Today, September 30, Senator Ivars Bičkovičs, former President of the Supreme Court, retires.

Ivars Bičkovičs has served as a judge for 38 years. He began in 1987 at the Aizkraukle (then Stučka) District Court, and since 1992 has been a judge of the Supreme Court. He was a judge of the Collegium of Criminal Cases, then a judge of the Chamber of Criminal Cases and the Chair of the Chamber. In 2008, he was elected President of the Supreme Court and held this position for 12 years, until 2020. After that, he became a Senator in the Senate’s Department of Criminal Cases.

Ivars Bičkovičs described his time as President of the Supreme Court as a marathon full of obstacles and challenges. He mentioned three major challenges: global crises (the economic crisis in 2008 and the Covid crisis in 2020), the reorganization of the Supreme Court, eliminating the court chambers (appellate instance) and leaving only the cassation instance, and the establishment of the Judicial Council. Ivars Bičkovičs was the first Chair of the Judicial Council.

 

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