25 October, 2021
At its meeting on 22 October, the Judicial Council heard and took note of the action plan developed by the Working Group for Strengthening the Efficiency of the Judiciary established in June.
The task of the Working Group was to develop an action plan for the implementation of the objectives mentioned in the action line No 3 of the Judicial Council Operational Strategy for 2021–2025 “Efficient and high-quality judiciary” and to recommend priorities for the implementation of the plan.
The Working Group has identified four priority areas for action:
Balancing the workload of judges in Latvia;
Optimal and efficient personnel organization of the court system;
Ensuring the quality of judgments;
Organization of court work.
The most important activities and tasks have been identified for each priority area of action.
In order to balance the workload of judges in Latvian courts, the Working Group recommends introducing mechanisms for operative resolution of case bottlenecks, evaluating the results of territorial reform of courts and opportunities for further development, as well as ensuring a balanced workload of the Economic Court.
So as to implement an optimal and efficient personnel organization in the judiciary, the Working Group recommends the development of a system and methodology for the redistribution of judicial resources, adapting the number of judicial posts to the actual number of cases in each court. In the view of the Working Group, the selection procedure of judges should also be more efficient and the organizational model of judicial support personnel should be improved.
For ensuring the quality of court judgments, the Working Group recommends reviewing the quality criteria for the form and content of judgments.
In order to improve the organization of court work, it is recommended to streamline the planning of court hearings and court work in general, to improve the case distribution algorithm and to provide objective and high-quality statistics.
The lines of action and priorities set out in the action plan will provide a basis for further progress in the Judicial Council.
The Working Group consists of five delegated representatives of the Judicial Council: Judge of Riga City Vidzeme District Court Zigmunds Dundurs (head of the group), Chair of Kurzeme District Court Aija Āva, Minister of Justice Jānis Bordāns (represented by Ineta Ilgaža, Deputy State Secretary for Justice); Chair of the Council of Sworn Advocates Jānis Rozenbergs and Prosecutor General Juris Stukāns.
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