Tokens: 6
.
The
first
question
to
consider
is
that
of
national
law
.
At
the
time
of
the
events
,
the
1926
Soviet
Criminal
Code
,
which
became
applicable
in
Latvian
territory
by
a
decree
of
6
November
1940
(
see
paragraph
41
of
the
judgment
)
,
did
not
contain
any
provisions
on
war
crimes
as
such
.
The
Code
was
replaced
on
6
January
1961
by
the
1961
Criminal
Code
,
after
the
events
in
issue
,
and
a
Law
passed
on
6
April
1993
,
after
Latvia
had
regained
its
independence
in
1991
,
inserted
provisions
on
war
crimes
into
the
1961
Criminal
Code
,
permitting
the
retrospective
application
of
the
criminal
law
in
respect
of
such
crimes
and
exempting
them
from
limitation
(
sections
6
-
1
,
45
-
1
and
68
-
3
inserted
into
the
1961
Criminal
Code
–
see
paragraphs
48
to
50
of
the
judgment
)
.
In
these
circumstances
,
it
is
difficult
to
find
a
legal
basis
existing
in
national
law
at
the
time
of
the
events
and
,
if
we
are
correct
in
our
understanding
of
the
judgment
,
in
particular
paragraphs
196
to
227
,
the
majority
found
such
a
legal
basis
only
by
reference
to
international
law
,
even
after
taking
into
account
the
enactment
of
the
1993
Law
(
see
paragraph
196
especially
)
.
This
was
also
the
approach
taken
by
the
domestic
courts
,
at
least
by
the
Supreme
Court
Senate
in
its
judgment
of
28
September
2004
,
the
final
decision
in
the
case
at
national
level
.
The
decision
was
chiefly
based
on
Article
6
(
b
)
of
the
Charter
of
the
International
Military
Tribunal
at
Nuremberg
,
and
on
the
1968
United
Nations
Convention
on
the
Non
-
Applicability
of
Statutory
Limitations
to
War
Crimes
and
Crimes
against
Humanity
(
for
the
reasoning
of
the
Supreme
Court
Senate
’s
decision
,
see
paragraph
40
of
the
judgment
)
.
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