On Thursday, October 31, Ramin Gurbanov, President of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ), and Artashes Melikyan, Head of the Secretariat of the Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE), visited the Supreme Court. Officials from the European judicial organizations met Ivars Bickovics, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the Chair of the Council for the Judiciary, and Senator Aija Branta, Latvian representative to both European judicial organizations (CEPEJ and CCJE).

During the meeting, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court welcomed the CEPEJ's assessment of the performance of the Latvian judicial system in 2018 and its recommendations aimed at strengthening the role of the Council for the Judiciary. The issues of the Latvian judicial system and the CEPEJ's vision on the efficiency of court work in European countries, including Latvia, were discussed. Aspects of court work such as specialization of judges, evaluation of judges' performance and workload balancing were discussed.

Representatives of European judicial organizations emphasized that the Latvian judicial system is in a good position in the European context, therefore the readiness of the Latvian courts for further improvement and for increasing efficiency of the work is particularly welcome.

Ramin Gurbanov, President of the CEPEJ, visits Latvia to lunch a new project within the framework of the European Commission's Structural Reform Support Program, aiming to review and improve the organization of the Latvian judicial system, promote mediation and develop the state-provided legal aid system using CEPEJ's tools and methodology.

The President of CEPEJ will also address Latvian judges at the Latvian Judges' Conference on Friday, November 1.

 

 

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