On 16 and 17 September 2024, the Latvian Judges Extramural Conference was held, at which Ilze Celmiņa, a judge of the Riga Regional Court, was re-elected as a member of the Judicial Council, while Silva Reinholde, the former chair of the Judicial Qualification Committee, a judge of the Kurzeme Regional Court, was re-elected to the Judicial Qualification Committee.
In total, 438 Latvian judges took part in the election of candidates to the Judicial Council and the Judicial Qualification Committee.
As the required number of members of the Judicial Council and the Judicial Qualification Committee was not elected in the first round of elections, a second round of elections will be held on 26 September 2024 to vote for the candidates who received the most votes in the first round of e-elections on 17 September 2024:
- two candidates for the position of a member of the Judicial Council - Juris Siliņš, a judge of the Zemgale Regional Court, and Kaspars Berķis, a judge of the Regional Administrative Court;
- three candidates for the position of a member of the Judicial Qualification Committee from among district (city) court judges - Ilze Freimane, a judge of the Riga District Court, Sanita Strakša, a judge of the Riga City Court, and Inguna Helmane, a judge of the Riga City Court.
Also, on 26 September 2024, the election of a member of the Judicial Qualification Committee will take place from among the senators of the Department of Administrative Cases of the Supreme Court (Senate), as the current member of the Judicial Qualification Committee, Rudīte Vīduša, a senator of the Department of Administrative Cases of the Supreme Court, was elected to the Judicial Council on 9 September 2024, and according to the law, the status of a member of the Judicial Qualification Committee is incompatible with performing the duties of a member of the Judicial Council.
It has already been reported that at the Latvian Judges Extramural Conference two members of the Judicial Council from among judges of regional courts had to be elected, as the term of office as a member of the Judicial Council for Juris Siliņš, a judge of the Zemgale Regional Court, expired on 8 September 2024, and for Ilze Celmina, a judge of the Riga Regional Court, – on 16 September 2024. Moreover, two judges from district (city) courts and one judge from regional courts were to be elected to the Judicial Qualification Committee, as the term of office of the following members of the Judicial Qualification Committee will expire on 6 October 2024 – Ināra Zariņa, a judge of the Riga District Court, and Silva Reinholde, a judge of Kurzeme Regional Court, the current chair of the Judicial Qualification Committee, while Kristīne Zdanovska, a judge of the Riga City Court, was transferred to the position of a judge of the Riga Regional Court.