On Thursday, April 12, the opening event of the "Justice Academy" project took place. The goal of the project is to open the Academy of Justice on January 1, 2025, which will be a unified training center for further education of judges, court employees, prosecutors, assistant prosecutors, and will also provide qualification improvement measures for investigators in interdisciplinary issues, which are essential for the effective conduct of court proceedings.
Opening the event, the Minister of Justice Inese Libina-Egnere stated: "Today's dynamic era shows that even experienced experts and experts must continuously improve themselves. Some of the knowledge and skills required by legal practitioners can be acquired through practice, however some require special training and exercise. Lifelong education in all sectors has become a requirement of modern society. It is no less important in the professions related to the judiciary, because without strong courts, prosecutor's and also investigation, strong democracy, good governance and stable development of society and the state are impossible."
The Academy of Justice will implement a complex approach to the development of the professional competences of the judiciary, developing both initial training (including training for candidates for the position of judge), qualification improvement programs, and the competence of innovation, research, and international cooperation. Thanks to the establishment of the Academy of Justice, an opportunity will be provided to plan, develop, and implement long-term training programs that complement each other sequentially.
Minister of the Interior Māris Kucinskis, Prosecutor General Juris Stukans, President of the Constitutional Court Aldis Lavins, President of the Supreme Court Aigars Strupiss and Deputy Head of the European Commission Representation in Latvia Andris Kuznieks addressed those present at the project opening event.
Anna Skrjabina, Director of the Development Department of the Judicial Administration, informed about the benefits of the concluded ESF project "Justice of Growth" and introduced the plans of the "Justice Academy" project.
Whereas, the judge of the European Union Court, Ineta Ziemele, introduced those present the development trends of the profession of judge and prosecutor in the European legal space.
In the second part of the event, a discussion was held, led by Dina Gailite, the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Jurista vārds": "Society's trust in the judiciary. Competences of judges and prosecutors - society's expectations and needs." The Deputy Chairperson of the Council of Justice, Senator of the Supreme Court Dzintra Balta, Chief Prosecutor of the Function Implementation Coordination Department of the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Latvia Alens Mickevics, representative of the Foreign Investors Council in Latvia (FICIL), sworn lawyer Maris Vainovskis, Senator of the Supreme Court, deputy chairperson of the Judges' Qualification Board, Vice-president of the Latvian Judges Association, Rudite Vīduša, as well as Martins Daugulis, head of the Faculty of European Studies of the RSU Department of Political Science.
Additional information:
The development of the Academy of Justice to raise the qualifications of judges and prosecutors is a priority project of the Ministry of Justice in the plan of the European Union Recovery Fund. The financing of the European Union Recovery Fund for the project is planned in the amount of 7.5 million euros for the entire period until 2026.
