The state's right to use e-mail communication with teenagers in Latvia

In Latvia, there is a number of regulatory acts that regulate the rights and obligations of persons who have reached the age of 15. For example, according to the Article 219 of the Civil law, the minority of persons continues until they reach the age of 18. The Article 220 of the same law stipulates, that in exceptional circumstances, when the guardians and closest kin of a minor attest that the behaviour of the minor is irreproachable, and he or she is able to independently protect and defend his or her rights and perform his or her duties, the minor may be declared as being of age of majority even before he or she has reached the age of 18, but not earlier than before he or she fully reaches the age of 16 (Civillikums. Pirmā daļa. Ģimenes tiesības…, 1937).

The Law on the Protection of the Children's Right like the above-mentioned Civil law stipulates, that a child is a person who has not attained the age of 18, except for such persons who have been declared to be of legal age in accordance with the law or have entered into marriage before attaining 18 years old. At the same time, a child who has attained 16 years old is allowed to be present in a public place during night time (from 22:00 to 6:00) without the presence of an adult person who is responsible for the supervision of him or her (Bērnu tiesību aizsardzības likums…, 1998).

The Labour law in Latvia prohibits to employ children (person who is under 15 years old and who until reaching the age of 18 continues to acquire a basic education) in permanent work. At the same time, according to the Labour law, an adolescent is a person between the ages of 15 and 18 who is not to be considered a child if he does not continue to acquire a basic education. It is prohibited to employ adolescents in jobs in special conditions, which are associated with increased risk to their safety, health, morals and development (Darba likums…, 2001). Thus, this regulation allows the employment of persons who have reached the age of 15 and at the same time ensures both their health protection from potentially harmful working conditions and obtaining basic education.

It should be also mentioned that an identity card is the mandatory personal identification document for a citizen or non-citizen of Latvia who has attained 15 years old. An identity card can be used for creation of a secure electronic signature (Personu apliecinošu dokumentu likums…, 2012).

Analysing the issue of responsibility of children in the national regulation, three types of liability should be mentioned: (1)

Children under 7 years are not responsible for the delicts. Losses that have been caused by children who are not more than 7 years old are compensated for from the property of these persons to the extent that they are not deprived of means needed for their maintenance. If losses have occurred through the negligence of a person whose duty is to supervise the aforementioned persons, such person is primarily liable regarding the losses to the extent of his or her own property (Civillikums. Ceturtā daļa. Saistību tiesības…, 1937). Accordingly, this liability limitation no longer applies to children over 7 years old.

Consequently, the national regulation recognises a person as capable to bear responsibility for a delict starting from the age of seven, while for a criminal offense or administrative violation a person is recognised as capable to bear responsibility from the age of 14. At the same time, persons from the age of 15 are allowed to be employed, with certain restrictions regarding the protection of their health from possible harmful working conditions and guaranteeing the opportunity to obtain basic education without hindrance. Obtaining an identity card is mandatory for all citizens and non-citizens who have reached the age of 15. On the other hand, it is allowed to stay in public places without parental supervision during the night for those persons who have reached the age of 16, which is probably also related to efforts of the state to ensure the physical safety of younger persons. Thus, when the child reaches certain ages, the child's responsibility and rights (which he or she can realise without the involvement of parents) also increases.

Currently, the official electronic address is not obligatory for children. According to the Article 5 of the Law on the Official Electronic Address, it may be used by a person from 14 years old who is registered with the Register of Natural Persons (Oficiālās elektroniskās adreses likums…, 2016). The main purpose of electronic address is to ensure free, fast, secure, efficient and official electronic communication between state institutions and private individuals (Likumprojekta “Oficiālās elektroniskās…, 2016), because persons not always declare their new places of residence and state institution's letter, which is sent for example to the declared place of residence where the person no longer lives and does not reach the addressee. Such situation can happen both with a family that changes places of residence together with their children, and with students themselves, who from the age of 15 can start studies at, for example, technical schools in other cities, live in their dormitories and receive a scholarship. In the case of creating an official electronic address, the letter in such situations would quickly reach its addressee, regardless of whether the addressee has declared his or her place of residence.

The use of information and communication technologies optimises the institution's work, not only by speeding up communication, but also by saving state budget funds, because sending information to addressees by using postal services slows down the delivery of information or documents to addressees and incurs expenses as it requires printing the document, purchasing an envelope and paying for postal services. It is possible also to use publicly available advertisements. Although advertisements are an effective way of providing information to the public, it requires a large financial investment from the information provider and does not guarantee that the entire target audience will get to know the information.

The user of an official electronic address account can access it on the service portal of the State administration www.latvija.lv, using the qualified means for electronic identification (eID) of persons available in the Official Electronic Address Information System or other means of eID mentioned in the Law on the Official Electronic Address (Oficiālās elektroniskās adreses likums…, 2016). Thus, electronic signature owners with electronic access to it can connect to an official electronic address.

In 2022 and in the spring of 2023, the draft law on the national defence service and related amendments to the existing laws were reviewed in Saeima. According to the Article 2 of the National Defence Service Law, citizens – men – are subject to the state defence service within 1 year after reaching the age of 18 (Valsts aizsardzības dienesta likums…, 2023). Among the accompanying amendments were amendments to the Law on Official Electronic Addresses, which provided for the obligation to create an official electronic address for Latvian citizens – men – from 15 years to 27 years old. The amendments did not provide for any sanctions in case the requirement to create an official electronic address was not fulfilled (Likumprojekts “Grozījumi Oficiālās…, 2023).

With the help of official electronic mail, the state institution could send informative materials to the persons from 15 years old (potentially subjects to the national defence service) on the types of state defence service, their peculiarities, social guarantees, as well as encourage teenagers to take care of their health and lead a healthy lifestyle. In case of questions, the state institution would answer them. Thus, in author's opinion, such communication can be evaluated as positive communication aimed at increasing the awareness of young people.

During the sessions of the responsible committee, a suggestion was made by the experts to impose an obligation to create an official electronic address only from the age of 18 years old (not from 15 years old), stating that: (1)

such an obligation cannot be imposed on teenagers because until the age of 18, they are legally and totally under the parental care (Concerns were raised at the same time that parents would not be informed about the content of such communication.);

The experts did not delve into discussions about the preferred wording of the content of the transitional provision (Aizsardzības, iekšlietu un korupcijas novēršanas komisijas sēdes tiešraide…, 2023).

In author's opinion, both of the above-mentioned arguments, which were the basis for the cancellation of the proposal to impose an obligation on persons from the age of 15 to create an official electronic address, are debatable. As it was mentioned above, the 15-year-old person is already endowed with certain duties and responsibilities (for example, the obligation to receive a personal identification document or the onset of administrative or criminal liability). Moreover, the possibility to create an official electronic address for the persons from 14 years old is already provided for in the Law on the Official Electronic Address, but currently it is not formulated as an obligation.

The author offers to evaluate this regulation not only from the side of its positive or negative consequences, but also from the side of compliance with the national and international regulations for the protection of children's rights. Thus, the following objectives of the protection of the rights of the child stipulated in the Law on the Protection of the Children's Rights should be mentioned: (1)

the development and reinforcement of an orientation of a child toward values corresponding to the interests of society,

In author's opinion, it is difficult to imagine how an invitation (sent by a state authority) to monitor one's health and physical fitness, as well as information about the types and terms of national defence service, could violate the aforementioned objectives. Moreover, Article 5 of the Law on the Protection of the Children's Rights emphasises the duty of state and local government institutions to ensure the protection of the rights of the child in the State (Bērnu tiesību aizsardzības likums…, 1998). Therefore, the state institution, when sending information, that does not create any obligations, about the national defence service, is primarily responsible for observing the above-mentioned goals and not infringing on the rights of the child.

It should also be mentioned that currently, the national regulation does not prohibit state institutions to send information as a registered postal item, which must be picked up at the post office upon presentation of a personal identification document, or as an ordinary postal item, which is thrown into the mailbox of a house or apartment.

Regarding concerns that parents may not be aware of the content of the received letters, it should be mentioned that a teenager can take out a letter addressed to himself from the mailbox of his house or apartment and not always show it to his parents. A teenager can also start an electronic correspondence with a state institution or any other private or legal person on his own initiative from his private (not official) electronic address, and even in this case, the parents may not be informed about the content of his or her correspondence. Therefore, the concern that the parents will not be informed about the content of the correspondence with state institution, which contains only information and no obligations, does not stand up to criticism.

As a consequence of not receiving first-hand information must be mentioned that a teenager may receive inaccurate, incomplete information from unofficial websites or from personal reflections of peers about what might or might not happen in the future. While receiving information from the first source can help him to plan his future timely by choosing the most appropriate type of service for his future plans or by using service deferment options.

As to the argument that the imposition of such an obligation is burdensome for teenagers, it should be mentioned that for creation and use of an official electronic address, a person needs only a computer or a smart device, internet connection and means of eID card with a smart card reader or mobile app eParaksts mobile. According to the first part of Article 9 of the Law on Identity Documents, an identity card is a mandatory identity document for a citizen of Latvia who has reached the age of 15. Thus, it can be concluded that the creation of an official electronic address for a citizen of Latvia who has reached the age of 15 is technically possible and does not involve any additional burden (Likumprojekta “Grozījumi Oficiālās elektroniskās adreses likumā” anotācija…, 2016).

In accordance with the transitional provisions of the Law on Identity Documents, the requirement of the law regarding the identity card as a mandatory identity document came into force on 1 May 2023. It should be also mentioned that for a person who has reached the age of 15 and to whom only a passport had already been issued until 30 April 2023, a passport remains a mandatory identity document, and the requirement for an identity card as a mandatory identity document is not applied until the day when the relevant passport has become unusable (Personu apliecinošu dokumentu likums…, 2012). Thus, there is a group of teenagers who can live with a passport and without an identity card during the transition period (until the expiration date of the received passport). Since receiving an identity card is a paid service, the obligation to receive it in order to create an official electronic address can create a financial burden for a teenager.

But as it was mentioned above, the official address can also be created with mobile app eParaksts mobile. To use the mobile app eParaksts mobile, a person needs to apply to the service mobile.eparaksts.lv and sign the application contract manually. eParaksts mobile can be received from the age of 14 with a valid identity document issued by the Republic of Latvia – passport. Persons can sign the application contract at an address convenient for them, choosing the delivery of the contract by courier. Contract delivery by courier is free of charge. Moreover, receiving and using eParaksts mobile is free of charge (Kas ir eParaksts…, 2017).

Summarising the above-mentioned objectives, it is difficult to agree with the argument that imposing an obligation on a teenager to create an official electronic address creates a great burden for him or her contradicts the national regulation protecting the rights of children.

The child's right to freedom of expression, which includes the freedom to seek, receive and impart any information and ideas regardless of frontiers orally, in writing or in print, in the form of works of art or by other means of the child's choice, is embodied in Article 14 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The exercise of these rights may be limited by legislation with the aim of respecting the rights or reputation of others or protecting national security or public order (order public), or public health or morals (UN Convention on the Rights…, 1989). There is a reasonable opinion that the right to search, receive and distribute information at the same time guarantees the child's right to search for any information in the public environment, especially information of their interest that can contribute to their education and health protection (Vaghri et al., 2022) and also imposes on the state a positive obligation to ensure access to information, especially to information that the state stores in all kinds of storage systems, including electronic systems and photographs. Therefore, in many countries, the right to information is guaranteed by legislation (Hussain, 1998). Three means of protection are recognised to protect the child from harmful information: 1)

the state must ensure that the content of information published in digital resources is filtered, respecting the fact that children can access to this information (Guidelines to respect…, 2018),

Although these measures are mutually complementary, in author's opinion, each of them is of fundamental importance and can exist individually. In practice, there may be cases when all three protection measures cannot work at the same time due to objective reasons, for example, parents and school cannot track the content of all websites visited by a child on the internet. The state also cannot always timely notice information harmful to the child's development on the non-state internet resources and thus reacts only after receiving the relevant complaint. Parents are not always informed about the information provided by the school to children, because they cannot participate in all lessons and access to the information provided by the school to their child. Despite this, parents primarily trust the information provided by schools to their children. Therefore, the opinion that parents will trust the harmlessness of information provided by the state institution less than the information provided by the school is questionable.

Moreover, the institution will most likely send the information about the national defence service that is also available on its website and to which parents can access themselves. But sending this information directly to the addressee in author's opinion not only saves the addressee's time, which he would spend searching for this information, but also increases the possibility that the addressee will read it.

According to the National Defence Service Law, citizens – men – are subject to the national defence service within 1 year after reaching the age of 18 (Valsts aizsardzības dienesta likums…, 2023). Currently, the creation of an official electronic address is mandatory for these persons only from the age of 18 (Oficiālās elektroniskās…, 2016) that is at the last moment, when this information can still be useful.

Respecting the UN Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)4 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on human rights of members of the armed forces, the state does not conscript persons into compulsory national defence service who have not attained the age of 18 years. Although the above-mentioned recommendation and Convention on the Rights of the Child does not exclude the possibility of conscripting younger persons (who has attained the age of 15 years) into the service on a voluntary basis, by informing their parents about the service duties (UN Convention…, 1998; UN Recommendation…, 2010). It should also be mentioned that conscripting or enlisting children under the age of 15 years into the national armed forces or using them to participate actively in hostilities is recognised as a war crime (Rome Statute…, 2011). Furthermore, according to the Article 77(2) of the 1977 Additional Protocol I, the parties to the conflict shall take all feasible measures in order that children who have not attained the age of 15 years do not take a direct part in hostilities and, in particular, they shall refrain from recruiting them into their armed forces (Protocol Additional…, 1949).

It should be taken into account that sending information about the national defence service should not be considered as enlistment into the service, nor as recruitment into the service. Its main purpose is to give the teenager the opportunity to plan his future timely by familiarising himself with the regulation regarding compulsory service.

UN Recommendation emphasises the necessity to provided potential recruits with full and detailed information about all aspects of recruitment, the induction process and the specific nature of the commitments involved in enlisting in the armed forces. In the case of potential recruits who are under the age of 18, this information should also be provided to their parents or legal guardians (UN Recommendation…, 2010). So far as the state does not recruit in military service persons who are under the age of 18, after interpreting the all-abovementioned regulations of the UN Recommendation in their mutual connection, it could be concluded that information about the types of national defence service (which content is also an alternative service), one of which the person will possibly perform after reaching the age of 18, may not be obligatory sent to the person's parents. In addition, parents can negotiate with children who have reached the age of 15 that they will inform their parents about the received information and its content.