The Estonian law differentiates between two types of offences: crimes and misdemeanours. Criminal statistics reflect only crimes. There is currently no unified database of misdemeanours in Estonia, but work is being conducted towards gathering the existing data into a unified system.

Pre-judicial proceedings start with registering a crime and performing the first procedural act; in the course of the pre-judicial proceedings the investigative body and the prosecutor’s office try to reach a conclusion about whether, by whom and what kind of a crime has been committed. Not all crimes have their circumstances discussed in a court; also, not all persons having committed crimes get to attend a court session: the prosecutor has been granted the right of discretion about continuing the proceedings, due to conserving proceedings resources and for other reasons.