Riigikogu passed Act concerning petitions
The Riigikogu passed the Act on Amendments to the Response to Memoranda and Requests for Explanations Act and the Riigikogu Rules of Procedure and Internal Rules Act (518 SE), initiated by the Constitutional Committee. The Act regulates the procedure for submitting a collective appeal to the Riigikogu and proceeding with it. At least 1000 supporting signatures will have to be collected to submit a collective appeal to the Riigikogu. The Act was prepared as a response to the proposal to legalize public initiative, made by the People’s Assembly which was convened by the President in the end of 2012.
So far, the procedure for replying to the inquiries of individuals and the referendum had been regulated in Estonia, but there had been no intermediary link, or the procedure for making a group proposal and dealing with it, i.e. there had been no regulation of “collective appeal” or petition.
The second reading of the Bill on Amendments to the Labour Market Services and Benefits Act and the Unemployment Insurance Act (521 SE) was suspended. The Bill would propose a more flexible and simpler procedure for submission of the application for registration as unemployed and the required documents.
The Chairman of the Social Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Margus Tsahkna said that, since the Committee was going to submit additional essential and principally acceptable motions to amend, the Committee moved to suspend the second reading. The decision made on Tuesday had been adopted by consensus. “This means that if our plans will succeed then the second reading will continue here next week,” Tsahkna said. 13 March was set as the new deadline for submission of motions to amend.
The Bill on Amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Punishment Register Act, the Code of Criminal Procedure Implementation Act, the State Fees Act, the State Secrets and Classified Information of Foreign States Act and the State Legal Aid Act (578 SE) passed the first reading. The Bill amends and organises the regulation concerning international cooperation in criminal procedure in the Code of Criminal Procedure. The need for the amendment is due to the problems that have emerged in the practice of international cooperation as well as the obligation related to European Union membership to transpose the legislation approved in the European Union into Estonian legislation.
When introducing the Government’s Bill from the rostrum in the chamber of the Riigikogu, the Minister of Justice Hanno Pevkur made a proposal to omit from the amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure the clause concerning the replacement of the name of the convicted offender with initials in a decision which has entered into force.
The Bill on the Ratification of the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (589 SE) passed the first reading. The purpose of the Bill is to ratify the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, developed by the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). 17 March was set as the deadline for submission of motions to amend.