Riigikogu supported depriving Mailis Reps of deputy immunity  

NordenBladet —

At today’s sitting, the Riigikogu discussed the proposal of the Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise to deprive Mailis Reps of deputy immunity and to continue court proceedings concerning her.

In her report, Ülle Madise said that neither making the proposal nor even depriving an MP of their deputy immunity means that they are guilty of an offence. “This also does not stop their authority as a Member of the Riigikogu. The authority of a Member of the Riigikogu terminates if the court finds them guilty and the decision enters into force,” the Chancellor of Justice explained. She added that depriving Mailis Reps of deputy immunity simply allows the court proceedings to continue in order to find out the truth.

In addition, the Chancellor of Justice outlined the content of the accusations against Reps.

56 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of depriving Mailis Reps of deputy immunity.

A Bill passed the first reading

The objective of the Bill on Amendments to the Local Government Organisation Act (400 SE), initiated by the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Faction, is to allow binding local referendums. The explanatory memorandum says that the Local Government Organisation Act that was in force in 1993–1999 set out local referendums as one of the instruments for carrying out local authority. The Bill would not exactly restore the earlier provisions of the Local Government Organisation Act; instead, it’s wording would allow municipal councils to provide for an option for the local residents themselves to bring about referendums as public initiatives.

During the debate, Mihhail Stlanuhhin (Centre Party) and Henn Põlluaas (Estonian Conservative People’s Party) took the floor.

The proceeding of one Bill was carried over to the next sitting

Due to the end of the sitting, the Bill on Amendments to the Youth Work Act (411 SE), initiated by the Social Democratic Party Faction, was carried over to tomorrow’s sitting. Its purpose is to support the participation of youth in hobby education and activities, and to prevent a situation where any additional state support could be drastically reduced. For this purpose, the support allocated from the state budget for hobby education and activities in municipalities must not be lower than during the previous budget period. The Bill should also prevent a situation where no budgetary means are set aside for paying the additional support.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

The video recording of the sitting will be available on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.
(Please note that the recording will be uploaded with a delay.)

Source: Parliament of Estonia