NordenBladet — On Thursday and Friday, Tallinn will host a meeting of the Presidents of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the European Union Member States. The central focus will be on ensuring the separation of powers.
The Presidents of the European Supreme Judicial Courts will convene in Estonia for the first time. The meeting will be chaired by Priit Pikamäe, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who was elected in October last year to serve as Chairman of the Network of the Presidents of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the European Union.
According to Priit Pikamäe, the independence of the administration of justice and the substantive achievement of the separation of powers have become increasingly topical issues in Europe: “I am referring to the developments in Poland but also before that in Turkey, where the coup d’état was followed by the wholesale arrest of judges. Also in Hungary, the politically motivated judicial reform resulted in many judges losing their offices. This shows that the independence of the judiciary is not an undisputed fact, even in 21st century Europe.”
“Ensuring the independence of the judiciary is a decision to be made by the legislators, and is thus an important part of the political culture. The influence on the activities of the courts through public political reforms is only one aspect of this, as a much more insidious tendency is the influence on the activities of the Supreme Courts through financing decisions,” Pikamäe said.
During the meeting in Tallinn, the presidents will discuss the conditions which must be fulfilled in order to ensure the independence and autonomy of the judiciary as a separate branch of power. Similarly, the exchanges of mutual knowledge and experience will involve questions on whether, and to what extent, the other national institutions should control the actions of the Supreme Court, and what role the presidents of the courts should play in relation to the judicial reforms. One of the goals of the meeting is to develop uniform standards for the definition and understanding of the independence of the judiciary.
The meeting will be attended by the Presidents of the Supreme Courts of Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Croatia, Finland, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden, Germany, France, Latvia, Montenegro, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Slovakia, Albania and Estonia.
NordenBladet — From today until 10 November, students in Grades 9 to 12 will have the chance to take on the role of a Justice Administrator and to solve cases like those that judges must address on a daily basis.
The participants in the competition will have three cases to choose from – they will be presented with examples of criminal, civil and administrative law. Among other matters, the students can provide solutions to questions such as: “Whether and to what extent should a person adopt the local customs and traditions when they move to Estonia?” and “When should citizens be allowed to deviate from traffic regulations?”
“On the one hand, the results of the court competition will give the judiciary an idea of how the youth of today perceive and understand the process of the administration of justice and the court’s role in this. On the other hand, it will create an opportunity for the participants to test themselves and feel what it is like to be placed in the role of a judge, who has the obligation and the responsibility to decide who is right,” said Nele Parrest, Justice of the Supreme Court and Chairwoman of the Jury in this year’s court competition. “It would be particularly nice if some of the participants came to realise that this is the work they want to do in the future,” she added.
The case must be solved in a similar manner as it is done in court: the arguments of both sides are first presented, followed by the decision and reasoning of the judge. There is also another option – the case may be solved in a creative form, such as through the use of an essay, poem, drawing, video, etc. In either case, it is important that the solution is derived from the sense of justice and the value judgments of the participants. The Supreme Court expects to receive the solutions of the cases by 10 November. For more information about the terms and conditions of the competition, click here (in Estonian).
The three students with the best entries from each age group and their supervisors, as well as the students nominated in the creative category and their supervisors, will be invited to visit Tartu on 12 January 2018, where they will receive an award from the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. This year’s competition is dedicated to the 98th Anniversary of the Supreme Court and will take place for the thirteenth time; while entries will be submitted in the creative category for the fourth year. The competition forms a part of Administration of Justice Week.
NordenBladet – Despite the fact that I live 15km from the town, in the little Murimäe village, where you can count the houses with both hand fingers, where a view from the window behind and in front of the house is hay land and forest the city is getting closer each year with uproar, vapor and motorways. Traffic and living environment are becoming more and more vibrant every year, and more accurate by the eyes of city planners, but unfortunately it also gets more polluted. However, I am moving both in reality and in the heart away from the city.
At the age of 20 I bought my first apartment – of course in the Old Town, right in the middle of everything – to Town Hall Square. At this age, I absolutely did not understand the people who wanted to live outside the city or hold on for it – in the countryside! Cafe-shopping-bars were supposed to be in the walking distance and in my opinion only a total fool or a poor who could not afford the Old Town/ City Center apartment wanted to live in the countryside. Life boils 24/7 and I am in the middle of it. I enjoyed this life for many years, and neither the noise nor the gray stone houses which surrounded me didn´t bother – on the contrary, I felt that life could not get any better! And at one point it did not get any better. Even in the middle of wealth and riches everyday arrives. At one point shopping doesn´t make you any happier – you have everything, multiple .. what´s next? Instead of 10 euro wine you drink 100 euro wine, instead of the 100 euro purse you wear 2500 euros bags, instead of 15 euros jeans you buy 700 euros jeans – believe me – the wine tastes the same way, the bag holds the same way, and the jeans, no matter how expensive does not make a big ass smaller (Hahaaa) and so on… at one point I discovered that I have everything. There was nothing in the stores that I would like to have, but I wouldn´t have already? But are you happy? Okay, let’s be honest .. Certainly happier than those who have never been there or had anything, but one moment you are tired of all of that and then there will be a setback. You have been struggling to live up to your expectations and suddenly you discover that this is not a life with the meaning. Life is not about to be rich. Even if this is the idea of life, then it will not automatically make you happy. The idea of life is not to be overloaded with things. You realize that the meaning of life is to live and living is nothing else than to acquire things. Living is a breathing in the same rhythm with nature, because only this kind of life will truly last. Such life is sustainable.
Why super rich Chinese business giants do not live in China, where the air is very polluted? Why wealthy Dubai´s citizens who waste millions euros every month are often drug addicts or lost the meaning of life? Because you cannot buy health and happiness! Money is not the key to satisfaction (although without money, there is often now satisfaction as well)! Health is a healthy environment, health is a pure food! Health is good nerves and normal lifestyle, healthy children and ability to love your life. Felicity and satisfaction are born in our heads, and for that you don´t need money. Pure nature and peaceful surroundings are sustainable, and those who appreciate it live, grow and develop with the nature – they live and blossom every spring!
Today, I look at life with a different look. What before was “a must” is now practically “out”. I carefully plan when I go to the city (of course I take the kids to school and back) but malls I visit maybe only once or twice a year. When I was younger, I was satisfied when I shopped a lot, today I am glad if I live almost without spending. The less things the better, the simpler the better, the more self-made, self-grown or re-processed (recycled) the better! Sometimes I look my Louis Vuitton bags in my closet and I laugh with a loud voice.. why people need bags which cost thousands and you can´t even carry them over the sholder? OK, let it be. Sometimes the madness of vanity rises its head and then I´ll use them but.. looking in big plan, my soul wishes more and more simplicity. 15km from the city is still a city – it can no longer be called as a village as years ago, even 30km from big cities ( Tallinn, Tartu) is still a city in Estonia. Why do I find more exciting small wooden farmhouse in “X” place in a deep forest with privacy and clean environment than big villa with stone pillars in the city?
I am so tired of glamor and technique that sometimes I want to cry. I do not know what bothers me more – tech, remote controls and wires or city people? Why a milk pipe in front of the gate, organic lifestyle, a gravel road, a country school with six students in a class, and leaving the house with a letter “Key under the carpet” feel like a dream? I do not want anything that anyone “would like to cherish”, I do not want any over valued material things – while I want clean air, untouched nature, fresh water from the river, wildlife, and peace. It seems to me that it would be a real wealth and a sustainable environment. I wish to drink birch and maple juice and grow my own food – potatoes-carrots-peas, etc. I believe that people who live in that kind of environment do not know what is depression or suicidal thoughts, they do not have panic attacks or the most important – they don´t have that feeling that you have too much of everything but you still don´t know what you really wish.
