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Thursday, 25.04.2024, 18:25
Almost half criminal cases investigated by Latvian Police are more than 5 years old
The purpose of the audit was to determine the reason why there were so many
unsolved cases and so many complaints about the quality of police
investigations. The Criminal Procedure Law, which came into force more than a
decade ago, should have solved these problems. However, the State Police's
performance results do not suggest that the situation is improving, although
this is not entirely due to investigators' work, the Audit Office has found.
Although the Criminal Procedure Law does provide solutions to make
investigative procedures faster, more efficient and economic, successful
application of the measures provided in the law is hindered by poor
professional qualifications of investigators, shortcomings in organization of
the State Police's operations, and problems in supervision of pretrial
investigations by prosecutors, the Audit Office said.
Since the Criminal Procedure Law came into effect, only one-third of
criminal cases opened by the State Police are successfully investigated in that
same year.
Furthermore, the statute of limitations had run out for 47% of criminal
cases the State Police closed in 2016. And out of approximately 200,000
criminal cases investigated by the State Police last year, some 47% had been
opened more than five years before.
The Audit Office points out that the State Police investigate 95% of crimes
registered in Latvia, and these crimes are very different and require
investigators to have extensive knowledge of the Criminal Procedure Law.
However, investigators have only been required to have a degree in law since
January 1 this year, and only 44% of State Police investigators currently have
education in law.
The Audit Office also points out that there are shortcomings in
organization of the State Police's operations, and reforms carried out at the
State Police during the last several years were not well thought out and. As a
result, there may be significant differences among the State Police's regional
administrations, their workloads and performance results.
In addition, prosecutors supervising investigations in criminal cases often
overturn decisions made by investigators, and the number of such instances has
been increasing. And shortcomings in the State Police's investigative
procedures may infringe on the freedoms of victims or suspects in a criminal
case.
Following the audit, the Audit Office has given the State Police seventeen
recommendations to be implemented by the end of 2022.