From November 1 to 3, Maksims Miņejevs, the legal research counsel of the Department of Civil Cases, Laura Vigupe and Monta Krone, judge assistants of the Department of Administrative Cases, Oskars Kulmanis, the legal research counsel of the Department of Criminal Cases, Tatjana Danmarka, the judge assistant of the Department of Criminal Cases, went on a study trip to the Supreme Court of Norway.

During the visit, the Latvian delegation was introduced to the Norwegian judicial system, as well as the authority of the Supreme Court of Norway, the procedure for examining cases and the work organization. Special attention was paid to the work duties of the court support staff, as well as the measures implemented for promotion of public trust in the judicial system.

In Norway, the rulings of the Supreme Court are an important source of law, and the Supreme Court hears only cases that are relevant to the development of the case law. All judges examine cases of all categories and do not specialize in one field – civil, criminal, and administrative law. The Supreme Court of Norway also fulfils the role of a constitutional court.

Norway has a long tradition of oral proceedings, and even now cases are mainly heard in open oral proceedings at all levels of courts.

In the Supreme Court of Norway, the court proceedings have been fully digitalized since 2018.

Specially created departments perform functions that are similar to those carried out by judge assistants and legal research counsels in the Supreme Court of Latvia. There are the Legal Secretariat, law clerks, who are appointed for a fixed term of 7 years. Law clerks prepare cases for trial and carry out research on legal issues.

Representatives of the Latvian Supreme Court also met with the head of the Communication Department of the Supreme Court of Norway, who provided an insight into Court’s communication with the public which aims to promote public trust in the judicial system.

The visit was co-financed by the Office of the Nordic Council of Ministers in Estonia.

The visit is part of the project ‘Exchange of knowledge, experience and best practices between Latvian and Nordic Supreme Court staff on effective work organisation’, based on the agreement concluded between the Supreme Court and the Office of the Nordic Council of Ministers in Estonia on participation in the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme ‘Public administration’.

 

Laura Vigupe,

Senator’s Assistant at the Department of Administrative Cases

More information: Division of Communication, +371 67020396, +371 28652211