Status
UNCAT ratification date
14 April 1992
OPCAT ratification date
10 December 2021
NPM designated
NPM Type
Ombuds Institution
Latvia acceded to the OPCAT on 10 December 2021, making it the 91st state to join the OPCAT. The OPCAT shall enter into force for Latvia on 9 January 2022.
Before signing and ratifying the Additional Protocol, in 2017 a government decision entrusted the Ombudsman with the function of the preventive mechanism. This was a unique situation because although the Additional Protocol had not been ratified, Latvia had already laid the foundations for the establishment of the national preventive mechanism provided for in the Additional Protocol. On 1 March 2018, the Prevention Division was established in the Ombudsman's Office, its main task is to make regular visits to institutions where persons are or may be deprived of their liberty.