28 November, 2018
Amendments to the Law "On Judicial Power", which come into force on November 28, providing for reduction of the influence of the executive power on the organization of court work and extend the competence of the Council for the Judiciary in appointing chairs of courts.
Henceforth, the Council for the Judiciary will not only appoint chairs of district (city) courts and regional courts, but will also determine the procedure for nominating and appointing candidates. Until now, chairs of courts have been appointed by the Council for the Judiciary upon the proposal of the Minister of Justice.
The competence of the Minister of Justice regarding the transfer of a judge to a vacant position at another court of the same level or a courthouse is also excluded from the law – the Council for the Judiciary will do this without the involvement of the Minister of Justice on the basis of a positive opinion of the Judicial Qualification Committee.
Likewise, on the basis of a positive opinion of the Judicial Qualification Committee, the Council for the Judiciary will decide on the transfer of a judge to the regional court. In turn, the Council for the Judiciary will decide on the transfer of a judge to the position of a judge of the Supreme Court upon the proposal of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on the basis of the positive opinion of the general meeting of senators of the Supreme Court departments.
Amendments to the Law "On Judicial Power" are interrelated with amendments to the Civil Procedure Law, and they also provide for the implementation of the judicial reform, ensuring the integration of judges of land register offices in district (city) courts. This part of the amendments to the Law will come into force on June 1, 2019.
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 2865221