On the 12th of January, a summary of crime statistics 2009 was introduced at the Ministry of Justice according to which the number of criminal offences registered in Estonia has decreased by 5.1 percent.
A World Record was made by the fastest establishing of an enterprise via Internet, using the e-Commercial Register Company Registration Portal of the Centre of Registries and Information Systems of the Estonian Ministry of Justice.
Cross-border digital signature and Digital Land Register that have been developed in the Centre of Registers and Information Systems of the Ministry of Justice reached the final of the European eGovernment Awards.
Today, a convoy of the Prison Service brought Milan Martić into the country. Milan Martić was the last president of the unrecognised Republic of Serbian Krajina, convicted with a judgement of the International Criminal Tribunal of the former Yugoslavia.
Top-level specialists of the Cyber-Crime Prevention Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted a high-level conference about the technical investigation of cyber-crime in Tallinn, in cooperation with the Estonian Ministry of Justice and the Estonian Forensic Science Institute (EKEI).
This week, the first company in Estonian business history was created in the Company Registration Portal with a Finnish ID card, without the founders of the company having had to leave their desks to get the company officially registered in Estonia.
Today the Government approved a draft legislation with which the punishments for several offences against the Republic of Estonia will be made more severe.
Estonian Company Registration Portal can now be used to found companies by holders of Finnish ID cards. Holders of Portuguese, Lithuanian and Belgian ID cards have been able to use this service for some time.
The Company Registration Portal can now be used to found companies by holders of Portuguese, Lithuanian and Belgian ID cards. Finland will soon join this list.
Ministers Rein Lang and Jüri Pihl visited the Victims of Communism Memorial in Washington and met with the managers of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.
Starting from 1 October 2008, electronic petitions for expedited order for payment procedure can be submitted in Estonia.order for payment procedure is the simplest, quickest and the most resource-sparing way of reaching a judgment in case of claims that are not disputed, e.g. in the case of a claim for child support or a minor debt owed to a neighbour.
Today, on 29 September, Rein Lang, the Minister of Justice, and Jüri Pihl, the Minister of the Interior, met with Matthew Friedrich, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the United States of America during their visit to the US. The aim of the meeting was to enhance cooperation in judicial matters between the two countries.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Today, on 16 September, the Ministry of Justice sent to other ministries for approval a draft Act on post-sentence detention, which will help to protect society from dangerous recidivists and reduce repeated offences.
At the event organised for the purpose of recording memories relating to the Narva prison camp, the Minister of Justice commended the city of Narva for valuing its history and emphasised that all repressions carried out after World War II must be thoroughly mapped and documented.
Today, on 29 July, Rein Lang, the Minister of Justice, Jüri Pihl, the Minister of the Interior, and Jaak Saarniit, Chairman of the Management Board of Riigi Kinnisvara AS, inaugurated Viru Prison in Jõhvi.
Starting from Monday, 21 July, individuals and companies can submit electronic petitions for expedited order for payment procedure. The aim of the project is to enable individuals and companies to communicate with courts via the public E-File.
A draft Act which the Ministry of Justice today sent to other ministries for approval provides for reorganisation proceedings of companies facing solvency problems as an alternative to the current bankruptcy proceedings.
In April the police authorities of Estonia and Latvia as well as executives of the Estonian Forensic Science Institute signed a Memorandum of Understanding that provides for the exchange of DNA profiles and making comparisons in the DNA register between the two countries.
Probation supervision has been provided for ten years on 1 May. It has been a successful period – there are four probation supervision regions in Estonia with a total of 230 officers.
The Estonian Forensic Science Institute and the Estonian and Latvian police signed an agreement concerning the exchange of DNA data in order to identify the persons who have committed a crime in the other country.
Today, on 11 April, the Estonian Forensic Science Institute will celebrate its 70th anniversary. In connection with the anniversary a festive event was arranged which was opened by the Minister of Justice, Rein Lang.
Today, on 8 April, a public hearing is held in Brussels concerning crimes committed by totalitarian regimes which discusses two major themes – the knowledge about the totalitarian crimes and the ways of seeking conciliation.
Today, on 3 April, the Government approved the anti-corruption strategy for 2008-2012 which concentrates on preventing corruption in private sector, healthcare and political party financing.
Today, on April 3, the Government approved the draft Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure Amendment Act in order to fight international corruption.
The draft which amends the procedure for the provision of state legal assistance in a manner that the advocate providing state legal assistance is to be appointed by the bar association was sent by the Ministry of Justice to other ministries for approval.
This week a 14-member delegation from the Balkan states visited Estonia in order to acquaint themselves with the rapid development of the Estonian prison system.
Tomorrow, on 7 March, a meeting will be held in Viru Prison in the framework of the project The Strengthening of the Estonian Prison System which was cofinanced by Norway. At the meeting the representatives of the Estonian prison system will give an intermediary overview of the current achievements and future steps to the foreign experts and the Norwegian Ministry of Justice.
Today, on 28. February, the officials of Latvian Ministry of Internal Affairs visit Estonia to gain experience about the application of electronic surveillance. The Latvians are interested in preparing and carrying out the electronic surveillance project in Estonia.
As a result of the amendments to the Commercial Code that took effect in the previous week, private limited companies and public limited companies entered in the commercial register of Estonia can now easily merge with companies established in the European Economic Area, while preserving legal continuity.
The Justice and Home Affairs Council of the European Union reached a political agreement on the choice of law governing international contracts (the so-called <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Rome I Regulation).
At <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />the Hague Diplomatic Conference a convention was signed by nearly 50 states which simplifies the recovery of maintenance support from obligors residing in foreign countries.
The Ministry of Justice has submitted a draft to the Government which specifies the necessary elements of a criminal offence in the case of attacks against computer systems and provides for severer punishments for such offences.
At the end of October the Centre of Registers and Information Systems of the Ministry of Justice and the Vaata Maailma Foundation signed a cooperation agreement the objective of which is to render <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Estoniathe state with the most secure information society by 2009.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
According to the results of a recent racism and xenophobia survey commissioned by the Ministry of Justice, there is no base for an increase of the number of hate crimes in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Estonia, considering the attitudes and feeling of security of people in Estonia.
The September issue of the reputable
European Lawyer magazine features an
article by current and former Ministers of Justice Rein Lang
and Jüri Raidla, who state that thanks to the new Entrepreneur’s Law, Estonia could soon be compared to
the US state of Delaware for its enterprise-friendly business environment.
The Company Registration Portal has been chosen at the Tunnusta ettevõtluse edendajat /Recognise promoters of enterprise/ awards ceremony held at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications to represent Estonia at the 2007 European Enterprise Awards.
At the meeting held today, on 18 July, the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Internal Affairs decided to develop a package of law amendments aimed at improvement of the situation in traffic.
Around one-tenth fewer crimes were registered in Estonia
in the first half of 2007 compared to the last six months of 2006, and the
number of inmates in the country’s prisons decreased by more than 10% in the
same period.
The Council of <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Europe has adopted a new regulation establishing a European small claims procedure. This means that submitting cross-border claims of up to EUR 2000 will be much easier in future.
The Centre of Registers and Information Systems introduced electronic registration possibilities to <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Europe at the conference fair “Work on E-Justice 2007” taking place in Bremen, Germany, from 29 to 31 May.
Last week the Schengen Evaluation Working Party which assembled in Brussels and consists of representatives of all the member states of the European Union and representatives of Norway, Switzerland and Iceland heard a report of the expert group on the level of the personal data protection in Estonia and approved the same.
Today, on April 16, Justice Minister Rein Lang introduced the development plans and goals of the justice system to the employees of the Ministry and representatives of the institutions in its area of government.
At the cabinet meeting that took place today, March 22, the ministers got acquiainted with the report drawn up by the expert commission formed in September of 1994 to investigate the circumstances of shipment of equipment for military use that took place on m/s "Estonia" and decided to disclose it.
On February 26 Justice Minister Rein Lang announced the 15th anniversary year of the Constitution of the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Republic of Estonia in the hall of the Council of the University of Tartu. The logo of the anniversary was also presented.
The Riigikogu adopted the Child support Act, which allows single parents to apply to the state for child support provided that they initiate court proceedings against the parent who is in violation of the support obligation.
The personal data protection act adopted by the Riigikogu, which enters into force as of 2007, will considerably improve the protection of personal data and regulate the processing of personal data lawfully granted for public use.
