The draft provides for the specialization of judges in the administrative, civil or criminal field. From now on, judges will apply for office in the civil or criminal division of the county court and the administrative, civil or criminal panel of the district court. The bill modernizes the management structure of county courts. The heads of the civil department or the criminal department are appointed instead of the heads of the courthouse. Greater specialization and procedural practice of judges for harmonization, the proceedings of all registry cases will be transferred to the Tartu County Court, and a guardianship supervision department will be established in the Pärnu County Court. The bill foresees the general organization of giving feedback to judges and creates a system that supports raising the professionalism of court lawyers and preparing them for the office of judge. The bill ensures that a judge who is temporarily absent from the judicial office has the opportunity to return to his current position. With the bill the appointment of court lawyers and judicial assistants will be harmonized and movement within the system will be facilitated. According to the amendments to the bill, the chairman of the county court will also appoint assistant judges. In order to ensure the sustainability of judicial registers and a salary commensurate with the value of the work, the professional salary of judicial assistants will be increased.
The bill modernizes government-related regulations.
As a result of GRECO's recommendation, activity restrictions are added for members of the government to act in the management or control body of a private legal entity after the end of their mandate as a member of the government, and the activity restrictions valid during the time the government members are in office are specified.
Instead of receiving housing from the employer, a member of the government has the opportunity to compensate for housing in the amount of 15 percent of the salary expenses related to renting, if the minister's main residence is located further away from the ministry. With this, the regulation becomes similar to housing support for members of the Riigikogu. The compensation paid at the end of the powers of a member of the government also becomes more similar to the members of the Riigikogu, and the grounds for when the compensation is not paid are also specified. Managers of state institutions managed by government agencies are provided with a fixed-term employment relationship of 5 years.
The bill also makes other changes. For example, the prime minister can reject the minister's resignation once, provisions on the competence of the government and the prime minister in European Union affairs are added to the law, the obligation to issue an order to approve the agenda of the government session is repealed, and it is specified that according to the new wording, the prime minister decides the agenda. The Act also specifies the tasks of the State Chancellery.
The bill enables local government councils to organize binding referendums and establish the possibility for local residents to call for referendums themselves as a popular initiative. The Constitution Committee was appointed as the leading committee.
The draft gives the government the right to take away citizenship from a person who has obtained Estonian citizenship through naturalization, if he joins the state or military service of a foreign country or a military organization. Citizenship is revoked if such service involves a threat to public order or national security. In the context of the war in Ukraine, this means, for example, taking away citizenship from persons who go to war on the Russian side. The government gets the right not to take away Estonian citizenship if a person's service abroad does not threaten the security of Estonia, for example, if a person goes to war on the Ukrainian side to protect the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of the Ukrainian state. At the same time, the Estonian state does not recommend that Estonian citizens go to war for any foreign country, as the state cannot guarantee the protection of Estonian citizens in the area of military conflicts. The government can to take away Estonian citizenship from a person who has obtained Estonian citizenship through naturalization, even if the person has been convicted of crimes against humanity or crimes of aggression. The bill is related to the bill on the amendment of the Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Code of Misdemeanor Procedure (576 SE) pending in the Riigikogu, i.e. the bill concerning punishments for supporting aggression and related hostilities.
The bill supplements the law with a new section, which provides support for persons who give either part of their own living space or the entire living space to a foreigner applying for international protection or a foreigner who has received international protection. The condition for receiving the subsidy is that the living space is given to use free of charge and the time of giving the living space to use is at least six months consecutively. The government is empowered to establish the amount of support and the procedure for its payment. The proposal of the initiators of the bill is that the subsidy would be 210 euros per month and it would be intended for those people who give part of their living space or free living space they own to host Ukrainian war refugees for at least six months.
On November 28, 2018, the Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council on the use of the Schengen Information System for the return of illegally staying third-country nationals and the Regulation on the creation, operation and use of the Schengen Information System (SIS) in the field of border control and amending the Convention and Regulation on the Implementation of the Schengen Agreement were adopted.
The regulations oblige Member States to enter the SIS a warning message every time a third-country national staying in the country without a legal basis has been given a return decision or has been subject to a Schengen entry ban.
With the draft, the Law on Obligation to Leave and the Prohibition of Entry, the Law on Police and Border Guards, and the State Border Law will be brought into line with the requirements of the aforementioned regulations.
In addition, changes will be made due to the Schengen evaluations in the field of return to Estonia in 2018 of notes. They primarily concern the short-term detention of an alien staying in the country without a legal basis and the determination of the country responsible for return or deportation.
The bill provides for granting an additional day off on the following working day for a national or public holiday that falls on a weekly rest day. An additional day off is not given for a public holiday, which is always on a Sunday: the 1st Sunday of Easter and the 1st Sunday of Pentecost are not compensated with a day off on the following working day.
The explanatory note states that there are 10 public holidays with a day off in Estonia, while the European Union countries have an average of 12. Finland has 13 mobile holiday and 12 moving holidays in Latvia.
The bill stipulates that the locations of the ministries are to be determined by law, which can only be changed through a parliamentary debate and an amendment to the law.
The purpose of the bill is to exclude cases where the first thing after the elections, local councils start to discuss and decide on raising the salaries of their chairpersons and also increasing the salaries of elected mayors and mayors to the same composition. Therefore, the draft stipulates that the salary and compensation of the chairman and deputy chairman of the council, as well as the mayor, mayor and salaried members of the government can only be increased for the next council composition.
The Riigikogu appointed Ülle Madis as Chancellor of Justice on January 20, 2015, and he took office by taking an oath before the Riigikogu on March 31, 2015. Thus, his mandate will expire on March 30, 2022.
The President of the Republic proposes to appoint Ülle Madis as Chancellor of Justice for a new term. In the accompanying letter, the president notes that Ülle Madise, who has been the Chancellor of Justice for the last seven years, has a strong academic background and long-term experience in public administration lawyer. He has previous work experience in the field of law-making in the Ministry of Justice and the Constitutional Committee of the Riigikogu, and he has also worked as the Auditor General of the National Audit Office and as a legal advisor to the President of the Republic. He has dealt with issues of constitutionality monitoring and protection of fundamental rights and has consistently drawn attention to the need to assess the proportionality of the restriction of rights. He has stood for the use of state power in times of crisis in accordance with the Constitution.
Ülle Madise has shown himself to be a thinker and reformer of Estonian public law. He has participated in the preparation of all annotated editions of the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia, as the editor-in-chief for the latest editions. Madise has been a board member of the European Region of the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) and is currently a member of the IOI World Board.
The bill envisages legalizing the direct election of the President of the Republic.
The explanatory letter emphasizes that electing the President of the Republic directly by the people meets society's expectations and gives the people an additional opportunity to participate in making important decisions for the country, thus bringing the people closer to the country.
The bill ends the disclosure of the names of persons belonging to political parties.
The explanatory note to the bill states that disclosing the names of persons is neither reasonable nor justified, because party affiliation can affect a person's prospects on the labor market.
The purpose of the bill is to allow binding local referendums.
The explanatory letter states that the draft does not exactly restore the previous provisions of the Local Government Organization Act, but in the draft they are worded in such a way as to enable local government councils to establish the possibility for local residents to call for referendums by means of a popular initiative.
The bill makes a change that is necessary to avoid a conflict of interest in the work of the revision committee of the local government.
The explanatory letter states that a member of the revision committee of the local government, who works in the same municipality or city authority under an employment contract, finds himself in a situation where, by checking and evaluating the activities of his employer - the municipality or city government authority or the institution managed by it - he begins to supervise his direct superior. Thus, a member of the local government's audit committee working under an employment contract in a municipality or city authority finds himself in a conflict of interest, and it is correct to recuse himself in such a situation.
The draft abolishes the restrictions according to which members of the European Parliament cannot participate in the work of municipal and city councils. The bill gives them the opportunity to have a say in organizing the life of the local government of their place of residence.
With the changes, the requirements for being a member of the council applicable to the members of the European Parliament are harmonized with the current rules applicable to the members of the Riigikogu.
for members of the European Parliament to local government councils granting the right to membership does not make council membership mandatory for members of parliament. Members of the European Parliament can decide whether they want to combine the mandates of a member of parliament and a member of the council or not.
According to the Constitution, the President of the Republic is elected either by the Riigikogu or the Electoral College. If the President of the Republic is not elected in the Riigikogu, an electoral assembly is convened, consisting of members of the Riigikogu and representatives of local government councils. After the administrative territorial reform of 2017, the number of local government units decreased significantly. Therefore, according to the current law, the number of representatives of councils in the electoral body will also be significantly reduced. With the bill the rules for determining the number of representatives in the electoral council in the elections of the President of the Republic are changed in such a way that the ratio between the members of the Riigikogu and the representatives of the councils, which existed before the administrative territorial reform of 2017, is preserved.
The bill provides for ending the activities of the problem committee for solving the population crisis and for further dealing with the corresponding content topics both in the Riigikogu, primarily in the Social Committee and the Ministry of Social Affairs, as well as in the Ministry of the Interior, Culture and Foreign Affairs. The explanatory letter states that the Riigikogu's population crisis resolution committee duplicates the work of the Riigikogu's Social and Culture Committee and the Ministries of Social Affairs, Interior, Education and Foreign Affairs. Therefore the existence of a problem committee is not necessary, reasonable, or economically expedient, since the work of the committee also requires significant additional expenses from the state budget. In a situation where the state's goal is to cut public sector spending, the Riigikogu's finding of savings is a necessary example. In January 2021, the position of the Minister of Population was also abolished and the officials were transferred to the ministries where the relevant policies were previously dealt with.
The draft stipulates the obligation to submit a declaration of interests to the minister's political advisors and limits the disclosure of the declaration of interests of the head of the security agency.
When supplementing the law, § 7 (6) of the Public Service Act is used, which defines the concept of political advisers to ministers and which also distinguishes ministerial advisers who perform assisting and advisory tasks. Expanding the range of declaration of interests submitters the obligation comes from GRECO, the anti-corruption association of the Council of Europe. Its purpose is to include among the representatives of the declaration of interests also the so-called political advisers of the ministers, i.e. those advisers who, on the basis of § 7 (6) of the Public Service Act, perform assisting or consulting tasks with the prime minister or minister until the said person's powers expire, and with whom a fixed-term employment contract is concluded.
The purpose of the bill is to increase the credibility of democratic politics by increasing control over the transparency of political party funding. For this purpose, the draft specifies the rights of ERJK and makes the sanctions applied for violations clearer. An increase in the budget of ERJK is also foreseen to fulfill additional tasks.
Tuleohutuse seaduse ja teiste seaduste muutmise seaduse eelnõu peamine eesmärk on suurendada Eestis tuleohutute objektide hulka, teadvustada inimestele nende endi vastutust tuleohutusnõuete täitmisel, vähendada tules hukkunute arvu ning luua senisest paindlikumad võimalused avaliku ja erasektori koostööks. Kohalikele omavalitsustele luuakse suurem otsustusõigus seoses ehitus- ja kasutuslubade menetlusega. Teatud kriteeriumitele vastavate tööstus- ja laohoonete, büroohoonete ja garaažide omanikel tuleb enesekontrolli tuleohutusaruande asemel korraldada oma objektil tuleohutusülevaatus. Samuti muudetakse eelnõuga Päästeametiga suhtlemise intervall pikemaks – senise iga-aastase aruande esitamise asemel tuleb tuleohutusülevaatus loetletud objektidel teha kord kolme aasta jooksul. Vingumürgituse ja sellest põhjustatud surmade vähendamiseks muutub eelnõu kohaselt tahkeküttel küttesüsteemide olemasolul vingugaasiandur kohustuslikuks.
Eelnõuga luuakse ebaausa konkurentsi takistamise ja ärisaladuse kaitse seadus. Ebaaus konkurents on kehtiva konkurentsiseaduse 7. peatüki tähenduses kõlvatu konkurents. Eelnõu eraldab kõlvatu konkurentsi regulatsiooni konkurentsiseadusest, kuhu see süstemaatiliselt ei sobi, korrigeerib keeleliselt kõlvatu konkurentsi terminit selliselt, et see ühtiks selle ingliskeelse vastega ning võtab Eesti õigusesse üle ELi ärisaladuse kaitse vastava direktiivi.
Eelnõu ei muuda sisuliselt kehtivat kõlvatu konkurentsi regulatsiooni muus osas kui ärisaladuse kaitse direktiivist tulenevalt, mille alusel loodud sätted defineerivad ärisaladuse ja selle ebaseadusliku saamise, kasutamise ning avaldamise. Eelnõu kehtestab ärisaladuse kaitseks täiendavad õiguskaitsevahendid ning õiguse nõuda mittevaralist kahju ja saamata jäänud tulu ka deliktiõigusest tulenevate nõuete puhul.
Lisaks taastab eelnõu karistusõigusliku vastutuse kohtumenetluses teatavaks saanud konfidentsiaalse teabe avaldamisele ning laiendab tsiviilkohtumenetluses hagi tagamise regulatsiooni tagatise vastu viisil, et põhjendatud juhtudel peab hageja hagi tagamisel maksma tagatise peale kostja ka kolmandatele isikutele tekkida võiva kahju ulatuses.