On 8 September, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the senator of the Senate of Latvia, August Loeber – the one of founders of Latvian legal system and civil law – the exhibition “Work and life of August Loeber” was opened in the Supreme Court. It is a unique event, because the exhibition has been opened in court premises for the first time. The exhibition designed using the collection of the Supreme Court, may be seen until 25 September.

The collection of the museum of the Supreme Court includes interesting materials and unique values, which not only give insight into life and work of Latvian patriot, Baltic German August Loeber (1865-1948) – the senator, Doctor of Law, and the professor, but also, through the evidence by one of the most outstanding Latvian lawyers, allow to understand in details an important period of Latvian history – the establishment and development of the state until 1940, to feel legal culture and lawyers’ aspirations of that time.  

Evidence, which may be in the exhibition – judicial insignia of office, judgements of the Senate, Index of judgements composed in writing, etc. – related to August Loeber’s work in the Senate, where he had been the judge of the highest court instance for 20 and discharged duties of the Chair of the Department of Civil Cassation for two years. Documents, photos, badge of the Doctor Emeritus, and other evidence characterise activity of August Loeber at the Faculty of Law of the University of Latvia, at the cradle of which he stood and where he taught course on trade law for 20 years. Single stand is dedicated to political and legislative activity of A.Loeber. The most outstanding exhibit is a special copy of the Civil Law of 1937, presented to developers of this law by the President of the State, but the less known documents are, for example, minutes of sittings of 1920 of the Peace delegation for negotiations with Germany. Social activity of August Loeber was manifold, and it is also reflected in the exhibition, showing, for example, correspondence carried out by Incineration Association, founded and chaired by him, regarding construction of Riga crematory.

The exhibition contains only part of historical riches collected and preserved, despite forced emigration from Latvia in 1939 and refugee life in Poland and Germany, by the senator himself, and presented to the Supreme Court by his son, the professor Dietrich Andre Loeber. It was the beginning of the museum of the Supreme Court in 1998.

The exhibition is the first event, which introduces a week of events dedicated to August Loeber in the Supreme Court. On Wednesday, delegations of Supreme Courts of Estonia and Lithuania will come on a visit to Latvia  to continue tradition of meeting of judges of Baltic States, which was cultivated by August Loeber in his time. However, on Friday, the Supreme Court, in cooperation with the Faculty of Law of the University of Latvia and the journal  “Jurista Vārds” (“Lawyer’s Word”) organises international conference “Commercial Law in Baltic Legal Space”, which is dedicated to August Loeber, the founder of trade law in Latvia.

 

Information prepared by

Rasma Zvejniece, the Head of the Division of Communication of the Supreme Court

E-mail: rasma.zvejniece@at.gov.lv, telephone 28652211