The Division of Case-law is a unit of the Supreme Court that is responsible for the compilation, analysis and publication of court opinions, as well as summarizes, selects, processes and publishes in the case-law database court rulings which are important for promotion of coordination, research and development of court practice. The Division of Case-law was established in 2005 on the basis of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court and the Division of generalization of court practice, and since its establishment it is led by Zigrīda Mita.
The case-law database
According to the Part Four and Five of the Paragraph 28/6 of the Law „On Judicial Power”, the Supreme Court develops the case-law database, and the procedure of selection and processing of information to be included in it, after coordination with the Ministry of Justice, has been determined by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Its aim is to help judges in review of cases in similar cases, to reduce terms of review of cases and provide creation of uniform and stable case-law.
In June 2006, the case-law database of the Judicial Information System was launched that is available for judges and employees of courts of all instances. Since June 2009, the database of the case-law of the Senate is available to public in the home page www.tiesas.lv .
By the end of September 2009, 674 rulings of the Senate have been published in it.
The most topical decisions of the Senate that have been made from year 2002, have been published also in the home page of the Supreme Court in the Section Court information/Compilations of Court decisions.
Court decisions on important legal principles, interesting legal problems and resolutions of complex matters have been published in the journal Jurista Vārds.
The collection of rulings
Since 1996, the Supreme Court has published opinions issued by the Supreme Court Senate in civil and criminal cases, since 2005, also in administrative cases. In last years it is done in cooperation with the Court House Agency. The collections contain rulings of the Senate which provide insight regarding the tendencies of the Senate court practice of the previous year, and which have theoretical and practical significance in development of the court practice. Publication is intended not only for lawyers but also for any person interested in the work of the courts.
The collection of rulings of the Department of Civil Cases of the Senate for 2008 contains 112 rulings, the collection of the Department of Criminal Cases – 102 rulings, the collection of the Department of Administrative Cases – 83 rulings.
Compilations of Court decisions
The Division of Case-law in cooperation with the Supreme Court judges and invited specialists summarize and study the court practice regarding topical issues of law. To raise the authority of the summaries of the court practice and to strengthen their recommending significance, the Supreme Court discusses current issues of law and court practice and offers its opinion in joint sessions where the Supreme Court judges of the respective field of law take part.
By the amendments of April 3, 2008, to the law „On Judicial Power” this initiative of the Supreme Court is defined as a new institution – the general meeting of Judges of the Court Chamber and the Senate Department of the Supreme Court which is convened by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to discuss current law issues. The general meeting of Judges expresses its opinion on the matters of interpretation and application of law standards in the form of a decision.
In cases when court rulings or performed summaries of the court practice suggest a cognition regarding necessary amendments to the laws, the Division of Case-law works out respective proposals and submits them to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
Seminars
Specialists from the Division of Case-law in cooperation with the chairmen of Departments and Chambers of the Supreme Court organize also seminars for judges of district and regional courts on topical problems of court practice and theory.
