On 1 August 2022, two Riga courts will be merged with the Riga City Court of Vidzeme Suburb

On 1 August 2022, two Riga courts – the Riga City Court of Pārdaugava and the Riga City Court of Latgale Suburb – will be merged with the Riga City Court of Vidzeme Suburb, while the court’s name will simultaneously be changed to the Riga City Court.

These changes constitute a continuation of the territorial reform of the courts aimed at making court operations more efficient and reducing the length of proceedings. The territorial reform of the courts provides for the consolidation, within a single judicial district, of the territorial jurisdictions of several courts, thereby legally establishing one larger court of first instance. As of 1 August this year, the territorial jurisdiction of the new Riga City Court will encompass the entire administrative territory of the city of Riga. The Riga City Court will be the largest court in Latvia, with 122 judges and 358 employees.

Access to the Riga City Court will be ensured at all the previous court locations in Riga: 8 Abrene Street, 6 Jēzusbaznīcas Street, 58 Daugavgrīvas Street, 39 Mazā Nometņu Street and 10 Lomonosova Street, as well as 5 Ieriķu Street (for land-register matters), thereby enabling residents to submit documents to the court at any of the aforementioned locations of the Riga City Court.

The Riga City Court will be headed by one chief judge; it will have a unified case-allocation system, and judges’ workloads will be balanced according to a uniform principle.

The principal benefits of establishing the Riga City Court are a more even distribution of the courts’ workload and case-processing times, greater opportunities to develop judicial specialisation, the rational use of judges’ capacity and other court resources, and improved access to the court.

It has already been reported that on 22 April 2022, the Council for the Judiciary unanimously supported the reorganisation plan for the Riga City Courts prepared by the Ministry of Justice. The plan provides for the Riga City Court of Pārdaugava and the Riga City Court of Latgale Suburb to be merged with the Riga City Court of Vidzeme Suburb as of 1 August, while the court’s name will simultaneously be changed to the Riga City Court.

The procedure for allocating cases and other matters concerning the organisation of work at the court are determined by the chief judge. Accordingly, we invite you to follow the latest information on the procedure for allocating cases established by the court and on the operation of the courts after the reorganisation on the Latvian Courts Portal www.tiesas.lv.