On 16 and 17 May, the CEPEJ, in cooperation with the Latvian judicial authorities, organised a study visit to Riga for Bulgarian judges in charge of the development and implementation of the workload distribution module in Bulgaria in order to optimise case weighting strategies and their practical applications. Through meetings and group discussions held in Riga's regional and municipal courts, as well as within the Court Administration and Judicial Council Department, participants were able to consider how data collection can help reducing inequalities in workload within courts and between judges, and to better define the number of judges and judicial staff required for the tasks assigned to them. This statistical monitoring makes it also possible to adapt to changes in workload and to ensure that the methodology for weighting pending cases remains reliable over time.

This activity was organised in the framework of the project Establishing a balanced distribution of the workload in the judicial system in Bulgaria, co-financed by the European Union via the technical assistance instrument and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.