RIGA JUDICIAL CONFERENCE: A MODEL RULE OF LAW

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 RIGA 000520 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KJUS EAID LG SUBJECT: RIGA JUDICIAL CONFERENCE: A MODEL RULE OF LAW PROGRAM RIGA 00000520 001.2 OF 004 ¶1. (U) Summary: Embassy Riga, in cooperation with the Latvian Supreme Court and the Latvian Ministry of Justice, hosted an international conference entitled Judicial Reform, Ethics, and Transparency July 2nd - 3rd. At Ambassador Bailey's invitation, US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito came to Riga to be the key note speaker. In addition to the Justice, Ambassador Bailey opened the conference which featured speakers such as then President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga (VVF),the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of the Latvian Supreme Court and other high ranking members of the Latvian Judiciary and government. Every court in Latvia had representation at the conference. Delegations from Estonia, Lithuania, Moldova, and Georgia also attended. The conference highlighted and opened the dialogue on the rather controversial topics of ethics and transparency within the Latvian judicial system and encouraged the discussion on issues that are usually difficult to broach, let alone talk about openly. Media coverage was intense and interested in the novelty of the topics which brought the issues to the public forum. End Summary. Conference Background -------------- ¶2. (U) According to recent surveys, the Latvian Judiciary is the least trusted organization by the general public. Latvian political leadership, both past and present, is often uncomfortable discussing the reality of high level public corruption both in government and in the courts. Political will in these areas remains weak at best but more often non-existent. Were it not for the work of independent institutions such as the Anti-Corruption Bureau (KNAB) and the Prosecutor General's (PG) office, little real progress would exist. More so than its Baltic neighbors, Latvia still struggles with corruption on all levels and has consistently scored in the bottom three on Transparency International's Public Corruption Index for Europe. ¶3. (U) Currently, Latvia's justice system has the institutional framework necessary to promote the rule of law but still struggles to address issues such as corruption, ethics, and transparency in the courts and government. As stated in Post's Mission Strategic Plan, focusing USG attention on the development and sophistication of Latvian law enforcement and judicial systems, Embassy Riga hopes to build Latvia's ability to govern justly and democratically, thus enabling them to tackle these difficult issues. Organization and Participation -------------- ¶4. (U) At Ambassador Bailey's invitation, US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito agreed to visit Riga and be the key note speaker at a conference for the Latvian Judiciary. In addition to Justice Alito, Post also brought three highly respected US Law Professors -- recommended by Alito-- from all over the country to serve as guest speakers and panelists. They were Professor Geoffrey Hazard of UC Hastings College of the Law; Professor Stephen Burbank of the University of Pennsylvania; and Professor Ronald Rotunda of George Mason University. Because of this opportunity, Post partnered with the Latvian Supreme Court and the Ministry of Justice to organize a conference entitled Judicial Ethics, Reform and Transparency. Though July is typically a difficult month to obtain high level participation in formal activities, every court in Latvia was able to send a least one representative to attend the conference. Approximately 250-300 people attended the conference including members of the press corps, University students, representatives from non-governmental organizations, legal professors from the three largest Law Faculties in Latvia, Parliamentarians, and private attorneys. ¶5. (U) Recognizing that Latvia is a key contributor to stability and strengthening of democracy in the region, Embassy Riga believes it is important for Latvia to leverage its experiences in democratic transition and accession to Western and Transatlantic institutions so as to assist its regional allies in duplicating those successes. Working with our colleagues in our respective embassies, Post used the opportunity of this conference to facilitate contact and communication with Latvia's priority countries for assistance by bringing representatives from Georgia and Moldova to attend the conference and participate in the discussions. ¶6. (U) Delegates from Estonia, Lithuania, Georgia and Moldova joined their Latvian colleagues for the conference. The Estonian delegation included several high ranking judges, the RIGA 00000520 002.2 OF 004 Chancellor and deputy Chancellor of Justice and the Deputy Secretary General on Criminal Policy from the Estonia SIPDIS Ministry of Justice. The Georgian delegation, funded by USAID, was comprised of judges from the Georgian Supreme Court, the Appellate Court and a consultant to the High Council of Justice from the Georgian Department of Judicial Ethics and Disciplinary Proceeding. The Lithuanian delegation brought Justices from the Constitutional court as well as the Supreme Court, the dean of the Law Faculty from their largest University, the advisor to the President of Lithuania on legal affairs, a representative from the Ministry of National Defense, the Director of the Lithuanian Center for Human Rights, and the deputy Prosecutor General. Finally, as guests of the Latvian Ministry of Justice, the Moldovan delegation consisted of a judge and a counselor to the Minister of Justice of Moldova. ¶7. (U) Speakers and panelists included then President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis, Latvian Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Andris Gulans, President of the Latvian Constitutional Court Gunars Kutris, Head of the Lawyers Ethics Commission Lauris Liepa, Minister of Justice Gaidis Berzins, Head of the Supreme Court Administration and Chief Advisor to the Chief Justice Anita Kehre, Journalist -- and now Pres Secretary to the new Latvian President -- Inta Lase, Head of the Parliament's Legal Affairs Bureau Gunars Kusins, and Deputy Chief Justice of the Latvian Supreme Court Gunars Aigars. Public Diplomacy -------------- ¶8. (U) Educating the public as well as the press corps on these issues is a high priority. Post is pleased to report that 21 media outlets were in attendance throughout the two day conference. Representatives from both the Latvian language and Russian language news syndicates were present. The two largest national papers extensively covered the conference as well as the major news television stations and wire services. ¶9. (U) Justice Alito gave two interviews, one to the most influential daily publications and the second to the largest circulating legal monthly. Each of the visiting US professors also gave several interviews to a variety of news outlets. In one of her last addresses as President, VVF referenced the Judicial Conference hosted by the Embassy as being an important event where crucial issues for Latvia's future could be discussed. Reaching Out to the Next Generation -------------- ¶10. (U) Both as a public diplomacy tool and as a means to continue outreach to the next generation of leaders, Embassy Riga conducted a nationwide essay contest for Latvian high school students in eleventh and twelfth grads. The students were asked to write an essay in English on the question "What Does Justice Mean to Me?" The judging panel consisted of the Parliamentary Secretary from the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court Chief Justice's Senior Advisor and a member of the Embassy staff. The panel chose three finalists and the final winning essay was selected by Justice Alito who presented the award on the first day of the conference. Session Summaries -------------- ¶11. (U) Conference Opening: Ambassador Bailey kicked off the conference emphasizing the importance of the issues of ethics, reform, and transparency and welcomed the sharing of best practices between our two countries. VVF showed her support by stating that all nations must continually fight to promote and maintain the rule of law. VVF expressed her desire to see Latvia undergo the transformational reforms in its justice system just as the US did during the civil rights movement. VVF highlighted the three main areas of concern in the Latvian Judiciary: Latvia needs to improve the way it trains and educates judges, including continuing education for sitting judges; courts must build trust by increasing their transparency and availability of decisions; and the country needs to eliminate circumstances that breed corruption such as long waiting times before cases are heard, which creates an environment open to bribery. ¶12. (U) Panel I - The Role of the Judiciary in Promoting and Maintaining the Rule of Law. The President of the RIGA 00000520 003.2 OF 004 Constitutional Court, Gunars Kutris, focused on the importance of the separation of powers not just between the different branches of government but also between the different elements of the judiciary. He stressed that judges must uphold the law for the law's sake, regardless of their personal feelings and the judiciary must retain the power to discipline judges. He asked to what degree should judges participate in academic and policy debates. Professor Hazard remarked on the impact that both high profile and routine cases have on the integrity of the judiciary. Hazard stressed the need for ethical codes to consider both circumstances as well as informal involvement of lawyers acting as legal advisors. Hazard argued that the public debate surrounding the adoption of ethical codes is just as important to promoting proper conduct as the actual code itself. The head of the Ethics Commission for Latvia's lawyers noted that it take great courage for judges to maintain the rule of law in the face of political pressure. He asked how society can best ensure that judges are able to resist political influence and maintain the balance of power. During the discussion, suggestions were made as to how to increase transparency such as making judges' rulings accessible on the internet, televising court proceedings, and facilitating the media in their investigations and reporting on issues related to the courts. ¶13. (U) Day Two - Opening: Ambassador Bailey took this opportunity to encourage the judiciary to be just, be moderate, and be brave in their work. The Prime Minister and the Minster of Justice both emphasized the importance of facilitating and conducting these types of open discussions on improving the state of Latvia's judiciary. Justice Alito delivered his address focused on how to gain public trust in the judiciary, highlighting that the judiciary must first deserve the trust and then conduct itself in a transparent and open way. Justice Alito shared with the audience the US experience in general as well as his experience serving both as a Federal Judges and a Supreme Court judge. During the question and answer session, Justice Alito encouraged a discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of televised court proceedings, judicial involvement in drafting legislation, judicial discipline, and the role of international law. Professor Burbank then addressed the issue of judicial independence and accountability. He stressed the importance of the independence of the Judiciary as a whole rather than the independence of the individual judge. Burbank also led a discussion on the US experience in judicial discipline. ¶14. (U) Panel II - The Relationship Between the Judiciary and the Press. Professor Rotunda opened the discussion by arguing that even though judges prefer not to be criticized, and may be disparaged unfairly at times, the remedy for unfair speech is more speech, not less. Inta Lase of Latvia's Journalist Union -- and now press Secretary to the new President -- highlighted the challenges the press deal with when it comes to the courts. She believes that simply putting cameras in the courtroom and putting rulings online is not enough. She argued that all court activities must be available in an organized database so as to facilitate analytical research. This all must be coupled with laws that protect the press' right to have anonymous sources. Anita Kehre, Head of the Supreme Court Administration, expressed concern over the tendency of the media to sacrifice loyalty to society in favor of loyalty to their consumer by focusing on the entertainment value of their work. Professor Hazard closed the discussion with the suggestion that the research of the media on judicial issues could be facilitated by establishing a professional liaison office comprised of experts who would assist anyone who wishes to research court rulings. ¶15. (U) Panel III - The Relationship Between the Judiciary and the Legislature and the closing of the conference. Gunars Kusins, of the Parliament's Legal Affairs Bureau opened the discussion with his point of view on how the Legislative and Judicial branches interact. Kusins stressed that judges must be wary of appearing too involved in politics should they choose to participate in drafting legislation. Professor Hazard entered the discussion by stressing the need for established methods of communications between the judiciary and the legislature, especially when it comes to how the judiciary communicates its perspective on legislation that affects the administration and budget of the courts. Hazard emphasized the importance of public debate on all legislative proposals prior to any official vote and that this is an opportunity for judges to criticize potential legislation that would threaten the rule of law. Kusins suggested that perhaps the best way forward in the judicial and parliamentary relationship would be to invite judges to participate in small working groups in the early stages of RIGA 00000520 004.2 OF 004 developing legislation at a time when they can lend their expertise, without appearing too political. Professor Rotunda concluded the conference with a discussion of the role of sentencing and establishing strong sentencing guidelines as a means to fighting corruption. The Way Forward -------------- ¶16. (U) As immediate follow up, Professors Burbank, Hazard, and Rotunda have agreed to develop ties within the Latvian academic legal community and serve as resources for future projects. Additionally, each professor has agreed to provide post with the two articles or publications -- free of charge -- on issues that were discussed during the conference. Post plans to use residual SEED funds to translate the articles and provide them to all conference participants, the Law Faculties, and the Latvian Judicial Training Center. ¶17. (U) We believe this experience an be adapted for use at other posts facing these issues and would be happy to share our experience. Riga POC is Alexandra Z. Tenny email TennyAZ@state.gov Comment -------------- ¶17. (U) Feedback provided to the Ambassador from conference participants and speakers has been both positive and enthusiastic. Post views this conference not in isolation, but as the kick off event for a long and much needed dialogue on ethics, transparency and other related issues which hinder the battle against corruption in all its forms. The fact that the discussions even took place in such a candid manner and were carried to the public via a very interested media is an immediate success both of the conference and of Justice Alito's visit. ¶18. (U) USG assistance to the Latvian legal community -- including police, judges and prosecutors -- has often proved challenging in the past because participants, though always interested to learn about the US, often cite vast differences between the US and Latvian legal systems when it comes to cooperation. However, the success of this conference is evidence that ethics and transparency are areas and issues which transcend different legal systems and were the US and Latvia can have a productive exchange of best practices. BAILEY