. These aim to prevent cases where statutory land-use fees do not give landowners fair compensation, and to refine rules on divided property. Deputies will also review a bill approving the Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR).

Several changes have been made to the agenda approved by the Presidium. The Defence, Internal Affairs and Corruption Prevention Committee asked to add amendments to the State Border Guard Law and the Criminal Procedure Law, which would give border guards clearer powers on the external border and better protect border infrastructure against hybrid attacks. Another committee, covering economic, agrarian, environmental and regional policy, requested amendments to the Electronic Communications Law introducing registration of prepaid SIM card users.