The Ministry of Culture is responsible for most of the legal cultural competence in Latvia. There are legal provisions for cultural organisations defined in special laws, which subordinate the respective cultural branches to the Ministry of Culture even if the organisations are established and administered by the municipalities.
Latvia has introduced numerous laws in the cultural sector, both setting out cultural policy frameworks in general and in concrete sectors. Moreover, there are laws, which define the operation of a particular institution: establishing the operations, governing structures and procedures for financing a cultural institution.
The purpose of the Law on Cultural Institutions (1998) is to define the types of culture institutions in Latvia, sources of funding for these institutions and their economic activities, and state guarantees for the functioning of culture institutions. It sets out general cultural policy frameworks. General settings are defined also in the laws concerning particular art fields, such as the Law on Libraries and the Law on Museums. In 2010, the Law on Film was adopted. A new Law on Archives came into force in 2011. It was followed by a major reform in the administration of public archives.
The draft Law on Intangible Cultural Heritage has been elaborated in 2015 by the Ministry of Culture and was adopted in 2016.
Table 2: List of cultural legislation, Latvia
| Title of the Act | Year of adoption (came into force) |
|---|---|
| Law on Press and Other Mass Media | 1990 (1991) |
| Law on Free Development of National and Ethnic Groups and their Rights on Culture Autonomy | 1991 (1991) |
| Law on the Protection of Cultural Monuments | 1992 (1992) |
| Law on the National Library of Latvia | 1992 (1993) |
| Law on Cultural Institutions | 1998 (1998) |
| Law on Libraries | 1998 (1998) |
| Official Language Law | 1999 (2000) |
| Copyright Law | 2000 (2000) |
| Law on Latvian National Opera and Ballet | 2002 (2002) |
| Law on the Preservation and Protection of Riga’s Historical Centre | 2003 (2003) |
| Law on the Realisation of the National Library | 2003 (2003) |
| Law on the State Cultural Capital Foundation | 2003 (2004) |
| Law on the Service Pension of State and Local Government Professional Orchestras, Choirs, Concert Organisations, Theatre and Circus Artists and the Allowance for Creative Work of Ballet Artists | 2004 (2005) |
| Law on Museums | 2005 (2006) |
| Law on the Dome Church and Monastery Ensemble | 2005 (2005) |
| Law on the Song and Dance Celebration | 2005 (2005) |
| Legal Deposit Law | 2006 (2006) |
| Law on the Museum of Occupation of Latvia | 2006 (2006) |
| Electronic Mass Media Law | 2010 (2010) |
| Law on Archives | 2010 (2011) |
| Law on Film | 2010 (2010) |
| Intangible Cultural Heritage Law | 2016 (2016) |
| Law on Financing Preservation of Sacral Heritage | 2017 (2018) |
| Law on Collective Management of Copyright | 2017 (2017) |
| Law on the Status of Creative Persons and Professional Creative Organisations | 2017 (2018) |
Table 3: International legal instruments implemented by Latvia in the cultural field
| Title of the Act | Came into force |
|---|---|
| European Cultural Convention (Council of Europe, 1954) | 1992 |
| Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO, 1967) | 1993 |
| Berne Convention (WIPO, 1886) | 1995 |
| Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Council of Europe, 1950) | 1997 |
| Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (UNESCO, 1972) | 1997 |
| Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of Their Phonograms of October 29, 1971 (UNESCO) | 1997 |
| ROME CONVENTION, 1961 International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations (UNESCO) | 1998 |
| Memorandum of Cooperation between the Republic of Latvia and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) | 1999 |
| Agreement on the Importation of Educational, Scientific and Cultural Materials (UNESCO, 1950) | 2001 |
| Geneva WIPO Copyright Treaty (WIPO, 1996) | 2002 |
| WIPO Performances And Phonograms Treaty (WIPO, 1996) | 2002 |
| Convention for the Protection of the Architectural Heritage of Europe (Council of Europe, 1985) | 2003 |
| European Convention on the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage (Council of Europe, 1992) | 2004 |
| Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (UNESCO, 1954) | 2004 |
| Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (Council of Europe, 1995) | 2005 (see 2.2. about the interpretation of the Convention) |
| Framework Convention of the Council of Europe on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society (Council of Europe, 2005) | 2006 |
| Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (UNESCO, 2003) | 2006 |
| Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (UNESCO, 2005) | 2007 |
| European Landscape Convention (Council of Europe, 2000) | 2007 |
| Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property 1970 (UNESCO) | 2018 |
| UNIDROIT Convention of 24 June 1995 on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects (UNIDROIT, 1995) | 2018 |
| Council of Europe Convention on Cinematographic Co- production (revised) (Council of Europe, 2017) | 2019 |
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