Frequently asked questions

The bailiff initiates enforcement proceedings upon receipt of a written application from the claimant, based on the enforcement document. The list of the enforcement documents is specified in Section 540 of the Civil Procedure Law (the text of the law in English is available here https://likumi.lv/ta/en/en/id/50500-civil-procedure-law).

If the enforcement document is signed with a secure electronic signature, it shall be sent, together with the claimant’s electronically signed application, to the sworn bailiff’s email address or official e-address.

If the Latvian court has issued an electronic writ of execution, the claimant must submit solely a written application to the sworn bailiff, in which the number of the writ of execution notified to the claimant by the court must also be indicated. The bailiff will retrieve the writ of execution itself from the Court Information System based on the number provided by the claimant.

If the enforcement document is in paper form, the original must be submitted, together with an application signed by the claimant, to the office of the sworn bailiff or sent there by registered mail.

Creditors who, pursuant to the second paragraph of Section 567 of the Civil Procedure Law, are not exempt from paying the costs of enforcement to the bailiff must pay a state fee of 3 euros when submitting the enforcement document. For information on how to pay the state fee, see here: How do I pay the state fee for submitting an enforcement document for execution?

Before submitting enforcement documents to a sworn bailiff, creditors must prepare and generate an invoice for the state fee for the submission of enforcement documents for execution. It shall be done on the e-auction website under the “Other Services” section (https://izsoles.ta.gov.lv/valsts-nodeva). The invoice must be paid within 30 days. After paying the invoice, the claimant must submit the enforcement document to the sworn bailiff along with the attached payment order, which states the invoice number.

If the debtor’s place of residence (for legal entities - the registered office), the location of its property, or the place of employment is not in Latvia, the Latvian Council of Sworn Bailiffs suggests that paragraph 2.³ of Section 549 of the Civil Procedure Law shall apply by analogy. Pursuant to this legal provision, the bailiff must accept Part A of the European Account Preservation Order for enforcement regardless of the debtor’s place of residence (for legal entities—registered office), the location of the property, or the place of employment.

Consequently, if the debtor has only a bank account in Latvia and there is no other way to determine the jurisdiction for enforcement, the creditor may submit its enforcement title to any bailiff in Latvia.

If an enforcement document is submitted for the recovery of an amount equal to or exceeding 10,000 euros, and the creditor is not exempt from paying the costs of enforcement of the judgment pursuant to the second paragraph of Section 567 of the Civil Procedure Law, before contacting a sworn bailiff, the creditor must verify whether the number of such cases currently pending in the selected sworn bailiff’s docket has not yet reached the limit specified in the paragraph four of Section 71 of the Law on Bailiffs.The creditor can obtain this information on the lzti.lv website under the section “Collection over €10,000”.

If the selected sworn bailiff has reached the limit of the particular cases, the creditor must contact another sworn bailiff of the relevant district court who has not reached the limit. This also applies to cases where, pursuant to paragraph two of Section 549 of the Civil Procedure Law, the enforcement document falls within the jurisdiction of a specific bailiff’s district that has reached its limit.

This restriction does not apply to cases where an enforcement document is submitted for enforcement by:

• a mortgagee, to receive funds deposited for him or her in accordance with paragraph 2.¹ of Section 628 of the Civil Procedure Law,
• a creditor whose claim is to be satisfied from property or funds previously seized to secure that claim, in execution of a decision on securing the claim, or
• a creditor joins the enforcement proceedings in accordance with paragraph five of Section 621 of the Civil Procedure Law.