The European Commission's 2024 EU Justice Scoreboard concludes that Latvia has become one of the leaders in providing digital solutions and an accessible justice system by implementing reforms in the justice system initiated by the Ministry of Justice and developing the digitalisation of services.
Thanks to the technological development and the introduction of e-Justice, Latvia offers machine-readable court decisions, the possibility to file applications electronically and to follow court proceedings in the digital environment. The e-Case portal also provides practical tools such as a fee calculator, court calendars with information on scheduled hearings, and information on the progress of proceedings by entering the case number or summons number. These solutions ensure efficient and accessible communication between citizens and the judicial system, making Latvia one of the leading countries in this field in the European Union. Under the leadership of the Ministry of Justice, the e-Justice Digital Transformation Initiative continues to improve the electronic justice process in order to achieve even higher performance and strengthen the rule of law and its accessibility in Latvia.
The report also points out that in 2022 Latvia was the seventh country with the highest number of civil, commercial and administrative cases received by the courts among all EU countries, but at the same time Latvia ranks third alongside Estonia and Denmark in terms of the time it takes to hear a case at first instance. Latvia's rapid increase in the speed of case processing since 2012 is due to the reform of the judicial system, analysis of errors in the court information system and improvements in data.
The authors of the report point out that women make up less than 50% of judges in the European Union's highest courts. Latvia, on the other hand, stands out as one of the leaders in gender equality, ranking third with almost 70% women among Supreme Court judges.
Latvia is also among the EU countries that promote a child-friendly justice system, for example, Latvia, like 15 other EU Member States, ensures that children are heard in specialised rooms.
The report also includes data from Eurobarometer surveys on public and business perceptions of judicial independence in each Member State.
More information:
The EC Justice Reports have been compiled since 2013, as part of the EC's efforts to monitor justice reforms in the EU Member States and to promote dialogue between countries on best practices.
The 2024 EC report is available HERE.