On Monday, 10 February, the Chair of the Judicial Council Aigars Strupišs and the Chair of the Commission for the Selection of Candidates to the Office of a Judge, Senator of the Supreme Court Dzintra Balta met with the judges of the Regional Administrative Court to discuss current issues of the Judicial Council and the work of courts.
Aigars Strupišs informed the judges of the Administrative Regional Court about the work carried out by the Judicial Council in the past year and the directions of its activities planned for this year. The transfer of the administrative support functions of the judicial system from the executive to the judiciary is planned to be implemented and enshrined in the law "On Judicial Power". It is also planned to attract new employees with legal qualifications to the judicial system, improving the standards and remuneration system for judicial support staff and strengthening the role of the Academy of Justice.
Judges of the Regional Administrative Court pointed out that there is low interest in jobs in courts, one of the main reasons being insufficient remuneration. The judges emphasized the lack of qualified staff and the need to improve the criteria for granting bonuses in order to motivate existing staff. The unequal remuneration within the judiciary was also pointed out, e.g. the remuneration of a prosecutor’s assistant differs significantly from that of a judge’s assistant.
Aigars Strupišs and the judges discussed the progress of the case-weighting project in regional courts. He stressed that the project for the introduction of case-weighting should be used as an auxiliary tool to enable court presidents to effectively plan the work of courts on the basis of objective indicators.
When discussing the categories of cases handled by the Regional Administrative Court, the judges pointed out that the lack of qualified experts, especially in healthcare cases and matters related to the functioning of medical institutions, hinders the handling of cases. It was also pointed out that the work overload of experts additionally extends time limits for the examination of cases.
Dzintra Balta, Chair of the Commission for the Selection of Candidates to the Office of a Judge, discussed with the judges the selection procedure of candidates for judicial office and the possibilities of improving it. Moreover, Aigars Strupišs reported that in 2026 the Academy of Justice will begin training of judicial candidates in order to ensure their full preparation for the selection process.
Sanita Kanenberga, Deputy President of the Regional Administrative Court and member of the Judicial Qualification Committee, informed about the procedure of assessing a judge's professional performance. She pointed out that the Court Administration provides the Judicial Qualification Committee with information containing statistical data on a judge's work, so it would be necessary to think about how to compile the statistics fully and accurately so that they are reliable and relevant. At the same time, it was also noted that these data are only part of the information evaluated by the Judicial Qualification Committee and are not decisive for the quality and professionalism of a judge's work.