The Constitutional Court’s Administration will be headed by Marika Laizāne-Jurkāne

31.08.2020.

Today, on 31 August, Marika Laizāne-Jurkāne commences work as the Head of the Constitutional Court’s Administration. This position was created in reinforcing the management model for the Constitutional Court’s Administration in compliance with the European best practice examples. The Constitutional Court, as one of the constitutional bodies of the State, needs appropriate and professional administrative support. With the Head of Administration entering office and also ensuring to each Justice two Assistants, an important stage of modernisation is completed at the Constitutional Court.

The duty of the Head of Administration is to ensure the administrative functioning of the Constitutional Court; to participate in the planning and implementation of development, in compliance with the instructions given by the Court’s President, to represent the Constitutional Court’s Administration in Latvian, foreign and international institutions, ensure financial management, plan the Court’s budget and control its implementation.

Marika Laizāne-Jurkāne holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in social sciences from the University of Latvia (hereafter – UL). She has completed her doctoral studies and acquired the degree of the doctor of political sciences in international politics. She has perfected her knowledge and skills in training programmes in the Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Benelux Parliament and the Benelux Economic Union, Gustav Stresemann Institute, the national parliaments of Denmark, Belgium and Luxemburg.

Marika Laizāne-Jurkāne has worked at the Interparliamentary Relations Bureau of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia. She continued her career as the project manager at the Secretariat of the Baltic Assembly, later becoming the Head of the Secretariat. From 2010 until commencing her work at the Constitutional Court, she held the position of the Secretary General of the Baltic Assembly, with the main tasks being organisation and management of the Secretariat’s work, developing strategies and establishing contacts with international organisations, planning the budget and supervising its implementation, managing international projects in cooperation with the Benelux countries, the Nordic countries and the European Union’s Eastern Partnership countries as well as evaluating the implementation of the Presidency’s programme.

Since 2002, Marika Laizāne-Jurkāne has been teaching at the UL Faculty of Social Sciences, and, since 2011, also at the Riga Graduate School of Law. She teaches courses “International Organisations”, “Strategies and Tactics of Political Negotiations” and “ Negotiation Techniques”. Marika Laizāne-Jurkāne is the author of several scientific publications and training programmes. She has been the research supervisor for bachelor’s and master’s these, reviewer of research work.

Awarded the Medal of the Baltic Assembly.