It is necessary to analyse information in Latvia about cases that are «stuck» in long court hearings, said Prosecutor General Juris Stukāns during a meeting of the Justice Council.
He stressed that last year the number of criminal cases received by courts of various instances went down significantly when compared with previous years. «We have to look into details in regards to stuck cases,» stressed Stukāns, adding that he has sent all relevant information to Chairman of the Supreme Court of Justice Aigars Strupišs.
Strupišs mentioned the situation with some criminal case that has been stuck in court for two years without any signs of progress as one of the most egregious case.
«How can it be normal for a case to remain idle for two years without the judge even starting its review? Hearings are scheduled one after another, but then the case is taken off and sent to Kurzeme for review. I believe this particular case is egregious,» stressed the Prosecutor General.
He also criticised case-viewing priorities when it comes to officials and minors. «Officials and minors should be the main priority, followed by everything else. In reality we see that all small thefts are viewed, but the cases involving officials and minors are ignored even if the case is not about anything major,» stressed the Prosecutor General.
Stukāns said he cannot understand why minors have to suffer and wait long periods of time until their cases are given a fair trial. As an example he mentioned a rape case. The victim was a minor when it happened, later became of age, and died shortly after, unfortunately. The criminal case, however, was viewed only after her death.
At the same time, Stukāns said he is happy to hear the court justice sector thinks about ways to improve case-viewing efficiency. On Friday, the 10th of February, the Justice Council approved new case-viewing standards for courts in 2023.
In accordance with the law, court chairman is to plan priorities and medium-term review terms together with judges. Case review terms and related standards are determined based on each individual court’s resources and the need to ensure every person’s right for fair trial, as well as with respect of other related principles.
Chairmen of courts of law are to submit case-viewing term standards to the Justice Council for approval by the 1st of February every year.
The Justice Council also reviewed the report on courts’ accomplishments in the year 2022. General results indicate that the number of received and reviewed cases has gone down. However, average case review terms continue getting longer.
Courts in Riga are also more overworked when compared with regional courts.