The Riigikogu passed with 87 votes in favour the Act on Amendments to the Mental Health Act (86 SE), initiated by the Government. The amendment provides the restrictions of the rights of patients who are in in-patient treatment at a psychiatric hospital. The aim of the restrictions is to create preconditions for ensuring that persons who are in in-patient psychiatric treatment do not hold substances or items which may harm their own or other persons’ health, security or inviolability of private life. The Act enters into force on 1 September 2012.

The Act on Amendments to the Road Transport Act, the State Fees Act and the Traffic Act (137 SE), initiated by the Government, was passed with 88 votes in favour. The purpose of this Act is to introduce into the Acts the amendments arising from the Regulations of the European Parliament and of the Council. The amendments provide the specifications of the conditions for access to the occupation of road haulage operator (for example, services which do not require a licence), harmonise and simplify the system of licences issued for the organisation of road transport, eliminate the restrictions on access to the market of international road haulage for reward arising from the Act which is currently in force, update the conditions for using vehicles used under contract for use in road transport, amend punishments for violation of the requirements of the Road Transport Act and EU Regulations provided in the scope of responsibility of the Act, and specify the wording of some provisions of the Road Transport Act in order to ensure legal clarity and conformity with other Acts and European Union law.

The Act on Approval of Annex 8 to the International Convention on the Harmonisation of Frontier Controls of Goods (138 SE), initiated by the Government, was passed with 76 votes in favour. Annex 8 to this Convention facilitates international trade by reducing, harmonising and coordinating procedures and paperwork in connection with the border control of goods, in particular live animals and perishable goods, and improves the operation of border crossing points, as well as technical matters relating to the mutual recognition of international vehicle inspection and weight certificates. It also improves the operation of border crossing points, as well as technical matters relating to the mutual recognition of international vehicle inspection and weight certificates.

The Act on Ratification of the Convention between the Republic of Estonia and the United Arab Emirates for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income (154 SE), initiated by the Government, was passed with 78 votes in favour. The Convention regulates the division of the taxation right between the contracting parties and provides avoidance of discriminatory taxation and the obligation to prevent fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income, and restricts the taxation right of a Contracting State, meaning that one Contracting State gives up a part of tax revenue in favour of the other Contracting State and vice versa. The provisions of the Convention create more favourable conditions for taxpayers and contribute to the creation of additional possibilities for prevention of tax evasions.

The Act on Ratification of the Council of the European Union Convention on the Allocation of Collection Costs upon Centralised Customs Clearance (131 SE), initiated by the Government, was passed with 76 votes in favour. The Convention regulates the sharing of duty collection costs between EU member states and directly concerns receipt of money in the state budget and making of payments to another EU member state from the state budget. When an EU member state collects customs duties, then 75% of it is paid to the European Community and 25% is retained by the state that collected the duty for covering the collection costs. Upon application of the centralised customs clearance, the share intended for covering the collection costs (25%) is shared equally between two member states if the customs declaration is lodged in one member state and the goods are presented in another.

The Resolution “Compensation for Claims secured by Certificates of the National VEB Fund” (130 SE), submitted by the Government, was passed with 44 votes in favour. The Resolution provides the dissolution of the Fund and satisfaction of claims represented by certificates out of the money received from the sale of the assets of the Fund and within the framework of a liquidation proceeding carried out on the basis of the Foundations Act. At the same time, the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Accounts of the Estonian Banks Frozen in the Foreign Economy Bank of the USSR” of 20 January 1993 (RT 1993, 4, 61) is repealed. The Resolution enters into force on the seventh day after publication in the Riigi Teataja. Seven members of the Riigikogu voted against the Resolution.

The first reading of the Bill on Amendments to the Research and Development Organisation Act, the Study Allowances and Study Loans Act and the Universities Act (162 SE), initiated by the Government, was concluded. The aim of the Bill is to provide the bases for entry into a contract of employment with a Doctoral candidate in order to enable him or her to work as a junior research fellow. For this purpose, reasonable specifications arising from the particularity of the employment relationship of Doctoral candidates are provided in the Universities Act, in comparison to the Employment Contracts Act, and amendments are also added to the Study Allowances and Study Loans Act. The Bill was sent to the second reading.

The Riigikogu Press Service