21 July, 2023
The European Commission's (EC) annual report on the rule of law in the European Union (EU Justice Scoreboard) has been published. Latvia has good indicators in terms of length of proceedings and indicators of the quality of the judicial system.
Length of court proceedings
Overall, Latvia ranks third among the EU countries with the shortest length of proceedings in court of first instance in civil cases, commercial cases, administrative cases and other types of cases. In terms of this assessment, Latvia is surpassed only by Estonia and Denmark.
Latvia's average length of proceedings in disputed civil and commercial cases in the first instance is 220 days (ranking 11th in the EU). Whereas, assessing the length of proceedings in respective categories of cases in all three court instances, Latvia ranks seventh among the EU countries.
Evaluating separately the length of proceedings in administrative cases in courts of first instance, Latvia ranks ninth in the EU, but when evaluating the length of proceedings in all three court instances, Latvia ranks third.
In Latvia, cases related to the prevention of corruption are examined by the courts of first instance in approximately 200 days, which ranks Latvia in eighth place among EU countries. In Slovenia, for example, the length of proceedings in cases of this category are significantly greater around 800 days.
Describing the general level of workload in courts, the report indicates that in 2021, compared to 2020, the number of cases received in courts in Latvia has slightly decreased. What regards the number of civil and commercial cases compared to the number of inhabitants, there is an average low litigation activity in Latvia. Whereas, in terms of the number of administrative cases, Latvia has the third lowest number of incoming cases in Europe.
The report compares the speed of work of courts or other responsible institutions in examining certain categories of cases (for example, competition cases, electronic communications, prevention of money laundering, etc.). In most part of categories, Latvia ranks among the EU countries showing best results.
Quality of the judicial system
Traditionally, Latvia is one of the countries that is highly valued for the use of digital solutions in courts and their accessibility to court clients. For example, Latvia has obtained one of the highest ratings for the availability of court judgments on the Internet.
Latvia is one of the four EU countries that has fulfilled all the requirements to ensure special procedures and access to the judicial system for persons with disabilities. Regarding the adaptation and accessibility of courts for persons exposed to risks of discrimination and senior citizens, Latvia ranks among the countries with the highest level of access to courts.
Latvia ranks sixth among EU countries in terms of the number of judges per 100,000 inhabitants. Ireland and Denmark have the lowest number of judges. Whereas, Latvia ranks as one of the EU countries with smallest number of advocates compared to the number of inhabitants.
Independence of the judiciary
The report includes the latest results of Eurobarometer research on the perception of independence of the judicial system as assessed by entrepreneurs and general public. The results of the 2023 surveys (conducted in January 2023, number of respondents 1018) show a sharp increase in the number of citizens who do not know the answer to the question of how they value the independence of the judicial system. Namely, if in all previous years the answer "Don't know" was given by around 13% of the respondents (which corresponds to the average level in many EU member states), then in 2023 this answer was given by 32% of the respondents. Compared to the previous year, the proportion of members of the public who positively assess the situation in ensuring the independence of the justice system has decreased by approximately 10% (decline from 53% to 42%). At the same time, positive trends in relation to the year 2022 have been marked this year as shown by polls on entrepreneurs’ assessment of the independence of the courts - 42% of entrepreneurs in Latvia have a positive opinion.
The Eurobarometer report on Latvia is available here.
The 2023 EU Justice Scoreboard is available here.