Latvian law is a part of a legal system of Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

. It is largely civil

Civil law (legal system)

Civil law is a legal system inspired by Roman law and whose primary feature is that laws are codified into collections, as compared to common law systems that gives great precedential weight to common law on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different...

, as opposed to a common

Common law

Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...

, law system, based on epitome

Epitome

An epitome is a summary or miniature form; an instance that represents a larger reality, also used as a synonym for embodiment....

s in the German and French systems. The Latvian legal system is grounded on the principles laid out in the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia

Constitution of Latvia

The Constitution of Latvia is the fundamental law of the Republic of Latvia. It was adopted by, as it states itself, the people of Latvia, in a freely elected Constitutional Assembly, on 15 February 1922 and came into force on 7 November 1922. It was influenced by ideas of the Weimar Constitution...

 and safeguarded by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia

Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia

Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia is an independent court, which was established in 1996 on basis of amendments in law "On Judicial Power" and in the Constitution of Latvia made in 1994. It acts in accordance with the Constitutional Court Law and the Constitution....

.

History

During the Soviet occupation the adapted law of the USSR

Soviet law

The Law of the Soviet Union—also known as Socialist Law—was the law developed in the Soviet Union following the October Revolution of 1917...

 was in force in Latvia.

The European Union law

European Union law

European Union law is a body of treaties and legislation, such as Regulations and Directives, which have direct effect or indirect effect on the laws of European Union member states. The three sources of European Union law are primary law, secondary law and supplementary law...

 is an integral part of the Latvian legal system since 1 May 2004.

See also

• Declaration On the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia
• Legal systems of the world
  Legal systems of the world
  The legal systems of the world today are generally based on one of three basic systems: civil law, common law, and religious law – or combinations of these...