In the framework of the project “Strengthening access to justice in Latvia through fostering mediation and legal aid services (Phase II),” the CEPEJ and Latvian authorities ran a pilot project from 2 October to 8 December 2023 on offering state-ensured primary legal aid on matters in various cities in the country including Riga, Liepāja, Madona, and Sigulda. Social centres, NGOs, and the University of Latvia’s legal clinic offered primary legal aid in the context of this project.

On 13 December, representatives from the 11 providers who participated on a voluntary basis were invited to give accounts of their experiences, provide feedback on their training, in order to learn lessons from this experiment and give an idea to Latvian authorities on how to proceed. An analysis of this pilot project will contribute to the development of recommendations, tools, and training curricula to support a new state-ensured system of primary legal aid in Latvia.

This project is funded by the EU via the Technical Support Instrument of the European Union and implemented by the Council of Europe, in cooperation with the European Commission.