Application to the Chancellor of Justice

Legislation is not in conformity with the Constitution and other laws

If you find that legislation is not in conformity with the Constitution or other laws, you have the right of recourse to the Chancellor of Justice to review the conformity of an Act or other legislation of general application with the Constitution or the law.

The Chancellor of Justice supervises the following types of legislation:

• acts of the Riigikogu;
• decrees of the President of the Republic;
• regulations of the Government of the Republic;
• regulations of Ministers;
• regulations of local governments, rural municipality governments and city governments;
• legislative acts of legal persons in public law.

An official violates your rights

If you find that an authority, an official or a legal person governed by private law performing public duties violates your constitutional rights and freedoms, treats you unlawfully or against the principles of sound administration (e.g. is impolite, unjust, delays in answering or does not reply, gives incomplete or false information), you can turn to the Chancellor of Justice in the duties of an ombudsman with an application for checking the activity of that authority or official.

The Chancellor of Justice supervises the following authorities:

• government agencies and the agencies under their administration (e.g. Ministries, agencies, inspectorates)
• local governments and the authorities under their administration (e.g. rural municipality governments and city governments)
• legal persons in public law (e.g. the Bank of Estonia, universities)
• natural persons performing public duties (e.g. notaries, trustees in bankruptcy, bailiffs)
• legal person in private law, performing public duties (e.g. a public limited company providing parking or ambulance services)

You are being ill-treated in a closed institution

If you find that you are being ill-treated in a place of restraint you can turn to the Chancellor of Justice as a national preventive mechanism with an application to check the activity of that institution or official. Ill-treatment is torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The Chancellor of Justice supervises the following closed institutions:

• child care and educational institutions (e.g. specialised schools for children with special disciplinary or health needs);
• social welfare and health care institutions (e.g. care homes, children’s homes, psychiatric hospitals);
• military units;
• detention facilities (e.g. prisons and houses of detention at police prefectures, expulsion centres);
• other establishments that do not allow for a person to leave on his or her free will.

You are being discriminated against

If you find that you are being discriminated against by a natural or a legal person governed by private law (e.g. employer) because of your gender, race, nationality, skin colour, language, origin, religion or religious beliefs, political or other opinion, proprietary or social situation, age, disability, sexual orientation or other status named in law, you can turn to the Chancellor of Justice who has the authorities for conducting a conciliation procedure.

You are not satisfied with the activities of a judge

If you find that a judge violates the obligations of his or her office in adjudicating your case, you can submit an application to the Chancellor of Justice. He has the authorities to initiate disciplinary proceedings against judges.

A wrongful act of a judge lies in the failure to perform their official duties (e.g., a judge has not replied to inquiries or applications), in appropriate performance of official duties (e.g. judicial proceedings last unreasonably long, a judge does not follow the time-limits of proceedings) or commitment of an indecent act (e.g., impolite conduct by a judge). A complaint regarding a judge can also be submitted to the chairman of the court or the Supreme Court that also has authorities to look into activities of judges.

The Chancellor of Justice has no right to interfere with the administration of justice. If you are not satisfied with a court judgement or regulation you can contest it in a higher court under the terms and conditions of the law. The procedure of contestation is explained and the contestation deadline is set by judge in his or her decision or regulation.

The Chancellor of Justice cannot resolve an application, if:

• the question is not within the competence of the Chancellor of Justice (e.g., a person is seeking legal assistance);
• resolving the application falls within the competence of other authorities (e.g. responding to a request for explanation, initiating criminal proceedings);
• the application concerns activity of a legal person governed by private law (e.g. public limited company, private limited company) or a natural person who does not perform public duties (excl. in the case of discrimination);
• the application does not clarify the nature of the violation of rights;
• a court judgment, a ruling on termination of judicial or offence proceedings or a decision of body conducting extra-judicial proceedings has entered into force in the matter of the application;
• the matter stated in the application is concurrently subject to judicial or offence or compulsory pre-trial complaint proceedings.

The Chancellor of Justice may also decline an application, if:

• the person can file an administrative appeal against the body that issued the administrative act, or use other legal remedies (e.g., seek recourse in the courts);
• the application has been filed more than one year after the date on which a person became aware or should have become aware of violation of his or her rights.

The Chancellor of Justice may not initiate conciliation proceedings, if:

• the application has been filed more than four months from the date a person became aware or should have become aware of discrimination;
• the application involves activities of a natural or legal person governed by private law in a registered religious association with statutes in professing and practicing of faith or working as a minister of religion, in relationships under family or private life or in exercising the right of succession.

The Office of the Chancellor of Justice uses access to private information solely for the purpose of fulfilling the Chancellor’s duties and responding to your inquiry. Correspondence with you may also be utilized internally to assess and improve the quality of our work.

Your inquiries and related correspondence are registered in the Office of the Chancellor of Justice’s document register. In the public view of the register, information is published in accordance with the requirements of the Public Information Act. If the sender is a private individual, only the initials of their name, the basis for the access restriction, and its validity period are disclosed in the public register. Correspondence and responses involving private individuals are not accessible in the public view of the document register unless you specifically request such disclosure.

Correspondence with private individuals is subject to access restrictions. If someone wishes to view a document containing private information sent to the Office, they may submit a request for information. In response, we will provide an excerpt of the document that is not subject to access restrictions. When releasing a document, personal contact details (such as postal address, phone number, email address, etc.) are redacted. Other access limitations depend on the content of the requested document. The possible grounds for access restrictions are outlined in § 35 of the Public Information Act. Additionally, the Chancellor of Justice has the right to designate correspondence involving private individuals as internal under § 23(8) of the Chancellor of Justice Act.

If you send a letter to the Office of the Chancellor of Justice as a representative of a legal entity or institution and include your personal contact details, your contact information will be visible in the public view of the document register, as it is not presumed that your activity pertains to you as a private individual.

Access to documents may also be restricted internally within the Office, depending on their content. In such cases, access is granted only to officials who require the document to perform their duties.

Despite an established access restriction, the Office of the Chancellor of Justice will provide a document to an institution or individual with a legal right and justified need to request it for the performance of their duties (e.g., pre-trial investigators or courts). The institution or individual may not disclose restricted information to third parties without the permission of the Office.

When the Office needs to make inquiries to respond to you, your personal data will be disclosed only to the minimal extent necessary. If your inquiry is within the jurisdiction of another institution, we will forward it to the relevant authority and notify you with an official letter. If your application contains sensitive personal data, we will forward it only with your consent.

For delivering responses, we use the address details you have provided or that are available in the Population Register. Responses sent via email are delivered in unencrypted form.

The Chancellor of Justice has the right to disclose the content of an application under review and its outcome to the public or media without revealing information that could identify individuals. On the website, the Chancellor’s opinions are published with personal details and any information that could identify the individual removed, as necessary. Opinions containing sensitive information are not disclosed publicly on the website.

Please read more about how we keep your personal data in other cases.