Latvia keeps a registry of convicted sex offenders, but public access to this information is insufficient, LETA was told at the Justice Ministry January 15.
The ministry’s position is that each individual should be given the opportunity to file a request so they could gain access to information on potential risks to their children. The problem concerns local residents of particular neighborhoods, schools and institutions providing various extracurricular activities for children.
The Justice Ministry is ready to help make the sex offender registry more accessible to the public.
The ministry’s representative noted, however, that in order to increase public access to the registry, it would be necessary to amend the Penal Registry Law, which is the Interior Ministry’s area of competence.
Imants Mozers, a representative of the State Probation Service, also agreed that a partly public sex offender registry would be the most effective solution in Latvia’s case. The probation service believes that access to the registry should be granted to a broad range of law enforcement and other agencies, including education institutions. A legislative regulation is needed to make the registry available also to individuals in certain situations.
