By the decision of 18 June, the Disciplinary Court annulled the order of the Prosecutor General regarding the imposition of a disciplinary sanction on a prosecutor of Riga Judicial Region Prosecution Office in part and amended the applied disciplinary sanction.

Due to deliberate violations of the law when performing official duties, a disciplinary sanction was imposed on the prosecutor, namely a demotion by transferring him to the position of the prosecutor of the Multidisciplinary Specialized Prosecutor's Office. The Disciplinary Court amended the order of the Prosecutor General regarding the imposed disciplinary sanction and imposed a disciplinary sanction on the prosecutor – reduction of the prosecutor's monthly salary for a period of 6 months, withholding 20 percent of the prosecutor's monthly salary.

The Disciplinary Court found it reasonable to hold the prosecutor disciplinary liable for an intentional violation of Section 37, Paragraph two, Clause 1 of the Criminal Procedure Law in two criminal proceedings, and acknowledged that the Prosecutor General's order had unreasonably established that the prosecutor had not fulfilled the obligation to give instructions regarding the choice of the type of proceedings, the direction of the investigation and the performance of investigative actions also in the third criminal proceedings.

The Disciplinary Court acknowledged that by the order of the Prosecutor General it has been reasonably established that the prosecutor, while performing official duties, has intentionally violated Section 12, Paragraph one and Section 389, Paragraph one, Clause 2 of the Criminal Procedure Law regarding the term of application of security measure.

However, the other intentional violations of the law committed by the prosecutor as established by the order of the Prosecutor General did not receive confirmation from the Disciplinary Court and recognized them being unfounded. Consequently, the Disciplinary Court annulled the order in the part regarding the prosecution of a prosecutor for intentional violation of Section 39, Paragraph one, Clause 1.1, Section 39, Paragraph one, Clause 2, Sections 320 and 405, Section 501, Clause 2, legal provisions included in Chapters 23 and 24 of the Criminal Procedure Law, as well as Section 15, Paragraph three, Sections 19 and 20 of the Criminal Law, and the disciplinary case in this part was terminated.

The decision of the Disciplinary Court cannot be appealed.

The Disciplinary Court is convened in the Supreme Court to assess lawfulness of disputed decisions of the Judicial Disciplinary Committee, the Judicial Qualification Committee, and the Judicial Council, as well as to review contested decisions of the Prosecutor General on application of disciplinary punishment. The Disciplinary Court is comprised of six judges of the Supreme Court. 

 

Information prepared by

Rasma Zvejniece, the Head of the Division of Communication of the Supreme Court

E-mail: rasma.zvejniece@at.gov.lv, telephone: +371 67020396, +371 28652211