At yesterday's session, the Riigikogu The unicameral parliament of Estonia. adopted five laws and listened to the Minister of the Environment's presentation on the fundamentals of the earth's crust policy until 2050, in addition, one draft passed the second reading and seven drafts passed the first reading.
Code of Civil Procedure
The Riigikogu The unicameral parliament of Estonia. adopted the law on amending the Code of Civil Procedure and other laws initiated by the government, which deals with jurisdiction, the recognition and enforcement of judgments made in cases related to matrimonial matters and parental responsibility, and international child abductions, which aims to improve cooperation between courts and administrative authorities and to simplify decisions enforcement in cross-border matters related to family law.
According to the changes, the EU regulation on the control of jurisdiction in matters related to family law with cross-border effects and the recognition, recognition and enforcement of judgments made in such disputes can be more smoothly applied. For this purpose, the procedure for placing a child who has lived in another member state until now in Estonia will be carried out. Also, the age limit for hearing a child will be removed from the Code of Civil Procedure, which officials or institutions will issue certificates on the basis of the regulation, and the Ministry of Justice and the Social Insurance Board will be appointed as the central authorities that fulfill the obligations stipulated in the regulation.
The changes simplify the cooperation of courts and administrative authorities in international marriage cases, matters related to parental responsibility and international child abductions, and it also becomes easier to recognize and enforce decisions in Estonia.
Act on Family Status Proceedings
The Riigikogu The unicameral parliament of Estonia. adopted the law on amendments to the Act on Family Status Proceedings initiated by the government, according to which electronic administration will be introduced in marriage and divorce proceedings. From now on, it is not necessary to go to the registry office to submit a marriage and divorce application, but the application can also be submitted online. Also, a marriage and divorce application confirmed with a digital signature can be submitted electronically to a notary public.
When the changes enter into force, the two-stage marriage and divorce procedure will be preserved, which means that after submitting the applications, the marriage can only be concluded in person at a civil registry office, notary public or clergyman, and also on the day of the divorce, you have to go to the civil registry office in person.
The changes are related to the development of the digital and e-state and the goal of making services event-based. Creating the possibility to submit an electronic marriage and divorce application is a necessary prerequisite to merge the services related to marriage and divorce as life events into a single event service. It is planned to add automatic name change to the event service and enable the request for new documents related to name change.
The Riigikogu The unicameral parliament of Estonia. adopted the law on amending the Elementary and High School Act, initiated by the government, which enables the needs of refugee students who arrived in Estonia from Ukraine to be clarified with the help of out-of-school counseling teams and to ensure that they receive education that is within their means. In order to support students, the law allows out-of-school counseling teams to carry out administrative procedures leading to recommendations more efficiently than before, involving only the necessary specialists.
During the second reading, it was decided to remove the provision from the bill, which would have created the opportunity for students who have obtained basic education abroad for this academic year to receive additional education in order to prepare for studying at the next level of education in Estonia.
Act amending the Occupational Health and Safety Act, Employment Contract Act
The Riigikogu The unicameral parliament of Estonia. adopted the Act amending the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Employment Contract Act initiated by the government, which improves the organization and quality of occupational health services and the cooperation between employers and occupational health doctors in order to ensure a safe working environment and prevent work-related health problems.
According to the changes, the employer must in the future organize the provision of occupational health services in such a way that the company's occupational health situation as a whole is analyzed together with it. In addition to organizing the health check-up of employees so far, the occupational health doctor must analyze the company's occupational health situation and make proposals to improve working conditions, as well as advise employers on improving the working environment and give recommendations to employees to promote health.
The changes promote a systematic approach to occupational health in companies, which helps to improve the working environment, protect the health of employees and prevent employee health problems. This, in turn, reduces employers' costs associated with employee illness and absenteeism. The law also stipulates the obligations of the employer and the employee in ensuring a safe working environment in case of remote work.
The processing of employees' health data, if it is necessary to ensure occupational health and safety, also becomes clearer. The processing of health data may be necessary for mitigating health risks caused by chemical and biological hazards, organizing occupational health services, investigating occupational accidents and occupational diseases. In addition, the law creates an opportunity for employers to prepare and store investigation reports of occupational accidents and occupational diseases in the working environment database, which reduces the administrative burden associated with the preparation, transmission and storage of paper documents.
Law on Amendments to the Law on Criminal Records
The Riigikogu The unicameral parliament of Estonia. adopted the Law on Amendments to the Law on Criminal Records initiated by the government, which brings the law into line with the European Union directive in order to enhance the sharing of information between member states and to regulate the exchange of criminal record data on people who are not EU citizens.
Currently, criminal records of citizens of the Member States are mainly exchanged through the European Criminal Records Information System. In order to exchange criminal records of third-country nationals, it is planned to introduce a unified information system through which it can be more effectively identified whether a third-country national or a stateless person has been punished for committing a crime in an EU member state. With the implementation of the changes, the security of information exchange between member states will also increase, since the same high-level requirements apply to member states.