On Monday, 20 January 2025, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Baiba Braže, has convened a meeting of the Council of Independent Experts on International and European Law to be held for the first time in its new composition. The Minister of Foreign Affairs will engage experts in a discussion on the topics of international and European law related to Latvia’s long-term foreign policy goals and current geopolitical developments.
The Chair of the Council is Māris Lejnieks, lecturer at the Department of International and European Law of the Faculty of Law of the University of Latvia. The members of the Council are: (1) Dr. Mārtiņš Paparinskis, member of the International Law Commission and Professor at the University College London; (2) Eva Kalniņa, independent arbitrator at the Arbitration Chambers association; (3) Dr. Arina Melse, Legal Director/Member of the Board at the Baltic Human Rights Society and guest lecturer at Riga Graduate School of Law; (4) Ingrīda Kariņa-Bērziņa, lecturer at Riga Graduate School of Law and Stockholm School of Economics in Riga; (5) Dr. Irēna Barkāne, researcher and lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the University of Latvia; (6) Viktorija Soņeca, lecturer at Riga Graduate School of Law and Legal Research Counsel to the Department of Civil Cases of the Supreme Court; (7) Dr. Edmunds Broks, Vice-Dean at the Faculty of Law of the University of Latvia.
The experts work on the council on a voluntary basis and without remuneration.
About the Council of Independent Experts on International and European Law
The Council of Independent Experts on International and European Law was established to ensure an in-depth study of the international legal framework on current issues, to formulate the national position in foreign policy informed by a high-quality analysis of legal and political aspects, to make foreign policy decisions on specific issues, as well as strengthening and developing the analysis of the international legal system in Latvia.