Aigars Strupišs will continue to lead the Supreme Court of Latvia, as the majority of Saeima deputies today voted to reappoint him to the position of Chief Justice.
A total of 81 deputies voted in favour, while nine opposed.
MP Edmunds Zivtiņš (Latvia First) expressed his party’s support for Strupišs but pointed out existing issues within the judiciary that need addressing, such as unfilled staff positions and excessive bureaucracy.
He emphasized the need to strengthen the judiciary and ensure adequate remuneration for judges.
MP Jana Simanovska (Progressives) expressed hope for continued good cooperation with Strupišs in implementing any necessary reforms requiring parliamentary support.
Andrejs Judins (New Unity) praised Strupišs for his openness and responsiveness, urging fellow MPs to support his reappointment.
Support for Strupišs had already been expressed by all parties forming the government coalition.
Born on the 29th of March 1967, in Viļāni, Strupišs has served as Chief Justice since the 16th of June 2020. He graduated from Viļāni Secondary School in 1985 and earned his law degree from the University of Latvia in 1990. He also completed academic internships at Aarhus University in Denmark, the University of Oslo, and the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.
His professional career includes lecturing at Riga Commercial School and the University of Latvia Faculty of Law since 1992. From 1994 to 1998, he served as Executive Director of the Socio-Economic Research Centre “Latvia” and later led the Legal and Business Consulting Institute’s project centre. Between 1998 and 2000, he worked as a lead expert on EU PHARE projects, and from 2000 to 2014, he managed his own law firm.
Strupišs became a judge at the Supreme Court in 2014. From 2018 to 2020, he headed the Civil Cases Department of the Senate. He also served as chair of the Disciplinary Court between 2015 and 2018 and has been a member of the Judicial Council since 2018. Since 2023, he represents Latvia on the board of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ).
He has been instrumental in drafting Latvia’s Commercial Law and contributing to insolvency-related amendments to the Insolvency Law, Commercial Pledge Law, and Credit Institutions Law.
The Judicial Council had previously nominated three candidates for the position of Chief Justice: Strupišs, Civil Cases Department senator Aldis Laviņš, and Administrative Cases Department senator Rudīte Vīduša.
Strupišis was nominated by the Chairman of the Civil Cases Department, Normunds Salenieks, and the Chairwoman of the Criminal Cases Department, Anita Poļakova. The Administrative Cases Department nominated Vīduša, while Laviņš nominated himself.
Ultimately, the Supreme Court plenum decided to re-nominate Strupišs, with 17 out of the attending judges voting in favour.
Strupišs has previously, when he took office five years ago, outlined his core priorities as judicial independence, quality, efficiency, and public trust. He believes reforms initiated during his first term are already showing results and should be pursued further.
Looking ahead, he envisions the implementation of AI tools to enhance court efficiency, the creation of a unified jurisprudence and case law office across all court levels under the Supreme Court’s Analytical Department, and discussion on improving the evaluation of Supreme Court judges.