29 January, 2019
The values expressed in the new government's statement regarding the field of justice coincide with the vision of the Council for the Judiciary for reinforcing the rule of law. There is good reason to believe that the ongoing processes for the improvement of the judicial system will continue – said Ivars Bickovics, the Chair of the Council for the Judiciary, at the meeting of the Council on January 28.
The Chair of the Council for the Judiciary mentioned such lines of action of the Council for the Judiciary as strengthening the independence of the judiciary, increasing the capacity of the Council for the Judiciary, enforcing judicial reform, ensuring the principle of random distribution of cases and specialization of judges, selection of professional candidates for the office, as well as improvement of judicial communication.
The new Minister of Justice, Janis Bordans, also indicated the main issues that will be addressed by the Ministry of Justice. As a priority, the Minister put forward the strengthening of the independence of judges, seeing the independence of the judge in the context of accountability.
Both the Chair of the Council for the Judiciary and the Minister of Justice pointed to the common goal of the Council for the Judiciary to enhance the public confidence in the judiciary.
Dispelling the publicly expressed concerns of the Minister of Justice about the compliance of the reputation Supreme Court's Chief Justice Ivars Bickovics with the position he held, Mr Bickovics stated that he had not cooperated with the Committee for State Security of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, which is acknowledged by the court judgement of 1995.
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