Database
The organisation and functions of the Office of the Legal Adviser in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
This database contains the original national contributions bringing together information on The organisation and functions of the Office of the Legal Adviser in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Information on the contribution
- Member State
- Latvia
- Created on
- Contribution of 01/03/2015
- Permanent link to the contribution
- http://www.cahdidatabases.coe.int/C/OLA/Latvia/2016/19
- Translations
-
- No translations
- Add a translation
THIS DOCUMENT CAN BE QUOTED AS FOLLOWS:
Database of the CAHDI "The organisation and functions of the Office of the Legal Adviser in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs" - contribution of Latvia - 01/03/2015
Database of the CAHDI "The organisation and functions of the Office of the Legal Adviser in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs" - contribution of Latvia - 01/03/2015
1. What is the title, rank and position of the Legal Adviser?
(March 2015)The Legal Adviser within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia is the Director of Legal Department. The Director of the Legal Department must hold a diplomatic rank of a Counsellor. The Legal Department is incorporated within the Administrative Directorate and therefore the Legal Adviser is operationally subordinated to the Administrative Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
2. What are the principal functions of the OLA?
The Office of Legal Adviser (Legal Department) consists of three divisions dealing with International Law (including EU Law), International Agreements, and Administrative Law.The International Law Division deals with various issues related to the International Public Law. The primary obligation is to ensure appropriate implementation of the international treaty law and diplomatic law. Furthermore, the International Law Division, in close cooperation with other governmental bodies, deals with matters related to the establishment of restrictive measures, counter-terrorism and the International Humanitarian Law. Moreover, the International Law Division deals with the treaty law matters related to treaties concluded between EU and a third country.
The International Agreements Division also deals with the International Treaty Law but exclusively in relation to the bilateral agreements.
The Administrative Law Division deals with the issues arising from the application of the national law such as Administrative Law, State Administration Law, Civil Law, Public Procurement and Labour Law.
The Administrative Law Division advises the Ministry and Latvian diplomatic missions on conclusion of Civil Law contracts.
3. Please give a brief description of staff employed by the OLA, including overseas staff. What is the distribution of posts between men and women within the OLA and what category of staff do they respectively belong to?
Each division of the Legal Department is chaired by the head of a division. The head of a division must be a carrier diplomat holding a diplomatic rank of the First Secretary.The mandatory obligation for all employees of the Office of Legal Adviser (Legal Department of Ministry of Foreign Affairs) is to have at least the Bachelor’s (B.A, J.D.) degree in Law. At the moment the Legal Department employs 16 functionaries, among them 3 men and 13 women. It has to be taken into account, though, that due to the specifics of a diplomatic career, the ratio is changing as diplomats leave for a posting abroad. Almost all functionaries dealing with international law have a diplomatic rank, however it might not be always the case for the lawyers of the Administrative Law Division.