29 June, 2017
One of the issues viewed at the 25th Plenary Meeting on 29 and 30 June of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) in Strasbourg is the commission's cooperation programs, among which there is also an evaluation program of the judicial system of Latvia.
Representative from Latvia in the Plenary Meeting is Aija Branta, Judge of the Department of Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court.
The closure of several international programs in Azerbaijan, Moldova, Albania, Kosovo and Turkey is also on the agenda of the Plenary Meeting. Representatives of the member states will share information on topical judicial activities in their countries, will discuss the development of the European judicial system and CEPEJ's cooperation with other institutions of the Council of Europe, as well as will get acquainted with the CEPEJ Innovation Centre and working methods of CEPEJ observer states. There are also other matters on the agenda.
Whereas, the next week CEPEJ’s first visit to Latvia will take place within the framework of the evaluation of the judicial system of Latvia. The Commission implements the evaluation within the framework of the European Social Fund's project "Justice for Development" by assessing the efficiency and quality of judicial processes, assessing judicial independence and defining recommendations for further developments.
The project implementer – the Court Administration – has already provided the CEPEJ Commission with statistics describing the functioning of the judicial system of Latvia, while expert interviews with representatives of the institutions are foreseen during the visit. On July 4 CEPEJ experts will also come to the Supreme Court, where they will meet with representatives of the Supreme Court, the Council for the Judiciary and Judicial Disciplinary Committee.
The European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ), set up in 2002 by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, represents 47 European countries.
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