Equal treatment

Equal treatment is one of the fundamental principles enshrined in the Constitution. Under § 12(1) of the Constitution, everyone is equal before the law. No one may be discriminated against on the basis of ethnicity, race, colour, sex, language, origin, age, religion, political or other views, property or social status, or on other grounds.

Under the Chancellor of Justice Act, the Chancellor carries out checks over conformity of legislation with the Constitution and laws as well as over the activities of representatives of public authority. The Chancellor also arranges conciliation proceedings in the case of discrimination disputes.

Every year, the Chancellor resolves about twenty petitions in which people complain about discrimination. During the reporting year, the total number of these petitions was 30. These included six petitions concerning discrimination on grounds of sex, five on grounds of sexual orientation, six on grounds of age, two on grounds of property or social status, two on grounds of language, one on grounds of ethnicity, one on grounds of disability, and seven on other grounds. This time, the Chancellor did not initiate any conciliation proceedings.

School life

On several occasions, the Chancellor was contacted concerning issues of school life. For example, in the opinion of a pupil a teacher at their school was not treating pupils equally because the teacher reprimanded boys more than girls. The pupil also claimed that they had been reprimanded for disturbances caused by classmates although the pupil themselves did not disturb the lesson.

The Chancellor explained that pupils have the right to equal treatment and a teacher must resolve conflicts fairly, be impartial when making judgements, and avoid discrimination (see also the Code of ethics for teachers in Estonia). This means that a teacher may not treat any pupil less favourably than others merely on the basis of the pupil’s sex. When reprimanding a boy for talking during the lesson, the teacher should also reprimand a girl in a similar situation. By not responding to violations by some pupils, a teacher does not treat pupils equally. Therefore, a pupil may develop distrust towards that teacher even in other situations, such as concerning assessment of academic progress or diligence.

The Chancellor was also asked whether it was compatible with the principle of equal treatment if students aged 20 or older and enrolled in full-time vocational education are only provided emergency first aid at school. The Chancellor found that imposing an age limit on provision of the school healthcare service is neither arbitrary nor contrary to the requirement of equal treatment. The Chancellor explained that financing of the school healthcare service was changed in order to ensure rational use of health insurance money because students over 19 years of age do not need the usual school health service. Students over 19 years of age are ensured first aid during the school nurse’s admission hours at a service-based cost. Besides, in the case of a health problem students over 19 years of age can obtain assistance from a general practitioner, and the Estonian Health Insurance Fund also pays for this assistance.

The Chancellor was asked to assess the activities of the non-profit Tartu Student Village which gives priority to foreign students in applying for accommodation. When investigating the matter, it was found that by applying this principle Tartu Student Village proceeds from the premise that it is more difficult for foreign students to find housing in Tartu than for Estonian students. According to the Chancellor’s assessment, giving priority to foreign students in allocating a place in a dormitory is not a proportionate measure because the same objective may also be achieved so that it does not result in less favourable treatment of local students.

The Association of Estonian Student Representative Bodies asked the Chancellor to assess whether, in provision of free preparatory courses for the state examination in mathematics, pupils are treated equally if those courses are only organised in Estonian. The Chancellor found that the state has relatively broad freedom in deciding how to offer preparatory courses to pupils as long as equal opportunities for school leavers are provided in this. Pupils must receive support first and foremost from their school.

A secondary school leaver must understand Estonian at least at proficiency level B2.1, which means that they should be able to follow the course in Estonian. This was a review course, so that the pupils already had to be familiar with the material beforehand. Thus, the state is not obliged to offer all school leavers preparatory courses in Russian as well.

The Chancellor was asked whether a school may divide pupils into stronger and weaker groups in a physical education lesson and give different tasks to those groups.

The national curriculum allows differentiation of physical education learning tasks according to substance and level of difficulty. This enables taking into account pupils’ abilities and increasing their learning motivation. At the same time, the substance of learning and the results sought are uniform for all pupils (except pupils with special educational needs). When organising instruction, a school must also proceed from the needs and interests of pupils and, where possible, take into account proposals by pupils and parents. Each child must be treated with respect, regardless of their abilities in one or another field of sport. No child may be disparaged or degraded. Learning tasks should be differentiated so as to increase a child’s desire to study, and not reduce it.

Military service

The Chancellor was asked whether, after completing military service, a person may refuse to participate in reservist training for religious or moral reasons.

Under the Military Service Act, a person in reserve may be released from reservist training if they cannot participate in training for religious or moral reasons. A person in reserve wishing to be released from reservist training is required to submit an application and a document certifying the corresponding circumstance at least 15 days before the beginning of the reservist training (§ 76(4) Military Service Act).

Consequently, a reservist expressing the relevant wish must prove their religious or moral beliefs. As a rule, it is not sufficient if the person presents a document confirming membership of a religious organisation. The applicant must justify how reservist training contradicts their beliefs. Section 58 of the Military Service Act mentions a reasoned request. The requirement to explain one’s beliefs is understandable since the person’s beliefs did not prevent them previously from completing military service.

Whether the request is reasoned is assessed by the commander of a structural unit authorised by the Commander of the Defence Forces. If the reasoning is not considered sufficient and the request is not granted, the applicant may challenge that decision (§ 214 Military Service Act). In turn, an appeal with an administrative court may be lodged against a decision on challenge.

The Chancellor was also asked about conscripts’ hair length. Restrictions on hair length have been justified primarily by the need to ensure hygiene and safety, as well as group unity. For the same reason, a long beard, long nails, hanging ornaments, and the like, are also not allowed in military service. Considering the nature of training and the risk of injuries, conscripts themselves usually do not want to wear long hair.

As an exception, shoulder-length hair is allowed for female servicemen. It appears that if an exception can be made for women in this regard, then in justified cases an exception should also be possible for male servicemen. According to information available to the Chancellor, exceptions based, for instance, on religion or beliefs have indeed been made for conscripts.

Vaccination against the coronavirus

In spring, when the expectation of relaxing the corona restrictions increased, a wider debate in society started as to whether those vaccinated against Covid-19 or recovered from the disease should in the future be treated differently from those who are unvaccinated against the disease and have not been infected with the disease either. It was found that in a situation where vaccination was still not available for everyone, there was no reason to speak of differentiation. Fairly quickly it was also concluded that people who cannot be vaccinated may not unjustifiably be treated differently from others because of this.

Nevertheless, the Government of the Republic imposed restrictions on organising large events, disregarding the fact that at the time of issuing the order vaccines were not available to 12-to-15-year-olds. On that basis, the Chancellor found that, at the time when 12-to-15-year-olds had no possibility to choose between SARS-CoV-2 testing and free vaccination, those young people may have been unjustifiably placed at a disadvantage in comparison to those for whom free vaccination was available or who were exempt from the testing requirement.

When the Government decided to ease the restrictions by order, the Chancellor began receiving enquiries about whether unvaccinated people should have the same opportunities to use certain services as vaccinated and recovered people. The Chancellor found that requiring a certificate of immunity from consumers of certain services is justified in order to reduce the risk of infection. At the same time, the Chancellor conceded that the certificate should remain a temporary solution only as long as the epidemiological situation so requires. Use of this kind of certificate is no longer justified once the majority of the population has been vaccinated or obtained immunity by having contracted and recovered from the disease, so that the overall risk of infection is low.

The Chancellor was also contacted with a concern that no entry in a person’s electronic health record was made to indicate that the person had been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 in the United States. The Chancellor explained that she had spoken about this problem on several occasions at sessions of the Government of the Republic and had also contacted the Ministry of Social Affairs and other officials in order to find a solution.

Other discrimination-related issues

The Chancellor was contacted by a person wishing to invite their same-sex partner to Estonia in order to enter into a registered partnership contract here. The Police and Border Guard Board (PBGB) refused to issue a special permit to enter the country, citing strict corona measures established by the Government of the Republic order. At the same time, people wishing to contract marriage were allowed to come to Estonia. After clarification was asked for, the PBGB admitted that refusal to issue a special permit had been unjustified and the person received permission to come to Estonia.

Prior to the upcoming population census, the Archbishop of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church, Urmas Viilma, asked for the Chancellor’s opinion whether the census respects the principle of children’s freedom of religion since the census asks no data about the religious belief of children under 15 years old. The petitioner also noted that, according to the opinion of Statistics Estonia, a parent may not answer the question concerning the child’s faith on behalf of their child, because disclosing one’s beliefs is voluntary. Urmas Viilma also found that such an arrangement discriminates against children on grounds of age since children under 15 years old are treated less favourably in comparison to children aged 15 to 17.

The Chancellor explained that the purpose of the census is to collect data about the country’s population in terms of numbers, composition, situation and location. During the census, data are also collected about people’s religion but disclosing data about one’s beliefs is voluntary. No one can exercise freedom of religion on behalf of another person. Thus, a child’s freedom of religion is individual and a parent cannot exercise it instead or on behalf of the child. If no information about a child’s religion is collected during the census, this does not deprive the child of an opportunity to publicly profess their religion. The Chancellor also found that this does not constitute discrimination on the ground of age.

With regard to certain legal relationships, legislation lays down a specific age threshold as of which a child themselves may perform actions with legal effect. In several administrative law legal relationships the age threshold has been set at 15 years, although even in the case of a 15-year-old it may be necessary to ask for additional parental consent or assess the child’s ability to exercise their rights.

The Chancellor was contacted by a male prisoner from whom the prison had taken away the necessary equipment for trimming their beard and hair because, under the prison rules of procedure, such equipment is stipulated only for female prisoners. The Chancellor found that seizure of items merely for formal reasons is not lawful. She asked the prison to amend its rules of procedure so that they enable resolving such cases lawfully.

A young person wrote to the Chancellor that a youth organisation had not allowed them to participate in a regional competition in a mixed team of girls and boys. The youth organisation clarified that mixed teams are allowed in the competition but these teams cannot proceed to the national competition. The Chancellor explained that it is customary in competitions of many sports (e.g. ball games, cycling, skiing, etc) that teams of girls and boys are formed and they are assessed and awarded separately. At the same time, it is important that in hobby activities young people’s own opinion is also heard and their proposals taken into account. The youth organisation affirmed that they are prepared to do so.

Protection of the rights of people with disabilities

The Riigikogu ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol on 21 March 2012. In doing so, Estonia assumed the obligation to promote the opportunities for persons with disabilities to participate fully and independently in society. Under Article 4 of the Convention, States Parties must undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative, and other measures for implementation of the rights set out in the Convention.

The Chancellor of Justice Act contains a provision according to which, as of 1 January 2019, the Chancellor fulfils the role of promoter and supervisor of the obligations and aims set out in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Chancellor helps to ensure that people with disabilities can exercise fundamental rights and freedoms on an equal basis with others.

During the reporting year, the Advisory Chamber of People with Disabilities, set up by the Chancellor, continued its work. At the online meeting on 25 November 2020, information was exchanged about problems of people with disabilities caused by changes in the organisation of government, including in provision of services, in connection with the spread of the coronavirus. The debate also included other problems and possibilities for better organisation of the work of the Advisory Chamber.

Although the Advisory Chamber only met once in its full composition during the reporting year, the activities of the Chamber have been substantive and useful. The Chancellor’s Office closely cooperates with several members of the Advisory Chamber. Thanks to this, information about the concerns of people with disabilities quickly reaches the Chancellor and resolving problems can begin swiftly. For instance, a problem occurring during the vaccination of visually impaired people was resolved when it was found that visually impaired people could not use the IT solution provided by the state through which it was possible to register in the vaccination queue. Such close cooperation makes the work of the Chancellor’s Office in promoting the rights of people with disabilities more productive. The Chancellor also enjoys a good working relationship with associations representing the rights of people with disabilities, in particular with the Estonian Chamber of Disabled People and its member organisations.

It is good to note that some initiatives from past years have now developed into good practice. While, for example, at the concert held to celebrate Estonia’s Independence Day in 2020 audio description was provided for the first time with project-based funding in cooperation with several organisations, then in 2021 adding audio description to the event had already become good practice.

The state one-stop shops project (i.e. local centres to provide public services, riigimaja in Estonian) organised by Riigi Kinnisvara AS, the state real estate company, reached an important milestone in January 2021 when a fully accessible Tartu one-stop-shop opened its doors. The project serves as a model for contracting entities as well as builders. Although for many years already norms regulating both labour relations as well as the civil service have prohibited discrimination on the ground of disability, existing buildings did not enable observation of those norms. Riigi Kinnisvara AS owns a large amount of real estate and now the company can also be considered a promoter of equal treatment.

Over a two-year period, the Accessibility Task Force (together with its discussion groups), led by the Government Office, has helped to introduce and explain accessibility-related topics to companies and organisations in different sectors. A report drawn up by the Task Force is submitted to the Government of the Republic, which can implement proposals made. The Chancellor’s task is to monitor that proposals do not remain only on paper.

The Chancellor’s advisers continue active awareness-raising and training, because the better the awareness of the needs of people with disabilities, the more open society becomes. The advisers express opinions in the media and deliver lectures to students. The Head of Disability Rights of the Chancellor’s Office gave lectures at the University of Tartu (in the frame of training for special educators and the curriculum on “Development of communities and social well-being”) and the Estonian Academy of Arts (the subject “Human rights and design: an introduction”). She also participated as an expert and member of the jury at a hackathon in Narva where the community, experts and city management sought solutions as to how to improve life in Narva.

Reporting on implementation of the Convention

Under Article 35 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, States Parties submit to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities reports on implementing the obligations under the Convention. Estonia already submitted its first state report in 2015. In spring 2021, online meetings for Estonia’s review by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities finally took place, in which the Head of Disability Rights of the Chancellor’s Office also participated as a representative of an independent monitoring body.

Accessibility in general

Under Article 9 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the state must ensure access by persons with disabilities to all aspects of life on an equal basis with others. The Convention views accessibility as a prerequisite for people with disabilities to benefit from public goods and services on an equal basis with others and to be able to find work.

Although the situation in this area (including physical accessibility, access to information or use of IT solutions) is improving, much still remains to be done. The Accessibility Task Force that has been operational under the Government Office for two years has identified the main problems and offered solutions that enable public space and services accessible for all to be achieved by 2035.

A practical example from life: if a resident with reduced mobility living in an apartment building wishes to adjust access to their apartment, for example by installing a lift or a ramp, then other members of the apartment association can prevent them from doing so even if this work does not involve additional cost for the apartment association. If the association is against the plan, the person needing the adjustment must seek assistance from the court.

Although the Public Transport Act (§ 10(1) clause 1) stipulates that public transport vehicles are intended for use by everyone, and organising public transport must also take into account the mobility needs of persons with disabilities, unfortunately the situation as to compliance with the law is still not good everywhere.

As far back as 2019 the Chancellor proposed to the Riigikogu to amend the Public Transport Act, but to date it remains unamended. By now, Estonia has received a similar guideline from the UN.

As a favourable development, it should be highlighted that the interests of people with reduced mobility have begun to be taken into account in new public tenders for buses.

The Chancellor still has to communicate with the company Elron whose replacement buses for trains are not accessible to passengers in a wheelchair. This means that while a section of railway is under repair a disabled person who usually travels by train has to use their personal car or social transport, or cancel their journey altogether. However, a passenger who plans their need to travel longer in advance can notify Elron of their wish to travel. According to information published on the Elron website, accessible replacement transport is guaranteed to everyone who submits a request three working days in advance. Unfortunately, such a scheme does not function if the passenger is late, for example. In the worst case, a passenger with a need for assistance may find themselves as if trapped in the bus – for instance if they are unable to exit the bus in a wheelchair. However, such a possible course of events may discourage many people, make them abandon their travel plans altogether or depend on social transport.

The terminals and stops of the future Rail Baltic are planned to be accessible for everyone. Such cooperation already at the planning stage helps to avoid extremely expensive reconstruction.

Sign language interpreting, speech-to-text reporting, audio description, and subtitles

Under Articles 9 and 21 of the Convention, to enable persons with disabilities to participate in all aspects of life, they must be ensured access, on an equal basis with others, to information and communications, including information and communications systems.

On 24 February 2021, the President’s speech was interpreted into Estonian sign language and for the second consecutive year audio description was provided at the concert celebrating the anniversary of the Republic of Estonia. The translations were made as a natural part of the event; organising them no longer required a project-based approach or additional funding. This is proof that increasingly the cost of making an event accessible for all is included in the budgets of events of public importance.

During the corona crisis, Estonian sign language interpreting began to be added to television broadcasts of press conferences of the Government of the Republic and different Boards. Unfortunately, the majority of those who are hard of hearing do not know sign language. Speech-to-text reporting or subtitles, or the possibility of lip reading would be useful for them. Due to the obligation to wear a mask established during the crisis, many people gave interviews while wearing a mask. Without speech-to-text reporting or subtitles, their speech is unintelligible to the hard-of-hearing. For this reason, subtitles were added to those segments of the public broadcasting news programme “Aktuaalne kaamera” where the speaker’s mouth was covered by a mask.

During the reporting year, Tallinn University of Technology essentially completed a technical solution enabling real-time subtitling of oral speech. This helps the hard-of-hearing, for example, to follow live television broadcasts and also use the webstreaming service. Once the solution is ready, automatic subtitling software may also be of use at press conferences of different government agencies.

At the Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) in November last year, the film “Goodbye, Soviet Union” (Hüvasti, NSVL) by Lauri Randla was premièred. This is the first Estonian film whose audio description can be viewed with the help of the Movie Reading app. Until then, audio descriptions prepared for Estonian films were available on request from the Estonian Library for the Blind or they could be found on the DVD of a film. In cinemas, the use of audio description was essentially impossible.

In other spheres of art, this year audio description was also added to the famous painting “Danse Macabre” by Bernt Notke in the Niguliste church in Tallinn.

Participation by parents with sign language in the work of educational institutions is still awaiting a resolution. The problem is the sign language interpreter’s fee, or more specifically whether interpretation should be paid for by the parent needing assistance, the educational institution, or the local authority. This issue is currently under consideration by the court.

A parent’s substantive participation in the activities of a childcare institution is self-evident nowadays. Unfortunately, due to local authority rules it may happen that a person in need of sign language interpreting themselves involves an interpreter and partially also pays for it themselves. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, however, treats such interpretation as a public service which must be accessible to those in need of assistance. The local authority involved in the court dispute compensates the cost of sign language interpreting according to a family’s financial situation – if the family has no coping difficulties, part of the interpreting cost will be left for the family to bear. Thus, a parent (in need of sign language interpreting) must pay for participation at a kindergarten meeting while another parent (who does not need interpreting) does not.

Special welfare services

On several occasions, the Chancellor was asked about services intended for people with special needs. One problem concerns new places for provision of services which has led to resistance from local inhabitants. During the last reporting year, such cases occurred in Märjamaa and Narva, this year in Tartu.

The community living service is intended for those who mostly cope with their life but may need some assistance and guidance. The Chancellor has explained that in Estonia everyone is entitled to choose their place of residence and a disability may not be a ground for discrimination. Those in need really need the assistance; no community service is provided to people who pose a risk to themselves and others.

In Estonia not enough services are available for people with autism spectre disorders whose need for special welfare services is constantly increasing. The minister’s regulation prescribes that an adult person with an autism spectre disorder and suffering severe or profound disability may receive the 24-hour special care service for up to 4252 euros a month.

Unfortunately, the service described in the ministerial regulation is not provided because no necessary specialists are available. Assistance should also be provided in medically less serious cases. Assistance necessary for those people requires more staff than is planned in the price calculation of the standard special welfare service. Therefore, the necessary service cannot be provided to them in the frame of existing state funding, and consequently no undertaking also wants to provide that necessary service under current conditions.

The Ministry of Social Affairs has also conceded this.

The central problem in organising special welfare services is that it is difficult to obtain professional assistance. Often, assistance is also not available at a place suitable for a person in need or their next of kin, and professional staff are in short supply while special welfare requires special knowledge and sufficient staff numbers. The Riigikogu debated this issue during the proceedings of a Draft Act (SE146) on which the Chancellor also formed her opinion. As a result of debates, the Ministry of Social Affairs has promised to supplement the qualification requirements for staff and lay down the basic training requirement. This should rule out the possibility that a person without the necessary basic knowledge is employed by a special care home.

Section 89 of the Social Welfare Act requires a local authority to cover the cost of premises used for provision of social welfare services while allowing the local authority to do it to the extent established by itself. This provision has caused disputes between social welfare institutions both about the amount of costs and cost components. Already several years ago the Chancellor drew the attention of the Riigikogu to the fact that the wording of the provision needs to be clarified since availability of assistance depends on this. The Ministry of Social Affairs has promised to prepare the necessary amendment in 2021.

Sale of medicines

On 30 November 2020, the Data Protection Inspectorate issued a precept with a warning of a 100 000 euro coercive penalty payment to three pharmacy chains which in their e-pharmacies enabled viewing prescriptions issued to another person if the viewer knew the personal identification code of the other person but did not have their consent. More precisely, the Inspectorate obliged the pharmacies to terminate displaying information in the current form.

The e-pharmacies did stop displaying prescriptions on the basis of another person’s personal identification code as well as the sale of medicines to a person to whom the prescription had not been issued. Inter alia, the sale of medicines in an e-pharmacy was stopped to children and persons under guardianship.

In a physical pharmacy, the possibility to buy prescription medicines for another person was maintained.

In this case, there was a clash between two interests: on the one hand, the need to protect sensitive health data and, on the other hand, the need to ensure free movement of necessary medicines. Since the possibility to buy and obtain medicines from an e-pharmacy is particularly important for people with disabilities, the Chancellor asked for clarification from agencies about the possibility of reopening sales.

When issuing the precept, the Data Protection Inspectorate relied on the premise that the law was being violated in processing personal data. Investigation of the circumstances also revealed that the problem of digital prescriptions was wider: shortcomings existed both in the habits of those issuing prescriptions as well as in the interoperability of IT systems. By the time of submission of this annual report, the sale of medicines to other persons had been partially restored in e-pharmacies.

Single-use drinking straws

Under the so-called Plastics Directive 2019/904, the European Commission banned single-use plastic drinking straws. As of 3 July 2021, these may no longer be placed on the market in Estonia. However, single-use plastic drinking straws with a flexible bend are unavoidably necessary for many people with disabilities − they actually cannot drink without using these straws.

Straws with a flexible bend also cannot be replaced by anything else. No other single-use material ensures the same functionality because all of them have their faults: some material dissolves in warm liquid while another causes allergy, etc. And, for example, a person with a muscular disease is unable to independently clean a multiple-use straw. Consequently, the established ban has deteriorated the quality of life of disabled people because in the future they need external assistance with drinking.

When passing the Directive, the effect of restrictions on people with disabilities was not analysed, the focus was only on the environmental impact.

The Chancellor has asked the authorities to find a possibility for disabled people to continue using single-use plastic straws in the future. The information system of draft legislation contains a Draft Act on amending the Waste Act, the Packaging Act and the Tobacco Act, which is currently undergoing a process of approval from different ministries, and the explanatory memorandum to which explains the problem of people with disabilities, but no solution has yet been found.

According to available information, some other EU member states have raised the same problem in the European Commission. At the time of drawing up the annual report, it was still possible to purchase and import single-use plastic straws in Estonia. This means the Directive is not being complied with in this respect.

Children and young people with special needs

The Chancellor was contacted by a parent who had applied for an exception in buying orthopaedic footwear compensable by the state for their child for two years consecutively. The parent found that the limit of three pairs of footwear every calendar year was not sufficient for a schoolchild. The Chancellor asked the Minister of Social Protection to thoroughly consider increasing the limit for orthopaedic footwear compensable by the state for those children for whom evidence based on practice shows that the current limit − three pairs of footwear a calendar year − does not meet children’s actual needs. Increasing the footwear limit compensable by the state would facilitate dealings with the authorities by the parents of a child with a disability and would reduce the workload of the Social Insurance Board. The Chancellor also asked that the possibility to increase the limit for all orthopaedic children’s footwear compensable by the state be considered. The Ministry of Social Affairs promised to consider changing the system more generally.

Unfortunately, the statutory right (under the Preschool Childcare Institutions Act and the Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act) to obtain assistance to the necessary extent and from a competent support specialist and immediately when a child’s need for assistance appears is still not guaranteed in reality in Estonia.

The Chancellor received a letter from a parent whose child cannot go to school without a support person but their local authority does not offer a support person. The specific child nevertheless obtained assistance but every year there are cases where, due to absence of a support person, a child cannot actually go to school or kindergarten. The cause of the problem is shortage of competent support persons but also the fact that local authorities are not prepared to bear the inevitable cost involved in having a support person.

The Chancellor was also asked to assess whether a school may restrict a pupil’s participation in a camp. A school allowed a third-year pupil to participate in a language immersion camp organised by the school only together with a support person. The condition of a support person was imposed immediately before the camp was to take place. Prior to this, the school had advised the family that they should abandon the wish to attend the camp. According to the information available to the Chancellor, the school did not offer any adjustments to the child for participation in the camp, and justified its decision by the fact that the child was in need of special support during studies. In doing so, the school violated the child’s rights both while preparing the camp and when deciding on the child’s participation.

Organising a camp presumes offering equal opportunities. That is, a camp must be organised for as many children as possible; in case of necessity an individual approach must be considered and, at the request of the parent, also reasonable adjustments. The child is also entitled to express their opinion as to what should be done so as to enable them to attend the camp. However, if the school still finds that the school’s own adjustments would be too burdensome or would compromise the well-being of other children, the justifications by the school must be based on objective criteria. Since the school is responsible for the well-being of all the children in a camp, in that case it is entitled to refuse to allow a child to attend the camp.

The Chancellor also dealt with problems of children needing special food for health reasons. The Chancellor explained that cities, towns and rural municipalities must also organise an appropriate and varied school lunch for pupils needing different food for health reasons. If a local authority has decided to distribute a free school lunch to everyone, the greater expense related to providing special food must be borne by the local authority.

During the ‘second wave’ of the coronavirus, children with special educational needs received more support than previously. Exceptions concerning restrictions on movement were made to people with special needs and disability; for instance, children with special needs maintained access to school buildings closed for other pupils, and to other buildings providing public services. So face-to-face tuition in the classroom for children with special needs as well as provision of services requiring physical contact could continue.

Access to e-government

By acceding to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Estonia undertook an obligation to ensure to persons with disabilities access to information and communication on an equal basis with others, including access to information and communications systems and public services.

It is characteristic of Estonia that to a large extent communication with the state takes place through electronic channels. Inter alia, this means that some new services are from the start developed only as e-services and the service is not available by any other means at all. If IT development fails to pay sufficient attention to the needs of all users, including users with special needs, then it is inevitable that new solutions are introduced that cannot be used by everyone. This excludes some people, thereby violating their rights. For example, the Chancellor was contacted with a concern that without using electronic environments it was not possible to obtain a certificate of vaccination against Covid-19. People who did not have either the possibility or skills to use a computer or a smartpone, or whose ID card passwords had expired, had no possibility to easily obtain the certificate, so that they were forced to give up part of their habitual life. Some people received assistance from their next of kin and some from libraries, but because a Covid certificate can be generated in the electronic Patient Portal only by a person themselves, in the absence of passwords a person could not be helped even by their habitual assistant: a support person, social worker, next of kin, or librarian.

It is true that a person’s health status can also be proved by other certificates, such as a vaccination passport – the so-called yellow paper booklet in which the vaccinator records vaccine information. However, if on the day of vaccination a person failed to have an entry recorded in the booklet, obtaining it retrospectively required special errands which, depending on a person’s residence or the vaccinator, may have proved complicated and time-consuming, or sometimes even impossible.

The Health and Welfare Information Systems Centre (TEHIK), which initially had to assist aliens in generating the certificate, also assisted other people having problems with the e-service. However, assistance was provided only to those who went to the Centre’s office in Tallinn. The Government of the Republic amended the statutes of the health information system and by doing so provided a possibility to receive the certificate at customer service desks of the Social Insurance Board with assistance from its officials.

We can be happy that the problem was resolved but in the future unequal treatment should be prevented and, when creating a service, the fact that people’s access to public (digital) services differs significantly should be taken into account right from the start.

It is very important that all websites and mobile applications which people use to communicate with the state and local authorities − essentially to consume public services − should meet the requirements of accessibility. Compliance with the requirements is currently checked by the Data Protection Inspectorate and, based on an inter-agency agreement, also the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority. After amending the law, the task will be performed by the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority.

In cooperation with the representative organisation of people with disabilities and the Chancellor of Justice, the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority has drawn up a list of websites and mobile applications to be checked.

A systemic error was discovered in connection with vaccination against the coronavirus. It was found that the blind could not use the relevant registration facility created by the state.

At the initiative of the Estonian Association for the Blind, the Chancellor already drew attention to shortcomings in the eBooking System (to book, cancel or change a doctor’s appointment) during the last reporting period. The Health and Welfare Information Systems Centre then replied with a promise that all errors would be rectified and that accessibility requirements would be observed in future developments. However, it has now appeared that things are really not so.

The Centre explained to the Chancellor that the queueing system introduced to avoid overload did not meet the needs of the blind. At the same time, haste was necessary because the shortcomings of the system impeded the whole vaccination process.

The fact that the blind could not use the hastily implemented system was revealed accidentally. No other ways to register in the vaccination queue (e.g. by phone or through other solutions) were introduced to these people. If emergency solutions are introduced in a rapidly changing situation, then people should at least be informed of alternative options.

A member of the Advisory Chamber of People with Disabilities raised the issue of accessibility of museum homepages. Investigation of the circumstances revealed several problems, including disunity between the persons commissioning a website, those developing it, and the auditor. Accessibility of a homepage presumes a demanding approach from the customer and certainly knowledge on the part of the company developing it. Additional expenses should also be accounted for. Good practice is still developing in Estonia.

Establishing a disability

Unfortunately, confusion still reigns concerning establishing children’s degree of disability and providing services to children. The Social Insurance Board has prepared a document published on its homepage “The underlying principles for establishing the degree of disability in children“, but this alone is not sufficient to tidy up the system and resolve problems. It must be unequivocally clear from a law or a regulation as to in what circumstances what degree of disability will be established in a child, or when will no disability be established. Thus, legislation also needs to be revised.

The Chancellor was contacted by a blind pensioner who did not understand why they have to repeatedly apply to have the degree of their disability established while it should be clear that their health will no longer improve. Loss of sight is irreversible. The Ministry of Social Affairs explained that people with a permanent or progressive disability should not have to repeatedly apply every five years to establish their disability. The Ministry has promised to initiate amendment of the Social Benefits for People with Disabilities Act and the new procedure should enter into force in 2022.

Accessibility of social benefits and services

Several parents contacted the Chancellor with the concern that the local authority did not pay them a disabled child carer’s allowance because their child was not yet three years old.

By relying on random examination of local authority legislation, it may be said that a large number of local authorities have imposed a restriction according to which no carer’s allowance is paid to the carer of a child under three years old. The reason given for imposing the age limit is childcare allowance, which the state paid to a carer of a child under three years old after they were no longer entitled to parental benefit. However, the state no longer pays childcare allowance for children born on or after 1 September 2019.

The Chancellor asked local authorities to revise the underlying legislation for payment of social benefits and, if necessary, amend the legislation so that parents of children with disabilities are not deprived of the necessary social protection. The cities of Narva and Tallinn informed the Chancellor that they considered it justified to revise their regulations on paying carer’s allowance and amend them by taking account of parents of children with disabilities under three years old.

The Chancellor was also contacted by a student to whom the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund had stopped paying work ability allowance without having investigated whether the recipient was continuing studies and thus still met the conditions for receiving allowance. The petitioner was also dissatisfied that every three months a recipient of allowance must submit a certificate to the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund proving that they are continuing studies abroad.

The Chancellor found that before deciding to terminate work ability allowance to a person excluded from the list of an educational institution, the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund must hear arguments from the recipient of the allowance. A school certificate can only be requested in proceedings by which grant or termination of work ability allowance is decided. As a rule, studying at a university does not stop before the end of a semester. Therefore, it is onerous for a person if the agency initiates proceedings every three months for annulment of the decision to grant work ability allowance in order to decide whether the person is entitled to the allowance in the future.

In its reply, the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund explained that it had changed its practice in view of the Chancellor’s proposal. The Unemployment Insurance Fund no longer automatically stops paying work ability allowance to a student who has left an educational institution if no information is available about continuation of their studies.

Instead, prior to the beginning of a new academic year it sends a letter to the allowance recipient notifying them of potential termination of payment of work ability allowance and requests additional information to decide on paying the allowance. The Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund also made proposals to the Ministry of Social Affairs to amend legislation as recommended by the Chancellor.

The Chancellor was contacted by people with a problem concerning work-related rehabilitation who had been found to have no capacity for work. According to information from the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund, 26% of these people have found work within their abilities but applicable legislation does not enable the Unemployment Insurance Fund to provide work-related rehabilitation to these people. The Chancellor found that such a restriction is not justified and the relevant legislation should be amended.

A person with a disability asked for assistance from the city to obtain a quiet dwelling appropriate for their condition. Such an entitlement is provided for under § 42 of the Social Welfare Act. The person asked for a dwelling from the city because they could not find an apartment on the rental market that would not be exposed to domestic noise incompatible with their health condition. The city offered several dwellings one after another to the person but unfortunately these did not meet the person’s needs because the city did not offer dwellings that would have been really without any noise.

This case affirms how the system is unable to provide assistance to a disabled person because assistance is first provided without assessing the person’s real need. In that case time is wasted on dealing with unsuitable solutions. Such proceedings without any result could be reduced if a local authority were to approach a person’s problem in substance from the very beginning and would abandon the attitude “let’s offer them some apartment, perhaps it’s acceptable”. It would be useful to precisely document the whole process, which would enable cooperating agencies to exchange correct information.

The Chancellor asked the city to analyse the specific case of provision of assistance from the aspect of documentation, expertise in providing assistance, as well as cooperation between different structural units.

The Chancellor was contacted by a general care service provider who found that a rural municipality was not sufficiently ensuring the rights of an elderly person with a disability living in a care home. It was revealed that the municipality had found out about the elderly person’s possible need for assistance in spring 2017. Then the rural municipal government found that the person was no longer able to cope at home, after which the person went to live in a care home. In the summer of the same year, the court also appointed a guardian for the elderly person. In spring 2020, the care home informed the municipality that the person’s next of kin had not paid the invoices for the person’s stay in the care home in time. The municipality’s social work specialist tried contacting the guardian but unsuccessfully. At the beginning of summer, the county court began proceedings for release of the guardian and appointment of a new guardian.

The Chancellor found that after the municipal government received notice of indebtedness it should have ascertained whether the person needed the municipality’s assistance in paying for the service. For this, the municipality should have contacted the person in need or their guardian and explained to them that the municipality has the duty to pay for the service if the person themselves cannot do so. If it had been found that the municipality’s assistance was needed to pay for the service, the municipality should also have assessed the elderly person’s need for assistance and decided which social service they were entitled to. After that, the municipality could have assessed the person’s ability to pay. If the municipality had found that the service provider needed to be replaced because the service or the price were not suitable, it should have considered how that decision affects the situation of the elderly person. The Chancellor explained that if a municipality is unable to contact the guardian within a reasonable time but a justified suspicion has developed that the rights of the person under guardianship are not ensured then the court must be notified of this.

The Chancellor also resolved a petition expressing dissatisfaction with the organisation of social services (home adaptations and social transport). A rural municipality had failed to arrange transport of the petitioner’s bedridden father to hospital and back home as required by the law. Nor had the municipality arranged social transport for the petitioner’s mother to go to a cemetery.

The Chancellor reached the opinion that the Social Welfare Act should be interpreted in the spirit of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in order to ensure compatibility of national law with Estonia’s internationally assumed obligations. Thus, the duty of a local authority to organise social transport should be seen as one of the measures for ensuring disabled people an opportunity for an independent life and involvement in the community as well as independent ability of movement as much as possible (see e.g. Article 19 CRPD and its general comment, and Article 20).

The possibility to go to one’s spouse’s grave is an issue of private life, a person’s mental health, as well as human dignity. Therefore, it is not compatible with the law to deprive a person of the opportunity to go to their spouse’s grave.

The municipal government also failed to take into account the statutory requirements or the principle of good administration when resolving the applications for home adaptations submitted by the petitioner’s parents. No norm restricts a person’s right to home adaptations because a person’s dwelling has already been adapted once. The municipality’s erroneous practice probably started from misinterpretation of the Minister of Social Protection Regulation No 4 of 26 February 2018 on “The physical adaptation of dwellings of disabled people”. The Chancellor explained that the Minister’s Regulation does not regulate the relationship between a person in need of adaptations and the local authority. Under this Regulation, the state provides additional funding to a local authority so that a rural municipality would be able to assist people in carrying out home adaptations and in this way fulfil the duty to adapt dwellings of disabled people laid down by the Social Welfare Act.

The Chancellor drew the municipality’s attention to the need to proceed from the substance and not the form of people’s applications, and to provide assistance corresponding to the person’s need in compliance with laws and regulations. Since the municipality had so far not established a constitutionally compliant procedure for adapting dwellings of disabled people, the Chancellor asked that the rural municipal government in cooperation with the municipal council should resolve this situation. The municipality conceded that a new procedure for physical adaptation of dwellings of disabled people needed to be prepared. The municipal council is expected to establish the procedure in the second half of 2021.