22.10.2021. The IT solution created in co-operation between the Ministry of Justice, the Government Office, and the Chancellery of the Riigikogu, which will bring all information related to the legislative process to one place in the future, has reached the pilot phase. This means that the Ministry of Justice will start writing the first draft legislation and legislative intent in the new working workspace.
The first step of legislation is the creation of an initiative. After the first tests with the initiative, the solutions will be gradually refined and the list of users will be expanded.
‘The aim of the co-creation workspace is to make the Estonian legislative process more transparent, open, and better monitored. I am glad that innovation has reached legislation and that the long-awaited new solution can be put into practice,’ said Minister of Justice Maris Lauri.
The new workspace will bring many changes. Draft legislation will no longer be created in a Word document, but in a dedicated workspace that ensures an improved traceability of changes. It also has a number of automated solutions that significantly reduce the technical work involved in preparing both legislative intents and draft legislation. Amendments to an act begin with the introduction of the amendments to the consolidated text, after which a draft legislation to amend the act is created automatically on the basis thereof. One of the main advantages of the workspace is, as its name suggests, the possibility of co-creation. For example, several legislators, lawyers, language editors, and external experts can work with the text of the draft legislation at the same time, comfortably, and safely in the new workspace.
In order to make the coordination of draft legislations between different agencies and stakeholders as smooth and transparent as possible, the information related to the draft legislation procedure and coordination will be in one place. When the next development stage is completed, the draft legislations can be coordinated in the same workspace and opinions can be submitted on them. In this context, great emphasis is placed on giving the public a clearer picture of the procedure of draft legislations. In addition, the next step will be to provide a comprehensive overview of the process of EU initiatives, which will allow the society to monitor which EU initiatives are being discussed, which have been taken over, and which are being implemented. Until the developments are completed, legislative intents and draft legislations prepared in the co-creation workspace will still be processed in the current draft legislation information system.