On 9 September, at the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court, Rudīte Vīduša, a Senator of the Senate's Department of Administrative Cases, was elected as a member of the Judicial Council from among the Supreme Court judges.
When nominating Rudīte Vīduša for this position, the Department of Administrative Cases highlighted her experience as a judge in all three levels of courts, her comprehensive knowledge of legal issues, her deep understanding of the fundamental values of the Latvian legal system and the right to a fair trial, as well as her broad outlook altogether. The Senator has always been concerned about the authority of the judiciary, public confidence in the judiciary and the quality of judicial work, which she has contributed to both in her work as a judge and in her activities in judicial self-government bodies. Rudīte Vīduša had been the Vice President of the Latvian Association of Judges, and since 2018 she has been a member of the Judicial Qualification Committee. This work has allowed her to get to know in depth both the challenges and strengths of the Latvian judicial system.
Rudīte Vīduša pointed out at the Plenary Session that her thoughts on the directions in which the Judicial Council should operate coincide with the emphasis placed in the Judicial Council's agenda, namely strengthening the independence of courts and expanding the competence of the Judicial Council, thus balancing the role of the judiciary among the branches of state power, as well as balancing the independence and accountability of the judiciary within the judicial system itself. In her view, this would be facilitated by a healthy relationship between the judiciary and the other branches of government, as well as by involvement of Latvian judges from the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights in the work of the Judicial Council.
Rudīte Vīduša's term of office as a member of the Judicial Council will begin on 16 September.
A member of the Judicial Council had to be elected as Senator Dzintra Balta's term of office in this position was coming to an end. Two candidates were nominated for this position - Irīna Jansone, a Senator of the Department of Criminal Cases, and Rudīte Vīduša, a Senator of the Department of Administrative Cases. 19 out of 31 senators present voted for Rudīte Vīduša, 10 senators voted for Irīna Jansone.
The Judicial Council is a collegial institution that participates in the development of the policy and strategy of the judicial system, as well as in the improvement of the judicial system’s work organization. The Judicial Council is composed of 15 members – eight permanent members (officials) and seven elected members – a judge elected at the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court and six judges elected at the Latvian Judges Conference. The term of office of an elected member of the Judicial Council is four years. A member of the Judicial Council may be re-elected, but not more than twice in succession.
Information prepared by
Rasma Zvejniece, Head of the Division of Communication of the Supreme Court
E-mail: rasma.zvejniece@at.gov.lv, telephone: +371 67020396, +371 28652211