The students had the opportunity to listen to Aigars Strupišs, President of the Supreme Court and the Chair of the Judicial Council, who gave an overview of the Latvian court system, the work of the Supreme Court, the procedure for appealing decisions, as well as the essence of the judicial office, and the requirements for judicial candidates.

Anita Zikmane, Head of the Division of Case-law and Research of the Supreme Court, explained to students the accessibility to Senate’s rulings and introduced them to the resources available on the Supreme Court’s website – the archive of case-law decisions, compilations of case-law, and historical materials. She encouraged students to first verify the amount of information available when choosing topics for their research papers, as there are closed court proceedings in certain cases, which may limit the availability of rulings for research purposes. At the same time, Anita Zikmane emphasized that, overall, the range of available resources is wide and fully sufficient for the study process. She also reminded students that it is important to use not only the decisions of the Senate, but also those of international and supranational courts.

Kristīne Ivulāne, Legal research counsel to the Division of Case-law and Research of the Supreme Court, who herself graduated from the Rēzekne Academy of Technologies (now RTU Rēzekne Academy), shared her professional experience while working at the Supreme Court. Kristīne gave students an insight into various legal professions in the court system, introducing them to the job responsibilities of each.

At the conclusion of the event, students visited the Supreme Court Museum and took a look inside the courtrooms and offices.

In order to broaden the understanding and interest of future lawyers in the Latvian court system and to provide an insight into one of the most interesting and, at the same time, most demanding legal professions – the position of judge, the Supreme Court has been organizing Day of First-Year Students since 2009. Even after the event, students take the opportunity to further obtain useful information for their studies at the Supreme Court and attend court hearings.

 

Baiba Kataja, Communication specialist of the Supreme Court

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