President Alar Karis President of Estonia.  did not promulgate the family allowances law and the family law amendment law passed in the Riigikogu The unicameral parliament of Estonia. on December 7, because it contradicts the constitution.

"The law adopted by the Riigikogus contains normative and technical waste, the deficiency of which amounts to a contradiction with the Constitution," said the head of state.

Karis explains in the decision that the second sentence of Section 2(1) of the adopted law is legally unclear and therefore contradicts Section 13(2) of the Constitution, according to which the law protects each state authority against arbitrariness. The law adds the second and third sentences to Section 101(5) of the Family Act in the following wording: "It is considered that the child's needs can be met at the expense of the entire child allowance and half of the allowance of a family with children, which is divided equally between all the children of the family receiving the allowance. It is assumed that the support of a family with children is taken into account when awarding alimony only if it is paid for joint children.". It is not possible to give an unambiguous content to the last sentence, even with the help of conventional methods of interpretation.

"That is why I did not promulgate the Family Benefits Act and the Family Act Amendment Act, and I am sending it back to the Riigikogu The unicameral parliament of Estonia. ," said President Karis. The President of the Republic deems it necessary for members of parliament to discuss the law again and bring it into line with the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia.

According to the planned law, the allowance for the first and second child would increase to 80 euros per month from January 1, the allowance for a large family will increase to 650 euros for three to six children, and to 850 euros per month for seven or more children. 

The Riigikogu The unicameral parliament of Estonia. will convene for an extraordinary session on December 28.