Ombudsman of Latvia
The state body where a complaint about a human rights violation can be filed. Free of charge.
Organisations
Where to turn and where to look: international institutions, supervisory bodies and Latvian resources.
Latvia
Latvian Centre for Human Rights
Independent organisation: research, monitoring and legal assistance.
Constitutional Court of Latvia
Reviews whether laws comply with the Constitution. Judgments are publicly available.
Likumi.lv
The official database of Latvian legislation. Always the version currently in force.
Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs
Citizenship, naturalisation, residence permits, non-citizen status.
Data State Inspectorate
Personal data protection. Complaints about data processing are filed here.
State Language Centre
Supervises use of the state language and issues penalties. Worth knowing the limits of its powers.
Council of Europe
Council of Europe
Europe’s principal human rights organisation. Latvia has been a member since 1995.
European Court of Human Rights
Strasbourg. An application can be lodged after all remedies in Latvia have been exhausted.
Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights
Publishes country reports, Latvia among them.
ECRI — European Commission against Racism and Intolerance
Regularly assesses the situation in Latvia and publishes recommendations.
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)
Resolutions and reports on human rights in member states.
United Nations
UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
The main source for instruments, treaty bodies and country reports.
United Nations
Founding instruments and their official translations.
UNESCO
Education, culture and linguistic diversity.
OSCE
OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities
Author of the Hague, Oslo and Lund Recommendations. Has long engaged with Latvia.
OSCE
Security, democratic institutions and human rights.
European Union
EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)
Comparable data and research on discrimination across all EU states.
Court of Justice of the European Union
Case law on the application of EU law, including discrimination cases.
Non-governmental organisations
Amnesty International
Annual reports on the situation in individual countries.
Human Rights Watch
Investigations and reports on human rights violations.
Minority Rights Group
Specialises in minority rights, maintains country directories.
Civil Rights Defenders
Swedish organisation, active in the Baltic region.