Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise has sent an opinion to the Riigikogu regarding the draft amendment to the Political Parties Act, requesting consideration of the abolition of the ban on donations from legal entities. The law currently allows punishing civic associations for the entirely ordinary, honest, and public support of candidates in a free society, which does not entail any risk of corruption. Such a situation is also in conflict with the Convention on Human Rights.
"Independent third parties, separate from candidates and political parties, must be able to make expenditures even if the aim is to influence the election outcome – this must not be entirely prohibited," states a joint document by the Venice Commission and ODIHR.
According to the Chancellor of Justice, by the 2025 local government council elections, civic associations should be able to support candidates without fear of punishment, provided that the support and the origin of the funds used are transparent. She emphasizes that supporters of all worldviews who are unaffiliated with political parties have already suffered from the restrictions, and lifting them would not increase the risk of corruption or give any political party an advantage. This change is still feasible even with local elections in mind—modifying the electoral system to favour a political force less than a year before elections is considered inconsistent with the principles of fair elections, which is not the case here. Instead, the amendment would legalize the actual situation and provide an opportunity to eliminate some of the loopholes used to circumvent restrictions, as it would be possible to openly disclose which legal entity supported which candidate and in what way, the Chancellor of Justice explained.
Under the current law, financial donations, as well as unpaid or preferentially priced work and services supporting the political activities of a party, electoral coalition, or candidate, are classified as (prohibited) donations. This ban applies to all legal entities, including civic associations. A prohibited donation is punishable as a misdemeanour, but if it exceeds 40,000 euros, it constitutes a criminal offence.
"Banning legal entities from participating in politics in this way harms the public debate on Estonia’s potential development directions. For example, in local elections, it should be allowed for neighbourhood and village associations, as well as animal and forest protection organizations, to publicly support candidates. Currently, it seems even forbidden for a civic association to distribute information sheets before elections that, in addition to highlighting an issue important to its members, also mention candidates who have pledged to address the problem," noted the Chancellor of Justice. She added that there is nothing dangerous in a democratic society about preferring or collaborating with a candidate, electoral coalition, or party based on worldview—in fact, it is a natural part of a healthy and free society.
The transparency of such cooperation must be ensured, and the influence of hostile foreign states must be excluded, the Chancellor of Justice emphasized. "It must be publicly known and verifiable who has supported the political activities of a party, electoral coalition, or candidate, when, and in what way. Ensuring the transparency of election campaign expenses and their sources must make it possible to determine how much was actually paid for advertisements in media outlets, social media platforms, etc. Only in this way can it be assessed from which source the payment was made and whether the full price of the received goods or services was covered. Additionally, information on the origin of contributions allows for investigating whether the contributor received an illicit favour from a politician," states the opinion of the Chancellor of Justice.
