Opinion of the European
Commission 1997
The Judiciary: Structure
The independence of Estonia's
judiciary system is guaranteed. Judges are appointed for life by the President
of the Republic on a proposal from the National Court and can only be dismissed
if they are found guilty of a crime. Subject to the approval of the President
of the Republic, the National Court is competent to hear complaints against
magistrates of lower courts while Parliament hears complaints against judges
of the National Court on referral by the "Chancellor of the Law".
The department of public
prosecutions continues to fall under the authority of the Minister of Justice
under the 1993 Law.
Administrative acts are scrutinised
by the "Chancellor of the Law", who is elected by Parliament for seven
years on a proposal from the President of the Republic. The "Chancellor
of the Law" checks the constitutional conformity of government measures
and local authority acts and can intervene where he deems they are unconstitutional.
Where the authority refuses to amend them, he can refer the matter to the
National Court.
Estonia has no ombudsman.
A government bill introducing one is currently being considered.
Vetting for constitutionality
is the task of the National Court, Estonia's supreme judicial authority,
which hears appeals against the judgements of the lower courts and acts
as Constitutional Court. Its President is elected by Parliament on a proposal
from the President of the Republic. Its members are appointed by the President
of the National Court himself. Matters can be brought before it by the
President of the Republic, the "Chancellor of the Law" or private citizens.
The National Court scrutinises laws for conformity with the Constitution
and treaties.
Functioning of the Judiciary
The major difficulties facing
the justice system relate to uncertainty regarding the law applying in
many areas of legislation and the inexperience of the magistracy (90% to
95% of judges have been replaced since independence).
In Estonia's institutions
the National Court plays an important role in upholding democracy and the
rule of law. Petitions addressed to it are rising in number, even though
most of them are groundless.
Regular Report 1999
The Judiciary
Although a series of reforms
to improve the judicial system have been undertaken, Estonia needs to undertake
further adjustments to its civil and penal legislation in order to complete
the transition from the former system. Progress in this area is very slow.
In the fields of commercial and civil law the reform has been delayed and
the necessary legislation to complete this reform has not yet been adopted.
The training of judges and elaboration of new penal legislation that meets
European standards continue to remain top priorities for Estonia.
Currently, the caseload
of the courts continues to be high relative to the number of judges.
Nineteen of the 238 positions for judges remain vacant.). The backlog in
the courts (cases still to be settled as the proportion of total
cases) was 64% in the first half of 1999 (See chapter 4 on Administrative
Capacity). The vacant posts reflect the unattractiveness of judicial salaries
for qualified lawyers in contrast to those in the private sector. Most
vacancies are for posts in the north-east part of Estonia. Nevertheless,
salaries of judges are above the average in the public administration.
Inexperienced judges continue to pose major difficulties for the judicial
system. Justice in lower level courts continues to be unsatisfactory, as
there are many new, inexperienced and overburdened judges. These problems
affect mostly the application of civil law. Co-operation between the different
authorities in the court system (police, prosecutors and judges) is weak
which the subsequently weakens on the system's efficiency.
Measures which have been
taken in this area, include the adoption of the Code of Administrative
Court Procedure that will enter into force in January 2000 and the Statute
of Prosecutor’s Office. Also, some measures to intensify the training of
judges have been taken.