The Supreme Court Museum was created in 1998 on the eightieth anniversary of the Supreme Court Senate. The creation of the museum was greatly facilitated by Dietrich Andrejs Lebers, the son of the Senator Augusts Lebers. Senator Lebers emigrated to Germany during the Soviet occupation, where he died on February 14, 1948.
The museum contains historic documents that date back to 1918, and evidence the beginnings of the Supreme Court Senate and the opening of the Palace of Justice on December 9, 1938. The museum has a silver-covered, leather-bound copy of the 1938 Civil Law. The public can learn about the changes to the judicial system that were instituted by occupying powers, the period of the Awakening, and the restoration of the three-tiered court system in 1995.
The museum houses a vast collection of materials about the Supreme Court Senators and their fates during the Soviet period. The museum is open to the public on the days the Supreme Court holds an open house. At other times, anyone interested the past and the future of the Latvian courts may visit the Supreme Court museum by appointment. To make an appointment, please call the Division of Communication at 7020396.
In preparation of this publication, the authors relied in part on the information contained in "The History of the Ministry of Justice and the Courts, 1918 – 1938", published in 1938 and complied by K Veitmanis and A Mengelsons, and the Supreme Court Museum records.
