The Saeima Defense, Internal Affairs and Corruption Prevention Commission proposes to urgently amend the Immigration Law. The amendments are intended to redistribute cases related to the extension of the detention of foreigners between district and city courts. It is proposed to abandon the current procedure, under which such issues are considered by the court at the location of the detained individual. Instead, cases could be distributed among courts in different regions of the country. The need for changes is explained by the increase in the number of such cases. Due to the rising flow of illegal migration at the Latvian-Belarusian border, as well as the return of migrants from Lithuania, most of the detained individuals are located in Latgale. As a result, the main burden falls on the Latgale District Court. According to the commission, in 2023 this court reviewed 76 such cases, in 2024 — 62, in 2025 — 52, and in just the first six months of the current year — already 39. At the same time, the staffing situation remains challenging. Out of 44 planned judicial positions, only 27 are filled, leaving 17 vacancies. In fact, the changes should allow for faster consideration of cases without concentrating the entire workload on one court. The amendments also include another change. The requirement to necessarily bring the detained foreigner before a judge is proposed to be excluded from the law. As noted by the commission, since 2021, such hearings have mostly been conducted via video conferencing, which allows for the procedural rights of participants to be upheld without their physical presence in the courtroom. At the same time, the right of foreigners to appeal court decisions remains, and the procedural guarantees, according to the authors of the bill, will not be limited. If the law comes into effect, applications for the extension of detention submitted before this moment will continue to be considered under the existing rules. The commission also notes that the proposed changes will not require additional expenses from the state or municipal budgets. Consultations were held with representatives of the Latgale District Court, the Judicial Council, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of the Interior during the preparation of the amendments.
