3 November, 2022

On Wednesday, November 2, Aigars Strupišs, the chair of the Judicial Council, and Dzintra Balta, the deputy chair of the Judicial Council, met with the judges of the Court of Economic Affairs in order to discuss the efficiency of the Court of Economic Affairs.

Aigars Strupišs, the chair of the Judicial Council, informed the judges of the Court of Economic Affairs about the strategic directions of the Judicial Council, as well as about the progress of implementation of this year's work plan. Whereas, the judges of the Court of Economic Affairs outlined major challenges that they have faced during the Court's one-and-a-half-year operation.

During the discussion about the issues of court efficiency, the judges of the Court of Economic Affairs pointed out that the main reasons that prevent faster adjudication of cases are the formalism and inflexibility of procedural laws, as well as the workload of advocates. The judges of the Court of Economic Affairs also drew attention to the importance of case-weighting for determining the workload of a judge in the Court of Economic Affairs. Moreover, the judges noted the need to relieve judge assistants from performing technical work, so that judge assistants could fully focus on legal issues and ensure quality support for judicial work.

While discussing the operation of electronic case management system and the Court Information System, the judges of the Court of Economic Affairs pointed out the need to improve the functionality of these platforms, as certain solutions are currently delaying and complicating court work. At the same time, the judges of the Court of Economic Affairs emphasized that they fully support the integration of information technology tools in court work, as a technical solution that meets the needs of the court system could significantly facilitate and improve court work.

The results of the first year of operation of the Court of Economic Affairs are available here (in Latvian).

Additional information:
The Judicial Council participates in development of the policy and strategy of the judicial system, as well as in improvement of the work organization of the judicial system. Therefore, in order to ensure a high-quality and direct dialogue with the judiciary, members of the Judicial Council also have met with judges of the Regional Courts of Latgale, Zemgale, Vidzeme and Kurzeme, as well as with judges of Rēzekne Court and Daugavpils Court. Members of the Judicial Council also plan to meet with judges of other first instance courts and the Regional Administrative Court.

Lana Mauliņa

Adviser to the Judicial Council on communication matters
Lana.Maulina [at] at.gov.lv