The Riigikogu passed the Alimony Act:
The Riigikogu passed six Acts:
The Riigikogu passed with 66 votes in favour the Alimony Act (1076 SE), initiated by the Government of the Republic. The Act ensures alimony to a child whose parent does not fulfil his or her maintenance obligation. Pursuant to the Act, the alimony is paid during 90 days in the amount of one third of a child allowance daily rate, i.e. EEK 4,500 total at present. The Act stipulates as the precondition for receiving the alimony, the institution of proceedings against a person who has the obligation to maintain a child. The purpose of the Act is to ensure the maintenance of a child in a situation when one parent has turned to the court with an alimony claim, but judicial and execution proceedings have not been completed yet. According to the opinion of the authors of the Act, 90 days would be sufficient for the court to solve either an application for securing an action or an expedited procedure for the payment order, and the parent would be able to initiate an execution proceeding. According to the authors, the purpose of the Act is also to encourage the parents to have recourse to the courts more actively than before, because many single parents have apparently resigned to the thought that no alimony will be paid and have not even attempted to protect their children’s rights in the court.
The Riigikogu passed with 63 votes in favour the Nature Conservation Act and Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Management System Act Amendment Act (927 SE), initiated by the Government of the Republic. The Act specifies the provisions which could until now be understood in several ways and were therefore difficult to be implemented, in the opinion of the initiator. The Act ensures better protection for rare species such as eagles, black storks and flying squirrels. The Act also ensures protection for the nest trees of the named species and the stands surrounding them.
The Riigikogu passed with 64 votes in favour the General Part of the Civil Code Act, Law of Property Act, Law of Property Act Implementation Act, Building Act, Planning Act and Immovables Expropriation Act Amendment Act (1067 SE), initiated by the Government of the Republic. The Act establishes fair compensation to land owners for putting up with utility works and networks, and stipulates the rights and obligations of the owners of immovables and the owners of utility works and networks in building utility works and networks on plots that do not belong to them.
The Riigikogu passed with 54 votes in favour the European Union Common Agricultural Policy Implementation Act, Rural Development and Agricultural Market Regulation Act and Land Improvement Act Amendment Act (1091 SE), initiated by the Government of the Republic. The Act brings that Act in conformity with the relevant regulations of the European Union, as well as the programme “The Estonian Rural Life Development Plan for 2007-2013”, compiled on the basis of those regulations, and ensures more efficient regulation of the field and the implementation of the Act without failure.
The Riigikogu passed with 44 votes in favour the Act on the Approval of the Amendments to the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area and on the Ratification of the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area (1084 SE), initiated by the Government of the Republic. With the passage of the Act the amendments to the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area (Helsinki Convention) of 1992 were approved. The Act on the Ratification of the Helsinki Convention was also amended with a provision delegating authority to the Government on behalf of the Republic of Estonia, to approve or reject the amendments to the Helsinki Convention or its annexes, which include lists of substances and materials, as well as amendments which are not substantive, if the implementation of such amendments does not require the amendment Estonian legal acts.
The Riigikogu passed with 37 votes in favour the Resolution of the Riigikogu On the Use of the Estonian Defence Forces Unit in Performance of International Duties of the Estonian State in Post-conflict Peacekeeping Missions in Lebanon, Israel, Egypt and Syria (1100 OE), initiated by the Government of the Republic. The Act permits the use of staff officers of the Estonian Defence forces, up to 5 members of the Defence Forces, in peacekeeping missions lead by the UN, in Lebanon, Israel and Syria for a term of up to two years, beginning from the dispatch of the staff officers to the mission region.
The second reading of the Bill on Amendments to the Permanently Populated Small Islands Act, State Public Servants Official Titles and Salary Scale Act (1081 SE), initiated by Members of the Riigikogu Imre Sooäär, Avo Üprus, Trivimi Velliste, Jüri Saar and Mark Soosaar, was concluded.
At Question Time Minister of Justice Rein Lang answered the questions about security and Estonia as a gambling paradise. Minister of Defence Jürgen Ligi answered the question about the National Defence League and the Defence Forces. Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Paet answered the questions about foreign policy.
The Riigikogu Press Service