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

The Supreme Court of Latvia was managing the project “Supreme Courts as guarantee for effectiveness of judicial systems in European Union” since June 2016 till 2017. The project was funded by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers.

The Supreme Court has an important role in the development of national judicial system. It should set an example - both by adopting fair, high quality and valuable legal rulings, as well as ensuring effective, development oriented judicial organization – on July 12, during the opening the European Commission funded project “Supreme Courts as guarantee for effectiveness of judicial systems in the European Union,” said Sandra Lapiņa, Head of the Administration of the Supreme Court of Latvia.

Best practice Guide for Managing Supreme Courts is a result of the project Supreme Courts as guarantee for effectiveness of judicial systems in the European Union

Objectives of the project

• Increasing administrative capacity of the Supreme Court

• Improving work organization of the Court

• Improving transparency of judicial work

• Raising trust of civil society in judiciary

The research project focused on the following questions, all related to the management of the Supreme Courts

1.      How can Supreme Courts contribute to legal certainty, consistency and transparency of the law?

2.      How can the Supreme Courts' management be improved and backlogs be reduced in order to guarantee an effective and timely protection of rights?

3.      How can the Supreme Courts' communication strategies with the public be improved?

4.      What is the role of the Supreme Courts in the work of the national Councils for the Judiciary?

Project activities

• Survey of Supreme Courts of the European Union and compilation of good practices in “Guidelines for managing Supreme Courts”

• Study visits – employees of the Supreme Court have the opportunity to visit and get a new experience in Supreme Courts of Lithuania, Spain and Hungary, as well as in the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg

• International Conference in Riga, 21 April 2017, during which results of the project will be presented and discussed

Project partners

• The project is managed by the Supreme Court of Latvia

• With participation of Supreme Courts of Lithuania, Spain and Hungary, and Universities of Antwerp (Belgium) and Ljubljana (Slovenia)

The project analyzes the performance of the Supreme Courts of the European Union in four areas

• Work of the Divisions of Research of the Supreme Courts of the European Union

• General work organization of the Supreme Court with a view to reduce procedural deadlines

• Communication with public

• Work of the Councils for the Judiciary

On 21 April 2017, the closing conference for the project “Supreme Courts as guarantee for effectiveness of judicial systems in European Union” was held at the University of Latvia.

During the conference the project results were presented on how to improve the work of the Supreme Courts and make it more efficient. The reports were presented by researchers of the Universities of Ljubljana and Antwerp. The special guests – Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Estonia, President of the Network of the Presidents of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the European Union Priit Pikamäe, the President of State President’s Commission for Legal Environment Improvement Aivars Endziņš, and Judge of the Supreme Administrative Court of the Czech Republic, Legal Scholar Mr Zdeněk Kühn, and others gave speeches.

Conference programme

See more about the Conference

More about project activities:

The first meeting of the working party of the international project is held in the Supreme Court (13.07.2016)

Within the framework of international project, experience is being shared about publishing of court rulings, data bases and cooperation with universities (27.10.2016)

Sharing Experiences on the Role of the Supreme Courts in Work of the Councils for the Judiciary, in Public Education and in Reduction of Time Limit for Proceedings (28.11.2016)

Employees of the Supreme Court participate in discussions and gain experience in the European Court of Justice (18.01.2017)

The President of the European Court of Justice welcomes the cooperation of the National Supreme Courts (25.01.2017)

This document does not reflect the opinion of the European Commission. Opinion and interpretations expressed in it reflect only the viewpoints of its authors. European Commission does not bear any responsibility about further use of this information.