Number of particularly serious crimes increased by 19% last year

RIGA - The number of particularly serious crimes increased by 19 percent last year, said Prosecutor General Armins Meisters to the Saeima Defense, Internal Affairs and Corruption Prevention Committee, which reviewed a report on the work of the prosecutor's office last year and its priorities for 2026.

Meisters explained that the increase in particularly serious crimes is mainly due to large-scale financial crimes, as well as violent crimes against minors.

One of the priorities this year is to ensure quality in the implementation of criminal proceedings. The report indicates that the number of criminal proceedings accepted under the supervision of prosecutors continues to decline. In 2025, compared to 2024, it decreased by 0.94 percent, and compared to 2023, by 5.09 percent.

Meisters pointed out that prosecutors continue to actively use the option of terminating criminal proceedings if there are insufficient grounds for continuing them. In 2025, 11,719 criminal proceedings were terminated, compared to 13,462 in 2024.

In turn, the number of criminal proceedings completed by the prosecutor's office accounts for 44 percent. Last year, 9,383 proceedings were completed by the prosecutor's office, while in 2024, 9,811 proceedings were completed. Of the proceedings completed by the prosecutor's office, 89.1 percent were concluded with a prosecutor's recommendation for punishment, while in 2024 the proportion of such cases was 87.1 percent.

Meisters emphasized that due to the lack of judges, a critical threshold has been reached in regards to ensuring that cases are heard within a reasonable time frame, so the prosecutor's office plans to continue to complete more criminal proceedings in the prosecutor's office in order to reduce the burden on the courts.