Villu Kõve
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
Dear reader,
The judicial system has had a busy, difficult and, one might say, turbulent year. The working groups that convened in 2023 to review the court management model and prepare the court development plan presented the results of their work in 2024. A draft court administration model has been completed, with plans to transfer court administration tasks that are currently under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs to the judicial system. The Council for Administration of Courts approved the Court Development Plan for the years 2024–2030, which is a significant step forward in mapping the main goals of the judicial system. Several proposals emerged from the preparation of both the development plan and its implementation plan on how to make the judicial system and proceedings more efficient, streamline the workload and create the necessary conditions for the implementation of artificial intelligence. The proposed ideas aim to transform the traditional and rather conservative judicial system into a more modern environment, where parties to the proceedings are ensured high-quality proceedings and judges and court officials have attractive working conditions. So that the proposals can have a real impact, there are many of them and they encompass the whole judicial system. Because of their scale, the proposed amendments are now known as a judicial reform. I would like to thank all judges and court officials who have contributed and thought about how to make the administration of justice and court proceedings more efficient and how to increase their quality.
Reviewing court organisation and procedure was also critical in 2024 because, due to the state budget cuts, the courts had a task of reducing their budget by a total of 10% in 2025–2027 and this has put the judicial system under enormous pressure. We had to make quick and unfortunately painful choices and will have to continue to make these in the future, which will have a long-term impact on the functioning of the judicial system. Increasing the quality of judicial proceedings in conditions of limited resources is a demanding task and forming a capable, motivated and united team is important. Therefore, creating a strong personnel policy and organisational culture is one of the main goals of the Court Development Plan 2024–2030. However, shaping the personnel policy of the judicial system has one distinct feature – both the personal independence of the judge and the independence of the court as an institution must be ensured. Prerequisites for a judge’s independence include suitable personality traits and good professional preparation, among other things. Also, compliance with the ethical standards that are agreed upon in the Estonian Judges’ Code of Ethics safeguards the independence of the judiciary.
These thoughts lead us to the main topic of the Yearbook of Estonian Courts, which is disciplinary proceedings, evaluation of a judge’s work and providing feedback. Last year, the Disciplinary Chamber of Judges and the Supreme Court en banc made decisions on several fundamental issues: what type of procedure is used to discuss disciplinary offenses, what evidence can be used to resolve misdemeanours, how the burden of proof is distributed when assessing a reasonable time for proceedings and what significance a judge’s previous disciplinary sanctions have when determining a punishment. In his article, Oliver Kask, Justice of the Supreme Court, analyses the compliance of the disciplinary procedure for judges in Estonia with international standards. Ave Hussar, Head of the Supreme Court personnel and communication department, shares her thoughts on what the judicial system’s feedback culture could be. Erik Kerševan, Judge at the Supreme Court of Slovenia, and Reda Molienė, the research coordinator of the ‘Portrait of a Judge’ project conducted in Lithuania, provide an international perspective on the topic of feedback and evaluation of judges.
In the yearbook, we have a tradition of introducing various professions and people in the judicial system. In an interview with Judge Emeritus Viive Ligi, we can read about her journey to becoming a Justice at the Supreme Court and the challenges that came with her career choice as a judge. We will also have an insight into the daily work of Assistant Judge Marika Sander and the courts’ Head of Security Sven Janson. Several articles in this yearbook could be called travelogues. Images allow the reader to learn about various Estonian courthouses and the people who work in them. Kai Kullerkupp and Urmas Volens, Justices at the Supreme Court, share their experiences of their training in the higher courts of Austria and Germany, respectively.
In addition to the above, the year of the Estonian Association of Judges, the Council for Administration of Courts, the Ethics Council, the Disciplinary Chamber, the Judge’s Examination Committee and the Consultative Council of European Judges is summarised and the topic of evaluating the results of judicial training is discussed. In the last chapter of the yearbook, we have an overview of the procedural statistics in 2024.
I sincerely thank the authors and the editorial team for their contribution to the yearbook. Bonne lecture!