This week Latvia was confirmed as a member of the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) for the period 2025-2027. The Ministry of Justice promoted Latvia's membership of the CCPCJ and will continue to participate in CCPCJ sessions, ensuring the representation and protection of national and international interests.
Latvia's participation in the CCPCJ will strengthen legal systems, capacity to detect, prevent and combat all forms of organised crime, ensure equal access to justice, and building effective, accountable and inclusive law enforcement institutions at all levels. The Commission is made up of 40 Member States, with members serving three-year terms.
Latvia's membership of the CCPCJ will also allow to continue isolation of Belarus and Russia from the processes of international organisations.
Inese Lībiņa-Egnere, Minister of Justice, says: "Latvia's membership in the CCPCJ provides an opportunity to strengthen contacts with countries from other regions, as well as to vote on issues within the CCPCJ's competence, such as combating drug trafficking, human trafficking, improving crime prevention and juvenile delinquency. Latvia also continues to work towards the international isolation of the aggressor states Russia and Belarus in every possible way, in line with its commitment. Countries that support and carry out atrocities and war crimes in Ukraine are not entitled to give their opinion on international law-based order, crime prevention or criminal justice. Latvia will stand up for the values of the rule of law and democracy at a time when they are particularly under threat by its leadership at the CCPCJ."
This week at the CCPCJ meeting not only Latvia but also Albania were confirmed as members of the CCPCJ from next year. It should be noted that Belarus has thus lost its mandate to become a member of the CCPCJ from next year.
It should be noted that in March of this year on the initiative of Latvia the Finance Committee of another UN organisation, the Institute for the Unification of Private International Law (UNIDROIT) approved a new composition, with a decision to exclude the Russian Federation from reappointment as a member of the Finance Committee.