Latvia

Age of Consent

Partial

Age of sexual consent is 16 years. The national legislation does not provide for a close-in-age exception.

Analysis of country legislation on age of sexual consent, 2024

Extraterritoriality & Extradition

Partial

Active extraterritoriality is provided over Latvian citizens and habitual residents in Latvia who commit a crime outside the territory of Latvia and passive extraterritoriality is provided over foreigners who commit serious or especially serious crimes outside the territory of Latvia against the interests of its inhabitants if they have not been held criminally liable or committed to stand trial in accordance with the laws of the state where the crime was committed. Passive extraterritoriality cannot be applied to some SEC related offences since the law does not provide a lower limit of the penalty but rather provides penalties of up to a number of years (i.e. “up to 5 years”). Universal jurisdiction is provided over foreigners who commit crimes outside Latvia in the cases provided for in international agreements binding upon Latvia if they have not been held criminally liable for such offence or committed to stand trial in the territory of another state. The principle of double criminality is not required for proceeding with extraterritorial jurisdiction.

Extradition of Latvian citizens is not permitted unless otherwise provided in an international agreement ratified by Latvia and the extradition of Latvian citizens to an EU Member State is conditioned to their return to Latvia for the serving of the custodial sentence imposed after conviction. Double criminality and severity of the punishment principles apply to extradition of a person to a foreign country.

SEC offences are referred to as extraditable under the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) framework within the EU without requiring double criminality if the act is punishable by a maximum period of at least three years of imprisonment in the requesting State.

Criminal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1998 (status as of 2023), 2005 (status as of 2022)

CSAM Definition

Not Yet Assessed

Background Check Required

Not Yet Assessed

National Commitments

Not Yet Assessed

Child Advocacy Centers

Not Yet Assessed

SEC Police Unit

Not Yet Assessed

Protection Standards Travel and Tourism

Not Yet Assessed

Public SEC Case Data

Not Yet Assessed