The Chancellor of Justice Indrek Teder presented a report to the Riigikogu on the exercise of supervision over the conformity of the legislation of general application with the Constitution and the Acts, and respect for fundamental rights and liberties, the activities of the Chancellor of Justice as a preventive institution, and on performance of other tasks imposed by Acts.

The Chancellor of Justice focused his oral report on practical issues which arise from the position of the Chancellor of Justice as provided in the Constitution. In Teder’s words, one of the issues of the Chancellor of Justice last year as well as this year is the legislative proceeding of the budget and amendments to the associated Acts. Teder brought up the following questions in his report: “How far can the state go with cutting the expenses and increasing the revenue? Can the state “crop,” so to say, the state apparatus to an extent which renders the state incapable of providing public services and performing the non-delegable core functions of the state?” The Chancellor of Justice stressed that an independent state requires operating expenses, that is, the existence of the state apparatus, constitutional institutions and ministries, and expenses are inevitable if you wish to maintain an independent state. In Teder’s opinion, it cannot be cropped endlessly.

One of the core functions of the state, in Teder’s words, is the capacity to exercise the power in the direct sense of the word, including the capacity to establish itself and to apply the enforcement powers as necessary. Thus, the state has certain essential or core functions that are never given up and that are never delegated. In Teder’s opinion, to put it simply, it means that the state has an inalienable and non-delegable right to the power monopoly. Teder pointed to the Maintenance of Law and Order Bill. “Delegating certain rights which are characteristic of statehood, the so-called core functions of the state like the right to impose punishments, can be unconstitutional and, moreover, dangerous in terms of preserving statehood,” noted Teder.

Teder also brought forth the idea of constitutional patriotism which means that, as the unifying entity, the Constitution is set above the nation. Teder: “The citizens’ bond with their state and their political identity has to be rational and founded on well-reasoned values and no longer based on irrational national feelings and passions.”

Comments were presented by Members of the Riigikogu Evelyn Sepp, Marek Strandberg, Karel Rüütli, Urmas Reinsalu and Väino Linde.

 

Read the report by Indrek Teder in the verbatim record of the sitting:

 

The Riigikogu passed with 52 votes in favour the Social Welfare Act Amendment Act (505 SE), initiated by the Social Affairs Committee. The purpose of the Act is to bring the provision regulating the legal bases for the use of a dwelling in determining subsistence benefits on the basis of the Social Welfare Act into conformity with the Constitution. The list of contracts used as a basis for applying for a subsistence benefit remains open, not closed (containing specific types of contracts), as in the Act currently in force. The open list guarantees all disadvantaged individuals an equal opportunity to receive subsistence benefit. The type of the contract allowing them to use a dwelling is not important. Nobody voted against the Act and nobody abstained.

 

The Riigikogu passed with 42 votes in favour the Resolution on Amendments to the Resolution on Appointment of Members of the Supervisory Board of the State Forest Management Centre (580 OE). The Member of the Riigikogu Valdur Lahtvee was appointed a member of the Supervisory Board of the State Forest Management Centre instead of Tiina Oraste. Nobody voted against the Resolution and nobody abstained.

 

 

The Riigikogu Press Service