In Latvia, fines for disrespecting the state language have been sharply increased - EUROPE SAYS
учебник латышскогоOn Thursday, the Saeima of Latvia adopted amendments to the Law on Administrative Responsibility for Offenses in the Field of Public Administration, Public Order, and Use of the State. . .
учебник латышскогоOn Thursday, the Saeima of Latvia adopted amendments to the Law on Administrative Responsibility for Offenses in the Field of Public Administration, Public Order, and Use of the State Language, prepared by deputies of the “New Unity” party. The changes provide for a significant increase in fines for violations of the rules for using the state language and for showing disrespect towards it. The amendments raise the amounts of administrative fines for almost all articles of the law regulating the use of the state language. The new norms apply to both individuals and legal entities. According to the authors of the bill, the changes are intended to have a preventive effect and promote respect for the norms established by the state, especially regarding the use of the Latvian language. For individuals, fines for various violations have been increased from the current 7-28 monetary units to 10-39 units. For legal entities, the fines have been changed from 28-140 units, and in some cases up to 600 or 1000 units, to a range of 39 to 1390 units depending on the severity of the violation. Fines for officials have also been increased from 14-60 to 20-84 monetary units. The amendments also present a new version of Article 20 of the law, concerning disrespect for the state language. Now, for open manifestations of disrespect towards the state language, as well as for actions aimed at undermining the status and significance of the Latvian language, a fine of 20 to 400 monetary units is provided. Previously, such a violation could result in a fine of 7 to 140 units. One monetary unit in Latvia is 5 euros. Thus, the maximum fine under this article can reach 2000 euros. The leader of the “New Unity” faction in the Saeima, Edmunds Jurevics, stated that the adopted amendments are not only a repressive measure but also demonstrate a clear position of the state regarding the importance of the state language. The party believes that the amounts of fines established back in 2020 no longer correspond to the current economic situation or modern state language policy, making their increase necessary. According to the State Language Center, over the past few years, more than 4000 violations have been identified, including cases where the Latvian language was not used in the performance of professional duties. Tags:JaunumilatviaLatvija