On Monday, 28 April, the Chair of the Judicial Council Aigars Strupišs, the Chair of the Commission for the Selection of Candidates to the Office of a Judge, Senator of the Supreme Court Dzintra Balta, and the member of the Judicial Qualification Committee, Senator of the Supreme Court Indra Meldere met with the judges of the Riga Regional Court’s Collegium of Civil Cases to discuss current issues of the Judicial Council and the work of courts.
The Chair of the Judicial Council, Aigars Strupišs, informed the judges about the work done by the Council since the previous meeting in 2022, as well as presented the main directions of the Judicial Council's activities this year, which aim to improve the efficiency and quality of the judicial system. One of the most important steps envisaged is the transfer of the administrative support functions of the judicial system from the executive to the judiciary, by consolidating this function in the law “On Judicial Power”. The Judicial Council also plans to attract new employees with legal qualifications to the judicial system by improving the standards and remuneration system for court support staff, and to strengthen the role of the Academy of Justice.
When discussing the issues of judicial support staff, the President of the Riga Regional Court Māris Vīgants reported that in order to strengthen the motivation of judicial assistants, the Regional Court has developed a new annual staff appraisal system. It provides objective feedback and promotes professional development, thus improving the overall efficiency of the work of the courts. The Chair of the Judicial Council, Aigars Strupišs, expressed his support for this initiative, noting that the introduction of the appraisal system will be one of the most important factors for the successful implementation of the reform.
Aigars Strupišs also informed the judges about the guidelines for writing court judgments, as well as the guidelines for preparing cassation appeals in all legal proceedings. The aim of the guidelines is to ensure a uniform approach to the structure and quality of legal reasoning in both judgments and cassation appeals. Māris Vīgants called on the Judicial Council to pay attention to the problem of the quality of documents submitted to courts and to consider the possibility that a document prepared by an advocate should be signed by the advocate himself and not by the client in order to ensure clearer accountability and improve the quality of the documents submitted.
The issues of selection of candidates for judicial office were discussed with the judges by the Chair of the Commission for the Selection of Candidates to the Office of a Judge, Senator of the Supreme Court Dzintra Balta. She emphasized that one of the most frequent stumbling blocks for candidates is the inability to independently analyse and solve legal issues, although this skill is an essential and integral part of a judge's work. In order to encourage qualified candidates to apply for judicial office, the Judicial Council has decided to launch a competition on 1 September 2025 for district and regional court judges specialising in criminal, civil and administrative cases. Representatives of the Commission for the Selection of Candidates to the Office of a Judge are also planning to visit courts to inform potential judicial candidates – in particular, judge assistants – about the selection process, the evaluation criteria and the specifics of judicial work.
Senator Indra Meldere informed about the role of the Judicial Qualification Committee in the development of judges' careers. She stressed that when giving an opinion on the suitability of a district (city) court judge to work in a regional court, the references prepared by three regional court judges on the candidate's previous work play an important role.
Other topical issues, including the organisation of court work in crisis situations and the issue of the retirement pension system for judges, were also discussed at the meeting. The judges highlighted the need to ensure stable, continuous and predictable judicial work in exceptional circumstances. The importance of retirement pensions as an essential factor of social and financial security to guarantee the independence of judges, the attractiveness of the judicial office and the sustainability of the profession was also highlighted.