Senate of the Supreme Court is the highest court instance in the Republic of Latvia the judgments of which shall not be appealed.
Senate reviews cassation complaints and cassation protests on rulings of regional courts in cases reviewed under the procedure of appeal, on rulings of court chambers of the Supreme Court, as well as functions as the first instance in cases on decisions of the State Audit Council, decisions of the Central Elections Commission and decisions of the Minister of Interior Affairs regarding entering of foreigners in the list of the persons who are prohibited to enter the Republic of Latvia.
The law which replaced the previous procedure of reviewing cases in the cassation instance as the second instance court came into effect on October 15, 1995. The Senate is divided in three departments. The Department of Civil Cases and the Department of Criminal Cases were established on October 3, 1995, by the decision of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court. Since February 2, 2004, the Department of Administrative Cases has also commenced to function, the chairman of it was elected at the Plenary Session of February 6.
Cassation
Cassation (lat. Cassatio) is a verification of lawfulness of a judgment or decision of a court of lower instance. The cassation instance court does not adjudicate a case on the merits, it is not within the competence of the Senate to clarify the actual circumstances of the case, verification of evidence and assessment. Senate verifies compliance of the appealed judgment with the standards of substantial and procedural law, and draws conclusions on the basis of the materials in the case.
The Senate hears cases collegiate in the composition of three senators. In events stipulated in the laws on civil procedure a case may be reviewed in an expanded composition of the Senate, in events stated in the Administrative Procedure Law – in the joint session of the Department of Administrative Cases of the Senate. The Criminal Procedure Law states that cases on newly discovered circumstances in which the decision has been passed by the Supreme Court Senate are reviewed by five senators who previously have not participated in the hearings of the respective criminal case, presided by the court chairman or his deputy.
In case of necessity, senators of all the three departments of the Senate may mutually replace each other for hearing of a case.
Cassation complaint (protest) is addressed to the Department of Civil Cases, Department of Criminal Cases or the Department of Administrative Cases of the Supreme Court Senate, but it is filed in the court which has adopted the judgment.
When filing a cassation complaint in a civil case, the security deposit has to be paid, it does not have to be paid in criminal cases and administrative cases.
The interpretation of law standards contained in the judgment of the Senate is binding for the court which hears the case anew. However, the Senate does not indicate in its judgments what judgment has to be adopted when reviewing the case anew.
