On Tuesday, the Saeima’s Public Administration and Local Government Committee supported the draft Cemetery Law before its first reading. The law is intended to establish unified rules for the establishment, maintenance, expansion of cemeteries, and the allocation of burial plots.
Overall, representatives of municipal organizations acknowledged that municipalities had long awaited such legislation and support its adoption. However, Ineta Vašuka, representing the Association of Large Cities of Latvia, noted that in preparing the bill for the second reading, discussions would be needed regarding contradictions between the situation in Riga and in other municipalities.
Acting head of Riga Cemetery Administration, Gints Zēla, also recognized that Riga has a specific situation regarding cemeteries that must be taken into account. For example, regulation is needed on allocating burial plots for special merits to the state. In his view, either this practice should be abandoned or municipalities should be granted the right to decide.
The draft law stipulates that decisions on the establishment, expansion, or closure of cemeteries will be made by municipal councils. Such decisions must specify the cemetery’s name, boundaries, and types of burials permitted.
Municipalities may impose visiting restrictions, but must provide justification for such decisions.
At the same time, municipalities must ensure access to cemeteries for cultural and historical traditions, even during restricted hours, upon request.
Municipalities are required to plan cemetery development and expansion in advance in line with territorial development planning documents. Cemeteries are to be closed to burials once no free plots remain, while columbaria will be closed when no free niches are available.
The law also sets out basic requirements for cemetery maintenance, including signs with the cemetery’s name, visiting restrictions (if any), the administrator’s name, and contact information. Cemetery boundaries must be visibly marked, though not necessarily fenced. Municipalities will decide on the most suitable form of demarcation.
The draft requires at least one waste collection point at or near a cemetery
and, depending on visitation, a water supply point and toilet. These may be omitted if visitation is so low that such facilities are unnecessary. A one-year transitional period is foreseen for installing water points and toilets where not already available.
Cemeteries must also have signage to religious or public-use buildings such as churches, chapels, mosques, synagogues, funeral halls, crematoria, or columbaria.
Municipalities will be required to create and maintain an electronic cemetery burial register with minimum mandatory information. A one-year transition period is foreseen for creating the register, and municipalities will have three years to include already collected data.
A unified procedure for granting burial plots will be introduced.
Plots will be allocated by municipalities as a form of special use of public property. Priority will be given based on the deceased’s last declared residence, though allocation may also be made based on the applicant’s residence or free adjacent plots for family burials. Applicants may also request to reserve an adjacent plot, effectively creating a “family burial.”
Municipal decisions on plot allocation or refusal may be appealed to the municipality and further to the Administrative District Court.
The draft law also defines basic obligations for plot holders, such as preparing a plot for burial, cleaning it within three months afterwards, and ensuring regular upkeep.
A unified procedure is set for declaring a burial plot neglected and revoking its use rights. Cemetery administrators must inspect plots annually between the 1st of April and the 1st of November, identify neglected plots, and notify holders. Neglected plots will be those left with withered flowers, fallen leaves, broken elements, or otherwise damaging the cemetery’s overall appearance. Holders will have three years to remedy neglect. If the holder is unknown, notices may be placed at the plot or published in the official gazette Latvijas Vēstnesis.
Information on neglected plots will also be published in the municipal burial register. If the plot is not cleaned within the given period, municipalities may revoke its usage rights.
The law will also regulate burial procedures, urn placement in columbaria, and the updating of information in the Register of Natural Persons.
With the law’s adoption, existing municipal regulations on cemeteries will cease to apply, with a transition period until the 30th of June, 2027.
The law is expected to enter into force on the 1st of January next year.
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