On Monday, 29 March, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Justice Jānis Bordāns has convoked the professional qualification examination commission for lawyers for the first meeting. During the meeting of the commission today it is planned to elect the chairperson of the commission and deputies thereof, as well as agree on the date, when the first uniform qualification examination for lawyers in Latvia will be held.
J.Bordāns: “Uniform examination for laywers will be the advantage for all - universities, teachers, students and the state. The purpose of it is to increase the quality of the legal education in Latvia, in order to promote equal knowledge, skills and competences for students of law, as well as to ensure equal requirements and uniform examination methods for acquisition of the qualification of a lawyer.”
The state uniform professional qualification examination for lawyers will be passed after presentation of the Master's Paper and it is necessary for acquisition of the professional qualification of a lawyer.
The professional qualification examination commission for lawyers established under the order of the Ministry of Justice includes 45 person - the representatives of both, the academic environment as well as practitioners. The University of Latvia, Riga Stradiņš University, Rezekne Academy of Technologies, Daugavpils University and Turība University have proposed their representatives. Besides, the examination commission includes representatives of five high-quality professions - public prosecutors, sworn advocates, sworn bailiffs and sworn notaries, as well as judges have been invited - from regional courts and international institutions.
Further on, the Ministry of Justice will organize the qualification examination twice a year, in accordance with the winter and summer exam session in universities.
Currently, the study programmes for acquisition of the profession of a legal adviser are not accredited anymore. These changes have been made with the purpose to improve the quality of the legal education in our state, determining sufficiently high and uniform requirements for acquisition of the qualification of a lawyer. In the future there will be two mutually clearly separable professional qualifications to be granted in the study programmes of the science of law: a lawyer and assistant to lawyer.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
The purpose of introduction of the state uniform qualification examination is to increase the quality of the legal education in the long-term perspective in Latvia. The legal education provides broad knowledge, which can be used in different professions. Legal education is one of the criteria for the representatives of regulated legal professions - judges, public prosecutors (officials of judicial power), as well as persons related to judicial power - advocates, notaries, bailiffs. Therefore, provision of high-quality legal services, as well as activities of highly qualified public prosecutors, advocates, bailiffs, notaries and judges will promote development of public welfare and economy in the long-term perspective.