Pursuant to the “By-Law of the Ministry of Defence” approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on 29 April, 2003, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is the leading state administrative institution in the field of defence directly subordinate to the Minister of Defence.

The MoD develops National Defence Policy, organises and co-ordinates the implementation of the National Policy, the implementation of National Policy in the areas of geodesy, cartography, and geo-spatial information, as well as the implementation of National Policy in the areas of military education and science.

Ministry activities are overseen by the Minister of Defence – a civilian who is politically responsible before the Saeima (Parliament) and the Prime Minister.

The Ministry of Defence State Secretary is a state civil service official who oversees the administrative work of the Ministry and ensures the continuity of operations when the political leadership of the Ministry changes.

The Administrative Structure of the Ministry is formed by departments and independent sections.

On 1 January 2010, the structural reform of the defence sector was completed. Within the framework of the structural reform, the resources and structures of the existing National Armed Forces (NAF) and MoD were optimised and the implementation of separate functions was decreased.

In taking over the functions of the NAF Headquarters and Units, soldiers were also included into the MoD staff. Thus the MoD went from being what was once a civil institution to becoming a civilian-military institution. By optimising functions and staff, we were able to save on human resources (the number of people employed in the MoD was not increased upon integrating military persons) and to achieve a faster and more effective process for adopting decisions.

As at 1 January 2010, there were 228 staff positions in the Ministry of Defence.

Information updated 2 March 2010.