152. En un período relativamente breve —menos de veinte años— Estonia ha creado un sistema de administración de justicia basado en los principios de la democracia y el estado de derecho, que funciona adecuadamente. No hay motivo alguno para dudar de la independencia y la imparcialidad de los jueces estonios; pocas veces se ha podido hablar de violación de los derechos procesales.
153. Con la adopción de la nueva Ley de igualdad de trato en 2009, Estonia logró un importante avance hacia la igualdad de oportunidades y la lucha contra la discriminación en toda la sociedad. El próximo paso consistirá en la plena aplicación de las Leyes de igualdad de género y de igualdad de trato.
154. El proceso de naturalización ha dado resultados positivos: de la cifra aproximada de 500.000 extranjeros (492.000) en 1992 se ha pasado a menos de 100.000. En particular, las medidas destinadas a los padres de hijos de nacionalidad indeterminada han tenido un éxito notable. No obstante, el Gobierno sigue empeñado en motivar a los aspirantes a obtener la nacionalidad ofreciendo cursos de idioma gratuitos, organizando trabajos de información y atendiendo individualmente a los solicitantes.
155. Con el primer Plan de desarrollo contra la trata de seres humanos, de 2006-2009, se creó una red activa de cooperación nacional a este respecto, se fomentó la capacidad de prestar asistencia primaria a las víctimas y se emprendió la cooperación internacional.
Ahora el desafío consiste en reducir el número de delitos relacionados con la trata de seres humanos. Éste es también uno de los principales objetivos del Plan de desarrollo para la reducción de la violencia, que ha dado comienzo en 2010.
156. Una importante realización es la adopción y aplicación de la Estrategia para garantizar los derechos del niño, 2004-2008. También es necesario prestar mayor atención a la prevención, en vez de limitarse a atender a las consecuencias. El Canciller de Justicia y varias ONG han señalado la necesidad de crear el cargo institucional de Defensor del Niño.
157. Entre las medidas adoptadas en Estonia para combatir la crisis económica, los subsidios salariales han sido eficaces y han contribuido a dar el empleo a más de 4.000 personas. Otra señal positiva es el menor ritmo de crecimiento del desempleo registrado en 2010. No obstante, hay que encontrar los medios de financiar medidas activas en el mercado de trabajo.
V. Obligaciones
158. El Gobierno de Estonia confirma su decisión de proteger plenamente los derechos humanos a nivel local e internacional.
159. Estonia ha presentado su candidatura al Consejo de Derechos Humanos con miras a mejorar la distribución de información acerca de los derechos humanos y su protección. En las organizaciones internacionales, así como en nuestras relaciones bilaterales, seguiremos prestando especial atención a los derechos de las mujeres y los niños.
160. Estonia acelerará sus esfuerzos en pro de la igualdad de trato y de género, especialmente en lo relativo a los derechos de la mujer, la integración de las minorías nacionales en la sociedad estonia y la mejora de las garantías en la administración de la justicia.
161. El Gobierno sigue tratando de remediar las deficiencias señaladas en el informe. Las estrategias y planes de acción del Estado descritas en el informe seguirán aplicándose y desarrollándose.
162. Asimismo, Estonia continuará presentando informes regulares sobre la aplicación de los instrumentos de derechos humanos, distribuirá información sobre los procedimientos especiales de derechos humanos, y cooperará con ellos.
Notas
1 Under § 3 of the Estonian Constitution, generally recognised principles and rules of international law are an inseparable part of the Estonian legal system. Ratified international treaties become directly applicable in Estonia. Under the Constitution, in case of a conflict between Estonian laws and international treaties ratified by the Riigikogu, the provisions of the international treaty apply. Estonia shall not enter into international treaties which are in conflict with the Constitution.
2 Estonia is also considering recognising the competence of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.
3 Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Children’s Fund, the UN
Development Programme, the UN Population Fund, the UN Development Fund for Women, and the UN Girls’ Education Initiative.
4 Judges are appointed for life; judges may be removed from office only by a court judgment; criminal charges against a judge of a court of the first instance and a court of appeal may be brought during their term of office only on the proposal of the Supreme Court en banc with the consent of the President of the Republic; criminal charges against a justice of the Supreme Court may be brought during their term of office only on the proposal of the Chancellor of Justice with the consent of the majority of the members of the Riigikogu.
5 The Chancellor’s independence is guaranteed through the establishment of the institution under the Constitution and through the Chancellor of Justice Act, the grounds and procedures for appointing the Chancellor to office and for release from office, limitations on the Chancellor’s activity (e.g. the prohibition to belong to a political party, engage in business etc), requirements for the officials working in the Chancellor’s Office (e.g. prohibition to belong to a political party), and the budget (decided by the parliament).
6 The Commissioner is an institution which is separate from the Chancellor of Justice. Nevertheless, the law requires both to cooperate with other persons and institutions in order to promote equality and equal treatment. The main difference between the procedures carried out by the two institutions lies in the obligatory nature of the outcome. The Chancellor’s conciliation proceedings are voluntary and both parties to the dispute must agree to initiating the proceedings. If the parties agree, the Chancellor forms an opinion whether discrimination has taken place or not. If the parties consent with the Chancellor’s opinion and enter into a relevant agreement, performance of the agreement becomes binding on them. The Commissioner, however, may express an opinion on possible discrimination only upon a request by one of the parties, but the opinion is not legally binding on the other party.
7 In 2009, the Estonian Union for Child Welfare and the Estonian Institute of Human Rights drew up study materials on human rights.
8 1) to execute a conviction or detention ordered by a court;
2) in the case of non-compliance with a direction of the court or to ensure the fulfilment of a duty provided by law;
3) to combat a criminal or administrative offence, to bring a person who is reasonably suspected of such an offence before a competent state authority, or to prevent his or her escape;
4) to place a minor under disciplinary supervision or to bring him or her before a competent state authority to determine whether to impose such supervision;
5) to detain a person suffering from an infectious disease, a person of unsound mind, an alcoholic or a drug addict, if the person is dangerous to himself or herself or to others;
6) to prevent illegal settlement in Estonia and to expel a person from Estonia or to extradite a person to a foreign state.
9 For better implementation of the Gender Equality Act, two publications have been issued. For the wider public, the Gender Equality Act is explained in a clear and simple short overview published in Estonian and Russian. A commented edition of the Gender Equality Act is meant for lawyers, judges
and other legal experts. Comments are also intended to assist ministries and local authorities in implementing the gender mainstreaming strategy and employers in meeting the obligations imposed by the Act. In the next period of the programme “Promoting gender equality”, training seminars on these issues are also planned. At the end of 2010, a longer collection of analytical articles on the subject in Estonian and Russian will be issued.
10 In 2008, there were a total of 162 child protection workers in 227 local authorities. In accordance with the concept of child protection, Estonia wishes to bring child protection up to the level where there is one child protection worker per 1,000 children.
11 During the four years of existence of the development plan, approximately seven million kroons have been spent on financing earmarked activities instead of the initially planned approximately five million. Initially, money for several large initiatives, for example for launching the hotline and shelters for victims of human trafficking and provision of rehabilitations services, was received from the European Commission and through international projects of Nordic countries, but by now the funding obligations are covered from the state budget and this is an important achievement.
12 In 2009, 116 criminal offences either directly or indirectly related to human trafficking were registered in Estonia. Under the human trafficking provisions, 22 persons were convicted and two were acquitted.
13 After the end of the first programme Integration in Estonian Society 2000−2007, in 2008 the Government adopted the Estonian Integration Strategy 2008−2013. The strategy is supported by the implementing plan, the performance of which is discussed annually by the Government.
14 In autumn 2009 a programme funded from the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals was launched. This enables to offer Estonian language courses for all persons with undetermined citizenship or citizens of third countries, regardless of whether they subsequently sit the citizenship examination or not.
15 2001/55/EC, 2003/9/EC, 2003/86/EC, 2004/83/EC, 2005/85/EC.
16 In Estonia, elderly people make up about 15.9% of the population and according to the UN
Population Prospects, by 2030, the elderly population in Estonia may constitute even one fourth. This imposes additional requirements on the health care and social welfare system.
17 Pillar I: The state pension means a pension based on the principle of solidarity through which the current taxpayers pay pension to the current pensioners. State pension insurance ensures people’s income in the case of old age, incapacity for work or loss of a provider. There are two kinds of state pensions in Estonia: pensions depending on a person’s work contribution (old-age pension, incapacity for work pension, and survivor’s pension) and a national pension, i.e. the minimum pension. The minimum pension rate in 2010 is 2009 kroons.
Pillar II: The mandatory funded pension is based on pre-financing, i.e. an employed person himself or herself collects their pension by paying 2% of their wages to the pension fund. The state adds to this 4% on account of the 33% social insurance tax paid on the person’s wages. Although during the period of economic crisis, in 2009 and 2010 the Government suspended the payment of its share of contributions, the state’s payments will continue to the full extent in 2012 and, in case of persons who had continued to make their own payments during the suspension period, the state’s contribution will increase.
Pillar III: Supplementary funded pension is a voluntary private pension which allows for additional savings to maintain the habitual standard of life also in the old age.
18 The types of family benefits are as follows: childbirth allowance, child allowance, child care allowance, single parent’s child allowance, conscript’s child allowance, allowance of a child under guardianship or foster care, start in independent life allowance, adoption allowance, and parent’s allowance of a family with seven or more children.
19 First, Estonian inhabitants can deduct from their annual income the education costs (including interest paid on student loan) of children under 26 years old or foster children. Secondly, one of the parents (or the person maintaining the child) can also deduct from 2009 additional non-taxable income as of the second child in the family under 17 years old.
20 Labour market benefits include the unemployment allowance, grants paid to unemployed persons who participate in labour market training, work practice or coaching for working life; and transport and accommodation benefit.
21 Among the hardest hit were sectors employing mostly men (construction, processing industry) and consequently the drop in employment of men was particularly sharp. In 2009, the number of new recipients of unemployment insurance benefits (54,970) increased more than three-fold as compared to 2008.
22 As the transfer has only lasted for a few years, it is currently not possible to say with full certainty how it has affected the quality of education provided in Russian-speaking schools. However, the results of school leaving examinations of pupils of Russian-speaking schools have been above average and, according to employers, young people with a knowledge of several languages also have better opportunities on the labour market as compared to those who only know Estonian.