Supreme Courts as guarantee for effectiveness of judicial systems in the European Union

Time and venue of the Conference

April 21, 2017, University of Latvia

Organizers of the Conference

Supreme Court of Latvia in cooperation with Faculty of Law of the University of Latvia

Aim

Presentation and analysis of results of the project“Supreme Courts as guarantee for effectiveness of judicial systems in the European Union”

Project implemented in 2016-2017. It was managed by the Supreme Court of Latvia, project partners – Supreme Courts of Lithuania, Spain and Hungary, and Universities of Antwerp (Belgium) and Ljubljana (Slovenia). The project is funded by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Justice.

• More about the project see here

Programme of the Conference

Plenary Session

Opening speeches

• Ivars BIČKOVIČS, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
• Annija KĀRKLIŅA, Vice Dean at the Faculty of Law of the University of Latvia

Information about the project

• Jānis SUPE, Project manager, Supreme Court of Latvia (Presentation)

The Role of Supreme Courts – Example of the Supreme Court of Estonia

• Priit Pikamäe, President of the Network of the Presidents of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the EU, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Estonia

The European Network of Councils for the Judiciary – the search for the quality of Justice in Europe

• Alain LACABARATS, Representative from the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ)

Opportunities for development of competencies of Council for Judiciary in Latvia

• Aivars ENDZIŅŠ, Chair of the Commission for Legal Environment Improvement created by the President of Latvia

PRESENTATION OF PROJECT RESULTS

Performance of Scientific and Research divisions of the Supreme Courts

• Stefan RUTTEN, Professor at University of Antwerp (Presentation)

General organization of judicial work in order to speed up the deadlines of hearings

• Lauranne CLAUS, Researcher at University of Antwerp (Presentation)

Communication of the Supreme Courts

• Bernard HUBEAU, Professor at University of Antwerp (Presentation)

Work of the Councils for Judiciary

• Grega STRBAN, Professor at University of Ljubljana (Presentation)

First session. GENERAL ORGANIZATION OF JUDICIAL WORK AND ROLE OF SCIENTIFIC AND RESEARCH DIVISIONS

Moderated by Prof. Dr. iur. Kristīne Strada-Rozenberga, Director of Center of Continuing Legal Education and Professional Development of the University of Latvia

Case-law as a source of law

• Ginta SNIEDZĪTE, Lecturer at Faculty of Law, University of Latvia

The role of Scientific and case-law divisions in making the work of Supreme Courts more effective

• Anita ZIKMANE, Head of Division of Case-law and Research, Supreme Court of Latvia (Presentation)

Cooperation between Supreme Courts and Academia

• Aurimas BRAZDEIKIS, Adviser to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Lithuania

Research and documentation units of Supreme Courts: Experience of Spain

•  José María Blanco SARALEGUI, Senior Judge, Technical Cabinet Coordinator, Supreme Court of Spain (Presentation)

Second session. COMMUNICATION OF THE SUPREME COURTS AND ROLE IN THE WORK OF COUNCILS FOR JUDICIARY

Moderated by Dr.iur. Jānis Pleps, the Head of the Department of Theory of Law and History Sciences of the Faculty of Law of the University of Latvia, the adviser to the President of the State on constitutional law

Dialogue of the Council for Judiciary in the system of courts and state power

• Ivars BIČKOVIČS, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Latvia

Between Rational Decision Maker and Deus ex Machina: the Role of High Courts at the Onset of the 21st Century

• Zdeněk KŪHN, Judge of the Supreme Administrative Court of the Czech Republic (Presentation)

Common Contemporary Challenges in Court Communication

• Gregor STROJIN, Head of Public Affairs Office of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia (Presentation)

Cooperation between the Supreme Court and lower instance courts: experience of Latvia

• Anita KOVAĻEVSKA, temporarily execute duties of a judge Supreme Court of the Supreme Court of Latvia, lecturer at the University of Latvia (Presentation)

Conference materials

Guidelines

• Best Practice Guide for Managing Supreme Courts 

Conference video-record:

• Plenary session of the conference
• Session „Communication of the Supreme Courts and role in the work of Councils for the Judiciary”
• Session „General organization of judicial work and role of scientific and research divisions”

More about the conference:

• Openining of a Handbook on Managing the work of the Supreme Courts
• Best Practice Guide for Managing Supreme Courts
• Conference highlights the role of the judiciary in changing Europe
• Chair of the Commission for Legal Environment shares sopinion on the work of the Council for the Judiciary
• Chief Justices from Supreme Courts of all three Baltic States meet in Riga
• The role of research work at Supreme Courts increases