Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09RIGA159
2009-03-19 12:15:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Riga
Cable title:
"ANTI-MAFIA" AMENDMENTS PASS PARLIAMENT
how-toVZCZCXRO3788 PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHRA #0159 0781215 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 191215Z MAR 09 FM AMEMBASSY RIGA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5707 RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS RIGA 000159
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KJUS KCOR LG
SUBJECT: "ANTI-MAFIA" AMENDMENTS PASS PARLIAMENT
REF: 08 RIGA 259
UNCLAS RIGA 000159
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KJUS KCOR LG
SUBJECT: "ANTI-MAFIA" AMENDMENTS PASS PARLIAMENT
REF: 08 RIGA 259
1. Summary: On March 12 Parliament unanimously passed a major
overhaul of Latvian Criminal Procedure Code, the most significant
and controversial revision being to the plea bargaining amendments.
Now head Prosecutors have the right to drop charges against
cooperating criminals, a power only the Prosecutor General held
previously. Although this is seen as a positive step judicially,
many believe that will take time for Latvians to overcome the notion
that plea bargaining is as distasteful as snitching was under the
Soviet system. In the courts, it remains to be seen whether the new
amendments can be used to reduce the workload of overburdened
prosecutors. End Summary
2. Saeima unanimously passed the long-awaited changes to the Latvian
Criminal Procedure Code on March 12. (reftel) President Zatlers is
expected to sign the law, which will then go into force on July 1,
2009.
3. Changes to the Code included a broadening of the "anti-mafia" law
- the most controversial amendment. Under the amendment head
Prosecutors can dismiss criminal charges against defendants who
cooperate with the authorities. Information must relate to a crime
that is of equal or greater severity than that which the cooperator
has perpetrated and there are several exclusions for particularly
serious offenses such as deliberate and severe bodily injury, severe
sexual crimes, robberies or severe crimes related to drugs.
4. Comment: The changes are positive and have been a long time
coming. Socially, the controversy surrounding the plea bargaining
amendments, whether they are called "snitch laws" or "anti-mafia
laws", still lingers as Latvians struggle to make the distinction
between a criminal cooperating with a prosecutor against another
criminal, and the practice of informing on your neighbors during
Soviet times. On the judicial side of the issue, the press has been
reporting that these amendments will reduce prosecutor workload
because some cases will close before they get to court. It remains
to be seen whether this will apply to more than a few defendants in
high-profile cases. In any event, prosecutors continue to be
overloaded with work and with budget and personnel cuts and a steady
rise in crime since the onset of the economic crisis, even positive
changes in the Code give little respite. End Comment.
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KJUS KCOR LG
SUBJECT: "ANTI-MAFIA" AMENDMENTS PASS PARLIAMENT
REF: 08 RIGA 259
1. Summary: On March 12 Parliament unanimously passed a major
overhaul of Latvian Criminal Procedure Code, the most significant
and controversial revision being to the plea bargaining amendments.
Now head Prosecutors have the right to drop charges against
cooperating criminals, a power only the Prosecutor General held
previously. Although this is seen as a positive step judicially,
many believe that will take time for Latvians to overcome the notion
that plea bargaining is as distasteful as snitching was under the
Soviet system. In the courts, it remains to be seen whether the new
amendments can be used to reduce the workload of overburdened
prosecutors. End Summary
2. Saeima unanimously passed the long-awaited changes to the Latvian
Criminal Procedure Code on March 12. (reftel) President Zatlers is
expected to sign the law, which will then go into force on July 1,
2009.
3. Changes to the Code included a broadening of the "anti-mafia" law
- the most controversial amendment. Under the amendment head
Prosecutors can dismiss criminal charges against defendants who
cooperate with the authorities. Information must relate to a crime
that is of equal or greater severity than that which the cooperator
has perpetrated and there are several exclusions for particularly
serious offenses such as deliberate and severe bodily injury, severe
sexual crimes, robberies or severe crimes related to drugs.
4. Comment: The changes are positive and have been a long time
coming. Socially, the controversy surrounding the plea bargaining
amendments, whether they are called "snitch laws" or "anti-mafia
laws", still lingers as Latvians struggle to make the distinction
between a criminal cooperating with a prosecutor against another
criminal, and the practice of informing on your neighbors during
Soviet times. On the judicial side of the issue, the press has been
reporting that these amendments will reduce prosecutor workload
because some cases will close before they get to court. It remains
to be seen whether this will apply to more than a few defendants in
high-profile cases. In any event, prosecutors continue to be
overloaded with work and with budget and personnel cuts and a steady
rise in crime since the onset of the economic crisis, even positive
changes in the Code give little respite. End Comment.