Postimees Digest, Wednesday, February 27
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POSTIMEES:
Animal activists against legalization of bowhunting.
The Estonian Society for the Protection of Animals (ELS) has filed a request to stay proceedings of the idea to legalize bowhunting or of the entire Hunting Act as the society finds that broader popularization of hunting is not in accordance with the principles of protection of animals and that a thorough analysis is in order before bowhunting can be legalized.
The ELS finds that adding a new form of hunting to the law cannot take place hurriedly and without prior analysis as it would violate the principles of good legislative practice. Member of the Reform Party faction Tõnu Juul has said that the state should legalize bowhunting of small game. The proposal is supported by the majority of the ruling party's parliament faction.
Low level of crime reporting becoming a problem.
Minister of Justice Hanno Pevkur said, when speaking in front of the Riigikogu yesterday, that people's reluctance to report criminal offenses has become a problem that needs to be tackled. The minister pointed out that around 58 percent of theft victims failed to report offenses to the police in 2012 while 63 percent of cases of threats of violence and physical assault did not reach the authorities.
Pevkur said that reports of criminal offenses are rare in Estonia compared to Western European countries and that even though people's trust in the police is high, it is not enough to motivate people to turn to the authorities. The minister also pointed out that people believe too many suspects are acquitted in Estonia. Pevkur urged people to report all offenses as without reports crimes will go unsolved.
New department in pipeline to keep eye on road management
Road Administration is creating a new department tasked with monitoring road management in Tallinn and other local governments. Last week, regional minister Siim Kiisler addressed Road Administration’s director general about problems in local government road management. Requirements on local road conditions are set forth by regulation of Ministry of Economic Affairs; however, according to Mr Kiisler, the conditions for paved roads, specified in annex to the regulation, are clearly not met in some local governments – such as Tallinn.
Van Rompuy sets Estonia as an example for the EU.
President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy said during his Estonia visit that the country serves as one of the brightest examples of how to manage an economic crisis and how the country represents all the things the EU wants to be.
"A democratic place with extensive individual freedoms, innovation and high level of technical development." Prime Minister Andrus said that he and Van Rompuy discussed what the EU and Estonia will do with the proceeds from the new EU budget while Van Rompuy said that others points of discussion included matters tied to energy and EU Eastern Partnership where Estonia and the EU see eye to eye.
Justice officials reluctant to move to Ida-Viru County.
Despite additional remuneration and other bonuses, only one third of the staff of the justice ministry's prisons department moved with the agency to the town of Jõhvi as part of the government's initiative to establish a stronger state presence outside of the capital.
The department's website shows that a substantial number of positions remain unfilled and that a number of the department's current employees did not come from Tallinn but rather from Ida-Viru County's Viru Prison. Former justice minister Kristen Michal said that it was clear from the beginning that the move would require additional expenses, that a number of people would not be willing to move and that the government has allocated additional resources in the volume of 380,000 euros to facilitate it.
Tartu school to take tablets
The six years old Tartu Private School will, starting next academic year, switch to tablet computers in 1st, 4th and 7th grades – traditional paper textbooks taking a step towards becoming history.
According to Tartu Private School (TPS) headmaster Urmo Uiboleht, transfer to electronic study tools largely depends on cooperation by textbook publishers. «At the moment, Koolibri has been most diligent in this. By fall, we’ve been promised 17 different e-textbooks, adaptable for tablet computers,» said Mr Uiboleht.