Transparency International Latvia, the United States Embassy in Latvia and Transparency Fund invite to participate in an international online expert forum and roundtable discussion “Law and system of justice – a tool to fight corruption” on October 15 (14:00-16:40, EET) via Zoom (with registration). The discussion will be streamlined via www.delna.lv and Facebook account. The language of the event will be Latvian with simultaneous translation in English.
This expert forum and roundtable is the final event in a series concerning international recommendations to Latvia and Latvia’s progress in combatting corruption and advancing transparency. The event aims to increase awareness and better understand the rule of law in Latvia, the ability of anti-corruption institutions to anticipate and prevent risks that may intentionally or unintentionally turn into misdemeanors and criminal offenses, as well as to detect and adjudicate them in accordance with regulations.
Lieske de Krijger, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of the Netherlands in Latvia, will give an opening remarks and expert forum will convene subject-matter experts from Latvia and abroad, institutions related to anti-corruption, including the Ministry of Justice of Latvia, Judical Council of Latvia. Experts will be asked to share a vision of the progress that Latvia needs to make in order to improve the independence, quality and efficiency of the Latvian judiciary in the fight against corruption. The content of the expert forum will be based on the European Commision’s working document “Rule of Law Report. Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Latvia” (2021).
Participants of the expert forum:
- Aldis Bukšs, Head of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Latvia
- Aigars Strupišs, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Latvia
- Inese Zelča, Head of the Division No. 1 (Policy Planning), Department of Strategy, Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau, Latvia
- Ameet Kabrawala, Federal Prosecutor and Regional Resident Legal Advisor U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Embassy Riga, Latvia
Referring to the expert forum, we are holding the public discussion on the next steps the government and decision makers in Latvia should take in order to fight corruption – the ability to convict high-level officials in corruption-related cases and strengthen political integrity. On 18 February 2021 Transparency International Latvia (Delna) hosted a discussion panel with justice and corruption experts and practitioners with day-to-day responsibility for fighting corruption and investigation, prosecution, and conviction in cases of offence and asked them to give an insight into the problems and to point to concrete solutions. During this public discussion on 15 October we will try to find out whether the solutions discussed in February are being implemented and what progress has been made.
Panelists of the public discussion:
- Juris Rancāns, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence, Internal Affairs and Corruption Prevention, The Saeima (Latvian Parliament)
- Inga Goldberga, Chair of the Public Administration and Local Government Committee, The Saeima (Latvian Parliament)
- Ilmārs Dūrītis, Member of the Saeima (Latvian Parliament) and Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Latvia
- Aldis Bukšs, Head of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, Latvia
- Aigars Strupišs, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Latvia
- Evita Masule, Prosecutor of the Division for Coordination of the Corruption Combatting, Criminal Justice Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office, Latvia
- Dace Valgere, Senior Inspector, Strategic Planning Division, Internal Security Bureau, Latvia
Lolita Čigāne, an International Consultant in a field of good governance, elections and interest representation, will moderate the public discussion.
This event is open to the public. The agenda of the event is available here ->
The event is supported by the United States Embassy in Latvia and Transparency Fund.
