The State Chancellery of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Valsts kanceleja) is a central public administration institution directly subordinated to the Prime Minister.
The State Chancellery is headed by its director, who is a top-rank official appointed to and dismissed from the post by the Cabinet order and upon recommendation of the Prime Minister.
Subordinate institution of the State Chancellery is the Latvian School of Public Administration (since 1 January 2003).
The Director of the State Chancellery is a direct subordinate of the Prime Minister and is responsible for lawfulness and performance of the institution.
The role of the government administration significantly increased, for example, the Codification Division which from the Ministry of Justice in 1926 went under the Saeima now had come under the authority of the State Chancellery.
During the authoritarian regime, the concentration of power and the role of public institutions were ever more increased and in 1936 K.Ulmanis became the President and the Prime Minister of Latvia.
For example, on 17 March 1949, the decision on deportation of more than 40,000 people in Latvia to the most distant regions of the USSR was signed both by the Chair of the Council of Ministers of the Latvian SSR and I.Bastins, Affairs Manager of the Council of Ministers of the Latvian SSR.
By the time when the Latvian Constitution (Satversme) and the Law on Structure of the Cabinet of Ministers were re-enforced, the State Chancellery had experienced three reorganisations.
The above-mentioned law renewed the historical status of the State Chancellery and stipulated its key functions, namely, the provision of the activities of the Cabinet of Ministers and the Prime Minister, and ensuring optimal and operational decision-making in line with the Constitution and other laws.