In his speech made in Tartu on September 30th as part of the national day recognising the work of legal experts, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves outlined his proposal to make follow-up analysis compulsory for all laws passed by the parliament, so as to assess whether the laws and their provisions serve their intended purpose and meet the needs of actual, everyday life.

“The results of such analysis would be obvious: norms which aren’t needed, aren’t effective and never will be or which are directly damaging or hypocritical could and should, in my view, be declared void,” the head of state explained, adding that ministries should work with universities and advisory boards on such analysis, using financial support to commission the studies.

President Ilves said that Estonia had reached a stage in its development where new laws and amendments to existing laws must be based on the direct and indirect impacts of the laws on society and on the quality of life of the population. “We’ve moved beyond the construction phase with the state and its legal framework,” he said. “More often than not, new laws are no longer the first resort when some kind of problem arises. Just like the wrong kind of medication can make matters worse, rather than make the patient better, a law which hasn’t been thought through properly can in fact do a lot of harm.”

The president also referred to areas whose legal regulation in Estonia is lacking or the cause of endless disputes due to being unclear. He expressed his view that relations between the state and local governments, the authority of and options available to the Competition and Consumer Protection Boards and laws relating to the organisational of public procurements should be reviewed.

President Ilves said that the good of any state depends on the laws that govern it being in line with the actual life led by its people: if they follow different paths, the well-being of every member of society soon suffers.

Office of the President

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