1 March, 2024
On Friday, March 1, the Judicial Council decided on the creation of a commission that shall decide on permitting a person, who has committed a criminal offense due to negligence, to participate in the competition for selection of candidates for the position of judge and prosecutor.
The members of the commission have been approved as follows: Andris Zutis, a representative of the Latvian Association of Judges, a judge of the Latgale Regional Court, Agris Dreimanis, a representative of the Latvian Association of Administrative Judges, a judge of the Administrative Regional Court, Liene Eglāja, a representative of the Latvian Association of Prosecutors, a prosecutor of the Southern Kurzeme Prosecution Office, Sandra Kaija, a representative of the selection commission for the position of district (city) court and regional court judges, a senator of the Supreme Court, Aiva Daidere, a representative of the Judicial Ethics Commission, a judge of the Kurzeme Regional Court, Agnis Pormalis, a representative of the Prosecutors Attestations Commission, a prosecutor at the Department for Supervision of Operation and International Cooperation, the Division for Coordination of Enforcement of the Prosecutorial Functions, the Prosecutor’s General Office.
It has already been reported that on February 12, 2024, the Judicial Council approved the rules of procedure for the commission to decide on granting permission to a person, who has committed a criminal offense due to negligence, to participate in the competition for selection of candidates for the position of judge or prosecutor. The procedure was developed on the basis of amendments to the Law on Judicial Power and the Office of the Prosecutor Law, in compliance with the judgment of the Constitutional Court of Latvia of December 15, 2022 in case No 2021-41-01.
The Judicial Council emphasizes that in a country governed by the rule of law the judgment of the Constitutional Court must be enforced. At the same time, the Council states that the assessment of such cases can be attributed to rare exceptions.