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Litigation requires the highest legal training for the participant in the process. People most often entrust the protection of their rights to a representative in court with professional assistance. Foreigners who cannot be personally in Latvia can use the service of legal representation of a person in courts.

The provided legal services in Latvia are usually related to legal regulation in various directions:

  • Civil legal services include drafting contracts (lease, hiring, pledge, donation, etc.),
  • settlement of real estate issues (purchase/sale, division, joint ownership issues, etc.),
  • settlement of family law issues ( adoption, divorce, alimony, etc.),
  • representation of interests in state institutions and local governments, as well as in court;
  • settlement of commercial issues (establishment of an enterprise, registration of a branch, representative office, etc).

Representation of the client’s interests in the courts of Latvia

Representation of interests of a foreign client in a court of Latvia is carried out by professional lawyers and advocates. The lawyer has the right to carry out procedural actions for the client (to get acquainted with the case materials, file petitions in court, present evidence to the court, etc.). Clients can be foreign individuals, individual entrepreneurs, or legal entities.

Besides, as a rule, a citizen with so-called civil procedural capacity can independently represent his/her interests in court.

How to choose a lawyer to represent your interests in the courts of Latvia?

When you have to choose a lawyer to solve your legal problem, then you must remember, that you need a specialist with vast work experience. The lawyer should have experience and professional knowledge of law enforcement practice.

Give preference to lawyers who have relevant practical experience of operational work in special units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Financial Police of the SRS of Latvia. The ability of a client to find and select a lawyer of the specified level to resolve tax, customs, and financial disputes, as a rule, fully depends on the Client’s further fate and financial well-being.

Language of communication with a lawyer in a Latvian court

By part (2). Art. 11. CPM of Latvia – A person who has the right to defense, a victim and his/her representative, witness, specialist, expert, auditor, as well as other persons involved by the person directing the process in the criminal process, If the lawyer does not know the state language, during the proceedings he/she has the right to use the language that a person speaks and to use the assistance of an interpreter free of charge, whose participation is provided by the person directing the process. In pre-trial proceedings in Latvia, when solving issues subject to an investigating judge or court, the participation of an interpreter shall be ensured by an investigating judge or court.

How to agree with a lawyer?

The agreement between a lawyer and a client is a civil contract for the provision of legal assistance to the client himself or a person appointed by him/her. It is in simple writing and must necessarily contain the following conditions:

  1. The indication of a lawyer, his/her affiliation with a lawyer education and a bar association
  2. The subject of the assignment is what the lawyer undertakes to do for the client. The subject of the assignment may be limited by the stage of the proceedings (pre-trial / trial/appeal, etc.), the number of sessions, and the number of documents that he undertakes to prepare (for example, writing a complaint to the court).
  3. Amount of remuneration. Payment systems can vary. As a rule, an advance payment is provided, which can be justified by the need for initial immersion in the issue. Then payment can be made dependent on the performance of individual stages of work. The payment itself can be fixed or calculated based on hourly rates and time spent by the consultant, but not more than a certain amount. For representation in court, the use of a success fee is not excluded.
  4. Payment can be made both in cash and by wire transfer, with the obligatory indication of the details of the concluded agreement. With the consent of the principal, payment can be made by a third party.

Registration of representation in Latvian courts

The powers of the representative are recorded in a special power of attorney if you hire a lawyer. Lawyers use warrants for this. Power of attorney to represent interests differ from each other in the specific set of powers that you are willing to entrust to a lawyer. If you want a lawyer to even have the right to sign a statement of claim, change it, file a counterclaim, receive money for you, etc., then these powers must be recorded separately in the power of attorney. In the power of attorney, you can also determine in which courts you entrust a lawyer to represent your interests: in courts of general jurisdiction and (or) in arbitration courts, in courts of the first instance, and (or) in further instances. Besides, you can specify the categories of cases in which a lawyer or attorney will represent your interests (civil cases, cases of administrative offenses, etc.).

The lawyer has the right to represent the interests of the client in various types of disputes – both in pre-trial proceedings and in all judicial instances in Latvia (first instance, appeal, cassation). Negotiating conciliation, drafting agreements, statements of claim, appeals and cassation complaints, statements and petitions, filing procedural documents to protect the interests of the client both in a court of ordinary jurisdiction and in an arbitration court, as well as at the stage of enforcement of court orders …

Power of attorney in the court of Latvia

Most often, citizens draw up a power of attorney from notaries, although they can certify it at your work and in an educational institution (if you are studying) and in some other organizations. It is easiest for notaries to delegate powers to a lawyer because notaries have various models of powers of attorney and will quickly draw up the power of attorney you need and certify it. Warrants to the lawyer are issued by their lawyer education.

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