8 September, 2014
Photo of guests of Judges’ Conference: (from the left) members of the National Council of the Judiciary of Poland – Andrzej Adamczuk, the judge of Poznan circuit court and Katarzyna Gonera, the judge of the Supreme Court, Ivars Bickovics, the Chairman of the Council for the Judiciary and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Latvia, Solvita Aboltina, the Speaker of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia, Levan Murusidze, the Secretary of the High Council of Justice, the judge of the Supreme Court of Georgia, Gintaras Kryzevicius, the Chairman of Judicial Council and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Lithuania and Merab Gabinashvili, the member of the High Council of Justice and the judge of Tbilisi Court of Appeal of Georgia
Independence and joint team – this was wished to Latvian Council for the Judiciary by Gintaras Kryzevicius, the Chairman of the Judicial Council of Lithuania and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Lithuania, when speaking at Latvian Judges’ Conference on 5 September.
Expressing perplexity on what was heard at the conference – insufficiently respectful attitude of the legislator and the executive power towards decisions and opinions of the Council for the Judiciary during first four years of activity of Latvian Council for the Judiciary, and, in his opinion, biased public criticism, which was dedicated to the Council and Latvian judges at the conference, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court admitted: “That would not be possible in Lithuania”. So he wished to initiate changes in composition of the Council for the Judiciary, ensuring dominance of judges therein. In Lithuania, the highest institution of a court system is the Judicial Council, which consists of judges only.
Foreign colleagues, namely, judges of Supreme Courts of Lithuania, Poland and Georgia, who also are members of Councils for the Judiciary, participated at Latvian Judges’ Conference. Reports on work experience of Councils for the Judiciary were read by Gintaras Kryzevicius, the Chairman of the Judicial Council of Lithuania, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Lithuania; Katarzyna Gonera, the member of the National Council of the Judiciary of Poland, the Head of the International Contacts Committee and Judicial Ethics Committee, the judge of the Supreme Court of Poland, and Levan Murusidze, the Secretary of the High Council of Justice, the judge of the Supreme Court of Georgia.
The National Council for the Judiciary has operated in Poland since 1990, in Lithuania the Judicial Council was included in the Law on Courts in 1994, and the High Council of Justice was established in Georgia in 1997. Latvian Council for the Judiciary in its turn is a new institution established in 2010 only. This year Latvian Judges’ Conference was dedicated to assessment of the first quadrennial term of operation of the Council for the Judiciary, listening to experience of foreign colleagues as well.
See more about Judges’ Conference:
Judges’ Conference re-elects all members of the Council for the Judiciary
Information prepared by
Rasma Zvejniece, the Head of the Division of Communication of the Supreme Court
E-mail: rasma.zvejniece@at.gov.lv, telephone: 67020396, 28652211
