Smiltēns: Ministry of Justice Ready to Work on New Criminal Procedure Law

Minister of Justice Edvards Smiltēns (AS) stated on Monday in the Latvian Television program “Today's Question” that the Ministry of Justice is ready to begin work on a new Criminal Procedure Law. He explained that judicial system reforms are proceeding in two directions: strengthening the judiciary by reallocating vacant judge positions and reinforcing the institution of court lawyers, and improving the Criminal Procedure Law to ensure more efficient and faster case processing.

The minister emphasized that the current Criminal Procedure Law was adopted more than 20 years ago, so it is necessary to take a systematic approach to criminal proceedings and create a new framework that would expedite case handling.

Earlier, the President of the Supreme Court, Aigars Strupišs, noted that the increasing volume of cases, lengthy proceedings, and human resource challenges require long-term and structural solutions. Supreme Court data shows the average processing time for first-instance civil cases is 8.2 months, for criminal cases in the appellate instance – 8.7 months, and the number of compulsory enforcement applications has increased 2.5 times over the past year.

Strupišs stressed that only targeted and coordinated action will ensure an efficient, timely, and trustworthy judicial system. The Supreme Court indicated that the justice sector is already advancing several practical reforms, with more to be initiated.