On Friday, 21 August, the Minister of Justice Jānis Bordāns will visit Daugavpils in order to meet with Jānis Šauša, the Chairman of the Court, and to discuss the possibilities to improve communication of the court with public.
J.Bordāns emphasizes: “High quality judicial communication should not have exceptions. In our dynamic informative space, every judge has an obligation to clearly and timely explain the activities of the court within the framework of law. It would be important for public to receive information from judges themselves regarding the circumstances and arguments for the convicting or justifying judgment. That refers, in particular, to criminal cases, appearing in the public view - about especially crucial crimes or being related to the long-term court proceeding.”
Even more in cases, when decisions are made still within the framework of trial of the case, for example, with regard to application of security measures and amending thereof. In order society would feel safe, the explanation of the court itself is important in such situations. The main purpose of the security measure is to achieve that the accused does not hinder the course of the proceeding, does not commit any new crimes and does not cause a threat to society during the time until completion of the trial of the criminal case. In such situations the court has an obligation to explain considerations, according to which the particular decision was made, without disclosing any particular facts of the criminal case. Such explanations would be in the safety interests of the society, emphasizes J.Bordāns.
Availability of timely and clear information and readiness of the judge within the framework of law to explain his or her decisions is significant, in order to facilitate adoption of lawful and fair decisions and public trust to judicial power - independence of judicial power and responsibility of judges in front of society, emphasizes the Minister of Justice.
Within the framework of the visit to Latgale J.Bordāns will visit also Kraslava, in order to meet with Gunārs Upenieks, the Chairman of the Council of the region.