This report was prepared by the OECD Directorate for Public Governance (GOV) under the leadership of Elsa Pilichowski, Director for Public Governance, and overall supervision by Tatyana Teplova, Head of the Division for Policy Coherence for the SDGs and Senior Justice Counsellor, and Barbara-Chiara Ubaldi, Head of the Unit for Digital Government and Data.
The report was co-ordinated and drafted by Mariane Piccinin Barbieri, OECD policy analyst, with contributions from Seong Ju Park, OECD policy analyst, Felix Steffek, Associate Professor at the University of Cambridge, and Aleksandrs Fillers, local consultant on justice and Assistant Professor at Riga Graduate School of Law. It includes written contributions and input from Cindy Boreillo and Renan Barbosa Fernandes. Melissa Sander and Julie Harris provided editorial assistance. The report also benefited from comments and inputs from Aitor Cubo Contreras, Director-General, Fabiola Solino Díaz, Head of Office, and Alejandro Fernández Muñoz, Liaison for International ICT Affairs, of the Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Parliamentary Relations of Spain.
The OECD is deeply grateful to the Government of Latvia for its continued engagement and support in this unique project and to the Latvian institutions involved for their remarkable co-operation. In particular, the OECD would like to thank the following individuals:
At the Court Administration: Andris Munda, Director; Anna Skrjabina, Deputy Director General, Development Department; Dace Kazāka, Deputy Director, Development Department; Andreta Balševica, Department Director; Agnija Karlsone Djomkina, Head of Project Management and International Cooperation Department; Inese Kalniņa, Deputy Director for Development and Legal Affairs; Inta Salinieka, Deputy Head, International Cooperation and Analytics Division; Jana Zemberga, Deputy Head, Information Systems Development Division, Information Systems and Technology Department; Maris Kumerdanks, Head of the Unit on Information Technology Development; Elīza Kārkliņa, Senior Officer of Information Systems, Development Division; Roberta Zariņa, Senior Officer of Information Systems, Development Division; Ilze Piševa, Coordinator and Court Information System Development Project; Līva Matuzele, Project Coordinator, Development Department; Elīna Šķipare, Project Coordinator, Development Department; Inese Ūdre, Project Coordinator, Development Department; Lauma Legzdina, ESF Project Coordinator.
At the Ministry of Justice: Inita Ilgaža, Deputy State Secretary on Judicial Matters; Inguna Preisa, Judge, Advisor to the Minister of Justice; Agris Batalauskis, Director, Project Department; Eva Krjukova, Deputy Director, Judicial Policy Department; Dagnija Palčevska, Representative, Civil Procedure Law Working Group; Guna Žvīgure, Head, Administrative Law Department; Jolanta Laura, Head, Administrative Liability Policy Division, Department of State Law; Uldis Kārklevalks, Head, Project Planning and Implementation Division; Iveta Gedus, Head of International and Procedural Law Unit, Civil Law Department; Gunta Degle, Senior Officer, State Probation Service; Maija Laure, Lawyer, Civil Law Department; Megija Paula Bērziņa, Lawyer, Judicial System Policy Department; Vineta Reinika, Lawyer, Judicial Policy Department; and Jorens Liopa, Project Management and International Cooperation Division.
At the Ministry of Economics: Didzis Brūklītis, Head of the Competition, Trade and Consumer Rights Division, Internal Market Department; Dana Vaivare, Deputy Head of the Competition, Trade and Consumer Rights Division, Internal Market Department; and Arnis Latišenko, Senior Expert, Competition, Trade and Consumers.
Members of the Judiciary: Aldis Laviņš, Judge, Constitutional Court; Adrija Kasakovska, President, Latvian Association of Judges and Judge, Zemgale Regional Court; Aigars Sniedzītis, Vice-President, Latvian Association of Judges and Judge, Zemgale Regional Court; Marianna Terjuhana, Vice-Chair, Zemgale Regional Court and Chair, Collegium of Civil Cases; Daiga Vilsone, Judge, President of Riga Regional Court; Lelde Grauda, Judge and Vice-President, Riga Regional Court; Ināra Zariņa, Deputy Chairman, Riga District Court; Kristīne Kalvāne, Judge, Riga Administrative District Court; Liga Ašmane, Judge and President, Zemgale District Court; Elga Guitāne, Judge, Kurzeme District Court; Anda Kraukle, Chairperson, Riga City Court; and Žanna Zujeva, Judge, Riga City Vidzeme Suburb Court.
At the Finance Latvia Association: Aivars Graudiņš, Vice-President and Laima Letiņa, Advisor.
At the European Consumer Information Center: Kristīna Proškoviča, Deputy Director.
At the Consumer Rights Protection Center: Baiba Vītoliņa, Director and Edīte Drozda, Director of Department.
At the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry: Raimonds Āboliņš, Head, Legal Department.
At the Latvian Foreign Investors Council: Linda Helmane, Executive Director; Baiba Strupiša, Co‑Head, Tax Policy and Administration Work Group; Daiga Zivtiņa, Representative; and Roberts Alhimionoks, Policy Expert.
At the Latvian Insurers Association: Jānis Abāšins, President and Kristina Pētersone, Law Specialist.
At the Legal Aid Administration: Jeļena Bārbale, Head of the Legal Aid Provision Division of the Legal Aid Administration and Deputy Director; and Egita Lapa, Deputy Head of the Legal Aid Provision Division of the Legal Aid Administration.
Members of the Latvian Council of Sworn Attorneys: Arta Snipe, Lawyer; Jānis Zuļķis, Lawyer, RIMI Baltic Group; and Kārlis Tračums, Attorney-at-law and Partner, ZAB Protectum.
The OECD also wishes to sincerely thank Christof Berlin, Head of the Conciliation Board, Söp, Arbitration Board for Public Passenger Transport (Germany); Colin Rule, President and CEO of Mediate.com (United States); Dejan Savatic, President, Company Court of Walloon Brabant (Belgium); Evija Klave, National Expert, European Social Policy Network (ESPN); Graham Ross, Accredited business mediator, Civil Mediation Council (United Kingdom); Ilona Bois-Drivet, Partner, Cyberjustice Laboratory (Canada); Julia Kreidel and Pauline Stabenow, Legal Advisors, European ODR platform, European Consumer Centre (Germany); Valentin Callipel, Head of Mission, Cyberjustice Laboratory (Canada); Yves Delacollette, Consular Judge, Company Court of Walloon Brabant and mediator accredited by the Federal Mediation Commission (Belgium); and Jakob Thevis, Head of Contact Point, Centre for European Consumer Protection (Latvia) for acting as peer reviewers and experts who lent their time to exchange practices from their countries through a peer-learning session and participation in fact-finding interviews with Latvian stakeholders.
The OECD is also grateful for collaboration with business representatives Dace Cīrule, Head of Business Development, Idea Port Riga AS; Edgars Pastars, Specialist Counsel, ACAMS Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) and Certified Global Sanctions Specialist (CGSS), Head of AML, COBALT Latvia.
In addition, the OECD expresses its gratitude to Emilia Pech, Mediator and Legal Counsel with the Department of Justice (Canada); Nicolas Vermeys, Director of the Research Center in Public Law, Associate Director of the Cyberjustice Laboratory and Professor in the Law School of the University of Montreal (Canada), experts in ODR mechanisms who helped finetune the scope of the project and tailor questions in preparation for the fact-finding meetings.
The OECD also extends its sincerest thanks to the European Union for its financial contribution to the project through the Technical Support Instrument.