The number of serious crimes increased by 19% last year, reported Attorney General Armins Meisters at a meeting of the Saeima Commission on Defense, Internal Affairs, and Corruption Prevention, where the report on the work of the prosecution last year and priorities for 2026 were discussed.
As explained by Meisters, the increase in the number of serious crimes was mainly due to property crimes with significant damage, as well as violent crimes against minors.
One of the priorities of the prosecution this year is to ensure the quality of criminal proceedings. As noted in the report, the number of criminal proceedings under the supervision of prosecutors continues to decrease. In 2025, compared to 2024, the reduction was 0.94%, and compared to 2023, it was 5.09%.
Meisters noted that prosecutors are still actively using the opportunity to terminate criminal proceedings if there are insufficient grounds for their continuation. In 2025, 11,719 criminal proceedings were terminated, while in 2024, there were 13,462.
Meanwhile, the number of completed criminal proceedings in the prosecution amounted to 44%. Last year, 9,383 proceedings were completed in the prosecution, while in 2024, there were 9,811. 89.1% of the proceedings ended with prosecutors' orders for punishment, while in 2024, the share of such cases was 87.1%.
Meisters emphasized that due to the insufficient number of judges in the courts, a critical limit has been reached to ensure the timely consideration of cases, therefore, the prosecution plans to complete more criminal proceedings in the prosecution in order to reduce the burden on the courts.
