Liberal forces are setting up protection for the LGBT community in the Criminal Law

The tragic event in Tukums, in which, according to the victims, a hatred-driven person or group of people set fire to a living person, possibly because of his sexual orientation, has created a tragic but useful background so that the liberal forces represented in parliament can highlight the need to extend the provisions of Criminal Law against incitement to social hatred and intolerance. Unfortunately, the liberals have not been able to agree on a common approach to the problem, which could hinder the implementation of the concept in law. Hopefully, not so they can grow their political capital against each other.

In the Latvian corner of the World Wide Web, emotions about the crime committed in Tukums last weekend have been running high for several days. A medical officer was drenched in fuel and set on fire in the stairwell of his apartment building.

While rescuing him, his partner also suffered burns. The LGBT community directly link the relationship between the two men and the so-called unconventional sexual orientation to the motive of the crime, and this link is also pointed out by one of the victims of the crime, but the police are still evasive on their findings.

Calls for a clear position

Undoubtedly, these events have focused the attention of the most active part of the society on the aggressive manifestations of irrational and mostly unpunished hatred, which people in the LGBT community experience from others.

To give a clear signal to both the people of Latvia and the international community that Latvia is not tolerant of hate crimes, the Saeima's Development/For! (Attīstībai/Par!) and the New Unity (Jaunā Vienotība) factions have tabled amendments to the Criminal Law, which provides for responsibility for acts aimed at inciting hatred or enmity based on sexual orientation.

At present, the law only specifies cases where hatred or enmity is related to a person's gender, age or disability. Sexual orientation is not specifically emphasized in the current version of the Criminal Law, but its liability is also provided if the offense is directed against a person due to “any other characteristics.”

Development/For! and the New Unity believe that the current wording is not enough to send a clear signal to the public about the irrational nature of homophobia and the consequences to be taken into account if someone allows their intolerance to manifest in a generally unacceptable manner.

"The current legal framework, which provides for liability for acts aimed at inciting hatred or enmity, clearly sets out only three criteria [..]

This norm adopted in 2014 needs to be supplemented, as it does not include several important non-discrimination criteria, which are mentioned in international human rights protection norms, as well as those whose violations can be observed in Latvian society,” Members of the Saeima faction Development/For! justify the need to amend the Criminal Law.

"We must clearly state that we will not accept such crimes in Latvia, they will not be allowed and they will be held criminally liable. We, as a society, must be inclusive and supportive,” the proposals of the New Unity are introduced by Andrejs Judins, which are very close in content to Development/For!

Traces of mercantilism?

The overarching goal of both parties is undoubtedly the same, but the forms chosen to achieve it suggest that in this case at least one political party or its representatives are trying to use the tragedy not only for the common good but also to increase their political capital.

Namely, the ideologically relatively close parties, which have tried to legalize same-sex partnerships together, have this time submitted two separate bills.

A. Judins, the head of the Saeima Criminal Law Policy Subcommittee, has used the situation that the Criminal Law has already been opened in the Saeima and submitted his proposals for consideration before the second reading.

In turn, Development/For! has submitted a separate draft law, the transfer of which to the committees is yet to be voted on by the Saeima.

“The amendments on hate crimes have nothing to do with the previously initiated amendments to the Criminal Law, therefore we submitted them as a separate draft law.

In terms of content, of course, they are quite similar. We also offered the New Unity to sign them, but at that moment we failed to coordinate. I hope that the committee will work with the amendments tabled by us and the New Unity together. If our amendments will be submitted to the committees,”

says Marija Golubeva, the leader of the Saeima faction Development/For!

The Saeima will most likely hand over the draft laws of Development/For! to the committees, but it is difficult to say whether they will be considered in the context of the proposals of the New Unity. All that is known is that A. Judins intends to consider his proposals in a subcommittee chaired by him as early as next week. The further progress of the draft law of the coalition partners depends on the New Unity and Development/For! discussions, the vision of the deputy is summarized by Zelma Kolmane, responsible for communication with the media of the New Unity Saeima faction.

With a dose of mistrust

Valērijs Agešins, who works in the Legal Committee of the Saeima and represents Harmony (Saskaņa), believes that the draft laws of both parties should definitely be considered in the responsible committees, because “there is no place for any crime in Latvia.” At the same time, he is concerned if the proposals of the liberal wing of the coalition will not undermine the logic and construction of the Criminal Law.

"I am convinced that all crimes must be thoroughly investigated, regardless of the social group to which the victim belongs. There is no place in Latvia not only for hate speech and hate crimes, but for any crimes. All crimes are equally reprehensible and must not be differentiated according to who they are directed against. It is important that in this case the amendments do not violate the legal logic and construction of the law,” says V. Agešins, whose party has previously expressed support for the legalization of same-sex partnerships.

Although Jānis Iesalnieks, representing National Alliance (Nacionālā apvienība) and working in the Legal Committee of the Saeima, supports the transfer to the committees, he is even more careful. Before supporting the bills, he wants to hear the arguments of the authors of the bills and the views of law enforcement officials on the possibilities of the proposed regulation to be applied in life.

One of the aspects that exacerbates the attention of both politicians is the desire included in the solutions proposed by both parties to remove from the Criminal Law a norm that provides for liability only if the offense has caused significant harm.

"If this criterion is deleted from the article, how will it be possible to implement it in practice.

It is clear that hate speech against any group in society is reprehensible, but if it simply remains as speech without any follow-up consequences, is it really a matter of Criminal Law?

It could be a question of administrative violations…” rhetorically asks a politician who, due to his views, has received significant criticism in recent days from the LGBT community and their supporters.

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