22 September, 2023
On Friday, September 22, the Court Administration and the "Providus" public policy think tank presented the results of a survey of court clients to the Judicial Council. The results of the survey demonstrate that the performance of Latvian courts in the period from 2022 to 2023 has received rather positive assessment. The attitude of court personnel and the course of proceedings in the courtroom were rated the highest (4.6 points out of 5).
Contrary to other public opinion polls, where respondents are selected randomly and include people who have not had any interaction with courts, this survey was organized specifically for the target audience – court clients, in order to find out their opinion about performance of courts. A total of 991 court clients were surveyed. The survey was conducted in each court district for a period of three months, covering all Latvian courts of first and second instance. More comprehensive survey results are available on the Latvian courts portal (in Latvian).
The Judicial Council approved the training program for judges and court employees for 2024. In 2024, training in 24 different branches of law is planned for judges and court employees. Furthermore, in 2024, judges and court employees will be provided with additional training, which will be financed by the funds of the Academy of Justice project. There will be trainings in such spheres as violence, change management, foreign languages, information and communication technologies, etc. The training program was developed by the Latvian Judicial Training Centre in coordination with the Court Administration.
Moreover, Aigars Strupišs, the Chair of the Judicial Council, informed the members of the Judicial Council about the experience exchange visit to Japanese judicial institutions. Aigars Strupišs emphasized that "the main key to the efficiency of the Japanese judicial system is the quality of legal education and continuing education of judges, the provision of which is a strategic objective of the country. At the same time, it should be noted that judges in Japan strictly follow the established procedural principles, which, among other things, also discipline parties to proceedings." On September 13-15, 2023, the Japanese judicial institutions were visited by Aigars Strupišs, the Chair of the Judicial Council and the President of the Supreme Court of Latvia, Dzintra Balta, the Vice-Chair of the Judicial Council and the Senator of the Department of Civil Cases of the Supreme Court of Latvia, Guntars Ploriņš, the Member of the Judicial Council and the Chair of the Valmiera Courthouse of the Administrative District Court, and Alla Spale, the Head of the Secretariat of the Judicial Council. Members of the Judicial Council visited the Legal Training and Research Institute, the court of first instance and the court of appeal in Tokyo, as well as the Supreme Court of Japan. Members of the Judicial Council also met with Zigmārs Zilgalvis, the Ambassador of Latvia to Japan.
Additional information:
According to the law “On Judicial Power", one of the functions of the Judicial Council is to approve the content of training programs for judges and court employees.