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Today’s sitting started with the address by the Deputy Chair of the Ukrainian Parliament Olena Kondratiuk who is currently visiting Estonia. The sitting continued with the legislative proceedings of two drafts. The Bill on raising the age limit for sexual self-determination passed the second reading.

The Bill on Amendments to the Penal Code, the Family Law Act and the Code of Civil Procedure (change to the age-limit for sexual self-determination and marriage) (601 SE) will raise the age limit for sexual self-determination from the current 14 years to 16 years. The main purpose of the amendment is to protect minors against sexual abuse by adults.

The Bill prohibits adults from having sexual intercourse with minors of under 16 years of age. The punishment for a violation of this provision is five years of imprisonment. Having sexual intercourse with a child who is less than 14 years of age is punishable by up to eight years of imprisonment. The Bill includes a derogation for young people of similar age; consensual sexual relations are allowed if the age difference between the adult and their 14–16 year old partner is no greater than five years.

The Bill also increases the sanction rates for buying sex from minors. If an adult has sexual intercourse with a minor of under 18 years of age in exchange for financial compensation or any other benefit, or commits another act of sexual nature, they will be punished with an imprisonment of up to five years; if the victim was under 14 years of age, the term of imprisonment is up to eight years.

Additionally, the exceptional age of marriage of minors is repealed. Under the current Family Law Act, a person who has reached at least 15 years of age may marry if the court has extended the legal capacity of the minor for contracting a marriage. In the future, marriage is only allowed between adults.

The Bill is the result of the consolidation of the Bills initiated by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction (339 SE), the Social Democratic Party Faction and Raimond Kaljulaid (348 SE), and the Government (478 SE).

One Bill was dropped from the proceedings

The Draft Resolution of the Riigikogu “Making a Proposal to the Government of the Republic” (555 OE), submitted by the Social Democratic Party Faction, was intended to make a proposal to the government concerning making additional allocations to local governments to support the continuation of education of the children and young people who have arrived to Estonia from Ukraine. The draft resolution provided additional funds to improving access to Estonian language classes, additional support for hobby education and hobby activities, and increasing the salary fund of teachers and support specialists.

During the debate, Eduard Odinets (Social Democratic Party) and Heiki Hepner (Isamaa) took the floor.

18 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the Resolution. It would have taken a majority of the votes, that is, at least 51 votes in favour, to pass the Resolution.

Photos of the sitting (Author: Erik Peinar, Chancellery of the Riigikogu)

The speech of the Deputy Chair of the Ukrainian Parliament and the verbatim records of the sitting.

Video recording of the address by the Deputy Chair of the Ukrainian Parliament

The video recording of the sitting will be available on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.
(Please note that the recording will be uploaded with a delay.)

Riigikogu Press Service
Merilin Kruuse
Phone: +372 631 6592, +372 510 6179
E-mail [email protected]
Questions [email protected]

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