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P 130711Z JUL 07 ZDK DUE TO NUMEROUS SVCS
FM AMEMBASSY RIGA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4176
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY

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