Lauma Paegļkalna, Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Justice, is attending a meeting of Justice Ministers of the European Union in Brussels. On the agenda of the meeting are the fight against child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation, the future of criminal law in the European Union, the harmonisation of aspects of insolvency law at national level, and the fight against crimes committed by Russia against Ukraine.
During the meeting, justice ministers agreed on the position of member states on strengthening criminal law on sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children. The update of the Directive, proposed by the European Commission in February 2024, aims to broaden the definitions of child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation offences and ensure more effective investigation and prosecution of these crimes.
On the protection of children against sexual abuse, Latvia made a joint statement with Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Sweden, pointing out that although children of the age of consent may consent to sexual activity, they are particularly vulnerable and deserve comprehensive legal protection. The 7 countries expressed their deep regret that most Member States have not been able to take a more ambitious approach against unwanted sexual activity.
Lauma Paegļkalna, Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Justice, emphasised: "As one of the Member States that signed the Declaration, I would like to stress that child sexual abuse is one of the most serious forms of crime, characterised by long-lasting psychological consequences. Latvia believes that the text of the Directive needs to be more ambitious, especially with regard to the concept of consent. Children are the most vulnerable group in society and we have a duty of care to ensure that they receive the most effective protection under this Directive. We look forward to constructive discussions in the trialogue to achieve a clear definition of the concept of consent in the Directive."
In the discussion on legal action and the fight against impunity for crimes committed during Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, Lauma Paeglkalna stressed the need for EU Member States to be united on a common and effective approach to dealing with the aggressor state, Russia. The new European Commission will also play a key role in this work. Ukraine-related issues must remain on the EU's agenda until its territorial integrity is restored to its pre-2014 borders. Everything possible must be done to ensure that the perpetrators of the most serious international crimes, in particular senior Russian officials, do not go unpunished.
Member States also agreed to create a modern EU criminal law instrument that clearly defines the facilitation of unauthorised entry, transit and residence as a criminal offence and sets effective penalties for such offences. For Latvia, the introduction of such an instrument is important to fight hybrid attacks of illegal migration on the Latvian-Belarusian border.