THE JUDICIAL COUNCIL IN LATVIA
The Latvian Judicial Council Tieslietu padome is a central non-constitutional body of the state, functionally connected with the judiciary. It consists not only of judges but also representatives of the legal professions and representatives of other authorities i.e. the Minister of Justice tieslietu ministrs, the Prosecutor General ģenerālprokurors, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Legal Committee Saeimas Juridiskās komisijas priekšsēdētājs or their deputies. The mixed composition of the Council does not disqualify it as an independent body that can potentially eff ectively perform tasks related to the protection of the independence of the courts and the independence of the judiciary. The Latvian Judicial Council is, however, a body with a very wide spectrum of activity, which, although it does not follow directly from the constitution Satversme, allows it to freely exercise not only its applicant both in relation to Saeima and the Constitutional Tribunal and opinion-making but also decision-making functions on conceptual issues and organisational judiciary and matters related to the career path of judges. The statutory nature of competences allows for their scope to be shaped quite freely, giving the possibility of adapting the Council’s tasks to the changing needs of the state — which of course can be seen as an advantage as well as a disadvantage of the Tieslietu padome model.