From 28thto 29thof March, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice Raivis Kronbergs, the Director of the Court Administration Edvīns Balševics, and the Manager of the European Social Fund Projects of the Court Administration Anna Skrjabina participated in round table discussion "Equal access to justice" organized by the OECD in Lisbon, Portugal. The parties discussed opportunities to promote the approach of citizens and entrepreneurs to the rule of law.
In the framework of the discussion, Latvian experience was presented stressing that the priority of the justice sector is to provide an effective way to solve legal problems outside the court.
Particular attention was paid to the development of information technologies in the field of justice, as well as planned guidelines that will be developed under the management of the Latvian Court Administration with the aim to find an answer to the question, how to use technologies in the most appropriate way for the interests and needs of the public, as well as to determine principles and priorities for modernisation of the justice sector in the OECD countries and the world for coming years.
Raivis Kronbergs, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, underlines: “I am delighted that Latvia is a model for the development and use of technologies in the justice sector. After assessment of the work done by the Court Administration, it was entrusted to develop guidelines that will serve as the basis and example of good practice for development of OECD countries in issues of digitalization of justice services and modernization of the justice system.”
It is planned that the Court Administration will develop relevant guidelines within next two years, and it could contribute to a common understanding among OECD member states on the best practices for the use of technology.
The issue of technological development in the field of justice and the impact of technology on improving access to justice, including the use of artificial intelligence, was updated in 5-6 July 2018, when the Ministry of Justice in cooperation with the Court Administration organized discussion “Equal access to justice”. Within the framework of the discussion, a declaration was approved, marking the further directions of activity in the OECD's work in the field of justice.