Home Year 2022

Year 2022

Foreword

Villu Kõve, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

What will the last year be remembered for when it comes to administering justice? From an outside perspective – lurching from one crisis (a healthcare emergency) to another (a potential national security crisis) also naturally had an effect on the work of the judiciary. ...

The bench as of early 2023

Kristi Jakobsoo, Supreme Court human resources specialist

As of 1 January 2023, there were 254 judge and justice positions in Estonia, and of these 245 were filled. That means nine were vacant, of which one was at Tallinn Circuit Court ...

Independent administration and administering independence

Astrid Asi, Chairman of Harju County Court
Liivi Loide, Chairman of Tartu County Court
Liina Naaber-Kivisoo, Chairman of Viru County Court
Toomas Talviste, Chairman of Pärnu County Court


Judicial independence is a constitutional value that encompasses both the independence of the judge as an individual and the independence of the court as an institution. ...

Ten years since the occupational pension reform – the road to an austere albeit “ethical” retirement?

Janek Laidvee, Tallinn Administrative Court judge

On 1 July 2013, amendments to the Courts Act came into force, transforming the system of social security for judges. The main change is the loss of judges’ occupational pensions for new appointees ...

We need to talk about the health of judges

Ruth Prigoda, Tallinn Administrative Court judge

Close your eyes for a moment and think about a situation that could end in permanent or partial incapacity for work and whether you would be willing and able to carry out high-quality work thereafter. Then consider whether you would want your case to be heard by a judge who has an addiction or mental disorder ...

Selection of judges: Is a European way emerging? [1]

Dr Salvija Mulevičienė, Professor at the Institute of Private Law and Head of the Justice Laboratory at Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania

The judiciary plays a fundamentally important role in any democratic state governed by the rule of law. ...

Manage crises or write scripts – i.e. what does a head of communications for the court system do?

Kristi Kirsberg, Head of Communications for the Estonian courts

The Head of Communications has the job of coming up with and carrying out projects across the judicial branch, shaping a uniform strategy and also assisting the courts’ press spokespersons. ...

Ethics Council in 2022. Why the judiciary needs professional ethics

Andra Pärsimägi, Judge, Tartu Circuit Court, member of the Ethics Council

Professional judicial ethics focuses on the behavioural norms of a judge’s occupation, which require a higher sense of responsibility due to the specific requirements of a judge’s role in society. ...

Good training is predicated on a properly identified training need and aims based on those needs

Margit Jõgeva, Tartu County Court judge and chairman of the Judicial Training Council
Liina Reisberg, Director of the Supreme Court’s Legal Information and Judicial Training Department


The year end beckons us to look back on the successes and areas where development is needed in the training of judges. In this article, we will cover the process of compiling and fulfilling the 2022 training programme. ...

Summary of procedural statistics of the county, administrative and circuit courts in 2022: adjudicated matters in digital proceedings

Külli Luha, Analyst of the Courts Division of the Ministry of Justice

In 2022, 35,089 civil matters (2.4% increase compared to 2021) and 51,712 expedited payment order matters (18.4% increase compared to 2021) ...

Review of Supreme Court matters in 2022

Signe Rätsep, Chief Specialist of the Legal Information and Judicial Training Department of the Supreme Court

Statistics on the work of the Supreme Court are collected based on requests for proceedings and matters reviewed. Data on matters reviewed and requests for proceedings are collected in three types of court proceedings: civil court, administrative court and offence proceedings. ...