Estonia's justice chancellor says mandate doesn't exempt anyone from liability

Photo: Mihkel Maripuu

All people are equal before the law and a mandate received in elections does not exempt anyone from responsibility, Estonia's Chancellor of Justice Ulle Madise said in her opinion concerning the exclusion of Edgar Savisaar from the office of mayor of Tallinn.

The chancellor of justice had been asked by the opposition Center Party group in the Estonian parliament to assess the conformity with the Constitution of the article of the Code of Criminal Procedure which allows to exclude from office a mayor, a rural municipality mayor or a member of a municipal council, spokespeople for the chancellor of justice said.

«I find that the article of the Code of Criminal Procedure which allows to exclude from office a mayor, a rural municipality mayor or a member of the municipal council is consistent with the Constitution. Application of the norm is constitutional when exclusion from office is indeed necessary to prevent influencing of witnesses, tampering with evidence or preventing the ascertaining of truth in the criminal procedure in some other manner, or when there are reasons to believe that the suspect will go on committing criminal offenses,» Madise said.

«Under the Constitution, everyone is equal before the law. No one is exempted from liability by his or her official position or mandate of voters,» she added.

«An official can be excluded from office only by a decision of a court of law. Independent judicial control must ensure, among other things, that town or rural municipality mayors are not excluded from office for political reasons. A court ruling can be appealed, meaning that it will be checked by a court of a higher level if necessary,» it stands in the response of the chancellor of justice.

Also on Friday, the Tallinn Circuit Court upheld the ruling of a first tier court to exclude leader of the Center Party Edgar Savisaar from the office of mayor of Tallinn in connection with his being a suspect in a corruption investigation.

Acting on a complaint lodged by Savisaar's defense, the appeals court agreed with the opinion of the Prosecutor General's Office that the removal of Savisaar from the office of mayor is grounded in the interest of the pretrial investigation of the criminal case.

Savisaar's attorney, Oliver Naas, said he will definitely refer the case to the Supreme Court.