Updated: 29.06.2022.
The councillors of Riga City Council take their decisions at open meetings. The meetings may be attended by any of the city residents, journalists, and officials of the state administration and municipal institutions.
The residents or individuals invited to Riga City Council meetings do not have rights of participating in the debates without the invitation of the chairman of Riga City Council and to disturb the procedure of the meeting.
Regular meetings of Riga City Council shall be convened by the Mayor of Riga at least once a month, specifying the time and location of meetings and announcing the agenda.
The discussions at the meetings of Riga City Council are performed in Latvian. The bills and other documents for consideration of Riga City Council must be submitted in Latvian.
The Council may discuss only those issues that have been included in the announced agenda of the meeting. Exceptions may be permitted only if at least two thirds of the present councillors vote for it.
Voting at Riga City Council meetings is open. Voting by secret ballot may be requested in accordance with the procedures stipulated by the Law on Local Governments. The decision on voting by secret ballot is taken by simple majority of votes of the present councillors.
Decisions of Riga City Council are taken by the majority of votes of the present councillors, unless the law provides for a different number of votes for the decision to be considered taken.
The councillors, who have registered before the announcement of the respective mode of voting, are considered present. Registration of councillors is performed in electronic form. If the votes split equally during the voting (equal number of “for”, “against” and “abstained” votes), the voting should be repeated. If after the repeated voting the voices are split equally again, the decision or proposal is not accepted. If the bill does not receive the necessary number of votes, it is overruled. Thus, the bill may be submitted to Riga City Council for repeated consideration according to the procedure of Riga City council regulations.