8 September, 2023
On Friday, September 8, the Judicial Council supported amendments to the procedure for selecting candidates for the position of district (city) court and regional court judges and amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Judicial Qualification Committee. The amendments are designed to improve the selection procedure of candidates for the position of judges and the evaluation procedure of the professional performance of judges.
Dzintra Balta, the Chair of the Selection Commission of Judicial Candidates, emphasized that "creation and improvement of the procedure for selecting judicial candidates is part of the duties of the Judicial Council, which are aimed at the advancement of the justice system, ensuring its efficiency and quality. The guarantee of efficiency and quality implies highly qualified lawyers with an impeccable reputation, a mature personality, motivation and readiness to work for the good of the country. Changes to the existing procedure for the selection of judges will contribute to the achievement of this goal".
The judicial selection procedure is the same for all candidates – current and future judges.
At the same time, by improving the selection procedure and the Rules of Procedure of the Judicial Qualification Committee (it regulates one of the parts of the selection – the procedure for evaluating the professional skills of judges who apply for the position of regional court judge), it has been established that a candidate's inclusion in the list of candidates for the judicial position requires a positive assessment of both professional skills and behavioural competencies. The place on the list of candidates for the judicial position, and thus also the possibility to fill one of the existing vacancies as a matter of priority, is determined by the total sum of the two positive assessments.
Likewise, by improving the existing regulation regarding first instance court judges who are candidates for the position of regional court judge, the assessment of professional skills and behavioural competences has been clearly separated, providing that professional skills are assessed by the Judicial Qualification Committee, while behavioural competences are assessed by the Judicial Selection Commission. A positive opinion on the transfer of an applicant to the position of regional court judge (on the basis of which the applicant is included in the list of candidates) is given by the Judicial Qualification Committee, taking into account the overall positive assessment obtained in the selection procedure. If one of the assessments is not positive, the Judicial Qualification Committee refuses to give a positive opinion for transfer of the applicant to the position of regional court judge.
With the amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Judicial Qualification Committee, it is intended to separate the competences of the Judicial Qualification Committee and the Judicial Selection Commission regarding the judicial selection procedure, as well as to improve the procedure of assessing the professional performance of judges by clearly and comprehensively describing the professional skills to be assessed.
Dzintra Balta, the Chair of the Selection Commission of Judicial Candidates, particularly emphasized that the existing selection procedure allows creating a list of candidates for the position of judge, regardless of the number of vacancies available at the time of the announcement of the competition. The list of candidates is valid for three years and the Judicial Council can decide to extend the period of its validity for up to five years. "This means that future or existing judges should view their professional growth in the perspective of the next three years, and there already exists an opportunity to become an applicant for a vacancy that will become available in the future," noted Dzintra Balta.
The Judicial Council also decided that the next face-to-face Latvian Judges Conference will be held on May 17, 2024.
Whereas, having heard the proposals developed by the Court Administration on the procedure for filling vacancies for regional court judges, the Judicial Council pointed out the necessity to improve the draft document by inclusion of the methodology for filling vacancies in district (city) courts.