An exhibition is created in order to conclude the operation of the Chambers of The Supreme Court. It tells the story of the activities of appellate instance since its establishment in 1995 to the termination of work of the Chamber of Criminal Cases in 2014 and the Chamber of Civil Cases on 31 December 2016.

The exhibition begins with the 1992 law "On Judicial Power" and the first reorganization scheme of the Supreme Court, which provided for the Supreme Court to set up a cassation instance, Senate and four court chambers as the appellate instance – Chambers of Civil Cases, Criminal Cases, Economic Affairs and Constitutional Review. However the law was amended before the implementation of reform of the Supreme Court and the Chamber of Civil Cases and Chamber of Criminal Cases began their work in 1995. Their chairpersons were Gunārs Aigars and Andrejs Lepse.

Appellate procedure was reestablished in the Latvian judicial system. Therefore circular letter prepared by the Chamber of Criminal Cases and intended for regional courts on addressing issues in connection with initiation of appellate process in Latvia, being practical guide in 1995, now is a historical testimony. Such testimony is also a collection of appellate rulings which was commented by the Minister of justice of those times Ingrīda Labucka. She said that summary of judgments in criminal cases could be read instead of detective stories before bed.

Various Chancery registers have also become a history of court chambers - hand-written and assembled files and registers of pending cases, alphabetical index of pending criminal cases etc., as well as wooden stamps and historical letters stamping machine.

The exhibition is dedicated to judges who worked in the Court’s chambers. Speaking about the Chamber of Criminal Cases the information of the judge Luko Lotko can be found in the exhibition. Lujāns case that was heard by Luko Lotko is written in letters of gold in the history of Latvian judicial system, because it was the first political trial with acquittal and the beginning of independence of the judiciary. Visitors can also see commemorative medal of Andrejs Lepse received for participation in Barricades of 1991, the Constitutional Court judge's hat of judge Aija Branta, as well as evidence on the Latvian Association of Judges chaired by Chairpersons of the Chamber of Criminal Cases Andrejs Lepse and Ivars Bičkovičs.

In turn, the exhibition stand of the Chamber of Civil Cases presents a broader story of two judges of the Chamber - Gunārs Aigars and Aiva Zariņa, who are Honorary judges of the Supreme Court and have received highest National awards. The exhibition presents the “Study book of civil process” by Vladimir Bukovsky which was found by Gunārs Aigars in the early 90s and was used in drafting of the Latvian Civil Procedure Code and the Civil Procedure Law. One of the most interesting exhibits is a small booklet "Piecelieties, tiesa nāk" (“All Rise, Court is in Session!”) which tells the story of daily work of the Chair of City of Riga Central District Court, Aiva Zariņa, and educational role of People's Court. The author of the book was journalist and lay judge. The price of the book published in 1979 and its price was10 kopecks; 10 000 copies were printed.

The materials from Court’s archive and museum, as well as personal belongings of judges are used in creation of exhibition.

The exhibition "The Chambers of the Supreme Court 1995-2016" can be seen in the first floor lobby. In order to visit the exhibition - a pass has to be ordered in the Division of Communication. Also an identity document has to be produced – passport or ID card.

 

Information prepared by

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

E-mail: rasma.zvejniece@at.gov.lv, telephone: +371 67020396, +371 28652211