An electronic system of case circulation (ESCC) has started functioning in the Chamber of Civil Cases of the Supreme Court which allows to follow the case filed with the Chamber of Civil Cases at any stage of its movement until it is submitted to the chancery after being reviewed. If the new system proves to be efficient and convenient, it is possible that the experience of the Chamber of Civil Cases is taken over by other structural units of the Court, as well.

ESCC offers a possibility not only to locate each of the cases at a specific moment, but also to register the cases distributed to judges and assistants to judges, and to control the movement of cases. It is possible to prepare precise registration of the work load of judges and assistants taking into account the categories of the cases. Besides, the new system allows collect data of any report period and by any necessary parameters - reviewed cases, pending cases, suspended cases, terminated cases and grounds of termination, terms, the classification of cases by categories, by trial proceedings etc. This is a much more classified and precise division than the one offered by the Judicial informative system.

At the present moment ESCC contains data on the cases which have been moved from the chancery to the Chairman of the Chamber and are distributed among the judges and the assistants to the judges. However, the system supports unlimited number of users and provides a possibility to improve it, adapting it for new purposes of usage. It is probable that in the nearest future the chancery of the Chamber of Civil Cases will also join the system.

The proposal regarding such an innovation came from the assistant to the Chairman of the Chamber of Civil Cases Irina Casa, and after being approved and supported by the Chairman of the Chamber Gunars Aigars, the proposal was sent to the Supreme Court Administration. ESCC was worked out by the programmer Agris Kumpinovics who has great working experience in the field, and having listened to the needs and ideas of the users of the system, the product was developed which is very practical and convenient for usage.

Till the introduction of the electronic system, the circulation of cases was reflected in the registration books. As the number of cases filed with the Chamber of Civil Cases in the last two years exceeded two thousand per year, the old system was not clear. Besides, the Chamber of Civil Cases has a unified staff of assistants to the judges, and the judges do not have concrete assistants, therefore such a joint system is convenient and efficient.

In 2007, 2172 cases were filed with the Chamber of Civil Cases. The average work load of a judge was 197 cases per year, for an assistant - 217 cases.

 

Information prepared by Division of Communications of the Supreme Court

Author: Rasma Zvejniece, Manager of the Division of Communications of the Supreme Court

E-mail: rasma.zvejniece@at.gov.lv, telephone: 7020396, 28652211