27 November, 2019
Having reviewed a draft law prepared by the Ministry of Justice for amendments to the law “On Judicial Power”, which provides for the establishment of a specialized economic court, the Council for the Judiciary repeatedly rejected establishment of such a specialized court. The Council for the Judiciary still considers that specialization of judges is possible within the existing judicial system.
The members of the Council for the Judiciary indicated that there is no reason to change the Council's decision of 3 June not to support the establishment of a specialized economic court, as there are still no clear justifications and arguments for creating such a court and the consequence assessment has not been carried out. The Council for the Judiciary also repeatedly drew the attention of the Ministry of Justice to the need to develop standards for case specialization, taking into account the possibilities for first instance courts to specialize after merging them into larger courts.
Tieslietu padome norāda – tiesu reformām nepieciešama sistēmiska pieeja, un jaunas tiesas veidošana jāskata kontekstā ar kopējo sistēmu un procesuālajiem likumiem. Tieslietu padomē pēc 3.jūnija sēdes nav saņemti papildu skaidrojumi par atsevišķas specializētas tiesas veidošanas mērķi un to, kā šāda tiesa, kurā paredzēts skatīt gan civillietas, gan krimināllietas, iekļausies kopējā Latvijas tiesu sistēmā, kāda būs lietu piekritība, nav prognozēti lietu izskatīšanas termiņi un tiesas noslodze, kā arī iespējamie problēmu risinājumi.
The Council for the Judiciary points out that judicial reforms require a systemic approach and that the creation of a new court must be viewed in the context of the system as a whole and in the context of procedural laws. No further clarification has been received by the Council for the Judiciary after its meeting on 3 June on the purpose of establishing a specialized court and how such a court, which is intended to deal with both civil and criminal cases, will fit into the overall Latvian judicial system, as well as clarification regarding the jurisdiction of cases, the court workload and deadlines for proceedings, and possible solutions to problems have not been foreseen.
The issue was addressed by the Council for the Judiciary at its meeting on 25 November 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 28652211