On May 3, a delegation of members of the Kyrgyz Parliament (Žogorku Keneš) visited the Supreme Court of Latvia to meet with senators of the Department of Administrative Cases of the Supreme Court (Senate) to discuss the implementation of the administrative procedure and the work of administrative courts in Latvia.

The delegation of parliamentarians was welcomed by Veronika Krūmiņa, Chair of the Department of Administrative Cases, Diāna Makarova and Jānis Pleps, senators of the Department of Administrative Cases. Veronika Krūmiņa introduced the delegation to the structure of the Supreme Court, focusing on the competence of the Department of Administrative Cases in handling cases both as a cassation instance and as a first instance. The delegation was particularly interested in the execution of court rulings in administrative cases, namely in the way to achieve that state institutions take into account court rulings and apply the findings expressed in them in their work and execute what the courts have ruled. The guests were also interested in issues such as the application of the principle of objective investigation in practice, adoption of ancillary decisions, when pointing out to the institution the need to pay attention to the resolution of an issue, as well as the right of the Supreme Court to apply to the Constitutional Court to verify the possible non-compliance of the legal norm applied in a specific case with the Constitution.

At the conclusion of the conversation, the Kyrgyz delegation wished growth for Latvia and the administrative courts, and expressed the hope that in Kyrgyzstan, too, it will be possible to fully implement the administrative procedure in both institutions and courts, thus putting an emphasis on needs of people, ensuring their rights and freedoms, which is the very foundation of the country.

In Kyrgyzstan, the Administrative Procedure Law has been adopted, in the development of which experts from Latvia also took an active part. Therefore, the content of the law is rather similar to the Latvian Administrative Procedure Law. Therefore, colleagues from Kyrgyzstan were highly interested to get acquainted with the work of administrative judges in Latvia. The guests expressed an appreciation for Latvia's experience in the field of administrative procedure and the achieved quality of work of administrative courts.

Judges of the administrative courts of Kyrgyzstan also visited the Supreme Court in the previous year. The visits are organized within the European Union co-financed project "Promotion of the Rule of Law in Kyrgyz Republic" in order to ensure the exchange of experience in the application of the Administrative Procedure Law.

 

Information prepared by Baiba Kataja, Press Secretary of the Supreme Court

Tel.: +371 67020396; e-mail: baiba.kataja@at.gov.lv