On Friday, January 25, Janis Bordans, the Minister of Justice, and the managers of the institutions from the field of justice discussed topical matters from the respective fields.
During the meeting the Minister argued that it is important to carefully assess priorities and have a strategic understanding of the field. “I am ready to actively collaborate and provide support in carrying out priorities of each authority. Our work is to consolidate justice and transparency in all processes though shared and harmonized work, as well as to continue modernization of the justice system, making it more effective and available to society.”
The Minister of Justice argued that one of the most important tasks is to inform public meet its interests, stressing the role of State-owned LLC “Latvian Herald” in the context of the National Safety Concept: “State-owned LLC “Latvian Herald” is the official publisher of the Republic of Latvia performing a national function – ensures official publications and systematizes legislation. Operations of the publisher meets the people’s rights to be informed about their rights, duties and responsibilities. Whereas the portal of “Latvian Herald” is a trustworthy channel of State administration communication with the society, creating a communication room for the development of the country.”
Reporting on the achievements, Baiba Banga, the Director of the Insolvency Control Service, stressed that the suggestions for improvements of the field of insolvency, developed back in 2014 under the leadership of Janis Bordans, are now put to practice. There is now better supervision of insolvency proceedings administrators, new regulatory framework, closer and more effective supervision, more rigorous regulations concerning conflicts of interest and more severe punishments for office violations. Overall, the regulation of the insolvency proceedings has become stronger, limiting ways how to use the proceedings in bad faith.
Continuing discussions as to the most important changes in the system, Edgars Licitis, the Director of the Administration of the Maintenance Guarantee Fund, drew the attention of the Minister of Justice towards significant innovations in the process of recovery of means of maintenance, as well as in the process of securing means of maintenance and extending the range of recipient of means of maintenance. The Minister was informed on the efforts to minimize the administrative burden as well as about the amount (and increase) of the resources recovered according to the regression proceedings. The Director, among other things, stressed one of the limitations affecting the debtors: criminal liability for avoiding maintenance of a child and the duty of taking care of a child. It is important that at the moment – for the first time – such a case is already sent to the court for examination after completing criminal investigation and prosecution.
At the end of the meeting the Minister showed willingness to visit each authority and discuss with the management further operational strategy, goals and priorities.
The meeting was attended by the management of the Ministry of Justice and heads of the Data State Inspectorate, Prison Administration, Register of Enterprises, Patent Office, Insolvency Control Service, State Probation Service, State Land Service, State Language Centre, State Forensic Science Bureau, Court Administration, Legal Aid Administration, Administration of the Maintenance Guarantee Fund, State-owned JSC “Courthouse Agency” and State-owned LLC “Latvian Herald”.