The Register of Enterprises of the Republic of Latvia (hereinafter – the Register) is a direct administration institution operating under the supervision of the Minister for Justice¹. The head of the Register is the Chief State Notary, who is appointed by the Cabinet of Ministers upon the recommendation of the Minister for Justice. The Chief State Notary also examines contested decisions of the Register’s state notaries.
The activities of the Register are governed by the Law “On the Register of Enterprises of the Republic of Latvia”, adopted in 1990. It is one of the oldest laws still in force that was adopted following the restoration of the independence of the Republic of Latvia. In performing their official duties, the employees of the Register also apply other laws, including the Commercial Law and the Associations and Foundations Law, as well as other legal acts.
The purpose of the operation of the Register is to ensure quality the functions specified in the Law on the Enterprise Register of the Republic of Latvia:
- to perform representation and representatives of merchants and their branches, foreign merchants and organisations, cooperative societies, European economic interest groups, European commercial companies, European cooperative societies, political parties and associations thereof, administrators, insolvency entities, legal protection and insolvency proceedings venues and foundations, religious organisations and institutions thereof, trade unions, mass media, public-private partnership agreements, decisive influence, commercial pledge, registration of matrimonial property regimes and arbitration courts and to ensure the keeping of relevant registers, as well as to ensure the keeping of a list of public persons and institutions and the availability of information regarding the public persons and institutions entered therein;
- provide information on registered rightholders and legal facts;
- to ensure the operation and development of the register information system;
- perform other functions specified in regulatory enactments.
By moving to remote customer service and improving customer service processes, the need to maintain service provision sites throughout Latvia as separate business units was lost. This is why the reorganisation of the institution took place in 2020. At the beginning of the year, the administration of the institution was located in Riga and eight regional units throughout Latvia: Bauska, Daugavpils, Jekabpils, Liepaja, Rezekne, Riga, Valmiera and Ventspils. At the end of the year, all employees of the institution worked in a single flow, remotely, serving Latvia as a whole, but continuing to be geographically located in their former locations. The administration of the institution continues to be located in Riga.
(1) the Register is an independent State institution, the policy of which is determined by the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Justice shall not affect the fulfilment of the functions of the Enterprise Register – decisions shall be taken by the State notaries of the Register, and applications for disputing their decisions shall be examined by the principal State notary of the Register.