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On 4 September 2025, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Baiba Braže, exchanged views with members of the Council of Independent Experts in International and European Law on pressing matters concerning the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights, legal solutions in support of Ukraine, including limiting the shadow fleet, as well as Latvia’s priorities for its term on the UN Security Council (2026–2027). The experts also discussed other topical subjects of international and European Union law.
The meeting was held under the chairmanship of the lecturer at the Department of International and European Law of the Faculty of Law of the University of Latvia, Māris Lejnieks. This was the second meeting of the expert council after the renewal of its composition.
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 that appear on the agenda of the international community, 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 matters, as well as strengthening and developing the analysis of the international legal system in Latvia.
- 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.
- The Council held its first meeting in a new composition on 20 January 2025.