On 5 November 2021 Riga Graduate School of Law (RGSL) will host the annual conference devoted to the issues of human rights in Latvia. The conference this year is focused on legal challenges created by the global pandemic, and will be broadcasted online from RGSL.
The speakers of the conference will be Judge at the European Court of Justice, RGSL Professor Dr. Ineta Ziemele, Judge of the European Court of Human Rights, Associate Professor of RGSL Dr. Mārtiņš Mits, Ombudsman of Latvia Juris Jansons, Representative of Latvia before International Human Rights Organisations Kristīne Līce, RGSL Visiting Lecturer Dr. Arina Melse, as well as representatives from the Constitutional Court of Latvia and the Supreme Court of Latvia. Conference will be opened by RGSL Acting Rector Dr. Jānis Ikstens and Dr. Mārtiņš Mits.
During the discussion, participants will be introduced to the issues that are currently important for the common European defence of human rights, recent developments of the European Court of Human Rights as well as its latest rulings in the Latvian cases. The second part of the conference will be devoted to legal challenges created by the global Covid-19 pandemic. How the pandemic has affected the notions of democracy, rule of law and human rights? How to measure the trust of the society to its governments and how to increase it? These and other issues will be discussed at the conference.
The conference will take place online on 5 November 2021 from 10:00 – 15:00 in Latvian, and it will be broadcasted on RGSL website and Facebook page.
These discussions have a stable position in the range of academic and professional activities in Latvia. They are followed by representatives of various legal professions – judges of the Constitutional and general jurisdiction courts and their assistants, prosecutors, lawyers, ministry officials, members of the Latvian Parliament and representatives of its Legal Bureau, representatives of the Ombudsman’s Office and non-governmental organisations, students.
The discussion seeks to consolidate the academic and professional aspects of challenges in application of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in Latvia, to raise awareness about current problems and their possible solutions. Therefore, the discussion is primarily aimed at those whose professional activities are related to the observance of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, but at the same time this conference is a useful source of information on current issues of protection of human rights in Latvia for everyone interested.
Annual Human Rights conferences organized by RGSL has started in 2006, following a suggestion by then Judge of the European Court of Human Rights, RGSL Professor Ineta Ziemele. Since 2006 this conference has become an integral part of Latvia’s civil and legal discussion framework.