Chief Justice of the Supreme Court gave the Riigikogu an overview of courts administration
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Villu Kõve made a report to the Riigikogu on courts administration, administration of justice and uniform application of Acts and the Bill concerning catering in childcare facilities passed its second reading.
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Villu Kõve, confirmed that the judicial system continued to function properly: independent and impartial administration of justice and resolution of cases – at least in most cases – within a reasonable period of time were guaranteed. “But the truth is that the efficiency of the system continues to decline, which presents us with difficult choices, especially in a context of budget cuts,” he said. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court noted that, on the whole, the number of new cases had remained the same or had even decreased in offence proceedings in some areas but the efficiency of the courts had not improved on account of that and the procedural time-limits had generally increased compared to the previous year. He added that, overall, the pace and efficiency of proceedings were also deteriorating in a five-year perspective. “Administration of justice is working but the trend is bad. It has to be resisted if we do not want the situation to actually be bad in a few years’ time. It is a challenging time,” he admitted.
Among other things, Kõve spoke about the rising cost of court cases, difficulties related to the generational change of judges, staff turnover, disciplinary proceedings, and the lag in the digitalization of courts and the introduction of artificial intelligence. Kõve gave an overview of constitutional review cases and highlighted as a positive fact that the European Court of Human Rights had not found any violations in the five cases from Estonia that had been reviewed on the merits in the previous year. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court emphasized that it was necessary to launch the establishment of a court information system based on artificial intelligence, to proceed with the consolidation of courts of first instance, to change the management model of courts, to specialize and redistribute work, as well as to simplify court proceedings and to remove cases that do not belong there from the courts.
Kõve noted that the new court development plan that had been approved could ideally take the administration of justice to a new level. “It is an ambitious document. And ultimately, it could be the basis for making justice faster and of higher quality for people. Now we need to start implementing this plan, which is certainly much more difficult than writing it,” he said.
“If the judicial system were to go along with all of these reforms, the executive branch and the legislature could support us by excluding the courts, along with the rest of the internal security system, from further state budget cuts and by allowing the money saved to be used for the development of the system. If we take more money out of there, as is currently planned for next year, then in reality nothing will get better for us, everything will get worse. In order for us to be able to make savings in the long term, we need to put money in now, otherwise things just will not go ahead. In other words, judges are definitely expecting their salary index to be restored starting from 2026, as the previous government promised them in return for reforms. The judiciary would expect the reinstatement of the benefit for incapacity for work as a state insurance, support for rotation, relaxation of professional restrictions as well as the possibility of occupational pension payments,” the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court listed.
During the debate, Urmas Reinsalu (Isamaa), Lauri Läänemets (Social Democratic Party), Varro Vooglaid (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) and Madis Timpson (Reform Party) took the floor on behalf of their parliamentary groups.
A Bill passed the second reading
The Bill on Amendments to the Preschool Education Act and to the Act on Amendments to the Republic of Estonia Education Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (establishment of an obligation to study) (644 SE), initiated by the Rural Affairs Committee, passed the second reading. It will provide for the abandonment of the licence obligation for childcare facilities where catering is provided and for operators who provide the catering service for childcare facilities which was due to come into force on 1 September.
Since 2021, childcare service providers engaged in catering have not had the obligation to apply for an activity licence from the Agriculture and Food Board, but on 1 September, the Act on Amendments to the Preschool Education Act and Other Associated Acts is entering into force, according to which the obligation to apply for a licence for childcare facilities would be reintroduced.
The Rural Affairs Committee took the view that, since such childcare facilities and operators providing catering services to them already had the obligation to notify the Agriculture and Food Board of their economic activities, including the provision of catering for children, a separate licence application process would lead to an excessive administrative burden for both the facilities providing the childcare service, and the Agriculture and Food Board which processed the licences.
For the second reading, the committee introduced an amendment to the Bill, giving local authorities extra time to draft and establish new regulations. According to a provision included in the Bill, the necessary regulations will have to be introduced by 31 August 2026 at the latest.
Peeter Ernits and Vadim Belobrovtsev (Centre Party) took the floor during the debate.
The second reading of a Bill was adjourned
The second reading of the Bill on Amendments to the Competition Act and Amendments to Other Associated Acts (609 SE), initiated by the Government, was adjourned due to the end of the working hours of the sitting. This Bill will transpose the directive organising the procedure for processing infringements of competition law, using the structures of existing law.
The Bill will establish competition supervision proceedings under administrative law and sanctions will be imposed in misdemeanour proceedings similarly to other areas where administrative fines should be applied under European Union law. The Competition Authority will conduct competition supervision proceedings and will do so pursuant to administrative procedure. District courts will impose fines for committing competition infringements constituting misdemeanours in misdemeanour proceedings.
In competition supervision proceedings, it will be provided that evidence gathered can be transferred to misdemeanour proceedings which has so far been one of the main concerns in competition supervision and in proceedings on competition offences. Also, in the future, competition infringements will no longer be criminal offences, and this will eliminate the need to choose between criminal and misdemeanour proceedings.
The bill replaces the bill withdrawn by the Government at the end of March this year, which contained administrative fine regulations and self-incrimination provisions that led to many objections from legal specialists. Then the Government decided to fundamentally amend the bill and to propose an approach based on existing procedures for competition infringements.
The Economic Affairs Committee made a number of amendments to the Bill for the second reading, based on feedback received from the Estonian Bar Association, the Competition Authority, and other stakeholders. According to a motion to amend concerning the deadline for entry into force, the Act will enter into force on the day following publication in the Riigi Teataja.
After the sitting, it is planned to form the Top-level Sports and Coaches Support Group on the initiative of Jüri Jaanson and the Estonia-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Group on the initiative of Valdo Randpere.
Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)
Video recording will be available to watch later on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.
Riigikogu Press Service
Maris Meiessaar
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