On 17 July, in the Riga Castle President Edgars Rinkēvičs met with the President of the Supreme Court Aigars Strupišs, who also serves as the Chairman of the Judicial Council.
During the meeting, the President of Latvia expressed his conviction that public trust in the courts depends first of all on the quality of court rulings, in particular, the soundness of court decisions. Quality requires educated, competent judges and court staff.
"The Supreme Court and the Judicial Council Justice play a decisive role in strengthening the judiciary and making it understandable to the public. Public confidence is also affected by the ability of the judiciary to explain court decisions, especially in cases involving sensitive issues of public importance. Therefore, I welcome the task included in the strategy of the Judicial Council to develop the skills of the representatives of the judiciary to provide comprehensible, concrete and timely information on current events of the judiciary to a wide range of the public. Finally, public confidence in the judiciary also depends on the effective enforcement of court decisions. In particular, the enforcement of court decisions on temporary protection against violence is important, otherwise this instrument is ineffective," emphasised President Rinkēvičs.
During the meeting, the officials also discussed the strategies of the Supreme Court and the Judicial Council for 2021-2025, strengthening the institutional independence and efficiency of the courts, including work on the selection of judges, and issues of penal policy.
The President accepted an invitation to attend a meeting of the Judicial Council and to hold regular meetings with the President of the Supreme Court.
