An international scientific monograph titled “The European Union 2004–2024: Twenty Years of Legal Experience, Challenges and Growth after Unprecedented EU Enlargement" has been published. It serves as a significant contribution to the development of European legal science.

The monograph analyzes the legal development of the European Union, experiences of member states, and challenges faced over the 20 year-period since 2004, when the biggest enlargement of the European Union took place.

Latvia also joined the European Union at that time, and the monograph includes scientific studies by Latvian lawyers. They provide an in-depth analysis of Latvia's experience, including the contribution of the Supreme Court of Latvia to the implementation of European Union law and to the development of mutual dialogue with the Court of Justice of the European Union.

The book contains 21 chapters, two of which were prepared with the participation of Supreme Court of Latvia lawyers.

The chapter "Europeanization of National Constitutional Identity: 20 Years of Latvia in the European Union" was prepared by Jānis Pleps, Senator of the Senate's Department of Administrative Cases, Assistant Professor at the University of Latvia, Viktorija Soņeca, a legal research counsel to the Senate's Department of Civil Cases and lecturer at Riga Graduate School of Law, and researcher Kalvis Engīzers.

The chapter "Development of Criminal Law in Latvia in the Last 20 Years—The Impact and Expression of EU Law" was prepared by Jānis Rozenbergs, Senator of the Senate’s Department of Criminal Cases, Assistant Professor of the University of Latvia, and Professors Kristīne Strada-Rozenberga and Ārija Meikališa of the University of Latvia. The study analyzes the significance of European Union law in the criminalization of offenses, the regulation of property confiscation, as well as the impact of EU instruments on criminal proceedings, including on judicial cooperation and the European Public Prosecutor's Office.

The monograph has been produced as part of a major international research project involving leading researchers from Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. The scientific editors of the book are Associate Professor Indrė Isokaitė-Valužė and Professor Haroldas Šinkūnas of the Faculty of Law of Vilnius University. The foreword to the monograph was written by Koen Lenaerts, President of the Court of Justice of the European Union, lending the work particular authority in the field of European Union law.

 

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