In March, it will be a year since the leadership of the Latvian Bar Association (LSPA) changed - the chair was taken by lawyer Saurviedis Vārpiņš, reports Diena.
The previous head of the Latvian Bar Association (LSPA), Jānis Rozenbergs, led the council for eight years, and this period was relatively calm, without major scandals, which allowed him to become a senator in the Supreme Court's Criminal Department last autumn. In comparison to Rozenbergs' leadership, the first year of Saurviedis Vārpiņš as the head of the council has been quite turbulent, which has begun to affect the reputation of the bar association.
During this year, the new composition of the LSPA has been involved in several scandals - the council is accused of serious and prolonged violations of the law, including the failure to exclude individuals convicted of criminal offenses from the ranks of lawyers. The situation has escalated to the point where the prosecutor's office has been forced to initiate an investigation into possible legal violations by the LSPA, which is an unprecedented case where the prosecutor's office assesses the activities of a professional organization of lawyers.
A truly scandalous event was the meeting of the Saeima's Legal Commission on December 9, 2025, to which representatives of the LSPA were invited at the initiative of the commission's chairman, Andris Judins, to provide information and explanations regarding possible violations of the law on advocacy. At the beginning of the meeting, Judins pointed out that he had received information from an informant about long-term violations of the law by the council and non-compliance with the requirements of Article 16 of the Advocacy Law, which stipulates the obligation to exclude from the ranks of lawyers individuals convicted of intentional crimes. Judins reported that he received data from the Information Center of the Ministry of the Interior about more than 30 previously convicted lawyers who, according to the law, fall under the criteria for exclusion.
The LSPA was represented at the meeting by two council members - Vārpiņš and Daiga Siliņa. When given the floor, Vārpiņš began by reproaching Judins, stating that the LSPA is not the kind of organization that the Saeima's Legal Commission has the right to invite for explanations, and urged Judins to justify on what grounds the LSPA was summoned to the meeting. Further addressing the issue, Vārpiņš denied any violations of the law and stated that Judins' claims about non-compliance with the law undermine the reputation of the bar association.
