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United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child - States Parties Reports |
UNITED
NATIONS |
|
CRC
|
|
Convention on the Rights of the Child |
Distr. GENERAL CRC/C/8/Add.45 11 July 2002 Original: ENGLISH |
COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES
UNDER
ARTICLE 44 OF THE CONVENTION
Initial reports of States parties due in
1993
Addendum
ESTONIA
GE.02-43197
(E) 250702
CONTENTS
Paragraphs Page
I. GENERAL MEASURES OF
IMPLEMENTATION 1 - 27 5
II. DEFINITION OF THE CHILD (art. 1) 28 -
44 11
III. GENERAL PRINCIPLES 45 - 64 14
A. Nondiscrimination
(art. 2) 45 - 50 14
B. Best interests of the child (art. 3) 51 -
53 15
C. Right to life, survival and development (art. 6) 54 -
60 15
D. Right to express one’s views (art. 12) 61 -
64 16
IV. CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS 65 - 138 16
A. Name and
nationality (art. 7) 65 - 85 16
B. Preservation of identity (art. 8)
86 - 97 20
C. Freedom of expression and access to
appropriate
information (arts. 13, 17) 98 - 104 23
D. Freedom
of thought, conscience and religion (art. 14) 105 - 110 24
E. Freedom
of association and peaceful assembly (art. 15) 111 -
122 25
F. Protection of privacy (art. 16) 123 -
129 26
G. Right not to be subjected to torture or other
cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
(art. 37 (a))
130 - 138 28
V. FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE CARE 139 -
242 29
A. Parental guidance (art. 5) 139 -
157 29
B. Parental responsibility (art. 18, paras. 1-2) 158 -
167 32
C. Separation from parents (art. 9) 168 -
182 34
D. Family reunification (art. 10) 183 - 187 37
CONTENTS (continued)
Paragraphs Page
E. Recovery of
maintenance for the child (art. 24, para. 4) 188 -
194 38
F. Children deprived of a family environment (art. 20)
195 - 208 39
G. Adoption (art. 21) 209 - 220 44
H. Illicit
transfer and non-return (art. 11) 221 46
I. Abuse and neglect (art.
19); physical and psychological
recovery and social reintegration (art.
39) 222 - 234 46
J. Periodic review of placement (art. 25) 235 -
242 51
VI. BASIC HEALTH AND WELFARE 243 - 352 53
A. Survival
and development (art. 6, para. 2) and health
and health services (art. 24)
243 - 296 53
B. Children with disabilities (art. 23) 297 -
310 63
C. Social security and childcare services and
facilities
(arts. 26 and 18, para. 3) 311 - 325 66
D. Standard
of living (art. 27, paras. 1-3) 326 - 352 69
VII. EDUCATION, LEISURE
AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES 353 - 416 76
A. Education and aims of
education (arts. 28, 29) 353 - 395 76
B. Leisure, recreation and
cultural activities (art. 31) 396 - 416 88
VIII. SPECIAL PROTECTION
MEASURES 417 - 554 92
A. Children in situations of emergency 417 -
438 92
1. Refugee children (art. 22) 417 - 432 92
2.
Children in armed conflicts; psychological and
physical recovery and
social reintegration of
children (arts. 38, 39) 433 -
438 94
B. Children in conflict with the law (arts. 40, 37, 39) 439 -
490 95
CONTENTS (continued)
Paragraphs Page
C. Children in situations
of exploitation; physical and
psychological recovery and social
reintegration
(art. 39) 491 - 534 104
1. Economic exploitation
and child labour (art. 32) 491 - 515 104
2. Drug abuse (art. 33)
516 - 528 108
3. Sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (art. 34)
529 110
4. Sale, trafficking and abduction (art. 35) 530 -
534 110
D. Children belonging to a minority or an indigenous
group
(art. 30) 535 - 554 110
Annexes[*]
1. The Constitution of the Republic of Estonia
2. Republic of Estonia
Child Protection Act
3. Family Law Act
4. Basic Schools and
Upper Secondary Schools Act
I. GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION
1. The Republic of Estonia acceded to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child by a resolution of the Supreme Council of
the Republic
of Estonia of 26 September 1991 (RT 1991, 35, 428), the
letter of accession was deposited with the United Nations SecretaryGeneral
on 21
October 1991 and the Convention took effect in relation to Estonia on 20
November 1991. The text of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child has been
published in Part II of the Riigi Teataja (RT II 1996, 16, 56), which has
a circulation of 2,500 copies. The Riigi Teataja is an official gazette
for the publication of Estonian laws and accompanying legislation. Part II of
the Riigi Teataja is for the publication of international treaties and
their Estonian translations. The legislation published in the Riigi
Teataja can be accessed through the Internet.
2. In addition to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, Estonia intends in the near future to
accede to other international conventions
for the protection of the child - the
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and the
European Convention
on Recognition and Enforcement of Decisions concerning
Custody of Children and on Restoration of Custody of Children. The latter
was
approved by the Government of Estonia on 2 May 2000. Accession to the
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International
Child Abduction has been
prepared and submitted to the Government of the Republic.
3. The
Constitution of the Republic of Estonia (RT 1992, 26, 349) was approved in a
referendum in 1992. The Constitution determines the status of norms of
international law in the Estonian legal system. According to article 3 of the
Constitution, generally recognized principles and rules of international law are
an inseparable part of the Estonian legal system. If Estonian
laws or other
legislation are in conflict with international treaties ratified by the
Riigikogu (the Parliament), provisions of the
relevant international treaty will
apply, according to article 123 of the Constitution.
4. In accordance
with the Foreign Relations Act (RT I 1993, 72/73, 1020) the Government of the
Republic is responsible for the fulfilment
of international treaties. If an
Estonian legal act contradicts an international treaty, the Government either
submits a bill to
the Riigikogu for amendments to the act or the
Government amends other legal acts within its competence to comply with the
treaty.
5. The Supreme Court has in several judgements referred to
international human rights agreements, for example the International Covenant
of
Civil and Political Rights, the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights
and Fundamental Freedoms and the Convention on the
Rights of the Child. In
1996, the Riigikogu passed the Non-Profit Associations Act
(RT I 1996, 42, 811; 1998, 96, 1515; 1999, 10, 155; 23, 355),
which the President did not promulgate as he found the Act to be in
contradiction with the Constitution and with article 15.1 of the Convention on
the Rights of the Child. The President noted that the Non-Profit Associations
Act restricts the rights of children to form associations and participate in
their management because the Act allows only natural persons
with active legal
capacity to form nonprofit associations and participate in the management of
their operation. According to Estonian
legislation, children have only limited
active legal capacity, which rules out the possibility of children forming
associations.
The question was examined by the Supreme Court and the Court
decided to declare the Non-Profit Associations Act as being in contradiction
with the Constitution (Supreme Court Constitutional Review Chamber judgement of
10 May 1996).
6. Estonian laws regulating the protection of children
contain generally recognized principles and norms of international law. The
rights of children are guaranteed by the provisions of the Constitution and
other legislation.
7. According to the Constitution, the family as being
fundamental for the preservation and growth of the nation and as the basis of
the society is protected by the
State. Parents have the right and the duty to
raise and care for their children. The law provides for the protection of
parents
and children. Families with many children and disabled people are under
the special care of the State and local authorities (arts.
27, 28).
8. In
1992, the Child Protection Act was adopted (RT 1992, 28, 370). The Child
Protection Act is based on the Convention on the Rights
of the Child. According
to the Act, persons below the age of 18 years are considered as children. The
guiding principle in the
protection of children is at all times and in all cases
to place the child’s interests first (arts. 1-3).
9. In addition to
the Child Protection Act, rights of the child are regulated by the following
laws:
Family Act (RT I 1994, 75, 1326; 1997, 28, 422; 35, 538);
Education Act (RT I 1992, 12, 192; 1994, 12, 200; 1997, 42, 678; 81, 1365; 1999, 51, 550; 102, 908);
Pre-School Child Care Institutions Act (RT I 1999, 27, 387);
Basic and Upper Secondary Schools Act (RT I 1993, 63, 892; RT I 1999, 42, 497);
Vocational Schools Act (RT I 1998, 64/65, 1007; RT I 1999, 10, 150);
Hobby Schools Act (RT I 1995, 58, 1004);
Means for Influencing Minors Act (RT I 1998, 17, 264);
Youth Work Act (RT I 1999, 27, 392);
Social Welfare Act (RT I 1995, 21, 323);
Family Benefits Act (RT I 1997, 42, 676; 77, 1309; 1998, 86/87, 1407; 1999, 67, 657; 82, 749);
Non-Profit Associations Act (RT I 1996, 42, 811; 1998, 96, 1515; 59, 941; 1999, 23, 355; 67, 658);
Churches and Congregations Act (RT I 1993, 30, 510);
Citizenship Act (RT I 1995, 12, 122; 83, 1442; 1998, 111, 1827; 2000, 51, 323);
Ethnic Minorities Cultural Autonomy Act (RT I 1993, 71, 1001);
Social Benefits for the Disabled Act (RT I 1999, 16,
273).
10. Supervision of the activities of State agencies, including the
guarantee of constitutional rights and freedoms, is exercised by
the Legal
Chancellor. The Legal Chancellor is an independent official responsible for
monitoring that legal acts adopted by the
State legislator and the executive and
by the local governments are in conformity with the Constitution and the laws
(article 139 of the Constitution). The activities of the Legal Chancellor are
set out in the Legal Chancellor Act (RT I 1999, 29, 406). According to article
19
of the Legal Chancellor Act everyone has the right to recourse to the Legal
Chancellor to supervise the activities of the State,
including the guarantee of
the constitutional rights and freedoms of persons. Thus, the Legal Chancellor
also performs the tasks
of an ombudsman. So far no petitions directly
concerning the rights of children have been filed with the office of the Legal
Chancellor.
The Legal Chancellor has the right to appoint special advisers,
including advisers to work specifically in the area of the rights
of
children.
11. The working plan of the Ministry of Social Affairs includes
drawing up a strategy for the protection of children. According to
the
plan, the strategy will be completed by 15 December 2001. The
main goal of the strategy will be to help improve and amend legislation
and the
better implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in
Estonia.
12. The working plan of the private law department of the
Ministry of Justice includes drawing up a new Family Act. The deadline
for
submitting the draft law to the Government of the Republic is
2001.
13. In Estonia, no assessment has been made covering the full range
of articles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in comparison
with the
national legislation. However, an assessment has been made of the alignment of
Estonian legislation with the Convention
regarding certain aspects. For
example, a comparative analysis has been made on the topic of preventive and
corrective action to
alter the social behaviour of children who have committed a
legal offence. This analysis covered topics relating to the child on
a wider
scale.
14. It is important to state that the Constitution stipulates that
the laws shall be passed in accordance with the Constitution (art. 102). The
conformity of draft legislation with the Convention on the Rights of the Child
and other relevant international
agreements is taken into consideration within
the normal coordination/consultation procedure between different ministries.
There
are number of legislative acts that regulate the drafting and adoption of
laws.
15. According to the Child Protection Act, the protection of
children is guaranteed through State and local government bodies and
social
institutions. At the national level, the protection of children is coordinated
by the Ministry of Social Affairs (arts. 4,
5). In the Ministry of Social
Affairs, coordination of activities for the protection of children is within the
competence of the
Deputy Secretary-General responsible for the social sector;
daily work for the protection of children is coordinated by the Welfare
Department. The Ministry of Social Affairs cooperates with the Ministry of
Education, the Police Board and other State agencies.
At the regional level,
national policies are implemented by county governments, which coordinate
activities for the protection of
children pursued by local authorities. The
coordinators of work for the protection of children at the local government
level are
social workers of the social services departments.
16. According to the Local Government Organization Act (RT I 1999, 82,
755), article 5, the functions of local authorities in a rural
municipality or
city include the organization from their budgetary resources of the following
services: social assistance services,
housing and utility management,
maintenance of pre-school childcare institutions, basic schools, upper secondary
schools (gymnasiums),
hobby schools, libraries, community centres, museums,
sports facilities, shelters and care homes, and healthcare institutions.
17. An advantage of organizing activities for the protection of children
through local authorities is that they are better aware of
the particular needs
and interests of children and families. In addition to social workers, 109
child protection officials were
employed by local authorities in 1999; 76 of
them had special professional training (data of the Statistical Office). Many
local
authorities in Estonia are small and therefore do not have sufficient
resources. Of the 247 local government units in Estonia, 194
have less
than 5,000 inhabitants. The administrative reform planned in Estonia should,
among other things, help to advance the activities
of local authorities in
preventing and solving problems regarding the protection of children. Meanwhile
many local authorities have
joined their efforts in providing various services
and have consequently increased the quality and variety of services
offered.
18. Networking is only in the phase of development. To promote
networking, a number of training sessions have been carried out in
recent years,
in which several non-governmental organizations in addition to government
agencies have played a role. The Estonian
Central Union for the Protection of
Children has issued several publications to educate people about the importance
and nature of
networking. A positive example is the Tartu Children’s
Support Centre, where principles of networking have been used to solve
problems
of maltreated children for five years already. Good results at the local level
have been achieved through cooperation with
social workers, educators, the
police, healthcare workers and, if necessary, also with the prosecutor’s
office and the courts.
An organization similar in its aims to the Tartu
Children’s Support Centre was established in Tallinn in
1998.
19. In 1994, a juvenile police department was created under the
jurisdiction of the police structure. Its aim is to prevent and solve
offences
committed by minors. In local prefectures, crime prevention and youth services
have been formed whose task is to undertake
criminal prevention work among the
population and children and to coordinate the respective activities within the
police structure.
In other parts of the law enforcement structure (courts,
prosecutors’ offices), there is no special branch working with children
and young people.
20. The ministries and executive agencies collect data
necessary for their work. Statistical data on the situation of children is
collected by the Statistical Office of Estonia and by the ministries. Studies
on the situation of children have also been made by
universities and within the
framework of international projects. The analysis made on the basis of the data
is used to amend and
improve laws and to draft the yearly State
budget.
21. The following national programmes for the protection of children
could be mentioned: “Programme for the health of children
and
youth”; “Prevention of offences by minors, using legal, social and
psychological means”; “Development
of child welfare”.
Projects for the protection of children have also been carried out within
national welfare programmes like
“Preventive work in the social
sector”, “Implementation of open care”, “Reorganization
of State social
welfare institutions”, “Development of a system for
the resocialization of people who have committed offences”
and
“Creation of a system for assisting victims of
crimes”.
22. Many foreign countries and several international
organizations have provided assistance for the solution of problems related to
child protection. Within the European Union STOP programme, a project for the
prevention of commercial sexual exploitation of children
was financed. Several
projects for the protection of the health of children and youth have been
financed through the EU Phare programme.
There is also close cooperation with
the Swedish, Danish and Finnish Ministries of Social Affairs. As part of such
cooperation,
projects for assisting children from families at risk have been
financed. Several smaller organizations have supported local projects
within
one local government unit, cooperating with Estonian nongovernmental
organizations and local authorities.
23. In Estonia, the UNICEF National
Committee has been created. It participates actively in the shaping of public
opinion and cooperates
with various government institutions to improve the
situation of children in Estonia.
24. The Estonian Human Rights
Institute carried out a project entitled “Rights of the child in the
Baltic States” together
with Latvian, Lithuanian and Danish specialists.
The aim of the project was to analyse the situation in these States and suggest
possibilities to the governments for eliminating the bottlenecks.
25. In
cooperation with the Nordic Council of Ministers, a project entitled
“National support network for children” was
carried out.
Table 1
Persons working with children in various institutions
|
|
Child protection officials in rural municipalities and cities
|
109
|
Child protection officials in counties
|
11
|
Juvenile officials in counties
|
14
|
In juvenile committees of the counties
|
15
|
In juvenile committees of the rural municipalities and cities
|
19
|
In juvenile prisons
|
219
|
In social welfare institutions:
|
|
Children’s homes
|
854
|
School homes
|
275
|
Children’s homes of family type
|
74
|
Table 1 (continued)
|
|
Youth homes
|
16
|
Mixed-care social welfare institutions
|
14
|
Shelters
|
164
|
Social rehabilitation centres
|
208
|
In the police
|
82
|
Source: Data from Ministry of Social Affairs and Estonian
Statistical Office.
26. A total of 1,855 people are directly involved in
their daily work with children. In reality, this number is even larger because
to it should be added kindergarten and schoolteachers, school psychologists and
school social workers, medical workers and nongovernmental
organization workers,
as well as volunteers.
Table 2
Expenditure from the State budget for children in 2000 (in thousands of kroons)
|
|
Tiger Leap Foundation
|
21 500
|
Hobby schools
|
6 400
|
Other expenditure on education
|
59 395
|
Municipal schools
|
1 210 187
|
Gymnasiums
|
20 825
|
Schools for children with special needs
|
19 189
|
Private schools
|
14 846
|
Sanatorium schools and special boarding schools
|
45 428.2
|
Investments in general education (incl. municipal schools)
|
158 152
|
State schools for disabled children
|
92 484
|
Total
|
16 billion
|
Ministry of Culture
|
|
Support to the youth sports activities
|
26 009.7
|
Ministry of Agriculture
|
|
Support to the project “Milk for pupils”
|
5 000
|
Ministry of Social Affairs
|
|
Support to the health programme for children and youth
|
2 323.7
|
State welfare of children
|
88 514
|
Social support to children with disabilities
|
50 304
|
Support to the Union of Families With Many Children
|
1 000
|
Child benefits, childcare allowances
|
1 338 408.0
|
Total
|
1 480 549.7
|
Table 2 (continued)
|
|
Transport support to pupils at municipal schools
|
35 000
|
Total expenditure
|
3 052 823.9
|
Expenditure from the State budget
|
2 853 098.8
|
Percentage for children
|
7.4
|
Source: Ministry of Social Affairs, Ministry of Education,
Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Agriculture and Estonian Statistical
Office.
27. In addition to the above funding, the Ministry of Justice
allocated EK 18.5 million for the operating expenses of juvenile prisons
under its jurisdiction in 1999. The expenditure of local authorities in the
listed spheres of activity for children is not brought
out separately in the
budgets.
II. DEFINITION OF THE CHILD (art. 1)
28. According to the Child Protection Act, a
child is a person below 18 years of age. Passive legal capacity begins
with the birth
of the person and ends with his or her death. An adult
person, i.e. a person 18 years of age, has active legal capacity. If a person
who is at least 16 years of age has married before becoming 18, the person
who is a minor obtains active legal capacity from the
moment of contraction of
marriage. Upon termination or annulment of the marriage the person does not
lose active legal capacity
acquired by marriage (General Principles of the Civil
Code Act, art. 9).
29. Persons between 7 and 18 years of age
have limited active legal capacity and they have the right to enter into
transactions with
the consent of a legal representative (parent, guardian).
A transaction entered into without the consent of a legal representative is
deemed to be valid if the minor performs the transaction
with the means that
were granted to him or her for this purpose or for use at his or her discretion
by the minor’s legal representative
or a third person with the
latter’s consent (General Principles of the Civil Code Act, art. 10).
30. Minors under the age of 7 have no active legal capacity. On
their behalf, transactions are entered into by a legal representative who is a
parent, or exceptionally also a guardian appointed
by the court. A minor
under the age of 7 may independently enter into petty transactions (General
Principles of the Civil Code Act, art. 11). Everyone with passive
legal capacity has ability to inherit, thus including also
minors.
31. The Family Act provides additional protection of
children’s interests by establishing limitations for guardians of the
child
on concluding transactions (art. 99); a guardian may not without a
prior approval of a guardianship authority (supervisory guardian):
transfer
immovable property of the ward; transfer movable property of the ward which is
of special value for the ward; pledge and
give away as a gift things belonging
to the ward or take on proprietary liabilities in the ward’s name; take a
loan in the
name of the ward; waive collection of a debt or
acceptance of an inheritance on behalf of the ward. Transactions
between the guardian and the ward are prohibited. The guardian may not
enter into transactions on behalf of the ward with his or her spouse and
relatives (art. 100). Limitations on guardians entering into
transactions are also applicable with regard to the child’s
parents.
32. According to the Child Protection Act, every child has an
inherent right to life and health, and a child has to be registered
in the
healthcare institution right after the birth (see chap. IV, sect. A
below). Estonian laws do not prescribe any age limitations for seeking
independent counselling from a healthcare institution. In basic schools,
upper secondary schools and vocational schools the health of children is taken
care of by a school doctor and/or
nurse and children have the right to consult
them on their own initiative (see chap. VI, sect. A
below).
33. Children who have attained 7 years of age by 1 October
of the current year are subject to the obligation to attend school. Upon
the wish of the parents a child who has attained 6 years of age by 30 April
of the current year may be admitted to the first
year at school. A
student is obliged to attend school until completing basic education (9 years at
basic school) or until attaining 17 years of age
(Basic and Upper Secondary
Schools Act, article 17) (see chap. VII, sect. A
below).
34. According to the Labour Contracts Act (RT I 1992, 15, 241), a
person who has attained 18 years of age may be employed. In
exceptional cases, with the written consent of a parent or guardian, a minor
having attained 15 years of age may be employed if
the work does not endanger
the minor’s health, morals and acquiring of education and if the work is
not prohibited for minors. A minor between 13 and 15 years of age may be
employed with the written consent of a parent or guardian and the labour
inspector of
the employer’s location and for work included in the list
approved by the Government of the Republic if the work does not endanger
the
minor’s health, morals and acquiring of education and if the work is not
prohibited for minors.
35. Minors have a reduced working time: for
minors 13-14 years old 20 hours a week; for minors 15-16 years old 25 hours a
week; for
minors 17 years old 30 hours a week. Minors may not work overtime, at
night or on holidays.
36. A person is of age to marry when he or she has
attained 18 years of age. Minors between 15 and 18 may marry with the
written
consent of their parents or a guardian. If one of the parents or the
guardian does not consent to the marriage, a court may grant
the right to marry
based on the application of one of the parents or of the guardianship authority.
The court grants the right to
marry if the marriage is in the interests of the
minor (Family Act, art. 3).
37. Male Estonian citizens having
attained 18 years of age are obliged to register as conscripts. According to
section 19 of the
Defence Forces Service Act (RT I 2000, 28, 167),
citizens between 19 and 27 years of age are called to serve in the defence
forces.
38. According to the Code of Civil Court Procedure (RT I
1998, 43, 666), every person who may be aware of the facts relevant to a
matter
may be heard as a witness unless the person is participant in the proceeding.
Persons of up to 15 years of age shall not
take the oath (art. 101). If
necessary, a witness of up to 15 years of age shall be heard in the presence of
a teacher, psychologist,
parent or guardian who, with the permission of the
court, may also question the witness. A court may remove a participant in a
proceeding
from the courtroom while a witness who is a minor is heard if this is
necessary for ascertaining the truth. If necessary, a court
may remove a
witness of up to 15 years of age from the courtroom after he or she has been
heard (art. 111).
39. Criminal charges can be brought in general
against a person who attained 15 years of age prior to committing the crime
(Criminal
Code, art. 10 (1)). As an exception, a person who committed
an offence between the ages of 13 and 15 is subject to criminal liability
in
certain cases set out in the Criminal Code. See chap. VIII, sect. B
below for more details.
40. The term of deprivation of liberty for a
person who at the time of committing the offence was younger than 18 may not
exceed eight
years. Minors serve their sentence in a juvenile prison. A minor
may be placed under arrest for a term of up to one month during
the time free
from studies and work. A fine cannot be imposed on a minor convict who has no
permanent source of income. Being a
minor is an attenuating circumstance for
the imposition of a penalty of imprisonment.
41. According to the Code of
Administrative Offences, administrative charges may be brought against a person
who attained 15 years
of age prior to committing an administrative offence
(art. 10). An official, administrative judge or the court dealing with an
administrative
offence committed by a minor may terminate the proceedings and
transfer the file to a social worker if, considering the personality
of the
offender, it is expedient to impose suitable educational correctional means in
his or her case.
42. On the basis of article 31 of the Alcohol Act
(RT I 1999, 24, 359), it is prohibited to sell alcohol to a person under 18
years
of age. In case of doubt, the seller is required to ask that the buyer
present ID and to refuse to sell alcohol if no ID is presented.
Persons under
18 years of age may not trade in alcohol. Violation of the requirements of the
law will entail criminal or administrative
liability. Article 17 of the
Tobacco Act (RT I 2000, 59, 379) prohibits the sale of tobacco products to
a person under 18 years
of age. Persons under 18 years of age may not trade in
tobacco products.
43. According to the NonProfit Associations Act,
adopted after the judgement of the Supreme Court referred to in § 5,
children may establish nonprofit associations and be members
of these
associations. The NonProfit Associations Act stipulates that a member of the
association may be every natural person who meets the requirements of the
statues of the nonprofit
association (§ 5). Children may not belong
to the management board of a nonprofit association because a member of the
management
board has to be a person with active legal capacity
(§ 26).
44. According to section 19 of the Weapons Act
(RT I 1995, 62, 1056; 1997, 93, 1564; 1999, 57, 597), weapons with
unlimited civil
circulation and their ammunition may be acquired and owned by
citizens who are at least 16 years old. An Estonian citizen who is
at least 18
years old has the right to acquire and own a weapon with limited civil
circulation, except a pistol and
revolver classified as firearms. An Estonian citizen who is at least 21
years old or who has completed service in the defence forces
has the right to
acquire and own any kind of civil weapon with limited circulation in accordance
with the procedure and conditions
set out in the law.
III. GENERAL PRINCIPLES
A. Nondiscrimination (art. 2)
45. Article 9 of
the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia stipulates that the rights, freedoms
and duties of each and every person, as set out in the Constitution, shall be
equal for Estonian citizens and for citizens of foreign States and stateless
persons in Estonia.
46. Article 12 of the Constitution stipulates
that everyone is equal before the law. No one shall be discriminated against on
the basis of nationality, race, colour,
sex, language, origin, religion,
political or other opinion, property or social status, or on other grounds. The
incitement of national,
racial, religious or political hatred, violence or
discrimination shall, by law, be prohibited and punishable. The incitement of
hatred, violence or discrimination between social strata shall, by law, also be
prohibited and punishable.
47. The Criminal Code lays down a penalty for
inciting ethnic, racial, religious or political hatred, violence or
discrimination (art.
72). Article 721 of the same Code
establishes a penalty for directly or indirectly restricting the rights of an
individual or for granting him or
her direct or indirect preferences based on
his or her nationality, race, colour, sex, language, origin, religion, political
or other
beliefs, financial or social standing, or on other
grounds.
48. The Code of Criminal Procedure stipulates that
administration of justice in criminal matters is conducted according to the
principle
that persons are equal before the law and the court, regardless of
their origin, social or financial standing, racial and ethnic
belonging, sex,
education, language, attitude to religion, occupation and type of activity,
residence and other circumstances (art.
13).
49. Article 10 of
the Child Protection Act establishes the equal right of children to receive
assistance and care and to develop,
regardless of sex and ethnic origin and
regardless of whether they live in a full family or with a single parent,
whether they are
adopted or in care, whether they were born in wedlock or out of
wedlock, whether they are healthy, ill or have a
disability.
50. According to article 10 of the Education Act, the
State and local authorities must guarantee that children with physical, speech,
mind and mental impairments, and children needing
special assistance or special
conditions have the possibility to study in educational institutions created for
this purpose and guarantee
their full maintenance according to the procedures
and conditions set out in the laws.
B. Best interests of the child (art. 3)
51. According to section 3 of the Child
Protection Act, the guiding principle is that the best interests of the child
will be a primary
consideration at all times and in all cases. The Family Act
also requires that, in settling a dispute between the parents regarding
the
child, the court should determine the case according to the best interest of the
child. The court may ask the opinion of the
guardianship authority and the
guardianship authority may participate in the proceedings. A guardianship
authority also represents
the child’s interests in the case of settlement
of disputes outside a court of law. A guardianship authority is the local
authority of the child’s place of residence. Its task is to guarantee
that the child’s interests are put first.
52. According to the
Means of Influencing Minors Act, the child has the right to a representative who
protects his or her interests
in a juvenile committee (see chap. VIII,
sect. B below). The opinion of specialists is also required in all court
cases involving
minors, and a social worker monitors compliance with this
requirement (Child Protection Act, art. 35 (2)).
53. A child
who is at least 10 years old has the right to protect his or her interests, and
certain decisions (such as adoption, changing
name) cannot be made without the
child’s consent (Family Act, arts. 48, 79). Throughout Estonian
legislation, there is a general
principle according to which the child’s
opinion has to be considered in matters concerning him or her, depending on the
child’s
age and maturity. According to section 25 of the Social
Welfare Act, the child who is separated from home and family has the right
to
receive information about his or her origin, reasons for separation and
questions concerning his or her future.
C. Right to life, survival and development (art. 6)
54. Article 16 of the Constitution
establishes that everyone has the right to life. This right shall be protected
by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of
his or her
life.
55. According to article 27 of the Constitution, parents have
the right and the duty to raise and care for their children.
56. Article 8 of the Child Protection Act stipulates that every
child has an inherent right to life, health, development, work and
wellbeing.
57. For failure to fulfil the duty to raise and teach a child
by parents or persons who have legally taken over their obligations
(guardian,
caretaker in the family, foster parent, children’s welfare institution,
guardianship authority), the Code of Administrative
Offences prescribes a
penalty in the form of a fine up to 50 daily wages
(art. 153).
58. Termination of pregnancy is allowed only upon the
woman’s own wish until the eleventh week of pregnancy. For medical
reasons
or when the woman is under the age of 15 or over 45 years the
termination of pregnancy is allowed until the twentyfirst week of pregnancy.
Abortions are regulated in Estonia by the Termination of Pregnancy and
Sterilization Act
(RT I 1998, 107, 1766), which was passed by the Parliament in 1998.
There is also a register of abortions (art. 17). Pregnancy can
be
terminated only in a healthcare institution having the respective State licence
and the termination can be performed only by a
gynaecologist
(arts. 7, 9).
59. According to article 102 of the Criminal
Code, the murder of a newborn child by the mother during delivery or immediately
after
delivery is punishable by up to four years’
imprisonment.
60. In 1996 the Parliament ratified the Convention for the
Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the additional
protocols
to the Convention, except Protocol No. 6 concerning the abolition of the death
penalty. Protocol No. 6 was ratified in
1998.
D. Right to express one’s views (art. 12)
61. The NonProfit Associations Act (RT I
1996, 42, 811) grants children the possibility to create associations and, based
on the Youth Work Act (RT I 1999, 27, 392),
the State financially supports
children’s organizations and their projects.
62. According to
article 48 of the Family Act, the surname of a child who is at least 10
years old can only be changed with the child’s
consent. The wishes of a
child who is younger than 10 years also have to be considered if the
child’s maturity so permits.
63. Article 58 of the Family Act
establishes that, when settling a dispute regarding a child, the guardianship
authority or the court
proceeds from the interests of the child, taking into
account the wishes of a child who is at least 10 years old. The wishes of
a
child younger than 10 years also have to be considered if the
child’s maturity so permits. The child’s wishes have
to be taken
into account when determining the place of residence of a child, discussing a
dispute pertaining to a child.
64. According to the Social Welfare Act
(RT I 1995, 21, 323), as a rule, when a social welfare issue is being
settled, the person’s
(including the child’s) opinion has to be
heard. When an issue concerning a child is being settled, the opinion of the
parent
and foster parent or guardian has to be heard. When an issue concerning
a child who is 10 years old is being settled, the child’s
own wish has to
be taken into account, as well as a parent’s wish, or in the absence of a
parent, the foster parent’s
or guardian’s wish. When a child is
separated from home and family, the wish of a child who is younger than 10 years
also
has to be considered if the child’s maturity so permits
(arts. 31, 32).
IV. CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
A. Name and nationality (art. 7)
1. Name
65. According
to the Child Protection Act, every child has to be registered in a medical
institution immediately after birth (art.
9).
66. The birth of all
children born in Estonia is registered, regardless of the place of residence or
citizenship of the parents.
In the maternity hospital a medical card is filled
out for children born either dead or alive. The card is sent to the medical
birth
database at the Institute of Experimental and Clinical Medicine where,
since 1992, all birth cards have been registered and the data
processed. From
there, the statistically processed data are sent to hospitals and county doctors
and the birth card data is compared
with the birth sheet data sent from the
vital statistics offices to the statistical office. For compiling national
statistical data
on births, the data from both sources are
used.
67. According to the Family Act, a child’s birth record is
made within one month from the birth of the child, based on a parent’s
(the parents’) application at the vital statistics office, rural
municipality or city government or at representations of the
Republic of Estonia
abroad. The law does not discriminate between citizens and noncitizens in the
registration and naming of children.
The birth record of a foundling is made at
the vital statistics office of the place where the child was found, within three
days
of the finding of the child (art. 114). The birth record is made
based on the application of the parents, the birth document issued
by the
maternity hospital and other documents. If the parents are dead or unable to
file the application, the application is filed
by a relative, the head of the
medical institution where the child was born or by another person. The birth
record includes: the
child’s date and time of birth, sex, first name and
surname, place of birth, place of residence; basis of filiation from the
father
((a) number of marriage record; (b) ascertainment of filiation from
the father; (c) joint application of the parents or application
of the
father). As the person coming to register the birth need not always be the
child’s mother or father, errors may occur
in the data registered on the
basis of statements.
68. No fee is paid to the State for making a birth
record (State Fees Act, art. 22). No payment has to be made when giving a
name;
there are also no other hindrances in giving a name.
69. In the
case of failure to file an application for the registration of the birth of a
child in time, the data on the birth of the
child received from the maternity
hospital is sent to the register of births. Thus the birth of the child is
established. Birth
data are one of the best registered forms of data in
Estonia.
70. If the parents fail to register the child’s birth
within one month of the date of birth of the child, a fine in the amount
of up
to 10 times the daily wage may be imposed on the parents (Code of
Administrative Offences, art. 180).
71. A vital statistics office
issues a birth certificate confirming the birth of the child. The birth
certificate contains the child’s
first name and surname, personal code
number, date of birth, place of birth and data about the mother and father
(first name and
surname, person code, citizenship).
Table 3
Number of live births and stillbirths by sex,
19901999
|
1991
|
1992
|
1993
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
|
Live births
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
|
22 308
|
19 320
|
18 006
|
15 170
|
14 178
|
13 560
|
13 291
|
12 626
|
12 269
|
12 545
|
Boys
|
11 494
|
9 933
|
9 238
|
7 887
|
7 231
|
6 971
|
6 828
|
6 550
|
6 337
|
6 421
|
Girls
|
10 814
|
9 378
|
8 764
|
7 283
|
6 947
|
6 589
|
6 463
|
6 076
|
5 932
|
6 124
|
Of which Estonians*
|
14 725
|
13 220
|
12 700
|
11 116
|
10 327
|
9 867
|
9 625
|
9 197
|
8 831
|
8 921
|
Stillbirths
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total
|
173
|
148
|
175
|
121
|
124
|
101
|
102
|
108
|
92
|
82
|
Boys
|
93
|
79
|
86
|
69
|
67
|
44
|
52
|
65
|
51
|
48
|
Girls
|
80
|
69
|
89
|
52
|
57
|
57
|
50
|
43
|
41
|
34
|
Source: Statistical Yearbook of Estonia, 2000.
* By ethnic nationality of mother.
Table 4
Number of birth registrations in vital statistics
offices
Births
|
Of which stillbirths
|
|
1988
|
25 308
|
203
|
1989
|
25 213
|
188
|
1990
|
22 544
|
171
|
1991
|
19 590
|
148
|
1992
|
18 403
|
172
|
1993
|
15 429
|
126
|
1994
|
14 194
|
125
|
1995
|
13 621
|
99
|
1996
|
13 228
|
100
|
1997
|
12 704
|
108
|
1998
|
12 287
|
95
|
1999
|
12 545
|
82
|
Source: Vital Statistics Office.
72. According to the
Family Act, a child is given a first name with the agreement of the parents. If
the parents fail to agree, a
guardianship authority will decide which of the
names suggested by the parents is given to the child. A child may not be given
a
first name which is contrary to good manners and custom. A child may have no
more than three first names or one hyphenated first
name (art. 46).
73. The child is given the surname of the parents. If the parents have
different surnames, the child is given either the father’s
or
mother’s surname according to agreement of the parents. If the parents
fail to agree, a guardianship authority will decide
which parent’s name
will be given to the child. The child is given the mother’s surname if
the mother is not married
or if the child born or conceived during the marriage
is not the child of the man married to the mother and filiation from the father
has not been verified or ascertained (art. 47).
74. In the birth
record of a foundling, no entry about the parents is made. The first name and
surname of a foundling is decided
by a guardianship authority (art. 114).
Changing of a child’s surname is decided by a guardianship authority
following the
child’s interests and based on an application of the parent
wishing to change the child’s name. The child’s surname
is not
changed upon the termination or annulment of the marriage of the parents. Upon
adoption, the child is given the adoptive
parent’s surname on the adoptive
parent’s request, and the child’s first name may be changed with the
consent of
a child at least 10 years old (Family Act, art. 85. Adoption is
dealt with in chap. V, sect. G below.)
75. A person who was
born as a result of artificial insemination and who has attained the age of
majority has the right to apply to
the vital statistics office to obtain data
about his or her artificial insemination. If such a person was conceived with a
donor’s
spermatozoa, he or she is revealed only the data allowed by the
law (no personal data). According to the Family Act, an artificial
insemination
donor does not have the right to request identification of the mother or child
nor to be recognized as the father.
Consequently, the court shall not ascertain
a child’s filiation from an artificial insemination donor. The persons
who arranged
artificial insemination are obliged to keep the secret of
artificial insemination.
2. Nationality
76. The Constitution states that every child of
whose parents one is an Estonian citizen has the right to Estonian citizenship
by birth. Everyone who
has lost his or her Estonian citizenship as a minor has
the right to its restoration. No one shall be deprived of Estonian citizenship
acquired by birth. No one shall be deprived of Estonian citizenship because of
his or her beliefs. The conditions and procedures
for the acquisition, loss and
restoration of Estonian citizenship shall be provided by the Citizenship Act
(art. 8).
77. Estonian citizenship is acquired upon birth or by
naturalization (Citizenship Act, art. 2).
78. A child acquires
Estonian citizenship upon birth:
If at least one of the parents of the child holds Estonian citizenship at the
time of the birth of the child;
If the child is born after the death of his or her father and if the father
held Estonian citizenship at the time of his death.
79. A child found in
Estonia whose parents are unknown is declared on the application of the guardian
of the child or a guardianship
authority, in a court proceeding, to have
acquired Estonian citizenship at birth, unless the child is proved to be a
citizen of another
State.
80. Articles 1315 of the Citizenship Act set out the conditions for a minor
to acquire Estonian citizenship. A minor under 15 years
of age acquires
Estonian citizenship if it is applied for for the minor by his or her parents
who are Estonian citizens, or by a
parent who is an Estonian citizen submitting
a notarized agreement with the parent who is not an Estonian citizen, or by a
single
parent or by an adoptive parent who has Estonian
citizenship.
81. In order to acquire citizenship, a minor under 15 years
of age has to be staying in Estonia permanently and be released from his
or her
current citizenship, or be declared to be a stateless person, or it must be
proven that the minor will be released from his
or her current citizenship in
connection with the acquisition of Estonian citizenship.
82. A minor
under 15 years of age whose parents are dead, whose parents are declared as
missing or divested of active legal capacity
or whose parents are deprived of
their parental rights acquires Estonian citizenship by naturalization on the
application of a guardianship
authority or the minor’s guardian who is an
Estonian citizen.
83. A minor under 15 years of age who was born in
Estonia after 26 February 1992 acquires Estonian citizenship by naturalization
if:
His or her parents apply for Estonian citizenship for him or her and if the parents have legally resided in Estonia for at least five years at the time of submission of the application and are not deemed by any other State to be citizens of that State on the basis of any Act in force;
A single or adoptive parent applies for Estonian citizenship for the minor,
if the single or adoptive parent has legally resided in
Estonia for at least
five years at the time of submission of the application and is not deemed by any
other State to be a citizen
of that State on the basis of any Act in
force.
84. A minor under 15 years of age acquires Estonian citizenship
together with his or her parent or adoptive parent who is applying
for Estonian
citizenship on the application of the minor’s parents or single or
adoptive parent if the minor is staying in
Estonia permanently and is released
from his or her current citizenship or will be released from it in connection
with the acquisition
of Estonian citizenship or is declared to be a stateless
person.
85. In the meaning of the Citizenship Act, the child is an
independent entity. If a parent is deprived of citizenship, it does not
affect
the child’s legal status. If the deprivation of citizenship would result
in statelessness, citizenship may be retained
by the person.
B. Preservation of identity (art. 8)
86. Everyone has the right to preserve his or
her national identity (Constitution, art. 49). Every child has the right
from birth
to a name, nationality, general education in his or her national
culture, and to know and be cared for by his or her parents (Child
Protection
Act, art. 9).
87. According to the National Minorities Cultural Autonomy Act (RT I
1993, 71, 1001), persons belonging to a national minority have
the right to form
cultural selfgoverning agencies in order to exercise the rights given to them by
the Constitution the right to preserve one’s mother tongue, ethnic
identity, cultural traditions and religion. It is prohibited to ridicule
and to
obstruct the practice of ethnic cultural traditions and religious practices and
to engage in any activity which is aimed at
the forcible assimilation of
national minorities (art. 3).
88. The national programme
“Integration into Estonian Society 20002007” considers that an
important task of the State
in integrating Estonian society is to give persons
belonging to an ethnic minority the possibility to receive education in their
mother tongue and pursue their culture. Bearing this in mind, it is important
that the State give actual and financial support for
this purpose. The
organization of issues relating to education and culture of an ethnic minority
is also one of the competencies
of local authorities and several local
government units have already supported Sunday schools for ethnic minorities.
Part of the
preparation of a subprogramme “Education and culture of ethnic
minorities” is defining the roles of representatives of
ethnic minorities,
local authorities and the State in matters of the education and culture of
ethnic minorities, depending on the
situation in a particular
region.
89. The language of instruction in a basic school may be a
language other than Estonian. Whereas in the case of a municipal school
the
relevant decision is made by the local government council, in the case of a
State school it is taken by the Ministry of Education.
In a school or class
where instruction is not given in Estonian, learning the Estonian language is
compulsory from the first year
(Basic and Upper Secondary Schools Act,
art. 9). The language of instruction in a national minority educational
institution is chosen
by the educational institution itself (Constitution,
§ 37; see also chap. VII, sect. A below).
90. A
person belonging to a national minority has the right:
To establish and support national cultural and educational institutions and religious congregations;
To create national organizations;
To pursue national traditions and religious customs if they do not infringe upon public order, health or morals;
To use his or her mother tongue in public business within the limits established by the Language Act;
To issue publications in the national language;
To conclude agreements of cooperation between national cultural and educational institutions and religious congregations;
To disseminate and exchange information in his or her national
language.
91. Cultural selfgoverning agencies may be formed by persons
belonging to a cultural minority in Estonia, which includes more than
3,000
people. The main objectives of a cultural selfgoverning agency are:
To organize education in the national language and supervise the use of property for this purpose;
To form cultural establishments of a national minority and organize their activities, as well as organize national cultural events;
To establish and award foundations, grants and prizes for promoting the
culture and education of a national minority.
92. In 1996 Estonia
ratified the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of
National Minorities. The Framework
Convention provides for the protection of
rights and liberties of national minorities and persons belonging to them. When
ratifying
the Convention, Estonia made a declaration to the effect that the
Republic of Estonia understands the term national minorities, which
is not
defined in the Convention, as follows: what is considered as a “national
minority” is citizens of Estonia who
reside on the territory of Estonia;
maintain longstanding, firm and lasting ties with Estonia; are distinct from
Estonians on the
basis of their ethnic, cultural, religious or linguistic
characteristics; are motivated by a concern to preserve together their cultural
traditions, their religion or their language, which constitute the basis of
their common identity.
93. On 16 September 1998, the Riigikogu adopted
“The Fundamentals of Cultural Policy of the Estonian State”, which
provide
equal rights to all members of society to participate in cultural life,
regardless of their sex, nationality and residence. The
State promotes
activities of national minorities for the development of their culture and their
cultural contacts with the ethnic
homeland. The main goal of the State cultural
policy is to guarantee the preservation of Estonian national cultural
traditions,
to support the cultural autonomy of national minorities and to
maintain the viability of folk culture in all spheres of life.
94. From
the budget of the Ministry of Culture support is granted to national cultural
societies based on the projects they have submitted.
In 1996, the total amount
of the support was 950,000 kroons, in 1997 it was
1.2 million kroons, in 1998 and in 1999 it was
2 million
kroons, and in 2000 it was
1.5 million kroons.
95. The activities of national cultural
societies and their Sunday schools have been supported with direct grants
by State agencies,
several local authorities and foreign donors. Support has
also been given through the Integration Foundation or through the Nordic
countries/United Nations Development Programme project, “Support to
the national programme”.
96. In 1999, more than 120 national
cultural societies were active in Estonia. National cultural societies have
mostly joined into
four unions and associations of national cultural societies,
which are:
International Union of Associations of National Cultural Societies “Lüüra” (31 societies);
Union of Nationalities of Estonia (20 societies);
Union of Slavic Educational and Charity Associations in Estonia (42 societies and 33 collectives);
Round Table of IdaVirumaa National Cultural Societies (18
societies).
97. There are approximately 10 other active national cultural
societies operating outside these associations and unions.
C. Freedom of expression and access to appropriate information (arts. 13, 17)
98. The Constitution guarantees everyone the
freedom of expression. According to the Constitution, everyone has the right to
freely disseminate ideas, opinions, beliefs and other information by word,
print, picture or other means.
This right may be restricted by law to protect
public order, morals, and the rights and freedoms, health, honour and good name
of
others. There is no censorship in Estonia
(art. 45).
99. Estonian legislation does not regulate media and
publishing activities. Everyone may freely publish papers or
books.
100. According to the Child Protection Act, the child has the
right to freedom of expression. The child has the right and will be
accorded
the opportunity to seek, receive and impart diverse humanistic information and
to engage in organizations and movements
(art. 11).
101. The law
establishes restrictions on receiving and disseminating information with the
purpose of protecting State secrets, public
security and the rights and
reputation, health and morals of other people.
102. Article 9 of the
Advertising Act regulates advertising directed at children. Advertising shall
not exploit the natural credulity
or lack of experience of children. The
following additional requirements shall be observed in advertising directed
principally at
children:
(i) Advertising shall not suggest that possession of a product, use of a service or achievement of some other objective intended by the advertisement will give the child an advantage over other children of the same age or that the lack thereof would have the opposite effect;
(ii) Advertising shall not incite children to behave or act in a manner which has or may have the effect of bringing children into unsafe conditions;
(iii) Advertising shall not include any direct appeal to children to demand the product or service being advertised from other persons;
(iv) Advertising shall not create feelings of inferiority in children or incite them to act in an aggressive manner;
(v) In the production of advertising directed at children and in the use of children in advertising, their unique physical and mental state resulting from their age shall be considered.
103. Children’s
programmes may not be interrupted for broadcasting
advertisements.
104. For example, there was a case in which the showing
of an advertisement for a daily paper on television was terminated. The
commercial
depicted investigative journalism through the curiosity of a small
child, who was shown on the screen cutting open the stomach of
a beloved teddy
bear. The aim of the advertisement was to compare investigative journalism to
the curiosity of a child who wants
to learn everything. Viewers condemned the
advertisement for cruelty and inappropriateness and the buyer of the advertising
time
stopped showing the advertisement.
D. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion (art. 14)
105. Everyone has freedom of conscience,
religion and thought. Everyone may freely belong to churches and religious
societies. There
is no State church. Everyone has the freedom to exercise his
or her religion, both alone and in community with others, in public
or in
private, unless this is detrimental to public order, health or morals
(Constitution, art. 40). Article 41 of the Constitution stipulates that
everyone has the right to remain faithful to his or her opinions and beliefs.
No one can be compelled to change
them.
106. Implementation of freedom of
religion is dealt with by the Churches and Congregations Act, according to which
every person is
free to choose, confess and proclaim his or her religious
beliefs. No one is obliged to provide data about his or her religious
confession or church affiliation. A child who is under 12 years of age may, on
the wish of his or her parents, belong only to the
congregation of his or her
parents. A person who is 15 years old may decide independently about
joining or leaving a congregation.
107. Religious instruction is
regulated by the Education Act and the Basic and Upper Secondary Schools Act.
According to article 4 of the Education Act, learning and teaching of religious
instruction in Estonian general education schools is voluntary. The principles
and topics of
religious instruction are fixed in the curriculum approved by the
Ministry of Education. Religious instruction is taught at schools
as an elective
subject. Religious instruction is a subject in which the views of different
religions and their contributions to
the development of the society are learned
and it is meant to educate children about different religions. Religious
instruction
in general education schools is oecumenical in essence and is of
general Christian character, in order to avoid that religious instruction
could
become a means for religious influencing.
108. Article 33 of the Basic
and Upper Secondary Schools Act gives a possibility to a parent who disagrees
with a school on the issue
of religious instruction. The parent may address the
board of trustees of the school and the official who exercises State supervision
over the school.
109. Confessional teaching is provided at Sunday and
church schools affiliated congregations. The most widespread form of
children’s
Christian education in congregations is the Sunday school.
Larger confessions have their own youth work coordination centres. Oecumenical
cooperation is coordinated by the Council of Estonian Churches. Churches also
cooperate with social organizations and local authorities.
110. Charity
funds have been established by churches to provide spiritual assistance to
families with many children, disabled people
and elderly citizens and support
them materially.
E. Freedom of association and peaceful assembly (art. 15)
111. The Constitution states that everyone has
the right, without prior permission, to assemble peacefully and to conduct
meetings. This right may be
restricted in the cases and pursuant to procedure
provided by law to ensure national security, public order, morals, traffic
safety
and the safety of participants in a meeting, or to prevent the spread of
an infectious disease (art. 47).
112. On the basis of the relevant
provisions of the Constitution, the Public Meetings Act was adopted (RT I 1997,
30, 472; 1999, 31, 425), according to which at least seven days prior to
the holding
of a public meeting the rural municipality, county or city
government has to be notified of it. The local government unit will register
the notification of the public meeting. Holding a public meeting is prohibited
if the notification of the public meeting was not
registered
(art. 7).
113. Laws restricting this right are first and foremost
penal laws - the Criminal Code and the Code of Administrative
Offences.
114. The Constitution stipulates that everyone has the right to
form non-profit undertakings and unions. Only Estonian citizens may belong to
political
parties. The establishment of organizations and unions which possess
weapons, are militarily organized or perform military exercises
requires prior
permission, for which the conditions and procedure for issuance shall be
provided by law. Organizations, unions and
political parties whose aims or
activities are directed at changing the constitutional order of Estonia by
force, or are otherwise
in conflict with the law providing for criminal
responsibility, are prohibited (art. 48).
115. A separate law has
been adopted to regulate the activities of the Estonian Defence
League.
116. The procedure for the founding, termination and operation of
non-profit associations and their unions is regulated by the Non-Profit
Associations Act. Children have the right to participate in the activities of
non-profit associations (art. 5).
117. On the basis of the Youth Work
Act, the Ministry of Education supports the activities of youth associations and
allocates annual
grants to them. It also monitors the purposeful use of the
funds allocated for youth work from the State budget (art. 4). In the
State budget, the following expenses in the area of government of the Ministry
of Education are foreseen:
Grants to youth programmes and projects of youth associations;
Annual grants to youth associations;
Grants to national and regional programmes for youth work
(art. 16).
118. To support youth programmes and projects, the
Ministry of Education organizes competitions of programmes and projects. Annual
grants can be applied for by a youth association which has a membership of at
least 500 and whose local units operate on the territory
of at least one third
of the counties. The conditions and procedure for applying for the above grants
and their allocation have
been approved by a regulation of the Minister of
Education. Applications for grants are reviewed by the Youth Work Council
established
pursuant to a decree of the Minister of Education. Within one month
of the deadline for the submission of applications the Council
makes a proposal
concerning funding.
119. The largest youth organizations are the
Estonian Scout Association, the Estonian Guides Association and the Organization
of Successful
Children.
120. The first scout troops started their
activities in Estonia in 1912. In 1922, the World Organisation of the Scout
Movement was
created, and one of its founding members was the Estonian Scouts
Malev. In 1940, when Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union, the
scouting movement was banned. In 1989, the movement was restored and
in 1995
the Estonian Scout Association was founded. Since January 1996 this has been
the only Estonian scouts organization which
belongs to the World Organisation of
the Scout Movement.
121. The first groups of guides were formed in
Tallinn and Tartu in 1919. The first Estonianlanguage malev (unit of
troops) of guides was created in 1920. In 1940, the organization was banned.
In 1987, alongside the pioneer organization
other movements oriented towards
young people were created. Alongside the others, in 1988 and 1989 girls’
clubs were formed
in several places. The clubs developed contacts with the
former guides. There was a mutual belief that the club movement had many
similarities with the guide movement. In 1989, the Estonian Guides Association
was formed on the basis of the girls’ clubs
and the Estonian Guides
Malev was restored.
122. The Organization of Successful Children
(abbreviated ELO in Estonian) has existed in Estonia for 12 years. The ELO was
founded
in 1988 and it was the first independent children’s organization
in the former Soviet Union. The ELO includes children from
the fourth year of
school. Children from year 4 to 9 in schools form an ELO club. Pupils in years
10 to 12 form a junior team.
A club can be formed only if there is an adult
curator who has the respective training and an activity licence. Membership of
the
ELO is also open to all adults who are eager to learn about a successful way
of life and who are also willing to teach it to children.
F. Protection of privacy (art. 16)
123. The Constitution establishes that everyone
has the right to the inviolability of private and family life. State agencies,
local governments and their
officials shall not interfere with the private or
family life of any person, except in the cases and pursuant to procedure
provided
by law to protect health, morals, public order or the rights and
freedoms of others, to prevent a criminal offence, or to apprehend
a criminal
offender (art. 26). Everyone has the right to confidentiality of messages
sent or received by him or her by post, telegraph,
telephone or other commonly
used means. Exceptions may be made by court authorization to prevent a criminal
offence, or to ascertain
the truth in a criminal proceeding, in the cases and
pursuant to procedure provided by law (art. 43).
124. According to
the General Principles of the Civil Code, a person has the right to demand
termination of a violation of the inviolability
of his or her private life and
to demand compensation for moral damage and damage to property caused by the
violation (art. 24 (1)).
The following are deemed violations of the
inviolability of private life if performed without legal basis or against a
person’s
will:
Entry into the dwelling or onto the property of a person;
Search of a person or of things in his or her possession;
Violation of the confidentiality of messages sent or received by a person by post, telegraph, telephone or other commonly used means, and use of a person’s manuscripts, correspondence, notes or other personal documents or information;
Receipt of information through a person’s means of communication or disruption of its functioning;
Surveillance of the private life of a person;
Collection of information concerning the private life of a
person.
125. The Surveillance Act (RT I 1994, 16, 290; 15, 173; 1996, 49,
955; 1997, 81, 1361; 93, 1557; 1998, 47, 698; 50, 753; 51, 756;
61, 981; 98/99,
1575; 101, 1663; 1999, 16, 271; 31, 425; 1999, 95, 845) gives an exhaustive list
of exceptional surveillance activities,
like covert inspection of housing or
tapping of telephone calls and the activities, for which a court authorization
is needed. In
cases of urgency, authorization for such activities may be
granted by the DirectorGeneral of the Security Police or the DirectorGeneral
of
the Police Board, but he or she must, at the first possible opportunity, apply
to a court to declare the activity justified (art.
13). Such a control
mechanism will guarantee the legality and legitimacy of the surveillance
activities.
126. Searches are regulated by the Code of Criminal
Procedure. If an investigator has sufficient grounds to believe that an object
relevant to a criminal matter may be located, or a fugitive or a person whose
compulsory attendance has been ordered may be hiding
in a room, in an area or
with a person, the investigator will conduct a search in order to find such
object or person. A search
can be conducted only with the authorization of a
prosecutor or deputy prosecutor. In exceptional cases a search may be conducted
without the authorization of a prosecutor; however the prosecutor shall be
notified of the conduct of the search within one day (art.
139). A search
has to be conducted in the presence of impartial observers of the investigative
activity. During a search, the presence
of the person on whose premises the
investigative activity is performed, or the presence of his or her adult family
member or, in
the absence of the person or his or her adult family member, the
presence of a representative of the local government, shall be ensured
(art. 141).
127. The Criminal Code establishes a criminal penalty
for intentional activity by a person or a group of persons who did not have
the
right to undertake surveillance activity if, by this activity, the right to
inviolability of family life and private life or
the right to the inviolability
of home was violated (§ 1331).
128. The protection
of data is currently regulated by the Personal Data Protection Act
(RT I 1996, 48, 944; 1998, 59, 941) and the
State Secrets Act (RT I
1999, 16, 271; 82, 752). The State Secrets Act mainly covers data relating
to national defence and security
and to surveillance activities.
129. In
the meaning of the Personal Data Protection Act, personal data can be either
sensitive or non-sensitive. Sensitive personal
data are:
Data revealing political views, religious or philosophical beliefs; except data relating to being a member of legal persons in private law registered pursuant to procedure provided by law;
Data revealing ethnic and racial origin;
Data relating to state of health and sexual life;
Data relating to criminal convictions and judicial punishments;
Data relating to a criminal proceeding.
Processing of sensitive personal data is only permitted with the consent
of the person (art. 9). The Criminal Code establishes a
penalty for an
official who discloses data not subject to disclosure and thereby causes
financial damage or other serious consequences
(art. 167).
G. Right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment (art. 37
(a))
130. Estonia acceded to the Convention against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment on 21 October
1991 and the
Convention entered into force in relation to Estonia on 20 November
1991.
131. Estonia acceded in 1996 to the European Convention for the
Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
and its
Protocols 1 and 2. The Convention entered into force in relation to
Estonia on 1 March 1997.
132. The Constitution establishes that no one
can be subjected to torture or to cruel or degrading treatment or punishment.
No one shall be subjected
to medical or scientific experiments against his or
her free will (art. 18).
133. The Criminal Code determines torture to be
a crime against the person. Acts committed in a torturous manner are punishable
by
up to four years’ imprisonment. Intentional causing of a minor bodily
injury and intentional striking, battery or other acts
of violence which cause
physical pain are punishable by a fine or detention
(art. 114).
134. The Child Protection Act establishes the general
principle for the treatment of children that every child shall, at all times,
be
treated as an individual, with consideration for his or her character, age and
sex. It is prohibited to humiliate, frighten or
punish a child in any way which
abuses him or her, causes bodily harm or otherwise endangers his or her mental
or physical health
(art. 31).
135. If an adult treats a child in a
prohibited manner, the social services departments have competence to intervene
in order to resolve
the conflict and, if necessary, to apply for the punishment
of the person at fault under the administrative or criminal procedure.
A child
who has suffered violent treatment or mistreatment will be given necessary
assistance. An adult who treats a child violently
will also receive counselling
in order to prevent further mistreatment.
136. The Child Protection Act
establishes that instruction at school may not involve physical violence or
mental abuse (art. 40).
137. In Estonia, several campaigns for the
prevention of violence against children have been carried out. In 1993 the
Estonian Central
Union for the Protection of Children launched a programme,
“Children and violence”, which is aimed at studying the problem
of
violence against children, raising awareness of the problem and, if possible and
necessary, intervening in particular cases of
violence. Under the programme,
parents are advised mainly on the legal aspects of the problem. A campaign
entitled “Don’t
hit the child” has been carried out on several
occasions.
138. There are two specialized centres in Estonia (in Tartu
and Tallinn) dealing with the counselling and rehabilitation of mistreated
children and their families. In addition, specialists working with children are
also trained and a network of specialists is being
developed for resolving cases
involving mistreatment of children.
V. FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE CARE
A. Parental guidance (art. 5)
139. The Constitution recognizes the family as being fundamental to the
preservation and growth of the nation and as the basis of society. The family
is protected by the State. Spouses have equal rights. Parents have the right
and the duty to raise and care for their children.
The protection of parents
and children shall be provided by law. The family has a duty to care for its
needy members (art. 27).
140. According to the Family Act, a parent
is the legal representative of the child. A parent may not exercise parental
rights contrary
to the interests of the child
(art. 50).
141. According to section 24 of the Child Protection Act,
the natural environment for the development and growth of the child is the
family. The parents or caregivers of a child are required to get to know and
understand the child in order competently to support
the child’s
development. For such purpose, they have the right to receive consultation free
of charge from a social services
department (art. 25).
142. Based on
the Social Welfare Act, a person has the right to receive information about his
or her social rights and possibilities
for the protection of his or her
legitimate interests, and receive assistance in solving concrete social
problems.
143. Family counselling as a service has been available in
Estonia since the beginning of the 1980s. The first family counselling
bureaux were opened in the larger population centres in 1980 as a part of
the State service system. Later, professional associations
also created their
own counselling centres.
144. Counselling was offered for couples’
and family relations, problems of raising children and character problems, from
the
psychological, (special) pedagogical, psychiatric, sexological,
gerontological and legal aspects. The services provided were for
a charge.
Consultations were both individual and for groups (mainly schoolchildren but
also parents). Going to a counselling bureau
was voluntary.
145. In the
initial years, there was no possibility for practical training of counsellors in
counselling matters. The first training
sessions became possible at the
beginning of the 1990s. The first systematic twoyear family therapy training
was carried out under
the instruction of Swedes. The family therapeutic
approach has been adopted also at psychiatric hospitals, mostly in dealing with
cases of children.
146. A few years later the provision of training
became concentrated in the hands of the newlyemerged local professional
organizations.
In the period 1992-1995, school psychologistscounsellors were
trained at the Tallinn Pedagogical University and since 1995 psychological
counsellors were prepared at the Private School of Professional
Psychology.
147. In 1993-1997 the Ministry of Social Affairs supported
county governments in organizing the work of helplines and in the psychosocial
counselling of needy families. In every county, at least one counselling centre
developed which operated according to local circumstances
and availability of
local resources.
148. Also the projects “Our child” and
“Child’s own home” launched within the national social
programmes
in 1994 concentrated on the implementation of a counselling service
to support surrogate families and problematic biological families
respectively
throughout Estonia. At the same time, the “Baby project” was
started with the aim of preparing young families
for the growth of the family
and for the changes it brings about in relations inside the
family.
149. The development of the psychosocial counselling system in
Estonia was influenced by the tragic sinking of the “Estonia”
ferry
in 1994. The sudden extensive need for crisis counselling mobilized the whole
existing staff of counsellors and formed it
into a functioning network. As a
result of these events, the Tallinn Crisis Assistance Centre was founded - the
first and so far
the only municipal counselling centre. In subsequent years,
several discussions have been held on the initiative of specialists
about
various possible models for the development and unification of the counselling
system in Estonia.
150. There are currently 16 operating counselling
centres in Estonia where services are provided by different specialists -
psychologists,
psychotherapists, psychiatrists, sexologists, speech therapists.
The client’s share in paying for the service is according
to agreement,
the prices differ in various centres.
151. In 2000, the national helpline
was opened. Their short number, 126, can be called free of charge from all over
Estonia.
152. Family conciliation as assistance in resolving family
conflicts - especially considering the interests of children - began in
1996.
Fifteen specialists have been trained. Since 1998 the State juvenile committees
use conciliation services in their work with
juvenile offenders to reconcile
them with their victims if possible.
153. The building up of the victim
assistance system has also started; the existing counselling centres will be a
part of the system
as providers of psychological counselling.
154. School
psychologists began work in schools at the beginning of the 1980s (in 1979 the
Minister of Education passed a regulation
concerning the work of school
psychologists). There are currently 83 psychologists in schools, whose task is
first and foremost
to diagnose and counsel children, but also teachers and
members of the school administration. They work individually with children,
if
necessary also involving families and other parts of the network. In recent
years, local authorities have started employing social
workers in schools. More
school psychologists are needed than are currently employed.
155. On the
initiative of the Estonian Family Planning Union, 15 youth counselling bureaux
have been created in larger population
centres. They are available for
adolescents seeking information regarding issues of sex, human relations and
contraception. If
necessary, a gynaecologist can be consulted. On request, the
counselling centres send specialists to schools to help teachers in
providing
sexual and health education. They also prepare and distribute materials to
schools or other centres dealing with such
issues.
156. At larger
women’s clinics psychologists and medical staff provide instruction to
families regarding pregnancy and birth.
157. Topical thematic lectures
(recently, for example, on drug dependency) are offered to parents by schools
and kindergartens and
various third sector organizations. A good example is the
active participation of parents in the “Good start” programme
launched in kindergartens, where the contribution of parents was needed to
create more favourable conditions for the development
of children.
B. Parental responsibility (art. 18, paras. 1-2)
158. Parents have equal rights and duties with respect to their children.
A parent is required to protect the rights and interests
of his or her child. A
parent may not exercise parental rights contrary to the interests of the child
(Family Act, arts. 49-50).
159. If parents live apart, they will
agree with which parent a child will reside. In the absence of an agreement, a
court will settle
the dispute at the request of a parent. A parent living apart
from a child has the right of access to the child. A parent with
whom a child
resides may not hinder the other parent’s access to the child. If parents
have not agreed in what manner the
parent living apart participates in the
raising of the child and has access to the child, a guardianship authority or,
at the request
of a parent, a court will settle the dispute (Family Act,
arts. 51, 52).
160. A parent is obliged to maintain his or her minor
child and an adult child who needs assistance and is incapable of work (Family
Act, art. 60).
161. The duty of maintenance also lies with
grandparents and adult brothers and sisters whose financial situation permits
the provision
of such maintenance (Family Act, arts. 65,
67).
162. According to the Code of Enforcement Procedure (RT I 1993, 49,
693; 1997, 43/44, 723; 1998, 41/42, 625; 51, 756; 61, 981; 103,
1695; 1999, 18,
302; 27, 380; 95, 845), in the case of failure to make maintenance payments, a
claim may be enforced against the
debtor’s property (art. 69).
Intentional evasion by a parent of payment of maintenance ordered for a child by
a court is punishable
through a criminal procedure (Criminal Code,
art. 121).
163. According to the Child Protection Act, single parent
families and two parent families have an equal obligation to raise and care
for
their children (art. 26). According to the same law, families with
children will receive protection and support from the State.
Support of needy
families is organized by rural municipality or city social services departments
(arts. 24, 25).
164. According to the Social Welfare Act, for the
administration of child welfare and the creation of an environment favourable
for
children’s development, rural municipality governments and city
governments will:
Support children and persons raising children, cooperating with family members, other persons and agencies concerned;
Develop and implement specific programmes and projects for the development and protection of children;
If necessary, appoint support persons or support families for children or
persons raising children.
165. Child protection officials will be employed in the social and health
services departments of counties and, as necessary, in rural
municipality
governments and city governments for the provision of assistance to children,
families with children and other persons
raising children. If necessary, a
child welfare committee will be established as an advisory body within a rural
municipality government
or city government (Social Welfare Act, art.
24).
166. In 1999, 4,672 actions were filed with first instance county or
city courts concerning family law matters, including 1,820 divorce
actions, of
which 1,237 actions involving spouses with children, 2,185 actions claiming
enforcement of payment of maintenance to
children, 40 actions for ascertainment
of filiation and 368 actions for deprivation of parental rights and removal of a
child. In
addition, 1,056 applications were submitted for proceedings without
an action, including 159 applications for adoption, 136 applications
for
restricting the active legal capacity of a person or divesting a person of
active legal capacity.
Table 5
Number of court disputes
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
|
Children whose parents have been deprived of parental rights by a court
decision
|
277
|
296
|
287
|
320
|
Children who have been isolated from their family by a legal decision
|
49
|
102
|
81
|
79
|
Children in the case of whom a court or supervisory guardian has settled
the dispute*
|
Data missing
|
1 284
|
1 906
|
1 858
|
Including a dispute concerning the place of residence of the child
|
160
|
244
|
300
|
392
|
Including a dispute concerning the raising of the child and access to the
child
|
181
|
170
|
250
|
320
|
Including a dispute concerning the duty of maintenance
|
241
|
367
|
351
|
377
|
Other disputes
|
1 691
|
1 661
|
2 005
|
1 971
|
Source: Statistical survey “Children without parental
care”1996-1999.
* The total number of court disputes is
larger than the number of children because there can be several disputes per
child.
167. The total number of disputes in family law matters has
increased, among them the number of divorces and actions for deprivation
of
parental rights and removal of children has also risen.
C. Separation from parents (art. 9)
168. Everyone has the right to the inviolability
of private and family life. State agencies, local governments and their
officials
shall not interfere with the private or family life of any person,
except in the cases and pursuant to procedure provided by law
to protect health,
morals, public order, or the rights and freedoms of others, to prevent a
criminal offence, or to apprehend a criminal
offender (Constitution, art.
26).
169. A parent is the legal representative of a child and, as a legal
representative, the parent has the mandate of a guardian. A
parent has the
right to demand his or her child back from any person who has control of the
child without legal basis (Family Act,
art. 50).
170. The child and his
or her parents must not be separated against their will except if such
separation is in the best interests
of the child, if the child is endangered and
such separation is unavoidable, or if such separation is demanded by law or a
judgment
which has entered into force. The justification for the separation is
monitored by the social services departments (Child Protection
Act, art.
27).
171. Removal of a child from a parent and deprivation of parental
rights are regulated by the Family Act. At the request of a parent,
guardian or
guardianship authority, a court may decide to remove a child from one or both
parents without deprivation of parental
rights if it is dangerous to leave the
child with the parents. If leaving a child with a parent threatens the health
or life of
the child, a guardianship authority may remove the child from the
parent prior to obtaining a court order. In such case the guardianship
authority must file a claim with a court within 10 days for removal of the child
or for deprivation of parental rights. If upon
removal of a child from a parent
the child is left without parental care, a guardianship authority will arrange
for the care of the
child. If the reasons for removal of a child cease to
exist, a court may order the return of the child at the request of a parent
(art. 53). A child may also be removed from a step-parent or foster-parent
(art. 57).
172. If a court has made a decision regarding the residence of
a child and the child is not handed over voluntarily, according to
the Code of
Enforcement Procedure, the executor, with the participation of a representative
of the guardianship or educational institution,
will carry out an act of
enforcement for the handing over of the child. If the obligated person hinders
the execution of the judgement,
the executor may propose to the court that the
person be fined. If necessary, the executor may raise the question with a
guardianship
authority of the temporary placement of the child in a
children’s home (Code of Enforcement Procedure, art.
68).
173. According to the Social Welfare Act, a child may be separated
from his or her home and family for the provision of social services
and other
assistance only upon the concurrent presence of the following
circumstances:
Deficiencies in the care and raising of the child endanger the child’s life, health or development or if the child endangers his or her own life, health or development with his or her behaviour;
Other measures applied with respect to the family and child have not been sufficient or their use is not possible;
Separation of the child from the family is effected in the interests of
the child.
174. The subsequent residence, care and raising of a child
separated from his or her home and family will be arranged by the rural
municipality government or city government. If any of the circumstances for
which the child was separated from home and family ceases
to exist, the child
will be assisted in returning to his or her home and family (Social Welfare Act,
art. 25).
Table 6
Children without parental care registered for the first time
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
|
Children registered during the year
|
770
|
1 010
|
1 134
|
1 044
|
1 495
|
1 671
|
1 752
|
Of whom children who had a temporary residence permit
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
73
|
490
|
548
|
517
|
Children who were placed with foster families
|
512
|
586
|
296
|
627
|
440
|
479
|
671
|
Children who were placed with their biological families
|
-*
|
-*
|
-*
|
-*
|
342
|
401
|
383
|
Children who were placed in social welfare institutions
|
186
|
244
|
239
|
237
|
202
|
252
|
188
|
Children who were placed in shelters
|
0
|
-
|
260
|
269
|
457
|
463
|
507
|
Children who were placed in schools, the State providing full
maintenance
|
31
|
28
|
95
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Source: Statistical Yearbook of Estonia, 1999.
*
Until 1997, children who were placed with their biological families and children
who were placed with foster families were considered
as one
category.
175. If a child is separated from his or her parents, the
opinions and wishes of the child will be heard and annexed to the documentation
concerning the separation. The opinions of the child will be heard and
documented by a social services department. The justification
for the
separation is monitored by the social services department. A child who is
separated from one or both parents has the right
to maintain personal relations
and contact with both parents and close relatives, except if such relations harm
the child (Child
Protection Act, arts. 27, 28).
176. A child whose
parents reside in different States has the right to direct contacts and personal
relations with both parents.
For the purpose of family reunification, the child
or his or her parents have the right freely to leave the Republic of Estonia or
to enter the Republic of Estonia pursuant to the established procedure (Child
Protection Act, art. 30).
177. A parent living apart from a child has the
right of access to the child. A parent with whom a child resides may not hinder
the
other parent’s access to the child. If parents have not agreed in
what manner the parent living apart participates in the
raising of a child and
has access to the child, a guardianship authority or, at the request of a
parent, a court will settle the
dispute (Family Act, art. 52).
178. A
person who has been deprived of parental rights loses all rights with respect to
a child. A guardianship authority may permit
a person who has been deprived of
parental rights to visit the child if this does not have a negative influence on
the child (Family
Act, art. 55).
179. Upon adoption of a child the
personal and proprietary rights and duties of the child and the biological
parent will cease to
exist. Consequently, the biological parents will have no
right of access to the child and neither the child nor the adoptive parents
will
have the obligation to communicate with the parents and relatives nor to assist
them. An adopted child has, upon reaching adult
age, the right to receive
information concerning his or her parents from the transcript of the birth
record containing information
about his or her parents (Family Act,
arts. 86, 109, 114).
180. According to the Social Welfare Act,
sisters and brothers originating from one family will be kept together upon
separation from
their home and family unless this is contrary to the interests
of the children. A rural municipality government or city government
will, if
necessary, provide assistance to a family from whom a child has been taken in
order to help establish the prerequisite conditions
for the child to return to
the family. Upon placement of a child in care outside the administrative
jurisdiction of a local government,
the rural municipality government or city
government will attend to the preservation of the child’s connections with
his or
her former home town, establish conditions for the child to return there,
and help the child in his or her start in independent life.
A child who is
separated from his or her home and family has the right to receive information
about his or her origin, the reasons
for separation, and issues pertaining to
his or her future (art. 25).
181. If a parent has committed an offence
and is held in custody until conviction by a court of law, then, according to
the Code of
Criminal Procedure, he or she has the right to meetings,
correspondence and other communication with his or her relatives, with the
permission of the preliminary investigator or the court who is conducting the
proceedings in the criminal matter. If the person
is convicted for committing
an offence a judge or the chairman of a court will permit the close relatives of
a person in custody
to meet the person until the enforcement of the court
judgment (Code of Criminal Procedure, §§ 75,
329).
182. According to the Imprisonment Act (RT I, 2000, 58, 376) the
aim of the communication with the prisoner is to promote contacts
with his or
her family, relatives and other close people and to avoid disruption of the
social contacts of the prisoner (art. 23).
The detainee has the right
to meetings with family members, relatives and close people and the right of
correspondence and telephone calls under the control
of the administration. A
mother detained in a female prison and a child up to 3 years of age are given
the possibility to live together
(art. 54).
D. Family reunification (art. 10)
183. Everyone has the right to leave Estonia.
This right may be restricted in the cases and pursuant to procedure provided by
law
to ensure the administration of court or pre-trial procedure, or to execute
a court judgment (Constitution, art. 25).
184. No Estonian citizen shall
be expelled from Estonia or prevented from settling in Estonia. No Estonian
citizen shall be extradited
to a foreign State, except under conditions
prescribed by an international treaty and pursuant to procedure provided by such
treaty
and by law. Extradition shall be decided by the Government of the
Republic. Everyone who is under an extradition order has the
right to contest
the extradition in an Estonian court. Every Estonian has the right to settle in
Estonia (Constitution, art. 36).
185. Concerning relations between a
child and his or her parents and the right of a child to relations with both
parents, see paragraphs
168-182 above.
186. In 1999 the Citizenship and
Migration Board reviewed and made a decision concerning 3,647 applications
for a residence permit
submitted in 1998 and
until 1 November 1999. Of these applications, 1,625 involved
family reunification, including 1,250 applications
submitted by persons in
whose case the granting of a residence permit is subject to the immigration
quota.
Table 7
Residence permits granted for family reunification
Subject to the immigration quota
|
Not subject to the immigration quota
|
Total
|
|
With a spouse
|
318
|
121
|
493
|
Of a child with a parent
|
57
|
205
|
262
|
Of a parent with a child
|
70
|
1
|
71
|
With another relative
|
23
|
|
23
|
Of an employee with a family member (spouse or child)
|
21
|
36
|
57
|
Of returning Estonians with family members
|
|
12
|
12
|
Total
|
489
|
375
|
864
|
Source: Estonian Citizenship and Migration Board.
Table 8
Residence permits refused for the reason that the immigration
quota for
the year in which the application was filed has been met
463
|
|
To a child for reunification with a parent
|
102
|
To a parent for reunification with a child
|
166
|
To another relative
|
19
|
To a family member of an employee (spouse or child)
|
11
|
Total
|
761
|
Source: Estonian Citizenship and Migration
Board.
187. According to article 6 of the Aliens Act (RT I 2000, 33, 197)
the following persons are not subject to the immigration quota:
the spouse of
an Estonian citizen who is applying for a residence permit, if the spouses have
a common minor child or if the wife
is more than 12 weeks pregnant; the minor
child of an Estonian citizen, for whom a residence permit can be applied for to
reside
with a close relative who is residing permanently in Estonia.
E. Recovery of maintenance for the child (art. 27, para. 4)
188. According to the Family Act, a parent is
required to maintain his or her minor child or a child who has become an adult
but who
needs assistance and is incapacitated for work. If a child attends
basic school, secondary school or vocational school and continues
to study
therein upon becoming an adult, a parent is required to maintain the child
during his or her studies (art. 60).
189. If the parents are for any
reason unable to provide maintenance for their child, grandparents or the
child’s adult sisters
and brothers are required to maintain the child.
Grandparents whose financial situation so permits are required to maintain their
minor grandchild or their adult grandchild who needs assistance and is
incapacitated for work, if the grandchild does not have parents,
a spouse or a
child who has become an adult or if it is not possible to obtain maintenance
from these persons (Family Act, art. 65).
An adult brother or sister whose
financial situation so permits is required to maintain his or her minor brothers
and sisters if
they do not have parents or grandparents or if it is not possible
to obtain maintenance from these persons (Family Act, art. 67).
190. If a
parent fails to perform the duty of providing maintenance for a child, a court
will, at the request of the other parent,
or of the guardian or guardianship
authority, order support for the child to be paid to the parent who submitted
the claim or to
the guardian or person in whose interests the guardianship
authority submitted the claim. Support for a child will be specified
as a
monthly support payment based on the financial situation of each parent and the
needs of the child (Family Act, art. 61).
191. Deprivation of parental
rights does not release a parent from the duty of providing maintenance for a
child. If a child has
been placed in a childcare institution and a parent fails
to perform the duty of providing maintenance for the child, a court will,
at the
request of the childcare institution or a guardianship authority, order child
support to be paid by the parent to the childcare
institution where the child
resides (Family Act, arts. 55, 62). An orphan or child deprived of parental
care has the right to full
maintenance by the State (Child Protection Act,
art. 15).
192. According to article 13 of the State Pension
Insurance Act (RT I 1998, 64, 1009), in the case of the death of a parent or if
a parent is declared missing pursuant to the established procedure, his or her
minor children will be granted a survivor’s
pension regardless of whether
they were maintained by the provider or not.
193. The survivor’s
pension is paid to the child until the child attains 18 years of age, or up
to 24 years of age if the child
is enrolled in daytime or full-time study.
In 1999, minors and students up to 24 years were paid survivors’ pensions
in the
total amount of 11,658,075 kroons.
194. As at 1 January 2000,
there were 14,007 minors (764 of them orphans, 7,105 male and 6,902 female) and
5,454 students aged 18-24
in Estonia one or both of whose parents were dead and
who had been granted a survivor’s pension.
Table 9
Children under 18 receiving a survivor’s pension
Source: Estonian Statistical Office, 2000.
F. Children deprived of a family environment (art. 20)
195. Article 62 of the Child Protection Act
establishes that temporary assistance, support and protection will be provided
to the
child in shelters (safe houses). The director of a shelter is required
to notify the social services departments and police department
at the place of
residence of the child of any child who enters the shelter.
196. A
shelter provides assistance and protection to children in need, regardless of
their place of residence, state of health, nationality
and other
characteristics. A child may go to a shelter on his or her own initiative if he
or she has left home, a foster-parent
or a childcare institution due to problems
relevant for the child. Any adult whom a child approaches for assistance may
also bring
the child to a shelter.
197. A shelter provides a child
deprived of parental care or a child in danger with care, medical aid and
rehabilitation appropriate
for the child’s age and condition, and together
with the local authority of the place of residence of the child, guarantees
the
protection of the child’s rights and interests.
Table 10
Children in shelters
Source: Estonian Statistical Office, 1999.
Table 11
Three main causes of stay among the total number of
children
in shelters (percentage of causes overall)
|
1998
|
1999
|
|
Difficult economic situation
|
9
|
26.5
|
27.6
|
Neglect at home
|
23.4
|
21.4
|
25.6
|
Vagrancy
|
21.5
|
13
|
11.3
|
Source: Estonian Statistical Office, 1999.
Table 12
Number of persons in shelters and social rehabilitation centres*
In shelters 1997
|
In shelters 1998
|
In social rehabilitation centres 1997
|
In social rehabilitation centres 1998
|
|
Violence
|
14
|
20
|
59
|
45
|
Domestic violence
|
170
|
122
|
19
|
17
|
Violence at school
|
15
|
1
|
6
|
10
|
Vagrancy
|
268
|
169
|
2
|
6
|
Negligence at home
|
291
|
277
|
0
|
51
|
Abuse of alcohol
|
94
|
57
|
5
|
2
|
Drug abuse
|
13
|
9
|
3
|
4
|
Lack of dwelling-place
|
86
|
86
|
4
|
3
|
Difficult economic situation
|
113
|
339
|
5
|
9
|
Other reasons
|
181
|
216
|
186
|
251
|
Total
|
1 245
|
1 296
|
289
|
398
|
Source: Estonian Statistical Office, 2000.
*
Shelters - institutions offering temporary 24-hour assistance, support and
protection.
Social rehabilitation centres - institutions established for
intensive rehabilitation of persons with special needs.
198. Since 1999, an
orphan or child deprived of parental care is guaranteed full maintenance by the
State regardless of the form of
maintenance provided to such a child
(children’s home, residential educational institution, foster family). A
children’s
home is an institution meant as a substitute home for orphans
and children who have been deprived of parental care. A residential
educational
institution is an institution meant to provide a dwelling, development and
teaching to school-aged disabled children.
Special boarding schools are schools
for children with physical, speech, or mental disabilities. Currently there are
still children
in Estonia whose home is a special boarding school but in the
future these children should also live in a children’s home if
necessary
(if no substitute family is found for them), from where they would attend
different schools, according to their needs.
199. A child is placed in a
children’s home or for care in a family if the child is an orphan or has
been deprived of parental
care and no guardian has been found for the child or
the child has not been adopted. Children whose ability to cope cannot be
guaranteed
by the provision of other social services or assistance are sent to a
children’s home (Social Welfare Act, arts. 15, 16).
If possible,
placement in a family is preferred. Such placement will not give the foster
family the rights or obligations of a legal
representative. The number of
children placed in foster families rose in 1999, when in addition to child
benefits the State began
to make payments to cover the costs of maintenance of a
child in a foster family.
Table 13
Number of children who were placed with guardian
families
and foster families, 1996-1999
Source: Estonian Statistical Office, 2000.
200. When
placing a child in a children’s home, the wishes of a child who is at
least 10 years of age have to be considered.
The wishes of a child who is less
than 10 years of age also have to be considered if the level of development of
the child so permits
(Social Welfare Act,
art. 32).
201. Russian-speaking children are placed in a
children’s home where the language is Russian (i.e. the staff are
Russian-speaking),
thus guaranteeing the child his or her inherent language
environment and cultural continuity.
202. Upon placement of a child in
a children’s home, documents are sent with the child containing
information on the child’s
family, location of relatives and their
financial situation, information on the child, his or her health and education.
The file
also has to contain documents pertaining to the inherited property of
the child and its administrator, and information on other income
of the child
(pension and other financial income of the child).
203. The
organization of life in children’s homes has been transformed to resemble
life in a family. Children in a children’s
home live in groups or
families. One family consists of 8 to 10 children. On arriving in a
children’s home, a child is placed
in a family suitable for him or her.
In the placement of a child, a child’s age, state of health, relations
with other children,
etc., are taken into account. Brothers and sisters
normally live in the same family. The plans of a family are discussed together
with the children of the family. The director or deputy director of a
children’s home advises a family and monitors its activities.
204. Upon placement of a child in a children’s home it is presumed
that the child will stay in the children’s home only
temporarily. The
local government of the child’s place of residence is required to seek a
guardian or an adoptive parent for
the child and should attend to the
preservation of the child’s relations with his or her former home. The
rural municipality
or city government may also find a foster family for the
child. A rural municipality government or city government will, if necessary,
provide assistance to a family from whom a child has been taken in order to help
establish the prerequisite conditions for the child
to return to the family
(Social Welfare Act, art. 25). In 1998, 119 children returned to their parents
from children’s homes,
52 were adopted, 6 were put under guardianship and
4 were given to families for care (data of the Department of Statistics and
analysis
of the Ministry of Social Affairs).
Table 14
Children and youth staying in social welfare
institutions,
by cause of stay, 1999 (at year-end)
Orphans
|
Left without parental care
|
On parent’s application *
|
Total
|
Temporarily in families
|
|
0-2
|
2
|
75
|
15
|
92
|
-
|
3-6
|
8
|
129
|
35
|
172
|
-
|
7-14
|
89
|
657
|
131
|
877
|
2
|
15-17
|
33
|
246
|
61
|
340
|
2
|
Total
|
132
|
1 107
|
242
|
1 481
|
4
|
Source: Ministry of Social Affairs
* Children
are mainly placed in residential educational institutions.
Table 15
Social welfare institutions for children
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
|
General children’s homes
|
12
|
17
|
17
|
17
|
24
|
27
|
Children’s homes for infants
|
7
|
7
|
7
|
7
|
0
|
-
|
Special children’s homes
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-
|
Residential educational institutions
|
4
|
7
|
8
|
8
|
7
|
6
|
Children’s homes of family type
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
3
|
3
|
4
|
Youth homes
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
1
|
Mixed-care social welfare institutions
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
Total
|
26
|
31
|
36
|
39
|
37
|
39
|
Source: Estonian Statistical Office, 2000.
Table 16
Wards in social welfare institutions for
children
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
|
General children’s homes
|
622
|
764
|
762
|
772
|
1 143
|
1 133
|
Children’s homes for infants
|
286
|
317
|
338
|
335
|
0
|
-
|
Special children’s homes
|
116
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-
|
Residential educational institutions
|
499
|
389
|
443
|
459
|
409
|
385
|
Children’s homes of family type
|
0
|
0
|
61
|
71
|
88
|
140
|
Youth homes
|
0
|
0
|
19
|
20
|
36
|
24
|
Mixed-care social welfare institutions
|
0
|
0
|
35
|
29
|
23
|
28
|
Total
|
1 523
|
1 470
|
1 658
|
1 686
|
1 699
|
1 710
|
Source: Estonian Statistical Office,
2000.
205. Street children are children under 18 years of age who for a
shorter or longer period live in a street environment. They wander
aimlessly
from place to place and their friends and social relations are in the streets.
Officially, the address of these children
may be the address of their
parents’ home but in reality they have few if any contacts with adults,
parents, school, child
protection institutions and social services departments
who have responsibility for and duties towards them.
206. Based on a
round-table discussion convened in 1998 by the Minister of Social Affairs,
involving child protection workers of local
authorities and county governments
and representatives of different ministries and non-governmental organizations,
there are about
10 children in Estonia without home or family and who live
their life in the streets, 500 children who constantly wander in the streets
but
who have a home and parents and 3,000-4,000 children who are in danger of
falling into a situation where they would go onto the
street.
207. As a
result of a round table on the topic of street children organized by the Open
Estonia Foundation in 1999, the estimated
situation is as follows: there are
about 4,000-5,000 children in the streets in Estonia. The number seems high
because it includes
children who are evading their obligation to attend school
and children deprived of parental care. If the term “street
children”
is used to refer to children who have no home and who live
“in the streets”, the number would be approximately 100-200.
The
more problematic regions are Tallinn, Tartu and Ida-Virumaa (in the latter case,
more precisely the city of Narva).
208. A concrete step towards improving
the situation of street children was taken in Estonia at the beginning of summer
1998 when
a project competition, “Street children/children in the
street” was announced. The competition called upon different
non-governmental organizations active in the field and also the local government
day centres to submit projects related to the subject
of street children. The
programme was launched and funded by the Open Estonia Foundation, the King
Baudouin Foundation and the World
Bank. The total cost of the programme is
2.5 million Estonian kroons. The duration of the programme is two years
and during the
programme financial support is provided to different non-profit
associations and welfare institutions. The programme also includes
joint
training, offering necessary skills and knowledge to project leaders for a
better implementation of their ideas.
G. Adoption (art. 21)
209. Chapter 10 of the Family Act establishes
the content, deciding, giving of consent and cancellation of adoption, and sets
out
the conditions for intercountry adoption.
210. Adoption may take
place only in the interests of the child and is carried out according to the
procedure set out in the Family
Act and in conformity with the principles of the
Child Protection Act and in accordance with the requirements of the Code of
Civil
Court Procedure.
211. Adoption is decided by a court on the basis
of the application of a person wishing to adopt. In deciding on an adoption,
the
court will include a guardianship authority in the proceedings for the
purpose of hearing its opinion in order to guarantee the best
interests of the
child. A guardianship authority will, at the request of a court, collect and
prepare the information necessary
for deciding on an adoption (Family Act, art.
76). Adoption creates the rights and duties of parent and child between an
adoptive
parent and an adopted child. Adoption is for an unspecified term and
cannot be conditional (Family Act, art. 73).
212. The county government
is the guardianship authority which advises a court about adoption and
participates in the court hearing.
This task is usually carried out by a child
protection worker of the county government social and health department whose
task is
to ascertain the necessity and possibility of adoption and whether
adoption is permissible and all the requirements are met. The
child protection
worker will check whether the child’s parents and legal guardians agree to
the adoption and if necessary will
obtain their consent for adoption. The
consent of a child at least 10 years of age to being adopted is obtained and the
opinion
of a child under 10 years of age is also considered, depending on the
child’s maturity. The child protection worker will advise
the relevant
persons if necessary.
213. A child protection worker will prepare the
persons wishing to adopt, checks their psychical health and financial readiness
for
raising the child, makes home visits and talks with the persons wishing to
adopt and advises them about adoption issues. In September
1995, the Minister
of Social Affairs approved the guidelines for adoption, which are an advisory
document.
214. Adoption is decided by a county or city court of first
instance. A person wishing to adopt a child shall submit a petition for
adoption to the court in the place of residence of the adoptive child. A
petition for adoption shall be heard in a court session
in camera in the
presence of the petitioner and the guardianship authority. A petitioner shall
participate in a court session in
person. After the entry into force of the
judgement on adoption, the court shall send the copy of the judgement to the
vital statistics
office where the birth registration of the adopted child is
located. The judgement is the basis for the amendment of the birth registration
of an adopted child.
215. Intercountry adoption can take place if
sufficient care cannot be provided to the child in Estonia (Child Protection
Act, art.
66). It means if no adoptive parents, guardian, or possibility of
care in a family or elsewhere is found for the child in Estonia.
216. A
guardianship authority is required, according to the guidelines for adoption, to
examine the possibilities of finding a family
for the child in Estonia,
forwarding relevant information concerning the child to other counties. If
within two months no family
is found for the child in Estonia, information about
the child is forwarded to the Ministry of Social Affairs, which will arrange
intercountry adoption in accordance with the Social Welfare Act (§
6).
217. According to the Family Act, adoption to another country can
take place only with the consent of the Minister of Social Affairs
(§
82).
218. In the case of intercountry adoption the same principles are
applied as for adoption in Estonia.
219. In order to avoid the
possibility of improper gain, the procedure for adoption to another country is
centralized under the Ministry
of Social Affairs, which keeps information on
children for whom no family has been found in Estonia, and on persons from other
countries
who wish to adopt and who have approached the Ministry with their
wishes. Intermediaries are prohibited except for organizations
from other
countries which have a legal right in their own countries to arrange adoption.
Agreements with organizations to this
end are concluded to guarantee more secure
management of procedures and to avoid adoption on private initiatives and the
intervention
of possible intermediaries. Cooperation partners are required to
present documents certifying their right to conduct international
adoptions and
if the law of a respective country so requires they should also have special
permission to cooperate with Estonia.
The Ministry of Social Affairs has
established effective cooperation with foreign representations to Estonia, which
are notified
of new cooperation partners.
220. There is a trend towards concluding written cooperation agreements with
organizations arranging international adoption. The
agreements would set out
the activities and responsibility of the parties in arranging adoption and would
guarantee conformity with
international agreements.
Table 17
Adopted children
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
|
Children adopted by a parent’s spouse
|
161
|
132
|
106
|
92
|
Children adopted into a new family
|
79
|
58
|
57
|
39
|
Number of adoptions to another country
|
29
|
37
|
30
|
37
|
Total adoptions
|
269
|
227
|
193
|
168
|
Source: Estonian Statistical Office, 1999.
H. Illicit transfer and non-return (art. 11)
221. See chapter VIII, section C.4
below.
I. Abuse and neglect (art. 19); physical and psychological
recovery
and social reintegration (art. 39)
222. The Social
Welfare Act imposes the duty to arrange for the welfare of children and to
create an environment favourable for the
development of children on local
governments, which take measures both to prevent cases of maltreatment of
children and to provide
necessary assistance. According to article 33 of the
Child Protection Act, the child must be protected from all forms of sexual
exploitation.
223. Inducing a state of intoxication in a minor, buying
alcoholic beverages for a minor and failure to fulfil the obligation to raise
and teach a child constitute an administrative offence (Code of Administrative
Offences, art. 26).
224. In cooperation with the third sector increasing
attention is being paid to informing the public about problems of maltreatment
of children. The Estonian Central Union for the Protection of Children and the
Estonian Children’s Fund have carried out several
media campaigns to
attract the public’s attention to problems of child
protection.
225. The topic of maltreatment of children is included in the
curriculum of pre-school education and general education schools and
in the
training programmes of specialists working with children. Since the school year
1998/99 the topic has also been covered in
the curriculum of the Police Academy
in order to guarantee that investigative bodies and courts treat children who
have become victims
of violence appropriately.
226. Several publications
have been issued to inform the public: in 1997 a handbook Maltreatment of
Children (in 2000 the handbook was also published in Russian), numerous
information brochures and leaflets to ensure that people notify promptly
when a
child is found to be in trouble and that measures are taken without
delay.
227. The Tartu Children’s Support Centre has launched an
initiative which has been supported by the Tartu Prosecutor’s
Office,
social workers and juvenile police. In Tartu police prefecture, a special
interrogation playroom with special technical
equipment for questioning sexually
abused children was built in autumn 1999. To avoid repeated questioning of the
child, the investigative
procedures are recorded on videotape.
228. The
police statistics show how many sexual offences committed against children have
been registered in the country within the
last six years. According to the data
of the juvenile police, a total of 460 children were victims of acts of violence
in 1999,
of whom 165 were victims of school violence, 59 were victims of family
violence (including victims of sexual abuse by family members)
and 72 were
victims of sexual offences.
229. The following are sexual offences listed
in chapter 4 of the Criminal Code (offences against persons) of which the
victims have
been children:
Rape of a minor;
Rape of a
child;
Satisfaction of sexual desire in an unnatural manner, if knowingly committed
against a person under 16 years of age;
Sexual intercourse with a female
person under 14 years of age;
Indecent sexual acts against a person
under 16 years of age;
An act of pederasty knowingly committed with a
person under 16 years of age.
Table 18
Recorded sexual offences against children, 1994-1999
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
|
§ 115 lg2 p3
Rape of a minor |
30
|
33
|
27
|
28
|
18
|
22
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
§ 115 lg3 p2
Rape of a child |
17
|
17
|
9
|
9
|
5
|
2
|
Table 18 (continued)
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
|
§ 115.1 lg2
Satisfaction of sexual desire in an unnatural manner by violence or threat of violence or by taking advantage of the helpless situation of the victim if it is knowingly committed against a person under the age of 16 |
29
|
31
|
17
|
15
|
50
|
32
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
§ 116
An act of sexual intercourse knowingly committed by an adult with a female under the age of 14 |
5
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
§ 117
Indecent sexual acts knowingly committed with a person under the age of 16 |
8
|
16
|
12
|
13
|
15
|
11
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
§ 118 lg2
An act of pederasty knowingly committed with a person under the age of 16 |
3
|
4
|
4
|
1
|
11
|
4
|
Total
|
92
|
102
|
70
|
67
|
102
|
72
|
Source: Police Board.
Table 19
Child victims of sexual offences, 1994-1999
230. It must be noted that sexual offences committed against children have
not increased in proportion to the growth of the crime
rate in general. A
certain positive trend can be noted since 995. Its results can especially
be felt in connection with the use
of under-age prostitutes in brothels. Before
the amendment of laws in 1995, 16- and 17-year-old girls could almost always be
found
in brothels during police operations. After 1995, when two court
judgements were made against intermediaries using the services
of under-age
prostitutes, the situation changed drastically. During police operations in
brothels, under-age girls are found only
very rarely and even in those cases the
girls themselves have lied about their actual age.
231. The Act
Regulating Dissemination of Works which Contain Pornography or Promote Violence
or Cruelty (RT I 1998, 2, 42) was passed
in 1997 and entered into force on
1 May 1998. Estonian legislation and the current Criminal Code
regulate this field relatively
well. The offences in the Criminal Code are the
following:
Acquisition, storing, transport, transfer, distribution, exhibition or making
available by any other means of a work depicting a minor
in erotic or
pornographic situations;
Dissemination or exhibition or making available to a minor by any other means
of a work promoting violence or cruelty;
Dissemination or exhibition of a work depicting a minor in erotic or
pornographic situations;
Manufacture of a work depicting a minor in erotic or pornographic situations
(in the Code since 1995);
Inducing a minor to engage in a crime or in prostitution (since 1995 this
section is mainly used for criminal offences where a minor
has been induced to
commit a crime, as there is now a separate section in the Criminal Code for
inducing a minor to prostitution);
Inducing a minor to prostitution, or mediating of prostitution with respect
to a minor (in the Code since 1995).
Table 20
Recorded sexual offences, 1994-1999
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
|
§ 200 lg1
Acquisition, storage, transport, transfer, dissemination, exhibition or rendering available in any other manner of works depicting minors in erotic or pornographic situations |
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Table 20 (continued)
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
|
§ 200 lg3
Dissemination or exhibition of works depicting minors in erotic or pornographic situations, or rendering such works available to minors in any other manner |
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
§ 200.3 lg1
Manufacture of a work or a copy of a work depicting a minor in erotic or pornographic situations, without using the minor as an object of erotic or pornographic activity |
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
§ 200.3 lg 2
Use of a minor as an object of erotic or pornographic activity upon manufacture of a work depicting erotic or pornographic situations |
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
§ 202
Inducing a minor to engage in the commission of a criminal offence or in prostitution, or exploitation of a minor in prostitution |
6
|
11
|
91
|
99
|
80
|
79
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
§ 202.6 lg3 p2
Pandering or pimping is punishable by three to seven years’ imprisonment if committed against a minor |
0
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
Source: Police Board.
232. On the basis of the
data of the juvenile police, the number of under-age prostitutes since 1994
can be shown. It must be noted,
though, that prostitution is not a reason to be
included in the databank of the juvenile police because the activities of a
prostitute
are not punishable.
Table 21
Number of under-age prostitutes in the database of the juvenile police, 1994-1999
Source: Police Board.
233. The
number of under-age prostitutes may be higher and, according to estimates of
different experts which correspond to the opinion
of public organizations, there
may be between 100 and 120 under-age prostitutes in Estonia, of whom the
majority are young women
aged 1617. The databank of the juvenile police
contains only minors who have committed an offence and have been prosecuted for
it,
and the person’s activity as a prostitute accompanied this offence.
The problem of under-age prostitutes exists and needs
further
solutions.
234. According to the data of the juvenile police, before 1995
at least three pornographic films in which a minor participated were
produced in
Estonia and it was not possible to impose a punishment for this. But after the
relevant amendments were made in the
law, the police have no information about
further such activities.
J. Periodic review of placement (art. 25)
235. With Minister of Education regulation No.
33 of 2 June 1999 “Approving the procedure for acceptance into and
exclusion
from a special kindergarten (special group), sanatorium-school,
special school (special class) for children with deviations”
the basis and
conditions for acceptance into and exclusion from the above institutions were
established. A child is admitted to
a special kindergarten (special group) and
a pupil to a sanatorium-school or special school (special class) for pupils with
deviations
on the decision of a counselling committee and on the basis of a
written application from a parent or guardian.
236. Children with
physical, speech, mind and mental impairments and psychological disturbances and
autistic children may be admitted
to an adjustment group in a special
kindergarten.
237. Six-year-old children with hearing disorders may be
admitted to preparatory groups at relevant special schools. Children with
different degrees of mental retardation may be admitted to a development group.
In the case of a combined impairment, the child
is sent to a special
kindergarten (special group) which, to the best extent possible, assists the
child in his or her development,
or a separate group may be formed. Groups for
children with combined impairments may admit the following children: blind-deaf
children,
hearing-impaired children who also suffer from mental retardation,
vision-impaired children who also suffer from mental retardation
and physically
impaired children who also suffer from mental
retardation.
238. Sanatorium-schools for children with severely
deteriorating somatic conditions admit pupils with severely deteriorating
somatic
conditions or with a chronic somatic condition in a stage of
decompensation or acuteness.
239. Children with combined impairments are
sent to a special school (special class) which to the best extent possible
promotes their
development, or a separate class is formed.
240. The
Minister of Social Affairs regulation No. 41 of 27 May 1999 “Approving the
conditions and procedure for granting applications
for postponement of
fulfilment of the obligation to attend school” establishes the conditions
for postponing the fulfilment
of the obligation to attend school based on the
state of health of a child. The obligation to attend school is only postponed
if
during this period the parent guarantees the child an environment necessary
for the child’s development and rehabilitation,
and the possibility of
continuing to acquire a preschool education until entering
school.
241. The Organization of Health Care Act adopted on 18 January
1994 establishes the legal status of health-care institutions and the
basis for
financing the health-care system. Based on the law, a parent or guardian has
the right to obtain an assessment of the
child’s health from a
doctor.
242. With Minister of Social Affairs regulation No. 23 of 6 June
1997 “Assessment of quality of medical care” a permanent
expert
committee on the quality of medical care was formed. Its tasks are to organize
control of medical care in medical institutions,
regardless of the form of
ownership of the medical institution; organize and coordinate medical audits;
review the results of medical
audits and make expert decisions; define standards
of quality for medical care and submit them to the Minister for approval; make
proposals for solving quality-related disputes between sickness insurance funds
and medical institutions; at the request of a patient,
the medical insurance
board of the health insurance fund, insurance organization or department of
health of the Ministry of Social
Affairs, organize expert assessment of
quality-related disputes between a medical institution and patient.
VI. BASIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
A. Survival and development (art. 6, para. 2) and
health
and health services (art. 24)
243. Natural
increase of the population in Estonia has been negative since 1991, because of a
decrease in fertility and the rising
number of deaths. In recent years, the
average age of people in Estonia has risen somewhat and achieved the level of
the end of
the 1980s; women’s average age has even exceeded the average of
that time. This has also been influenced by the decline in
infant
mortality.
Table 22
Infant mortality (deaths under 1 year of age per 1,000 live births)
1990
|
1991
|
1992
|
1993
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999*
|
|
14.8
|
12.4
|
13.4
|
15.8
|
15.8
|
14.5
|
14.8
|
10.4
|
10.1
|
9.3
|
9.5
|
Source: Estonian Statistical Office,
1999.
* When calculating the proportion of Estonians, persons of
unknown ethnic nationality have not been taken into
account.
244. Although infant mortality (mortality of children 0-1 years
old) has declined in Estonia, it is still high compared to developed
countries.
A sharp increase of infant mortality in 1992-1993 was partly due to the fact
that since 1992 a new definition of birth
was applied, according to which births
after the twenty-second week of pregnancy (instead of the previous 28 weeks) and
of children
with a birth weight of 500 grams (instead of the previous 1,000
grams) were registered. The decline in infant mortality is a result
of a
decrease of early neonatal deaths, which, in turn, is due to improvement of
pre-birth diagnostics. If in 1995 there were 7.9
deaths of infants 0-6 days old
per 1,000 live births, in 1998 the rate was 3.0. Mortality of infants under one
year old due to pathologies
of the perinatal period dropped in the same period
from 8.2 to 3.7 per 1,000 children of that age. The main causes of infant
deaths
are pathologies of the perinatal period and congenital malformations (see
table 23).
Table 23
Age-specific death rate of children (per 1,000 children at age specified)
1989
|
1990
|
1991
|
1992
|
1993
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
|
0-4
|
3.79
|
3.20
|
2.93
|
3.48
|
3.08
|
2.75
|
3.33
|
2.19
|
2.35
|
2.32
|
5-9
|
0.60
|
0.54
|
0.43
|
0.48
|
0.45
|
0.38
|
0.48
|
0.41
|
0.40
|
0.35
|
10-14
|
0.45
|
0.47
|
0.37
|
0.53
|
0.47
|
0.45
|
0.40
|
0.43
|
0.36
|
0.26
|
15-19
|
1.17
|
1.21
|
1.18
|
1.07
|
1.11
|
1.23
|
1.14
|
0.72
|
0.96
|
0.75
|
Source: Estonian Statistical Office, 1999.
245. In the
case of children 1-18 years of age the most important causes of deaths are
accidents, poisonings and traumas (see table
24). In recent years, the
mortality of children 114 years of age due to accidents has risen. The
mortality of boys was higher than
of girls. The main causes of death of
pre-school-aged children are drowning, falling and poisoning. The main cause of
death of
school-aged children is traffic traumas. Suicides of school-aged
children have become more frequent.
Table 24
Causes of death, 1998 (per 100,000 children at age specified)
0
|
1-4
|
5-9
|
10-14
|
15-19
|
|
All causes
|
928.8
|
72.6
|
35.2
|
26.0
|
74.8
|
Of which:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Infectious and parasitic diseases
|
48.9
|
3.7
|
0
|
0.9
|
1.9
|
Neoplasms
|
0
|
9.3
|
4.1
|
5.4
|
6.6
|
Diseases of the respiratory system
|
97.8
|
1.9
|
2.1
|
0
|
1.9
|
Congenital anomalies
|
227.0
|
16.8
|
2.1
|
0.9
|
0.9
|
Certain conditions originating in the
perinatal period
|
366.6
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Injury and poisoning
|
97.8
|
33.5
|
19.7
|
14.4
|
53.1
|
Including traffic traumas
|
0
|
7.5
|
2.1
|
3.6
|
18.0
|
Falling
|
8.1
|
1.9
|
1.0
|
0.9
|
1.9
|
Suicides
|
0
|
0
|
1.0
|
4.5
|
13.3
|
Murders
|
0
|
1.9
|
2.1
|
0
|
6.6
|
Drowning
|
0
|
13.0
|
8.3
|
2.7
|
0
|
Source: Estonian Statistical Office, 1998.
Table 25
Death rate at age 0-19 by cause of death, 1995-1998
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
|
All causes
|
119.5
|
83.2
|
88.9
|
77.8
|
Of which:
|
|
|
|
|
Infectious and parasitic diseases
|
3.1
|
1.2
|
2.6
|
2.9
|
Neoplasms
|
8.3
|
9.2
|
5.1
|
5.8
|
Diseases of the circulatory system
|
1.5
|
1.2
|
1.8
|
0.8
|
Diseases of the respiratory system
|
4.4
|
4.3
|
5.1
|
4.5
|
Congenital anomalies
|
11.7
|
10.8
|
9.8
|
12.4
|
Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period
|
27.4
|
17.3
|
15.7
|
11.9
|
Traffic traumas
|
11.9
|
9.5
|
14.7
|
7.9
|
Table 25 (continued)
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
|
Falling
|
1.7
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.5
|
Drowning
|
10.5
|
3.5
|
9.8
|
4.7
|
Poisoning
|
1.4
|
1.9
|
1.2
|
1.3
|
Fire accidents
|
7.1
|
1.5
|
2.1
|
1.8
|
Suicides
|
4.8
|
4.8
|
5.1
|
5.2
|
Murders
|
4.3
|
3.8
|
2.6
|
2.6
|
Source: Estonian Statistical Office,
1998.
246. The main causes of morbidity of children are respiratory
diseases which make up 31 per cent of the causes of
hospitalization.
Contraction of allergic diseases has become more frequent.
The frequency of contraction of various infectious diseases has also
risen, but
the organization of vaccinations has so far helped to avoid larger break-outs of
infections.
247. Based on various surveys it can be stated that the
eating habits of children have become healthier on the whole, thanks to
diversification
of the selection of foods. Consumption of fruit among children
and youth has risen considerably. According to 1998 data, 59 per
cent of young
people ate fruit once or twice a day. The consumption of both fruit and
vegetables has increased - according to 1998
data, 44 per cent of young
people ate fresh vegetables once or more often daily, the proportion of
non-eaters of vegetables was 4
per cent. A small proportion (3-15 per cent) of
young people ate potato crisps once or more often daily. But the consumption of
bread has dropped considerably, only 54 per cent of young people ate bread.
Consumption of high-fat milk has dropped significantly.
But the consumption of
fish and fish products is still low. In rural areas the consumption of main
foodstuffs like bread, white
bread, potato and highfat milk is notably
higher.
248. Physical activity of children has not changed considerably
in recent years. Among school-aged youth, according to 1998 data,
24 per cent
exercised daily and 4 per cent were physically very passive.
249. Smoking
is widespread in Estonia. Every second man and every fifth woman smokes
regularly. In half of the families with children
there is a smoker. Health
education and a negative attitude to smoking is at the necessary level only in a
few schools. An international
survey of the behaviour of schoolchildren in 1995
revealed that among 15-year-olds 17 per cent of boys and 6 per cent of girls
smoke
regularly. The number of daily smokers among girls has risen
significantly. Of 21- to 25-year-old young men, 32 per cent had never
smoked,
among girls the number was 62 per cent.
250. Alcohol consumption is
relatively high among 15- to 16-year-olds: only 5 to 6 per cent have not tried
alcohol at that age.
Among students, 63 per cent consume alcohol and 32 per
cent smoke regularly; 10 per cent of students consider drinking a couple of
glasses a day to be a health risk and 57 per cent think that the risk begins
after four glasses of alcohol a day. According to a
1996 health survey, 13 per
cent of young men and 28 per cent of young women aged 21 to 25 had never
consumed alcohol.
251. The frequency of psychological disturbances has risen
in recent years. The results of surveys show that the stress level of
pupils is
higher than that of teachers who have more stress factors. Surveys also
revealed that the assistance of specialists/psychologists
is not sufficiently
available either to pupils or teachers.
252. In a survey carried out in
1998, more than 60 per cent of pupils complained of schooltiredness, 34 per cent
of pupils noted that
they had smaller or bigger problems with teachers. In
1998, young people had various psychosomatic complaints more often than in
1994.
The more widespread complaints are irritability, nervousness and
tiredness/exhaustion.
253. A survey of pupils in years 8 to 12 at school
carried out in 1996 and 1997 displayed an expected connection between the
economic
situation and security of a family and drinking of the father.
According to a 1996 health survey, depression occurred among 4-5
per cent
of 16 to 25-year-old men and 11 per cent of
women.
254. Seventeen per cent of pupils found that they are avoided by
fellow pupils, teachers or parents. The pupils considered the main
reason for
such avoidance to be the difficult economic situation of the family, their ugly
looks, drinking parents, which also resulted
in poorer clothes, less pocket
money and fewer possibilities for recreation. Thirty per cent of teachers and
24 per cent of parents
were aware that the children were being
avoided. Among pupils in years 5 to 10, 11 per cent did not wish
to serve in the defence
forces, in years 11 and 12 that number had increased
threefold.
255. In Estonia, there are still no reliable data about home
and school violence. The general trends can be observed based on the
reasons
for referral of children to shelters and rehabilitation centres (see Part
5.6).
256. Sixty-one per cent of deaths among 1- to 14-year-old boys and
37.5 per cent among girls the same age were caused by injuries
and poisoning.
In Estonia, every year approximately four children are killed by their own
parents. The mortality of 5- to 19-year-olds
due to accidents, poisoning and
violence is one of the highest in Eastern Europe.
257. One fifth of
accidents involving children happen at school. In 70 per cent of cases, these
are sports injuries, followed by
injuries in free time.
258. Estonia is
well supplied with drinking water. There is a public water supply system in
every city and town. The rural population
uses single wells, bore wells or
shaft wells. Drinking water must conform to the requirements established by the
Water Act (RT I 1994, 40, 655; 1996, 13, 240; 1998, 61, 987). The
conformity of the quality of drinking water to the standard must be checked
by
undertakings producing water from the public water supply. State supervision
over the quality of water is carried out by the
Health Protection Inspectorate.
Handling of drinking water is regulated by the Water Act, the drinking water
standard of the State Standardization Board and regulation of the Minister of
Social Affairs by which the standard
is made obligatory for water producers and
supervisory bodies.
259. The provision of meals in a pre-school childcare institution is
regulated by Minister of Social Affairs regulation No. 64 of
25 October 1999
“Approving the requirements for health protection, the promotion of
health, drawing up the timetable and providing
of meals in preschool childcare
institutions”.
260. According to the 1999 Food Act (RT I 1999, 30,
415), food must be safe. Food must be prepared from as fresh as possible
unprocessed foodstuffs, considering the
“Estonian nutritional
recommendations” approved by Minister of Social Affairs regulation No. 62
of 14 December 1995.
261. Before conclusion of a labour
contract and thereafter on a regular basis, employees of a children’s
establishment must
undergo a health check in accordance with Minister of Social
Affairs regulation No. 44 of 23 December 1997 laying down the requirements
for
“Prevention of the spread of infectious diseases”.
262. In
1995, the Government approved the Estonian national health care policy. Health
care is regulated by the State Health Insurance
Act (RT I 1991, 23, 272; I 1999,
7, 113), Organization of Health Care Act (RT I 1994, 10, 133; 1995, 57, 978;
1997, 86, 1462; 1999,
97, 860), Public Health Act (RT I 1995, 57, 987; 1999, 88,
804) and Medicines Act (RT I 1996, 3, 56; 1996, 49, 954; 1998, 36/37,
554).
263. The Organization of Health Care Act establishes that every
person staying in the territory of the Republic of Estonia has the
right to
urgent medical aid. Urgent medical aid is aid in a situation where delaying the
aid would directly endanger the person’s
life or health.
264. Based
on the State Health Insurance Act, the health insurance costs of the following
persons are covered: insured persons and
family members under their
maintenance; children up to 18 years of age; pupils and students enrolled in
daytime study at educational
institutions; a parent, guardian or caretaker
maintaining a disabled child up to 18 years of age or a person disabled since
childhood;
persons raising a child up to 3 years of age; pregnant
women.
265. Changes in the organization of health care (the transfer to
health insurance and the trend to the development of primary level
medical aid)
have affected the traditional health services provided to mothers and children,
in particular the paediatric service.
In 1999, there were
446 paediatricians in Estonia (539 paediatricians in 1997). Transfer to
the system of family doctors gave some
of the functions of paediatricians to
family doctors and also cut the number of paediatricians.
266. With
Minister of Social Affairs regulation No. 4 of 16 January 1995, prophylactic
examinations of children up to 7 years of age
were approved. Prophylactic care
is aimed at early detection of health disorders, early detection of deviations
from the normal,
vaccination and diverse counselling of parents. The frequency
of prophylactic examinations is aligned with the vaccination calendar;
the
“Programme of immuno-prophylactic treatment for 1998-2000” was
approved by Government of the Republic regulation
No. 170 of 8 December
1993.
267. Vaccinations are given against tuberculosis, diphtheria,
tetanus, whooping cough, poliomyelitis and measles as set out in the
vaccination
calendar.
268. With Minister of Social Affairs regulation No. 33 of 29 July
1997 “Pre-birth diagnosis” the methodological guidelines
for
pre-birth diagnosis of hereditary diseases were approved. Regular health checks
of infants and small children are carried out
in accordance with Minister of
Social Affairs regulation No. 4 of 16 January 1995 approving the prophylactic
examination of children
up to 7 years of age.
269. Based on Minister of
Social Affairs regulation No. 64 of 25 October 1999 “Approving the
requirements of health protection,
promotion of health, drawing up of the
timetable and providing of meals in pre-school childcare institutions”,
pre-school childcare
institutions must have a health worker whose activities are
mostly aimed at prevention of diseases and promotion of health, paying
also
attention to health-promoting activities at school.
270. Thanks to better
inoculation coverage and improvement of the quality of vaccines, the incidence
of measles, rose rash and whooping
cough among children has dropped. In 1998,
88 per cent of registered children were vaccinated against diphtheria,
tetanus, whooping
cough and poliomyelitis, 72 per cent against measles and close
to 100 per cent against tuberculosis.
271. Since 1994, the incidence of
tuberculosis has become more frequent. The Government has approved the
“National programme
against tuberculosis for 1998-2003”. Under the
programme, a directly controlled treatment system has been applied, a
tuberculosis
register created, laboratories reorganized, and training provided:
lectures, seminars, information days for representatives of the
administration
and health insurance funds, lung doctors and doctors providing primary-level
medical care.
Table 26
New cases of active tuberculosis
1990
|
1991
|
1992
|
1993
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
|
0-14
|
5
|
5
|
4
|
4
|
9
|
18
|
16
|
27
|
10
|
14
|
15-19
|
5
|
10
|
8
|
7
|
23
|
19
|
22
|
16
|
23
|
17
|
Source: Estonian Statistical Office, 2000.
272. The
Ministry of Social Affairs has prepared a national development plan of
immunoprophylactic treatment aimed at preventing the
spread of infectious
diseases and avoiding serious consequences of the diseases through vaccination
based on the recommendations
of the World Health Organization and existing
scientific research. The development plan helps to organize immuno-prophylactic
treatment
with the aim of achieving and maintaining 95 per cent coverage of
2-year-old children with vaccinations against diphtheria, tetanus,
poliomyelitis, measles, mumps and rose rash, and 90 per cent coverage against
whooping cough, as well as 95 per cent revaccination
coverage of children and
young people, as well as the compulsory examination of pregnant women to detect
the virus causing hepatitis
B and the vaccination of virus carriers and children
up to 13 years against hepatitis B.
273. Based on Minister of Social
Affairs regulation No. 1 of 25 January 1999 “Financing of measures for the
prevention of diseases”,
the following activities aimed at the prevention
of children’s diseases are financed:
Vaccination of newborns against hepatitis B;
For infants (0-1 years): swimming;
For children 1-7 years: prophylactic examination; prophylaxis of dental diseases;
For schoolchildren: school health care; vaccination of pupils in year 3
against hepatitis B; prophylaxis of dental diseases; prevention
of
tuberculosis among children at risk.
274. In 1999, the Government
approved the Estonian national action plan for environmental health, which is
aimed at restoring and
developing the living environment and improving
people’s health. The priorities of the Estonian environmental health
action
plan are the following:
Reducing the incidence of traumas;
Improving the quality of the air inside buildings;
Reducing noise and its causes;
Improving the occupational environment;
Improving the composition of food, adjusting eating habits;
Alleviating psychological stress.
275. In 1993, the Estonian Health
Education Centre was created and one of its tasks is to provide health-related
training. The Centre
has developed a national project for the promotion of
health with methodological guidance and training activities, and created a
network of specialists.
276. There is also the Centre for Public Health
and Social Training. One of its tasks is to organize additional training and
provide
counselling in the field of public health. Training programmes for
public health specialists have also been prepared.
277. Since 1995,
counties have public health specialists whose task is to promote a healthy
lifestyle, undertake health education
work, train and counsel health teachers,
prepare and implement health promotion programmes, create a local infrastructure
for public
health (counselling and family planning centres, health and youth
counselling bureaux, family doctor centres, etc.).
278. On 4 June 1996, on the proposal of the Ministry of Social Affairs, the
Government initiated a national health programme for children
and youth until
2005. The programme was triggered by observing the poor state of health of
recruits drafted to serve in the defence
forces, but also other alarming
indicators of children’s health. The aim of the programme is to address
in a comprehensive
manner the health problems of children and youth, and to find
solutions that would give the growing generation the possibility of
becoming
healthy and active members of society.
279. Within the framework of the
programme, projects for the development of the school environment, school
health, mental health and
school meals, and for the prevention of trauma and
injuries were initiated. On 18 January 1999, the Government approved a
supplement
to the programme, determining a more exact course of action for
2000-2005.
280. Activities to promote the health of children and youth
are also carried out through several other projects financed from the
central
health insurance fund. Since 1995, funds from the medical insurance budget have
been allocated for the financing of health
promotion projects. More than half
of the projects financed this way are directed at children and
youth.
281. The aim of the project “Tobacco free” is to cut
consumption of tobacco and reduce the number of people taking up
smoking. The
project has three goals: preventing young people taking up smoking; helping
smokers to give up tobacco; spreading
awareness of passive
smoking.
282. The aim of the trauma project is to reduce the number of
traffic injuries and deaths due to traffic accidents and improve knowledge
of
traffic safety. The target group has mainly been children.
283. The
project for the prevention of dental diseases emphasizes the teaching of oral
hygiene techniques in kindergartens and schools,
and also to parents and
teachers. The necessity for this is shown by a survey revealing that only 27-41
per cent of the population
clean their teeth several times a day (39-65 per cent
of young people aged 16-24).
284. The movement of health promoting
schools is gaining ground. In 1993, 10 schools founded the movement. Now five
pilot schools
have joined them. The aim of the movement of health promoting
schools is to organize, in their respective schools, cities and counties
events
promoting health, to further the movement and cooperation between pilot schools
and extend the network of health promoting
schools in Estonia. The events
involve pupils, teachers, as well as parents. Training by pupils of the same
age has gained popularity.
In 1997-1998, the creation of a network of health
promoting schools in counties was started.
285. With government
regulation No. 225 of 3 September 1996 the procedure for preparing children for
traffic was approved. It is
aimed at developing correct habits and attitudes in
children with regard to the observance of traffic laws, in order to ensure
traffic
safety.
Children’s traffic education is provided at schools and childcare
institutions on a continuous basis, in cooperation with local
government
executive bodies. The continuity of children’s traffic education is
guaranteed in close cooperation with parents,
children and childcare and
educational institutions. Regular additional training and retraining is
organized for teachers to help
them provide traffic education. The training is
coordinated by the Ministry of Education.
Maternity
286. In 1999, the programme of reproductive
health for the period 2000-2009 was started. One of the aims of the programme
is to achieve
a constant decline of perinatal and infant mortality, and
morbidity and mortality of mothers, bearing in mind that good reproductive
health is basic to safe delivery.
287. All pregnant women from the
twelfth week of pregnancy, children and persons raising a child up to 3 years
old (caretaker of the
child) are insured in accordance with the Health Insurance
Act (RT I 1999, 7, 113). Pregnant women are guaranteed access to qualified
medical care. Throughout the country there are women’s counselling
centres.
288. On the basis of Minister of Social Affairs regulation No. 1
of 25 January 1999 “Financing of measures for the prevention
of
diseases”, the following activities aimed at the prevention of diseases
among pregnant women and children are financed:
for pregnant women (antenatal
period): ultrasonographic examination of the foetus; determination of the
fetoprotein, human chorionic
gonadotropin in the blood serum of a pregnant
woman; testing for syphilis, HIV, presence of the virus causing hepatitis B;
administration
of anti-D-globulin to Rh-negative first-time pregnant women in
the case of abortion and amniocentesis.
289. On the basis of Minister of
Social Affairs regulation No. 89 of 22 December 1999 “The procedure for
compensation from the
State budget of sums paid for recesses to feed a child,
additional rest days, extended and additional vacation”, persons in
the
following categories are entitled to the following benefits: persons raising a
child younger than 1.5 years to the benefit for
recesses to feed the child;
parents of a disabled child to the benefit of an additional rest day; minors and
disabled persons to
the benefit of days given as an extension of the basic
vacation exceeding 28 days, and a parent to the benefit of days given as an
extension of the leave to care for a child (the above benefits for persons
raising a child have been available in Estonia for the
past 10
years).
290. Breastfeeding of infants has become more frequent - in 1997,
55 per cent of infants had been breastfed up to the age of three
months, by the
sixth month of life the proportion had dropped to 33 per cent. Mothers who
start working immediately after the leave
to give birth are entitled to recesses
to feed the child and the recesses are compensated from the budget of medical
insurance.
In order to promote the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative movement
and breastfeeding, the Breastfeeding Committee has been formed
including
representatives of the Ministry of Social Affairs, families, psychologists,
journalists, midwives and doctors. The activities
of the committee are aimed at
making hospitals more child- and family-friendly and at promoting
breastfeeding.
291. Under the Food Act, advertising of breast-milk
substitutes is prohibited, including advertising of infant formulae and
follow-up formulae. With government
regulation No. 436 of 29 December 1999
“Approving the requirements for content and quality of special foods and
the requirements
for handling substances used in the preparation of special
foods, and the conditions and procedure for labelling special foods and
notifying relevant information by other means”, the requirements for
content and quality of infant formulae and follow-up formulae
and foods for
infants and small children and the requirements for handling, labelling and
notification of information by any other
means were confirmed.
Sexual health
292. According to the 1996 health survey, 54
per cent of 16- to 20-year-old pregnant women gave birth to a child and 42 per
cent terminated
pregnancy with abortion. In general, both too early motherhood
and abortions are seen as undesirable. In recent years, there have
been no
significant changes in the number of mothers under 16 years old or in the number
of abortions among young women up to 19
years (see the tables).
Table 27
Abortions
Source: Estonian Statistical Office, 1999.
Table 28
Live births to mothers under the age of 16
Source: Estonian Statistical Office, 2000.
293. Family
planning counselling is conducted traditionally by a psychologist in a
women’s counselling centre or in a family
counselling centre. Recently,
the role of family doctors and midwives in family-planning activities has
increased. In most county
centres, there are counselling centres for young
people where they can receive on a regular basis information about contraception
and problems of sexual life from specially trained midwives or doctors. An
important role in providing education in reproductive health is exercised by
the Estonian Family Planning Union. The Union was created
in 1994. Since the
beginning of its activities the main areas of activity have been directed at
improving the sexual and reproductive
health of young people. Work has been
undertaken in three main fields:
Preparation of information material for young people, informing of young people;
Preparation of teaching material for sexual education in schools and training of teachers in sexual and reproductive health issues;
Training of youth counsellors and guaranteeing a service of equal quality,
and through this creating a network of youth counselling
centres.
294. In
recent years, 15 youth counselling centres have been opened in Estonia. In
addition, counselling services are offered by
health-care institutions. Besides
individual counselling, the youth centres also organize health training for
groups.
295. Within the school curriculum, issues of human reproductive
health are treated in years 4, 7 and 10. Health education is
conducted
by teachers of different subjects, medical workers and/or
psychologists. Many schools organize sex education classes at county youth
counselling centres.
296. Since 1990, the incidence of traditional
sexually transmitted diseases like gonorrhoea and syphilis has increased. Since
1994,
the incidence of gonorrhoea has dropped but the incidence of syphilis is
still on the rise. In 1988, the first HIV carrier was registered
in Estonia,
the first HIV infection was registered in 1992.
B. Children with disabilities (art. 23)
297. In 1995 the Government approved the
standard rules for the creation of equal rights for disabled people. On
disabled people’s
issues (including disabled children) the Ministry of
Social Affairs cooperates closely with the Council of Europe. There are several
organizations of parents of disabled children in Estonia which have contacts
with similar organizations in other countries and with
international
organizations.
298. The Constitution states that families with many
children and persons with disabilities shall be under the special care of the
State and local authorities
(art. 28). According to the Family Act, parents
have the right and duty to raise and care for their children (art. 50). This
duty
applies equally in the case of healthy, sick and disabled children.
Disabled children are entitled to special support and services,
depending on
their particular disability.
299. Under the State Support Payments Act
(RT I 1993, 15, 256; 1996, 86, 1539), until 1 January 2000 children
with disabilities received
monthly support payments. The Social Benefits to the
Disabled Act (RT I 2001, 3, 10), which entered into force on 1 January 2000,
provides for support payments to disabled children up to the age of 16. The
payments fall into two categories, depending on the
degree of disability. The
law establishes the requirement to draw up and monitor a social rehabilitation
plan for disabled children.
According to the same law, students with
disabilities are paid an education allowance (to cover additional expenses
arising from
the disability), a transport allowance, a telephone allowance and a
caregiver’s allowance for one non-working caregiver per
disabled child.
On 1 January 2000, there were 4,752 children with disabilities.
Table 29
Estimated monthly average disability pension
granted in the reference year, kroons
Source: Estonian Statistical Office, 2000.
300. On the
basis of the Health Insurance Act, one parent or guardian taking care of a
disabled child up to 18 years old is considered
equal with persons having
medical insurance. Benefits to disabled children also include several medicines
that they can buy at reduced
cost.
301. The State provides financial
assistance (up to 90 per cent) for the purchase or renting of prostheses and
orthopaedic and other
appliances, and for the payment of services related to the
above aids. Public transport throughout the country is available free
of charge
to disabled children. If possible, local authorities have assisted families
with disabled children by providing benefits
to them.
302. Laws
regulating occupational relations and rest time also establish certain benefits
for persons raising a child with a disability.
For example, on the basis of the
Labour Contracts Act, employees raising a disabled child can be dispatched on a
business trip only with their consent; it is prohibited to transfer them
to work
in another area. According to the Working and Rest Time Act (RT I 1994, 2, 12),
it is prohibited to require persons raising
a disabled child to do overtime
work, work at night or work on holidays without their consent, and if they so
request they are entitled
to reduced working time. One of the parents or a
caregiver of a disabled child is entitled to have one additional rest day per
month.
According to the Holidays Act (RT I 1997, 74, 1229), they are also
entitled to additional unpaid leave. In accordance with the
State Pension
Insurance Act, raising a disabled child is deemed an activity which is equal to
work, and this time is included in
the calculation of the length of service for
the purposes of the payment of a pension. Beginning from 1 January 2001, the
State
will pay social tax for one non-working parent raising a disabled child
less than 18 years old. On the basis of the State Pension
Insurance Act, a
parent or caregiver who has been raising a disabled child for at least eight
years is entitled to the oldage pension
on favourable conditions (five years
before the normal pensionable age established by law).
303. According to
the Pre-School Childcare Institutions Act (RT I 1999, 27, 387), a rural
municipality or city government will guarantee
all children living in its
administrative territory the possibility of attending a childcare institution in
the service area of their
place of residence.
A pre-school childcare institution provides children with care and the
possibility of acquiring preschool education. On the proposal
of the head of a
childcare institution, a rural municipality or city government may form
adjustment groups in a childcare institution
where disabled children are
together with other children, or special groups where disabled children are on
their own. Special kindergartens
may also be created for disabled
children.
304. According to the Basic and Upper Secondary Schools Act (RT
I 1993, 63, 892; 1997, 24, 365), a school is required to guarantee
the
possibility of studying to every child subject to attend school who lives in the
service area of the school. The obligation
to attend school may also be
fulfilled by studying at home. The procedure for organizing study at home is
established by the Ministry
of Education. Depending on the pupils’ need
for special schooling, special assistance, special conditions for their
upbringing
and for their treatment, basic schools and upper secondary schools
may be organized into special schools or sanatorium-schools.
Schools for
children with health problems and children with disabilities are established by
the Ministry of Education or by an executive
body of a local government.
Special schools for children with disabilities are intended for pupils with
physical, speech or mental
impairments or for pupils needing special conditions
for their upbringing. Sanatorium-schools are for pupils with health problems.
Depending on the nature of their disability, children will receive special
schooling, medical assistance, rehabilitation, correction
and financial
compensation. When there is no further need for them to attend a
sanatorium-school or a special school, children may
continue studying at their
previous school.
305. The integrated studying possibilities in the
Estonian educational system are as follows:
Ordinary schools, where if necessary an individual curriculum may be drawn up; appropriate classes are organized for the correction and rehabilitation of a disability;
Special classes at ordinary schools;
Ordinary schools, whereas rehabilitating and compensating subjects are studied under the instruction of a special teacher at a special school;
Special schools, where general educational subjects are taught while vocational training takes place in parallel at an ordinary vocational school;
Forming of special schools into counselling centres providing special
schooling.
306. Several special training and day centres for disabled
children and youth have been created. In 1995, the Astangu Coping Centre
was
opened in Tallinn and is becoming a vocational training and counselling centre
for disabled young people in Estonia. According
to the Vocational Educational
Institutions Act (RT I 1998, 64, 1007), vocational educational institutions
admit people with basic
or secondary education. In cooperation with county
governments and local authorities, educational institutions create possibilities
for students to acquire vocational secondary and vocational higher education,
considering the student’s wishes, peculiarities
and possibilities to find
suitable jobs.
307. The attitude to disabled young people acquiring
higher education is changing and there are increasingly more possibilities for
them to attend higher educational institutions. But there are still many
disabled people who have no access to higher education
because of their
insufficient prior education or the insufficiency of the studying conditions at
higher educational institutions.
308. The availability of services for
disabled people, including disabled children, has grown. Social rehabilitation
courses at Karaski
Adaptation Centre are attended by children with various
disabilities, together with their family members. In some cities and counties
there is a special transport service for disabled people at reduced price.
Disabled children at ordinary schools can use the services
of an
assistant.
309. The school system as a whole is not prepared to consider
the needs of all disabled pupils. Teachers at ordinary schools need
additional
training in issues of special education, and special education teachers need
more knowledge in order to integrate children
with serious special educational
needs into special schools. Individual curricula need to be developed further;
this is one of the
reasons why not all children can receive education that
corresponds to their needs.
Table 30
Disabled children
|
1994
|
1995
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
|
Recipients of disability
pension |
1 737
|
3 685
|
4 097
|
4 283
|
4 477
|
4 604
|
4 752
|
Estimated other pensions
|
598
|
709
|
704
|
678
|
580
|
555
|
655
|
Source: Estonian Statistical Office, 1999.
310. Families
with disabled children often have economic difficulties as one of the parents
often has to stay at home. A serious
problem for children with a movement
disability is posed by obstacles to moving around and the absence of ramps and
lifts. There
is a lack of assistants to help them to go to school, treatment
institutions and hobby clubs.
C. Social security and childcare services and facilities (arts. 26 and 18, para. 3)
311. Adjustment groups at special kindergartens
admit children with physical, speech, or mental impairment and children with
psychological
problems or autistic children. Groups for children with physical
impairments admit children with diseases of the central and peripheral
nervous
system; diseases of the joints or arthropathies; diseases of the back or
dorsopathies; diseases of the bone or cartilage;
diseases of the soft tissue;
congenital anomalies, deformations, chromosome anomalies, or pathology of the
support and movement apparatus
caused by a trauma.
312. Adjustment groups admit children with pronunciation and phonation
disorders (voice disorders, disorders of speech rhythm and
tempo, dyslalia,
rhinolalia, dysarthria, anarthria); systemic speech disorder (alalia, aphasia);
secondary speech disorders (due
to a mild hearing impairment, psychological
problems without mental retardation) or mixed specific development
problems.
313. Development groups for visionimpaired children admit
children whose vision impairment hinders their acquiring preschool education
in
an ordinary or adjustment group and who have a central visual acuity of 00.05;
central visual acuity of a better seeing eye with
correction of 0.050.3; central
scotoma and concentric narrowing of visual field of up to 30º or damage to
different visual functions.
314. Groups for hearingimpaired children
admit children with a hearing impairment in a central speech area (at a
frequency of 5004,000
Hz) 50100 db, which hinders acquiring preschool education
in an ordinary group; children who have gone deaf at a later age and whose
speech is partly preserved but whose hearing impairment hinders them acquiring
preschool education in an ordinary group; deaf children
whose hearing impairment
is 100110 db or more or hearingimpaired children with a mild mental impairment
or vision impairment. Sixyearold
hearingimpaired children may be admitted to
preparatory groups at relevant schools.
315. Development groups admit
children with various degrees of mental retardation. In the case of a combined
impairment, a child
is sent to a special kindergarten (special group) which to
the maximum extent promotes his or her development, or a separate group
may be
formed. Groups for children with combined impairments admit children who are
blind and deaf; who have a hearing impairment
accompanied by mental retardation;
who have a vision impairment accompanied by metal retardation, or a physical
impairment with mental
retardation.
316. Sanatoriumschools for children
with severely progressing somatic diseases admit children with severely
progressing somatic diseases
or with chronic somatic diseases in a period of
decompensation or in a state of acuteness. Schools (special classes) for
children
with physical disabilities admit pupils who have diseases of the
central and peripheral nervous system; diseases of the joints or
arthropathies;
diseases of the back or dorsopathies; diseases of the bone or cartilage;
diseases of the soft tissue; congenital malformations,
deformations, chromosome
anomalies, or pathology of support and movement apparatus caused by a trauma.
Schools (special classes)
for children with psychological disorders admit
children with organic psychological disorders (organic asthenia, mild disorders
of
cognitive functions, posttrauma braindamage syndrome); affective disorders
(depression); neurotic, stressrelated and somatoform disorders
(anxiety
disorders, severe stress reactions and accommodation problems, other neurotic
disorders); disorders of physiological functions
(eating disorders); disorders
of psychological development (asperger syndrome); behavioural and emotional life
disorders (hyperkinetic
disorders, mixed behavioural and emotional disorders,
emotional disorders characteristic of a child) or epilepsy.
317. Schools
(special classes) for speech impaired children admit pupils with normal hearing
and no primary damage of intellectual
ability who have alalia or aphasia;
rhinolalia in a degree which causes secondary underspeech; dysarthria;
stuttering which hinders
attending an ordinary school; mild hearing decline
which causes secondary underspeech or defects of written speech; dysgraphia and
dyslexia. Schools (special classes) for hearingimpaired children admit pupils
with hearing impairments in the central speech area
(at a frequency of 5004,000
Hz) 50100 db and with impairmentrelated underspeech which hinders studying at an
ordinary school; pupils
who have gone deaf at preschool age or school age and
whose speech is partly or fully preserved but whose hearing impairment hinders
their studying at an ordinary school; deaf pupils; pupils with sensory alalia or
with a combined impairment (hearing impairment is
accompanied by mental
retardation).
318. Schools (special classes) for visionimpaired children
admit pupils with a visual acuity of the better seeing eye of 00.05 (blind);
with a visual acuity of the better seeing eye with correction of 0.050.3; with a
central scotoma and concentric narrowing of the
visual field of up to 30º
or damage of visual functions which requires use of special teaching
methodology. Adjustment classes
admit pupils with specific studying disorders;
mixed specific development disorders; specific development disorders of motor
functions;
pervasive development disorders; hyperkinetic disorders; mild organic
psychological disorders or severe emotional and communication
disorders.
319. Support schools (support classes) admit pupils with mild
mental retardation or mild mental retardation with pervasive development
disorders.
320. Coping schools (coping classes) admit pupils with
moderate mental retardation or moderate mental retardation with pervasive
development
disorders.
321. Care schools (care classes) admit pupils with
severe or deep mental retardation, or severe or deep mental retardation with
pervasive
development disorders.
322. Pupils with combined disabilities
are referred to a special school (special class) which to the best extent
possible promotes
their development, or a separate class is formed. Classes for
pupils with combined disabilities admit pupils who are blind and deaf;
who have
a hearing impairment with accompanying mental retardation; who have a vision
impairment with accompanying mental retardation,
or who have a physical
impairment with accompanying mental retardation.
323. Minister of Social
Affairs regulation No. 41 of 27 May 1999 “Approving the conditions
and procedure for granting applications
for postponement of fulfilment of the
obligation to attend school” establishes the conditions for postponing the
fulfilment
of the obligation to attend school based on the state of health of a
child. Obligatory attendance school may be postponed for the
following reasons:
acute illness, the becoming acute of a chronic disease, or a severe trauma which
has required longterm treatment
(exceeding six weeks) in the year before
entering school; development disorders of speech and language (based on an
examination by
a speech therapist); neurotic disorders; mixed specific
development disorders; pervasive development disorders; hyperkinetic disorders;
mixed behavioural and emotional disorders; communication disorders or neurotic
disorders. Obligatory attendance at school is postponed
only if during that
period the parent will provide the necessary environment for the child’s
development and rehabilitation
and the possibility of continuing preschool
education until entering school.
324. The Health Care Organization Act
lays down the legal status of health care institutions and the bases of
financing the health-care
system. The function of health care is to protect and
strengthen people’s health, prevent and successfully diagnose and treat
diseases, disabilities, injuries and poisonings. Medical care is defined as
activities of doctors with higher medical education
for the protection of human
health, prolongation of the length of life and improvement of the quality of
life. Doctors may practise
medicine only in accordance with their particular
professional qualification. Everyone is entitled to receive an overview
examination
of his or her state of health by a doctor.
325. The Social
Welfare Act provides for payment of social benefits and provision of social
welfare services to a person or family
in order to prevent, remove or alleviate
the person’s or family’s coping problems. Persons whose monthly
income is below
the subsistence level established by the Government based on the
minimum consumption expenditure are entitled to subsistence benefits.
Local
authorities are required to provide housing to a person or family who are unable
to provide it for themselves or their families,
and if necessary create the
possibility for them to rent a communal flat or to use a shelter.
D. Standard of living (art. 27, paras. 13)
326. “The fundamental principles of child
and family policy” have been drawn up and put to public debate. The
principles
fix the priorities that have to be followed when drafting legislation
and taking economic policy and budgetary decisions. They also
fix the levels
for the implementation of child and family policy, pointing out first of all the
possibilities and duties of the State.
After the approval of the principles, a
concrete programme of action arising from them will be prepared. The general
aim of the
State child and family policy is to guarantee the wellbeing of
families with children, at least on the average level of the State,
but concrete
indicators are yet to be worked out. In Estonia, there is no officially
established standard of living; for assessing
the people’s standard of
living, such indicators as estimated subsistence minimum, poverty line, coping
line are used.
327. The subsistence minimum is the minimum means
that a person needs to maintain or restore his or her ability to work. The
subsistence minimum is based on
the consumption of a statistically average
person, to cover basic needs (food, clothing, housing) and a minimum of other
expenses.
The methodology for the calculation of the subsistence minimum was
prepared by a working group formed as a result of trilateral
negotiations
(government, employers, trade unions) and was approved by an agreement between
the above three parties. Since the second
half of 1997, the subsistence minimum
is calculated on a quarterly basis by the Statistical Office. The cost of
living comprises
two parts: (i) minimum food basket with a calorific value
of 2,400 kilocalories per day (24 hours) (where the quantities of
foodstuffs
have been multiplied by their average prices in the period reviewed),
(ii) primary manufactured goods and services, including housing;
the calculation
of their cost is based on the actual monthly expenses of one member of a
statistically average family according to
household surveys for that period, the
cost has been adjusted by a coefficient worked out by the expert group. As
about 50 per cent
of the subsistence minimum is made up of the cost of
foodstuffs, the prices of which have even partly dropped recently, the estimated
subsistence minimum of one person per 30 days has been in the range 1,1001,200
kroons in the years 19971999 ($1 = ca. 16 kroons).
Pensions and benefits are
not directly connected with the subsistence minimum.
328. Estonian scientists
have drawn up an indicator called the poverty line, which was also
included in the 1999 Estonian human development report. The 1997 poverty line
(1,250 kroons) was recalculated based
on the rise in the cost of living
reflected in the change in the consumer price index. Accordingly, the poverty
line was 1,330 kroons
in 1998 and 1,360 kroons for six months of
1999.
329. The coping line is based on minimum consumption costs
and is the level established by the Government for the payment of
subsistence benefits. The
estimated coping line is 500 kroons per
adult person living alone or per first member of a multiple-member family,
and 400 kroons
(coefficient 0.8) for every other member of the family
regardless of their age. This is an amount of money which remains to a person
after the person has paid for housing expenses to the extent of normative
housing space. In 1994, when subsistence benefits were
paid for the first
time, the limit was 280 kroons and, on the recommendation of the OECD, a lower
coefficient was used for children
under 14 years - coefficient 0.5 (140 kroons)
- and 0.7 (196 kroons) for children over 14 years and for other family members.
As
expenses for children are high and the coping line is low, already since 1
July 1994 the consumption coefficients of children and
other family members have
been equalized, which means a relatively higher valuation of
children.
330. Regular overview of the economic situation of families and
changes in it can be obtained from household surveys conducted by
the
Statistical Office.
331. Subsequent to the World Summit for Social
Development, held in Copenhagen in 1995, a project “Preparation of
national strategy
for alleviating poverty in Estonia” was carried out with
financing from UNDP. The project was aimed at drawing up a basic
document for
poverty alleviation strategy in Estonia. During the implementation of the
project, the abovementioned poverty line
was established on the basis of
Estonia’s socioeconomic situation. The poverty line, in turn, was used as
a basis for finding
out the extent and structure of poverty, pointing out risk
groups and development lines, assessing the effectiveness of the existing
social
political system and working out targets for drawing up a concrete action plan
for alleviating poverty. The basic document
was completed in the first half of
1999.
332. Surveys have indicated that at greatest risk of poverty are
families with children and no working members, single parent families
with
several children and families with many (three or more) children even if the
parents work. Also, at risk are so-called ordinary
families where one parent
works and the other is at home and they have two or more children. The risk of
poverty is the highest
when two changes take place simultaneously - the number
of working members in a household decreases and one more child comes to the
family. Compared to an average family, the risk of poverty rises 2.2 times in
this case. The following table shows the percentage
of poor households (net
income per member of household is below the poverty line) in different types of
household.
Table 31
Percentage of poor households in different types of
household
31
|
|
Families with 1 child
|
28
|
Families with 2 children
|
30
|
Families with 3 children
|
39
|
Families with 4 children
|
54
|
Families with child(ren) having no working member(s)
|
85
|
2 children, 2 adults of whom one is not working
|
54
|
3 or more children, 2 working adults
|
35
|
Single parent who is working
|
46
|
Source: Ministry of Social Affairs.
333. In a poor
household, most of the income is used for food and, as a rule, there is no
widespread undernourishment in poor families
although the food of many children
is not sufficiently varied (the cost is close to the minimum food basket but
benefits are provided
in the form of school meals). The average expenditure on
food is below the cost of the minimum food basket in families of non-working
parents with children. In general, the difference of expenditure on food in
rich and poor families is the smallest (less than two
times) as compared to
differences in other expenditure. Expenditure on clothing, education, transport
and the like is several times
smaller in the case of children with non-working
parents or children with a single working parent compared to other children of
their
age - as a result, primary social needs of children in those families are
not met. Many families with children buy their clothes
at secondhand clothing
shops; at the beginning of the 1990s they received clothing also as humanitarian
aid.
334. The State supports families with children financially from the
State budget by the payment of family benefits, disabled child
allowances
(before 2000 disabled child pensions), survivor’s pensions, subsistence
benefits to low-income families, and other
similar benefits. The current
system of benefits has been operative and has been improved throughout the
last 10 years.
335. According to the Family Benefits Act (RT I
1997, 42, 676) (until 2000 the Child Benefits Act), families with children are
entitled
to State family benefits in partial compensation of expenses related to
the care, rearing and education of a child. Support for
all children, including
compensation of price rises, was begun in 1990. The child benefits system in
its present form, with a few
exceptions, has been effective since 1992. Family
benefits are financed from the State budget through the national social
insurance
system. The payment of family benefits does not depend on the
family’s income. If the child’s parents do not maintain
the child,
the allowance is paid to a stepparent or fosterparent. Child benefits are paid
until a child attains 16 years of age
or if, the child continues
studying, 19 years of age. Although expenses for a child grow along with the
child’s age, benefits
are paid according to the principle that as a child
grows the possibilities for both parents to be employed
increase.
336. With the latest amendment to the law that entered into
force on 1 January 2000, the following State benefits are available to
families:
Onetime childbirth allowance (3,750 kroons for the first child, 3,000 kroons for every other child);
Monthly child allowance (150 kroons for the first child, 225 for the second and 300 for the third or any further child);
Monthly single parent’s child allowance (300 kroons), if there is no entry for the father in the child’s birth record or if the entry was made on the basis of a statement by the mother;
Monthly conscript’s child allowance (750 kroons) for a child whose father has been conscripted to serve in the defence forces;
Foster care allowance for a child who is deprived of parental care, who is under guardianship or has been taken into a family for care (300 kroons per month; in addition the local authorities will pay the costs of the child’s maintenance);
One-time child’s school allowance at the beginning of the school year (450 kroons);
Start in independent life allowance for an orphan or a child without parental care who has lived in a children’s home (5,000 kroons);
Childcare allowance for families with children up to 3 years old (600 kroons
monthly for every child up to 3 years old) (previously
a maintenance allowance
only to a parent who took leave to care for a child or to a non-working parent),
if there are children between
3 and 8 years of age in the same
family, an additional 300 kroons monthly are paid for each child in that age
range.
337. The State recognizes raising an infant as work and pays
social tax for the parent receiving a childcare allowance, except for
a working
parent. Hence, the parent has medical insurance and the time spent raising the
child is included in the length of service
used for the pension
calculation.
338. Over time, the amounts of child benefits have risen and
several new types of benefits have been added. In the 1990s (especially
in
1994, 1998 and 2000), the benefits to families who are most at risk have grown
most. A significant rise can be noted in the case
of the childcare allowance,
the single parent allowance, the allowance for a third child or further
children, the childbirth allowance
and the conscript’s child allowance.
The increase has been smaller in the case of the first (one) child
allowance.
339. Child benefits are essentially aimed at less financially secure
families, although no income is taken into account when granting
a benefit.
Although the basic amount of child benefits, the amount of the allowance for the
first child, is not big - approximately
$10 - a person may receive several
allowances per child (other than the childbirth allowance and the child
allowance).
340. In 1998, according to two types of benefits, an average
of 284 kroons was paid per child (inclusive of a parent’s maintenance
support). If there are two children under 3 years of age and one child between
3 and 8 in a family, as from 1 January 2000 a parent
receives 1.2 minimum wages,
tax exempt, as a childcare allowance (the minimum wage from 1 January 2000
is 1,400 kroons, tax exempt
income is 800 kroons a month) and the
family receives a total of 2,175 kroons a month from the State in the
form of family benefits.
This is a bit less than the estimated subsistence
minimum for two persons and covers the average monthly expenses
of 1.1 persons.
Based on the expenses for food of an average family,
the benefit covers monthly food expenses for 3.5 persons. For
20 per cent
of families with children in the lowest income group, the
child allowance makes up about 20 per cent of their
income.
341. In 1994, child benefit payments amounted to 585 million
kroons, in 1999 the sum was 1,146 million and in the budget for 2000
appropriations of 1,338 million have been made for this purpose. During the
same time (6-year period), the number of children has
dropped
by 10 per cent. Family benefits made up 4.7 per cent
of the budget for 2000 (together with the budget for compulsory pension
insurance and medical insurance). In 1999, child benefits made
up 1.5 per cent of GDP.
342. Purpose-oriented allocations
are made from the State budget to support funds in rural municipality and county
budgets. In 1999,
40 million kroons of these allocations were earmarked for
transport support to pupils at municipal schools, 30 million for additional
school allowances (mainly for school meals) and 10 million for pupils attending
art and music schools. Allocations from the State
budget were also made through
the Estonian Regional Foundation under the Ministry of Internal Affairs for
regional programmes aimed
at children, families, elderly people, disabled people
- in 1999 the amount of allocations was 19 million kroons and will be 23.3
million according to the budget in 2000.
343. Various State social
benefits are paid to low-income families and families with special needs; the
largest of these benefits
is the subsistence benefit. Subsistence benefits are
granted and paid on a monthly basis by rural municipality or city governments
from the funds earmarked for this purpose in the State budget in accordance with
the conditions established by the Government. Persons
(families) residing in
the territory of Estonia whose monthly income is less than the minimum coping
line established by the Government
are entitled to subsistence benefits.
Application for and the granting of subsistence benefits is based on the monthly
income of
family members that remains after deduction of expenses for the
normative housing space. After the payment of housing expenses,
a three-member
family should have 1,300 kroons left for other expenses. If they have less
or if they are unable to pay for the housing
either, the difference will be paid
by the State.
344. About 70,000 to 80,000 families have received subsistence benefits for a
period of one month, several months, or all 12 months
a year
(11-13 per cent of all families), while about 1.5 to
2 per cent of families have received the subsistence benefit
throughout
the year. Although social benefits are intended to provide
short-term extraordinary assistance to people who have dropped below
the poverty
line, there are some families who receive the benefits on a regular basis. An
average 560 kroons a month were paid in
1999 to a family receiving a benefit.
Of recipients of benefits for persons below the minimum coping line, families
with a child
(children) make up more than half. Among them the number of
families with three or more children is twice the national average and
the
number of single parent families is also significantly higher. In connection
with the rise in pensions, the proportion of pensioners
among benefit recipients
has dropped while the proportion of families with children has
risen.
345. Benefits are paid on the same basis everywhere, but due to
differences in wage and unemployment levels the average amount of
a benefit per
person per year varies considerably from county to county (in 1999 in
Võrumaa 465, in Tallinn 203 and on average
in the country 212
kroons). The differences are even bigger between single rural municipalities
and cities. Social benefits are
strongly aimed at poorer areas and in rural
areas first of all at families with many children (where there are more such
families)
and in cities at unemployed persons.
346. Part of the funds
allocated from the State budget for subsistence benefits can be paid outside the
minimum coping line as single
benefits to less financially secure people and
families and people with special needs. In 1999, 59,000 families
(10 per cent of
all families) received this additional benefit and the
proportion of families with children is higher in the case of this benefit.
Most of the money has been used for partial payment of school meals and purchase
of study materials.
347. In addition, one-time State benefits are paid to
persons in specific target groups or risk groups and to less financially secure
families (reduced transport costs for disabled people, including disabled
children, telephone allowances for families with specific
social needs
having four or more minor children, etc.). Local authorities also support
families with children from their budgets
by subsidizing school meals and
childcare. On the State level, the providing of direct or indirect support to
low-income families
started in 1994. In recent years, 335425 million
kroons a year have been spent for this purpose. Social benefits made
up 1.1 per
cent of the budget for 2000.
348. Supporting
families has helped to ensure that the rise of income of low-income families or
families who have no income at all
besides benefits and allowances, is at the
same level as the rise of income of other families. The ratio of households in
the 20
per cent highest income group to those in the 20 per cent lowest income
group has declined from 7.8 times in 1994 to 5.4 times in
1998. Poverty has
decreased somewhat. If in 1996, 36 per cent lived below the above-defined
poverty line (using the coefficient
0.8 beginning from the second family member)
where some households have difficulties in meeting their physiological needs and
others
in meeting their social and cultural needs, in 1999, 24 per cent of
households lived below that line (respectively 38 per cent and
30 per cent
of people).
349. The most comprehensive overview of the housing conditions of families is
provided by the 1994 survey “Housing conditions
in Estonia”. The
survey reveals clearly that families with more children live in more stringent
conditions than families with
fewer children. The data also reveal the small
flexibility of the housing market. Older families would rather like to have
smaller
and cheaper housing and young families with children would like to have
more space.
Table 32
Housing conditions in different household types
(Percentage
share in the group specified)
Floor area of dwelling per family member
|
Need for larger floor area
|
Need for smaller floor area
|
Difficulties with payment
|
Need for other kind of dwelling
|
|
2 adults and 2 children
|
18.0
|
80.2
|
3
|
21.3
|
48.9
|
2 adults and 1 child
|
21.1
|
60.4
|
5.9
|
22.6
|
45.5
|
1 adult and 1 child
|
22.8
|
58.3
|
6.2
|
41.6
|
44.4
|
1 adult
|
60.3
|
45.6
|
18.8
|
24.7
|
39.1
|
1 pensioner
|
66.9
|
16.7
|
48.5
|
31.9
|
21.9
|
Average
|
32.3
|
54.5
|
15.2
|
24.7
|
36.1
|
Source: Survey “Housing conditions in Estonia”
1994.
350. A comparison of different family types reveals that an
increase in the number of children does not result in an increase of housing
expenses in a family. It is also revealed that the number of rooms per dwelling
does not significantly depend on the number of members
per household. This
indicates, on the one hand, the smaller payment ability of larger families and,
on the other hand, the small
flexibility of the housing market. When a
household has children, it does not improve its living conditions but, on the
contrary,
opts not to improve its living conditions (apparently due to
redistribution of expenses). It may be assumed that although the majority
of
families are able to cover their current housing expenses they are unable to
invest in improving their housing situation (renovate,
buy new housing, etc.)
and bring it into line with the actual needs of the family. Poorer families
(first and foremost families
in the first and second income deciles) are unable
to pay for their current housing expenses (permanently unemployed,
families with
many children) and need housing support, communal housing,
etc. Only a maximum 15 to 20 per cent of the population may be considered
as solvent. These are families in the two last income deciles (ninth
income decile, where the net monthly income per family member
was 3,233 kroons
in 1999, and tenth income decile, where it was 5,850 kroons). Presumably, only
these families are able to bear
full economic responsibility for their housing
and are able to make the necessary investments to improve the condition of their
housing.
351. In 2000, a housing loan for young families was introduced.
A family or single parent raising at least one child under 7 years
old is
eligible to apply for the loan. The self-financing requirement is lower for
this loan - 10 to 20 per cent depending on the
location and on whether or
not the housing is in a new building. In the case of an ordinary housing loan,
the
selffinancing requirement is at least 34 per cent. The State also guarantees
part of the loan. The maximum amount of the loan is
1 million kroons, which can
be borrowed for up to 20 and in some cases for up to 30 years. According to the
estimates of banks,
the State is able to guarantee loans on these conditions to
1,200 young families a year. It is also important to emphasize that
there are
huge regional disparities in the housing market.
352. The following
problems can be mentioned:
The decline of the economy after the regaining of independence resulted in the decline of employment and rapid decline in people’s well-being;
A small gross national product per inhabitant, which in 1993 was US$ 1,067 in 1997 US$ 3,079 (Estonian Human Development Report, 1999). The gross domestic product per inhabitant based on purchasing power parity was US$ 3,842 in 1994, US$ 5,240 in 1997 (OECD). The scarcity of resources to support families who cannot cope themselves;
Low wages. Therefore not even all working parents are able to create sufficient conditions for the development of their children;
The low minimum wage (1,400 kroons in 2000) and in some regions the low average wage create a situation where people with passive income (social benefits) can achieve the same standard of living as people with active income (wage);
Unemployment, which began to emerge in 1991, has now grown to 10 per cent. The problem especially is unemployment of young people and unemployment in rural areas, as well as long-term unemployment (in 1995, 30 per cent had been unemployed for more than a year, in 1998 it was 45 per cent of all the unemployed). Unemployment is the biggest risk factor that forces families to fall into poverty because the unemployment benefit is small (400 kroons) and until now there is no unemployment insurance;
Families who have lost hope of alleviating their poverty and returning to active life;
Housing problems - the poor condition of housing; the income of most families
is too low to enable them to obtain a loan to renovate,
purchase or build
housing; there is a high proportion of self-financing to obtain a loan.
VII. EDUCATION, LEISURE AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
A. Education and aims of education (arts. 28, 29)
1. Pre-school education
353. A
rural municipality or city government creates for all children in its
administrative territory the possibility of attending
a childcare institution in
the catchment area of the child’s place of residence. Parents are free to
choose a childcare institution
if there are vacancies at the
institution that they wish their child to attend. The task of the rural
municipality or city government and the State as a whole
is to take all
necessary measures to guarantee the right of working parents to care and
pre-school education for their child.
354. From 1 July 2002, a rural
municipality or city government is required to guarantee all children living in
its administrative
territory the possibility of attending a kindergarten or
nursery located within its jurisdiction. The cost of meals provided to
the
child is covered by the parents. Other expenses are covered from the rural
municipality or city budget and partly by parents,
according to a decision of a
rural municipality of city council. The part to be covered by parents may not
exceed 20 per cent of
the officially established wage minimum and may differ
according to the child’s age, the administration costs of a childcare
institution or other circumstances.
355. A pre-school-childcare
institution provides care and teaching (acquiring of pre-school education) to
children younger than school
age. The definition of education, including
preschool education, is established by the Education Act. The Child Protection
Act establishes the freedom to study, principles of instruction and requirements
for the preparation of teachers
for children with disabilities. The Pre-School
Childcare Institutions Act establishes the definitions relating to pre-school
childcare
institutions; types of institutions; number of children in groups;
founding, operating and merging of childcare institutions and
the procedure for
terminating their activities; organization of teaching and care;
requirements for the administration and staff;
financing; accounting and
supervision. The Private Schools Act (RT I 1998, 57, 859; 1999, 51,
550) establishes the procedure for
founding, operating and terminating the
activities of privately owned pre-school childcare institutions. In terms of
administration,
pre-school childcare institutions are divided into municipal and
privately owned institutions.
356. The function of childcare
institutions is, by considering a child’s age, sex, individual needs and
character, to:
Create possibilities and conditions for shaping a harmonious person who is socially sensitive, mentally agile, self-confident, considerate to other people’s needs, and environmentally aware;
Maintain and strengthen a child’s health and promote his or her
emotional, moral, social, mental and physical development.
357. The
following types of childcare institutions exist:
Nurseries for children up to 3 years;
Kindergartens for children up to 7 years;
Special kindergartens for children up to 7 years with problems.
358. A basic school may be integrated with a kindergarten (kindergarten-basic
school with joint administration). The number of children
registered in a group
is as follows:
In a nursery group up to 14 children;
In a kindergarten group up to 20 children;
In a combined group up to 18 children.
359. The number of children in
a special group is as follows:
In a group of children with a physical disability, up to 12 children;
In an adjustment group attended by children with speech disorders or specific development disorders, up to 12 children;
In a development group attended by children with mental retardation, up to 7 children;
In a group for children, with mind disorders up to 10 children;
In a group for children with combined disabilities, up to 4
children.
360. In an adjustment group (where children with disabilities
attend together with other children) the maximum number of children,
based on
the number of children with disabilities and the degree of their disability, is
three children fewer than in other groups
at a childcare institution per one
child with a disability.
361. A childcare institution is established by a
city or rural municipality government upon a decision of a local government
council
and on the basis of a schooling licence issued by the Minister of
Education. The following is necessary for establishing and operating
a
childcare institution:
Teachers who meet the qualification requirements for childcare institutions established by the regulation of the Minister of Education;
Rooms (buildings) and land suitable for the development and play of children which are in conformity with the health protection requirements established by the regulation of the Minister of Social Affairs and fire safety and rescue area requirements established by legislation;
A curriculum which conforms with the framework curriculum for pre-school
education established by the regulation of the Government.
362. According
to the Education Act, pre-school education is a set of knowledge, skills,
experience and behaviour, which creates the preconditions for successful
advancement
in daily life and at school.
363. The organization of
teaching and care at pre-school childcare institutions is based on
the curriculum for childcare institutions
which corresponds to the
framework curriculum for preschool education approved by the regulation of the
Government. The framework
curriculum for pre-school education sets
down:
Goals of teaching and care;
Principles of organization of teaching and care;
Content, extent and time of teaching and care;
Principles for assessing a child’s development;
Expected results of a child upon completion of the curriculum;
Principles, content and extent of teaching of Estonian in a childcare
institution or group where teaching and care is provided in
another
language.
364. The curriculum of a childcare institution is approved by
the director (principal) on the proposal of the educational council,
considering
also the opinion of the board of trustees. A childcare institution has an
activity plan and a timetable which are drawn
up in the light of the framework
curriculum for pre-school education and the cultural peculiarities and folk
traditions of the region
where the childcare institution is located. The
activity plan and timetable of a childcare institution are approved by the
director.
365. Administration of teaching and care at a childcare
institution is the responsibility of the director of the institution. The
teachers create conditions for the growth and development of children following
the principle of mutual respect and understanding
in cooperation with the
children and their parents.
366. The staff are not allowed to disclose
information received from a child concerning his or her family but if it is
found that
a child’s environment at home is inadequate or if a child has
become a victim of physical, emotional or sexual mistreatment,
the staff are
obliged to inform the officials of the rural municipality or city government
dealing with social services or issues
of child protection.
367. The
framework curriculum for pre-school education stipulates that children need
manysided development in order to be able to
transfer to the next level of
education. The framework curriculum assists parents in raising and developing a
child at home. Upon
the wish of parents whose children do not attend a
pre-school childcare institution, teachers at such institutions are required to
advise them on issues of teaching and raising a child.
368. The content of teaching and care is set out according to five subject
areas:
Language and speech;
Mathematics;
Art;
Music;
Movement.
At childcare institutions where teaching and care is not
provided in Estonian, a sixth subject area is added - the Estonian language,
the
learning of which starts at ages 5 to 6.
369. Teaching and care is
provided in groups and according to a daily timetable which sets the daily
rhythm of activities (eating,
getting dressed, washing, tidying up the room,
etc.) and sleeping time. The timetable also sets out the activities of teaching
and
care planned by the kindergarten teacher. The teaching and care is linked
into an integrated whole through topics addressing the
child’s life and
environment (according to the regional studies principle), one of which is the
child’s rights. For
the introduction of this new topic to children,
material has been prepared to assist teachers in childcare institutions, so that
they may feel more confident in presenting such a difficult topic to small
children.
370. Activities are planned on how a child can make choices.
This teaches a child to act independently, correct his or her actions
and be
responsible for the results of his or her actions. The timetable for children
aged 6 to 7 includes activities to promote
a child’s smooth adjustment to
school life. Attention is paid to developing psychological processes,
perception, memory, imagination,
reasoning and to basic skills for learning,
like observing, listening, comparing, ranking, counting, measuring, grouping and
modelling.
371. A kindergarten teacher is free to choose the methodology
for teaching. During their professional training, they become familiar
with
major learning theories and models. The majority of teachers at childcare
institutions have higher education (15 per cent)
or secondary vocational
education (75 per cent). Ten per cent of teachers have secondary education.
There is a problem of aging
of teachers, because only a few young teachers are
entering the profession.
372. The percentage of children attending
pre-school childcare institutions is indicated in the table below.
Table 33
Enrolment ratio in pre-school institutions
1997
|
1997
|
1997
|
1998
|
1998
|
1998
|
|
Children
|
Children in pre-school institutions
|
Enrolment ratio, %
|
Children
|
Children in pre-school institutions
|
Enrolment ratio, %
|
|
0
|
13 121
|
|
|
12 474
|
|
|
1
|
13 268
|
1 058
|
8.0
|
13 099
|
1 227
|
9.4
|
2
|
13 804
|
5 453
|
39.5
|
13 241
|
5 887
|
44.5
|
1+2
|
27 072
|
6 511
|
24.1
|
26 340
|
7 114
|
27.0
|
3
|
14 729
|
9 096
|
61.8
|
13 781
|
8 935
|
64.8
|
4
|
17 221
|
11 537
|
67.0
|
14 713
|
10 562
|
71.8
|
5
|
18 061
|
12 489
|
69.1
|
17 179
|
12 313
|
71.7
|
6
|
20 687
|
14 245
|
68.9
|
18 021
|
13 022
|
72.3
|
1-6
|
97 770
|
53 878
|
55.1
|
90 034
|
51 946
|
57.7
|
7
|
22 256
|
3 049
|
13.7
|
20 653
|
3 061
|
14.8
|
8
|
22 652
|
74
|
0.3
|
22 211
|
62
|
0.3
|
9
|
22 857
|
11
|
0.0
|
22 598
|
5
|
0.0
|
10
|
22 053
|
1
|
0.0
|
22 801
|
2
|
0.0
|
11
|
21 982
|
7
|
0.0
|
21 990
|
1
|
0.0
|
Age
|
1999
|
1999
|
1999
|
2000
|
2000
|
2000
|
Children
|
Children in pre-school institutions
|
Enrolment ratio, %
|
Children
|
Children in pre-school institutions
|
Enrolment ratio, %
|
|
0
|
12 075
|
|
|
12 339
|
|
|
1
|
12 449
|
1 178
|
9.5
|
12 073
|
1 298
|
10.8
|
2
|
13 104
|
6 049
|
46.2
|
12 441
|
5 803
|
46.6
|
1+2
|
25 553
|
7 227
|
28.3
|
24 514
|
7 101
|
29.0
|
3
|
13 232
|
8 804
|
66.5
|
13 102
|
8 845
|
67.5
|
4
|
13 752
|
9 800
|
71.3
|
13 233
|
9 813
|
74.2
|
5
|
14 708
|
11 035
|
75.0
|
13 748
|
10 483
|
76.3
|
6
|
17 162
|
12 714
|
74.1
|
14 710
|
11 261
|
76.6
|
1-6
|
84 407
|
49 580
|
58.7
|
79 307
|
47 503
|
59.9
|
7
|
17 996
|
2 849
|
15.8
|
17 164
|
2 832
|
16.5
|
8
|
20 630
|
36
|
0.2
|
17 988
|
23
|
0.1
|
9
|
22 179
|
|
0.0
|
20 603
|
2
|
0.0
|
10
|
22 564
|
1
|
0.0
|
22 160
|
1
|
0.0
|
11
|
22 773
|
|
0.0
|
22 546
|
1
|
0.0
|
Source: Estonian Statistical Office, 2000.
2. Basic education
373. In addition to the Pre-School Childcare
Institutions Act, organization of education is also regulated by the Education
Act, the Basic and Upper Secondary Schools Act, the Private Schools Act, the
Vocational Schools Act (RT I 1998, 64/65, 1007; 1999, 10,
150; 51, 550) and the
Hobby Schools Act (RT I 1995, 58, 1004). The Basic and Upper Secondary Schools
Act establishes the legal status
and organization of work of general education
schools and establishes the rights of children at school.
374. Acquiring
of basic education is compulsory and free of charge. Local authorities maintain
a sufficient number of schools for
fulfilment of the obligation to attend
school. Local authorities provide every child in the school’s catchment
area with a
place at the school. Parents are free to choose a school for their
child, if there are vacancies at that school. The State covers
the expenses for
teachers’ salaries and the cost of buying textbooks.
375. The
requirements for basic education (standards of basic education) are established
by the national curriculum for basic and
secondary education approved by the
Government. The curriculum sets out the aims of instruction, study time, the
proportion of the
national curriculum in relation to the school’s own
curriculum, the list of compulsory subjects with their duration and course
outlines, as well as possibilities and conditions for choosing subjects, the
requirements for study periods and requirements to be
fulfilled for
graduating.
376. The present legislation on primary and secondary
education has been developed with the aim of reaching every child already before
he or she enters school but definitely at school, due consideration being given
to a child’s development needs and abilities.
A school is required to
provide every child in its catchment area who is subject to attend school with
studying possibilities.
377. The number of pupils in general education
schools was 215,557 in autumn 1998 and 215,841 in autumn 1999. One third
of pupils
at general education schools attend schools where the language of
instruction is a language other than Estonian. Compared to previous
school
years, the number of pupils in Estonian-language schools has remained stable and
the number of pupils in Russian-language
schools has declined. In connection
with a decline in births, the number of pupils as a whole has begun to drop and
as a result
schools with a small number of pupils in rural areas are being
closed down.
Table 34
Day schools by type
|
Basic schools
|
Secondary schools and gymnasiums
|
Schools for handicapped children
|
Total
|
|
1997
|
182
|
268
|
232
|
48
|
730
|
1998
|
177
|
268
|
231
|
46
|
722
|
1999
|
169
|
256
|
236
|
45
|
706
|
Source: Ministry of Education.
Table 35
Pupils in day schools
|
1998
|
1999
|
|
In grade 1
|
20 859
|
18 505
|
17 120
|
1-4
|
84 949
|
82 083
|
77 085
|
5-9
|
94 393
|
97 830
|
100 784
|
10-12
|
32 722
|
32 027
|
32 288
|
In schools for handicapped children
|
5 429
|
5 637
|
5 684
|
Total
|
217 501
|
217 577
|
215 841
|
Source: Ministry of Education.
Table 36
Pupils aged 8-14* in day basic schools and gymnasiums
Number of children
|
Number of pupils
|
Percentage of pupils
|
Difference between pupils and children
|
Child is not enrolled
|
|
1993/94
|
154 895
|
149 750
|
96.7
|
5 145
|
3.3
|
1994/95
|
154 890
|
150 043
|
96.9
|
4 847
|
3.1
|
1995/96
|
155 491
|
150 489
|
96.8
|
5 002
|
3.2
|
1996/97
|
155 696
|
151 211
|
97.1
|
4 485
|
2.9
|
1997/98
|
155 978
|
151 754
|
97.3
|
4 224
|
2.7
|
1998/99
|
154 947
|
150 858
|
97.4
|
4 089
|
2.6
|
1999/00**
|
150 271
|
147 391
|
98.1
|
2 880
|
1.9
|
Source: Ministry of Education.
* Pupils aged 8-14 are
obliged to attend school.
** Provisional data.
378. The Basic and
Upper Secondary Schools Act stipulates that the compulsory minimum education is
basic education, i.e. attending
years I-IX at a general education school. The
age limit for acquiring basic education is 7-17 years. By law, all children who
have
reached the age of 7 by 1 October of the current year, who are not yet 17
years old and have not completed their basic education
are obliged to attend
school.
379. The aim of basic education is to develop pupils’
knowledge, skills and abilities, in order to form persons who are capable
of
coping in society and who are able and motivated to continue studying at the
secondary education level. Basic education can also
be acquired on the basis of
a simplified curriculum, depending on a child’s specific needs and
abilities. Children with severe
and moderate mental disorders are taught and
developed according to the national curriculum for
coping schools. Acquiring of basic education is compulsory and free of
charge. The obligation to attend school may also be fulfilled
by studying at
home; the relevant procedure has been established by the Minister of Education
(home study on the wish of parents,
home study due to health or staying at
hospital).
380. There are several problems with regard to the obligation
to attend school. More than 5,000 children do not fulfil their daily
obligation to attend school. The number of children repeating a year at school
is high and it increases the age range of pupils
attending the same class.
Assessing the present situation, it must be noted that the following children
may fail to attend schools
at present:
Children who have not attended school at all because schools are not aware of their existence;
Children who have attended a school but have dropped out or been expelled and do not attend any other school;
Children whose parents are mobile and who should transfer from one school to
another but, because of the lack of supervision it is
not known whether they
actually do so.
3. Teaching of children with special needs
381. Since 1992 there have been significant
positive changes in Estonian education policy. The inclusion of the majority of
children
in the education system is now guaranteed. The national curriculum for
basic education and general secondary education that has
been in effect since
1997 establishes as the underlying principle that every child must have the
possibility of receiving education
in accordance with his or her abilities.
Arising from this principle, the Minister of Education has established a
curriculum for
simplified study and a curriculum for coping. In general, it is
possible to acquire compulsory basic education at three different
levels. Thus,
the present situation is, that no pupil is released from the obligation to
attend school owing to his or her disability
or insufficient ability; every
child has the right to receive education at his or her place of residence
regardless of the child’s
particularities.
382. In all counties and
cities, counselling committees of experts have been formed whose task is to
establish a curriculum or form
of study suited to a child with disabilities and
to refer such children with the consent of a parent (guardian) to a
sanatorium-school,
special school or class for children with disabilities, and,
on the application of a parent, to decide upon postponement of the obligation
to
attend school. A parent of a child who has attained 7 years of age may
request that a counselling committee postpone the obligation
to attend school by
one year. The conditions and procedure for granting this request have been
established by a regulation of the
Minister of Social Affairs. A new provision
gives a rural municipality or city government the right to form separate classes
at
school for children with teaching problems in years seven to nine if
necessary. The procedure and conditions for forming such classes
have been
established by a regulation of the Minister of Education.
383. Public schools and municipal schools have been created for pupils with
special needs. If a local government is unable to guarantee
teaching of
children with special needs, it is possible for a counselling committee of
experts to refer a child to a public school.
Children are referred to all these
schools (classes) with the decision of a counselling committee and with the
consent of a parent
(guardian). The existing network of private schools is
being reorganized in accordance with current legislation. New coping and
care
schools (classes) have been created where children with moderate and severe
mental disabilities are taught according to the
coping
curriculum.
384. There is the biggest number of special schools for
pupils with mental disabilities (18 public schools and 8 municipal
schools).
1.8 per cent of the total number of pupils in basic schools
attend these schools. Since 1993 there is an increasing tendency to
joint
teaching, i.e. integrating of children with special needs to ordinary schools.
This poses a new challenge - for continuous
integrating of special
teaching.
Table 37
Pupils with special needs in general day
schools
|
Ordinary class in ordinary school
|
Total in ordinary schools
|
Total in special schools
|
Total
|
|
Mental learning difficulties
|
2 730
|
905
|
3 635
|
842
|
4 477
|
Children with mental disorders
|
189
|
249
|
438
|
2 281
|
2 719
|
Children with severe mental
disorders |
33
|
111
|
144
|
438
|
582
|
Children with moderate mental
disorders |
|
|
|
84
|
84
|
Deaf children
|
|
|
|
106
|
106
|
Children with auditory disabilities
|
31
|
19
|
50
|
104
|
154
|
Children with visual disabilities
|
130
|
15
|
145
|
75
|
220
|
Children with physical disabilities
|
105
|
8
|
113
|
84
|
197
|
Children with speech disabilities
|
12 185
|
|
12 185
|
201
|
12 386
|
Children with psychical/
mental disabilities |
108
|
|
108
|
151
|
259
|
Children with physical and mental
disabilities |
|
10
|
10
|
|
10
|
Deaf-blind
|
|
|
|
5
|
5
|
Children with auditory and mental
disabilities |
|
|
|
8
|
8
|
Total
|
15 511
|
1 317
|
16 828
|
4 379
|
21 207
|
Source: Ministry of Education.
385. Extended day groups offer pupils support and supervision in finding
activities for leisure and doing school homework, and provides
guidance to
pupils in their hobbies. Such groups admit pupils from throughout the basic
school. To improve children’s studying
and living conditions, local
authorities have the right and obligation to create boarding
schools.
386. Boys and girls have equal access to education. The rights
of pupils are guaranteed by law. The Basic and Upper Secondary Schools
Act
establishes the right to use free of charge the school’s buildings, rooms,
library, studying, sporting technical or other
facilities for extracurricular
activities. Pupils also have the right to participate through their
representative in solving problems
of school life, to receive information from
the school regarding the organization of education and the rights and duties of
pupils,
as well as primary information about studying possibilities. During the
time when a pupil is at school, the school guarantees the
protection of the
pupil’s health, which presumes that the general part of a school’s
curriculum contains also the timetable
of instruction and the aims of
education.
387. The main function of the general education school is to
help develop a person who can cope with his or her life and work, who
develops
him or herself and helps to promote the development of the society, who defines
him or herself as a member of the nation,
as a citizen and as a person sharing
responsibility for the future of Europe and the world, who:
Respects
home and family;
Respects him or herself and other people, respects the culture of the nation and other peoples’ culture;
Loves his or her homeland;
Observes the legal norms and the principles of democracy;
Proceeds from general human moral conceptions and appreciates beauty and goodness;
Appreciates a healthy lifestyle and develops his or her mind and body;
Preserves nature and lives and acts in an environmentally sustainable manner;
Thinks critically, creatively and logically;
Is able to target, plan and assess his or her activity;
Is able to gather and use information;
Understands the necessity for work, and is able to work and ready to cooperate;
Understands the importance of knowledge and continuous education, and is able
to learn.
4. Vocational education
388. According to the Vocational Schools Act,
vocational schools can be either public or municipal schools. Secondary
vocational
education is a set of requirements prescribed by national vocational,
speciality and professional curricula. Secondary vocational
education is
acquired on the basis of basic education or general secondary education.
Completion of secondary vocational education
creates the preconditions and
entitlement for starting to work in the area of the skill or in the speciality
or profession acquired
or to continue studying to acquire higher
education.
389. Vocational educational institutions admit people with
basic or secondary education. Children without basic education cannot
study at
a secondary educational institution. Children with mental disabilities who have
acquired basic education following a simplified
curriculum are entitled to study
at vocational educational institutions. Teaching of children with disabilities
takes place as a
rule in an ordinary study group, if necessary on the basis of
an individual curriculum. Most educational institutions are not adjusted
for
people with physical disabilities. Teachers need additional training and there
is a need for assistant teachers and for study
appliances.
390. Attendance at a vocational educational institution is
free of charge. Students also have the right to use free of charge the
school’s rooms, library and sporting, technical and other facilities for
extracurricular activities, in accordance with the
rules established by the
school.
391. Article 14 of the Vocational Schools Act grants pupils the
right to continue studies that they started in one school by transferring
to
another school to study the same skill, speciality or profession, if there are
vacancies. Vocational educational institutions
offer the possibility of
acquiring secondary vocational education or higher vocational
education.
392. Article 17 of the Vocational School Act regulates in more
detail the issues of apprenticeship during studies. The law regulates
relations
between the school and State or local government body, public or private law
legal persons or self-employed persons in
organizing pupils’
apprenticeship through a contract to be concluded between them. Jobs created
for apprenticeship, including
in a training workshop and training enterprise,
must meet the conditions required by the curriculum. During the time of
apprenticeship
pupils are protected by the provisions of labour safety
legislation.
393. During the school year 1997/98, there were 90
vocational educational institutions in Estonia with a total of 31,316 pupils, of
whom 18,563 were acquiring secondlevel secondary education and 12,753 secondary
vocational or technical education. There were 28,774
pupils at 74 public
educational institutions, 357 pupils at 4 municipal educational institutions
and 2,185 pupils at 12 private schools
(data for 1998 on vocational
schools published by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Education and the
Employment Monitoring
Centre).
394. In the school year 1999/2000, there
are a total of 34,412 pupils and students acquiring vocational education,
secondary vocational,
special secondary or higher vocational education,
of whom 18,010 pupils are acquiring vocational education on the basis of
basic education, 13,055 pupils are acquiring secondary vocational
education and 3,165 students vocational higher education on the basis of
secondary education.
395. According to article 12 of the Vocational
Schools Act, vocational education councils consisting of representatives of the
Government,
associations of employers and employees are established to
coordinate the needs of society and the labour market. The task of these
councils is to approve vocational standards and coordinate curricula in
accordance with the vocational standards. Vocational councils
are mostly
comprised of representatives of employers from professional
associations.
B. Leisure, recreation and cultural activities (art. 31)
396. The organization of physical training and
sports activities comes under the responsibility of the Ministry of Culture,
according
to the Government of the Republic Act. According to article 3 of the
Sports Act (RT I 1998, 61, 982), sport is organized by State
and local
government bodies and sports organizations with the aim of promoting physical
and mental fitness and a sportive lifestyle
for the whole population, as well as
young people’s self-realization through sport.
397. The functions
of sports organizations in promoting sport are established by the Estonian
Sports Charter. The Charter, adopted
with amendments at the IV Estonian Sports
Congress in Viljandi on 4 April 1998, stipulates in clause 1.5 that the aim of
physical
education in the curriculum (basic sports education) is to provide the
growing generation, together with school sport and health
education, with the
necessary skills, knowledge and abilities to maintain good physical form and
continue to engage in sport throughout
their life. In all schools there should
be at least three physical education classes per week.
398. Clause 1.6
of the Charter stipulates the following: amateur fitness sport offers to
everyone the possibility of undertaking
physical activity - from small children
to elderly people, women and men, people with disabilities and people needing
movement therapy.
Estonian sports organizations will actively participate in
the worldwide movement “Sport for all” by developing and
supporting
sport outdoors and at home, by organizing sports events and developing all forms
of sport in the workplace (company sport).
399. Clause 1.7 of the same
Charter defines the aim of competitive sport: competitive sport serves the
interests of self-realization
and development of a person and is promoted among
all people wishing to participate in it. The main axis of the worldwide
competitive
system is competition between sports clubs. Estonia will develop
top sport by trying to compete worthily in the international arena,
including at
the Olympic Games, will create for top athletes the possibility of engaging in
such competition and will promote the
growth of young athletes. It is
acceptable to cultivate professional sport. According to the Charter, everyone
who wishes must
have a possibility to receive instruction in sports and every
sports instructor must have a professional qualification. To provide
sports
instruction and guidance, a person must have the necessary qualification which
guarantees the safety and health of the people
instructed and the efficiency of
the learning process.
400. Article 6 of the Sports Act provides for the
organization of sport by the State; the Ministry of Education is required to
organize
physical education at schools, train sports specialists and promote the
science of sport. Creating favourable conditions for fitness
and competitive
sport of disabled people (including children and youth) and solving other social
problems related to the sports movement
is the task of the Ministry of Social
Affairs. Keeping a register of sports schools is the task of the Ministry of
Culture.
401. According to the Sports Act, local government bodies are
required to guarantee the conditions at municipal schools for holding
physical
education classes and promote the practise of sport at schools, sports schools
and children’s summer camps. Advisory
physical education and sports
councils are formed by county governments. Sports programmes of national
importance are supported
from the State budget, including fitness programmes,
youth sport programmes, top competitive sport programmes and training
programmes.
The law also entitles rural municipality, city sports schools or
sports schools run by natural persons in private law to receive
support from the
State budget.
402. The budget of the Ministry of Culture contains chapter
63 “Youth sport”, for which 26 million kroons have been
allocated
in the budget for 2000 (27.5 million in 1999, including 1.5 million
from the government reserve fund). These funds are intended
for supporting
masterlevel youth sport at sports clubs and sports schools, on the assumption
that it is the task of local government
bodies to involve children in sports and
finance basic education in sports.
403. State subsidies to masterlevel
youth sport are granted to sports associations in the light of their outreach
and top-level sports
results in the youth and junior age groups. A sports
association, as the highest authority for the respective sport, establishes,
with the decision of its managing board, the criteria according to which State
subsidies are redistributed to sports clubs and sports
schools under its
administration for successful results in youth sports. Beginning from 1
September 2000, all subsidies from the
State budget will be allocated through
sports associations.
404. Two national statistical surveys (established
in 1993) cover children’s sport and youth sport: “Sports
school”
and “Sports clubs”. According to the documents
regulating the operation of sports schools, no students older than 21
years may
be enrolled in those schools. The statistics on sports clubs refer to
participants, including women and young people under
18 years.
Table 38
Sports schools
Schools
|
Groups
|
Girls
|
Boys
|
Total
|
Coaches
|
|
1995
|
56
|
1 602
|
7 237
|
13 892
|
21 129
|
774
|
1996
|
57
|
1 670
|
7 117
|
14 104
|
21 221
|
775
|
1997
|
58
|
1 614
|
7 214
|
13 400
|
20 614
|
768
|
1998
|
57
|
1 628
|
7 100
|
13 251
|
20 351
|
759
|
1999
|
56
|
1 573
|
7 043
|
13 127
|
20 170
|
736
|
Source: Ministry of Culture.
Table 39
Participation of children under 18 in sport clubs
Source: Ministry of Culture.
405. It should be noted that
the statistical surveys cover approximately 70 per cent of sports
clubs entered in the register of non-profit
associations and foundations. The
reasons for this are problems due to re-registration (by spring 1999 non-profit
associations had
to re-register) the low public appreciation of compulsory
national statistical surveys and relatively mild supervision of compliance
with
the requirement to provide statistical data.
406. With regard to the more
popular sports, in 1998 there were an average of 4 basketball players,
4 football (soccer) players, 4
track and field athletes and
3 gymnasts per 1,000 inhabitants in Estonia.
407. There are
traditional leisure activities oriented to children and youth but
children’s own contribution to their existence
is relatively small.
Museums
408. In 1996 there were 131 museums and their
affiliated branches, with 5 million items in Estonia.
Libraries
409. In 1996 there were 1,288 libraries in
Estonia, among them 560 school libraries (43 per cent), with 5.9
million volumes. School
libraries accounted for 21 per cent of
borrowers and 11 per cent of library stocks. In addition, there
are 10 children’s libraries
out of 580 generaluse libraries; 6
university libraries (with 55,200 readers, 2,064,600 loans and a useable
stock of 5,981,700 volumes)
and 14 libraries of higher educational
institutions (with 8,500 readers, 166,400 loans and a useable stock of
641,300 volumes) out
of 125 professional and scientific
libraries.
Amateur performance collectives and hobby groups
410. In 1996, the number of amateur performance
collectives rose by 9.4 per cent and the number of members by
15.4 per cent compared
to 1995. In the period under review, the
number of hobby groups decreased by 9 (2,871 in 1995, 2,862 in 1996), and
participation
in them by 5.2 per cent (47,978 in 1995, 45,810 in
1996). At the same time, the proportion of children participating rose by
3.6
per cent (72.8 per cent in 1995, 76.4 per cent
in 1996). The average participation in amateur performance collectives in 1996
in
Estonia was 86 participants
per 1,000 inhabitants, among them 63 children. With respect to
hobby groups, the respective indicators were 31 participants per 1,000
inhabitants, among them 24 children. Possibilities for the participation for
children are very different from county to county.
Publications
411. The number of books and magazines
published has constantly increased:
in 1985 1,976 publications (17.4 million copies); in
1995
2,635 publications (7.9 million copies); in 1996 - 2,628 titles (6.7
million copies). At the same time, the number of copies
per inhabitant has
dropped from 11.3 in 1985 to 4.5 in 1996. The number of children’s books
has been constantly growing (though
the annual number of copies has remained
stable in recent years): 109 publications in 1985 (4.3 million copies), 178 in
1995 (1.0
million copies), 186 in 1996 (0.8 million copies).
Of 191 periodicals with wide readership in 1996, children’s and youth
publications,
comic strips and picture magazines made up 10.5 per cent
(20 different publications), and accounted for 10 per cent of the
annual
number of copies (1,269,300 - 314,000 copies fewer than in
1995).
Radio programmes
412. Children’s programmes on public
service radio made up 1.9 per cent, on private
radio 0.8 per cent and on other types of
radio
0.1 per cent of total air time in 1996.
Television programmes
413. In 1996 children’s programmes made
up 6 per cent, sports programmes 9 per cent, theatre
1 per cent and music 6 per cent
of the total television
programming.
414. The Estonian national cultural policy action plan,
which forms a supplement to the fundamental principles of Estonian national
cultural policy approved by resolution of the Riigikogu on 16 September 1998 (RT
I 1998, 81, 1353), contains the following activities
aimed at children:
Renovation of the National Puppet Theatre;
Guaranteeing the purchase of distribution rights and the distribution of quality films, including children’s films, in Estonia;
The national system of libraries, including scientific, public, school and other libraries is an integral part of the Estonian national information infrastructure;
In addition to the curricula of general education schools, basic instruction
in arts is guaranteed through the national network of
art and music schools or
art classes; by creating equal possibilities in all regions for obtaining
special education in the arts,
the State recognizes the cultural mission of
these schools and partially bears the cost of tuition at art and music schools
in counties.
Table 40
Financial support of the Ministry of Culture for
children’s cultural activities
|
2000
|
|
Art and theatre
|
5 485 947
|
6 078 000
|
Children’s publications
|
420 000
|
560 000
|
Music
|
-
|
103 000
|
Source: Ministry of Culture.
415. One thousand
two hundred people attend higher educational institutions specializing in
art. There are 82 children’s art
and music schools, plus musical
specializations in 52 general and 10 private schools.
416. In all
areas under its administration, the Ministry of Culture gives due consideration
to activities for children. A prize for
the best children’s performance
is awarded by the Theatre Association and, in cooperation with Narva city, a
project for language
teaching in kindergartens through the use of Estonian
animation films has been launched (bilingual “Tom and
Fluffy”).
VIII. SPECIAL PROTECTION MEASURES
A. Children in situations of emergency
1. Refugee children (art. 22)
417. Estonia
has acceded to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, which
entered into force for Estonia on 9 July
1997, and the 1967 Protocol
Relating to the Status of Refugees, which entered into force for Estonia on 10
April 1997.
418. The Refugees Act (RT I 1997, 6, 26; 1999, 18, 301)
entered into force on 9 July 1997. It regulates the legal status of
asylumseekers
and refugees and the basis for their stay in Estonia, proceeding
from the Convention and the Protocol relating to the Status of
Refugees.
419. In accordance with the procedure established by the
Refugees Act, on the basis of an application of a refugee, asylum may be
granted to the refugee’s spouse and minor children if they conform to the
definition of refugee set out in the Convention and
the Protocol (Refugee Act,
art. 5).
420. An applicant and refugee are guaranteed the rights and
freedoms arising from Estonian legislation and generally recognized norms
of
international law and international custom (Refugees Act, § 7).
421. An asylumseeker has the right to receive information in a language which
he or she understands; to be in contact with the Office
of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; to have a representative
during the processing of his or her application for
asylum; to receive a written
reasoned decision concerning refusal to grant asylum; and to have recourse to
the courts if his or her
rights and freedoms are violated.
422. According
to the Refugees Act, the initial interview for ascertaining the reasons for
applying for asylum is conducted by the
Citizenship and Migration
Board.
423. On behalf of a foreigner who submits an application for
asylum in Estonia, the necessary procedures are conducted by officials
of the
Citizenship and Migration Board. If an application for asylum has been
submitted at a border checkpoint of the Republic of
Estonia, the preliminary
procedures are conducted by officials of the Border Guard Board.
424. An
asylumseeker who is a minor will be interviewed in the presence of his or her
caregiver or other duly authorized person.
The processing of applications for
asylum for minors will be completed as quickly as possible.
425. The
application on behalf of an asylumseeker who is a minor is submitted by his or
her parent or guardian. If a minor does not
have a parent or guardian, a court
will appoint a guardian on the proposal of the reception centre. There is as
yet no relevant
practice for this procedure in Estonia. Probably the head of
the reception centre or an official of the social services department
will be
appointed as the guardian of a minor asylumseeker who is without one. A minor
asylumseeker without a parent or guardian
is housed in the reception centre in
rooms specially adapted for this purpose.
426. After the initial
interview and the submission of the required application to the Citizenship and
Migration Board, an asylumseeker
is admitted to the reception centre for
asylumseekers. The reception centre for asylumseekers at Illuka was completed
in April 2000
and it currently houses 10 asylumseekers. There are no
children among them.
427. Applications for asylum are reviewed and the
decision on granting asylum is made by the Citizenship and Migration
Board.
428. An alien who has been granted asylum will leave the reception
centre. The reception of refugees is organized by the local government,
which
provides assistance to refugees in finding housing and employment, obtaining
social and healthcare services, arranging for
translation and Estonian language
instruction, obtaining information concerning their rights and duties, and
obtaining training and
cultural services.
429. A refugee and his or her
child are entitled to State benefits during their stay in Estonia: child
allowance, labour market services
and unemployment benefit, social benefits and
other assistance on the same grounds as a permanent resident of
Estonia.
430. The Government will grant a refugee and his or her spouse
and minor child a temporary residence permit for a term of up to two
years. A
refugee may be granted a permanent residence permit and a work permit on the
conditions prescribed by the Aliens Act.
431. Due to Estonia’s late
accession to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967
Protocol relating
to the Status of Refugees, there are some unsolved practical
issues regarding asylumseekers, including organization of the reception
of
children. The necessary implementing legislation (appointing the responsible
government agencies; statutes of the reception centre,
etc.) is in the process
of being adopted.
432. In solving problems of refugees, Estonia
cooperates with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees. At
the beginning of 2000 there were no minor asylumseekers or
refugees in Estonia. In practice, Estonian officials have had no contact
with
refugees who are children. In legislation, the issues of minor asylumseekers
have been solved.
2. Children in armed conflicts; psychological and physical
recovery
and social reintegration of children (arts. 38, 39)
433. Estonia has
acceded to the following humanitarian law conventions:
Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and
Sick in Armed Forces in the Field of 12 August 1949;
Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded, Sick,
and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea of 12
August 1949;
Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of 12 August
1949;
Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of
War of 12 August 1949;
Additional Protocol I of 8 June 1977 relating to the Protection of Victims in
International Armed Conflicts;
Additional Protocol II of 8 June 1977 relating to the Protection of Victims
in NonInternational Armed Conflicts.
434. Estonia has signed the
Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and
Use of Chemical Weapons
and on Their Destruction of
13 January 1993.
435. According to the Estonian Defence Forces
Service Act (RT I 2000, 28, 167), male citizens having attained 18 years of
age are
required to register as conscripts; citizens aged 19
to 27 are drafted to serve in the defence
forces.
436. According to article 19 of the Weapons Act (RT I 1995,
62, 1056), weapons with unlimited civil circulation and their ammunition
can be
freely acquired, owned and possessed by Estonian citizens who are at least 16
years of age. Weapons with unlimited civil
circulation are weapons for the
acquisition of which no permit is needed, like gas spray or airguns with a
calibre of 4.5 millimetres.
437. An Estonian citizen who is at least
18 years of age has the right to acquire and own a weapon with limited civil
circulation,
except a pistol and revolver classified as firearms. Weapons with
limited circulation are military weapons, service weapons and
certain types of
civil weapons.
438. An Estonian citizen who is at least 21 years of age
or has completed active service in the defence forces has the right to acquire
and own any weapon with limited civil circulation in accordance with the
procedure and conditions prescribed by the law.
B. Children in conflict with the law
Administration of juvenile justice (art. 40), children deprived of their liberty in any institution of confinement or in imprisonment (art. 37) and social reintegration of children (art. 39)
439. Article 20 of
the Constitution stipulates that no one shall be deprived of his or her liberty
except in the cases and pursuant to the procedure provided by law.
One such
case is the establishment of educational supervision over a minor or the
bringing of a minor before a competent State body
for a decision on establishing
such supervision. Estonia has also ratified the European Convention for the
Protection of Human Rights
and Fundamental Freedoms. The Convention came into
force in 1996.
440. Article 10 of the Criminal Code establishes that a
person who has attained 15 years of age prior to committing an offence is
subject to criminal liability. As an exception, a person who committed an
offence between the ages of 13 and 15 is subject to criminal
liability in certain cases set out in articles of the Criminal Code,
for instance: articles 100 (murder), 101 (aggravated murder),
107
(intentional causing of extremely severe bodily
injury), 108 (intentional causing of serious bodily injury), 113115
(acts of
violence against persons, torture, rape), 139 (secret theft), 140142
(public theft, robbery, extortion).
441. If a court finds that a person
who committed an offence prior to attaining 15 years of age can be
influenced without imposing
criminal punishment, the court may apply means of
influencing set out in the Criminal Code.
442. Article 11 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure establishes the following. Everyone who is deprived of
liberty on the basis of
this Code will be informed promptly, in a language and
manner which he or she understands, of the reason for the deprivation of
liberty,
and of his or her rights. A person is given an opportunity to notify
at least one person of his or her choice close to him or her
of his or her
detention through a preliminary investigator, prosecutor or the court, if such
notification does not damage the criminal
proceedings. A person suspected of a
criminal offence is also promptly given an opportunity to choose and confer with
counsel.
443. According to the Code of Criminal Procedure, the
participation of criminal defence counsel in criminal proceedings is mandatory
in criminal matters relating to minors, until the minors attain the age of
majority (art. 38).
444. A teacher or psychologist will participate
in the interrogation of an accused person who is under 15 years of age.
The teacher
or psychologist has the right to ask questions of the accused
through a preliminary investigator, to examine the minutes of the interrogation
and to submit comments concerning the minutes. The teacher or psychologist will
also sign the minutes of the interrogation (art.
126).
445. The
materials of a file are communicated to an accused person who is a minor in
accordance with the procedure set out in section
169 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure. If the file contains materials which are inappropriate for minors, a
preliminary investigator
will communicate such materials to the criminal defence
counsel or the legal representative of the accused minor without the presence
of
the accused; a notation thereof will be made in the minutes.
446. Article 133 provides for the questioning of a witness who is a
minor. A witness who is under 15 years of age is questioned with
the
participation of a teacher or a psychologist and, if necessary, in the presence
of the parents or other legal representatives
of the witness. There is a
separate questioning room for minors to make them feel at ease. Witnesses who
are under 15 years of
age are not warned against criminal liability for
refusal to give testimony and for knowingly giving false testimony; however, the
obligation to give truthful testimony is explained to such witnesses.
447. Upon the prosecution of an accused minor the judge will appoint a
criminal probation officer for the minor (Code of Criminal
Procedure,
art. 192). In criminal matters regarding minors, the parents or other
legal representatives of the accused on trial are
summoned to the court session.
They have the right to submit petitions of challenge, evidence and applications
and to participate
in the examination of evidence by the court. Such rights are
explained to them after the opening of a court session. If necessary,
a court
may hear the legal representatives of the accused at trial who are minors, as
witnesses. The legal representatives of accused
persons on trial who are minors
are present in the courtroom for the entire duration of the court hearing. As
an exception, if the
participation in a court session of a legal representative
of the accused minor on trial who is a minor may damage the interests
of the
accused minor, the court may, by a ruling, either remove the legal
representative from the courtroom or restrict his or her
participation in the
court hearing. The failure to appear of a legal representative of the accused
minor will not hinder the court
hearing of a criminal matter unless the court
deems the participation of the legal representative necessary (art. 193).
448. If a minor is accused of committing an offence together with an
adult, the minor’s case must be separated for individual
adjudication
unless this would hinder the correct and full investigation of the criminal
matter (Code of Criminal Procedure, art.
118).
449. Article 5 of the
Appellation and Cassation Procedure Code establishes that an accused person, his
or her defence or legal representative,
an injured party and his or her
representative have the right to appeal the decision of the first instance court
to the circuit court.
450. The Code of Criminal Procedure has been
amended with a new chapter 26 providing for the granting of permission for
placement
of a minor in a young offenders’ institution, for extension of
the term of his or her stay in a young offenders’ institution
or for his
or her early release from a young offenders’ institution. The above
permission is granted by a judge. In order
to obtain permission for the
placement of a minor in a young offenders’ institution or for the
extension of the term of his
or her stay in a young offenders’
institution, a juvenile committee submits a reasoned application to the court.
Permission
for the early release of a minor from a young offenders’
institution is granted on the basis of a request by the head of the
institution
or a parent or other legal representative of the minor, after the opinion of the
representative of a juvenile committee
has been heard.
451. The Means of
Influencing Minors Act entered into force on 1 September 1998, but the
committees on county and local government
level were formed in the following
year, in 1999, when funds from the State budget were allocated for this
purpose.
452. The law regulates the liability of minors who have
committed an act punishable according to the Criminal Code and who have reached
the age of criminal liability, but minors can also be influenced without
criminal conviction or the application of criminal liability.
According to the
same principle, minors who have committed an administrative offence are liable.
The draft also foresees the possibility
of reacting in cases when a minor evades
the obligation to attend school, or consumes alcoholic beverages or narcotic or
psychotropic
substances.
453. The group targeted by the law are minors
aged 718 (except persons who have acquired full active capacity earlier by
entering
into marriage).
454. A juvenile committee may apply the
following means of influencing minors:
A warning;
Special school arrangements;
Referral for a consultation with a psychologist, an expert in narcology, a social worker or other specialist;
Conciliation;
The obligation to live with a parent, guardian, foster parent or at a children’s home;
Community service;
A surety;
Participation in youth programmes, social programmes or medical treatment programmes;
Referral to a young offenders’ institution; a court’s permission
is needed to apply this means of influencing.
455. Means of influencing
are applied taking into consideration a minor’s personality, the severity
of an offence and the effectiveness
of earlier means of influencing imposed on
the offender. A juvenile committee applying means of influencing is established
in a
county upon an order from the county elder. Local authorities are entitled
to form local government committees.
456. A juvenile committee comprises
representatives of the police and representatives of the county or local
government educational,
social and healthcare departments. The members of the
committee are appointed by the county elder, mayor or head of a city district,
or rural municipality elder.
457. An offence committed by a minor is
discussed by the committee within 30 days of the submission of a request. At
the end of the
discussion (or within three days of the meeting) a reasoned
decision is made and the decision enters into force after the term for
making an
appeal has elapsed. The decision can be appealed pursuant to the procedure set
out in the Code of Administrative Court
Procedure (Means of Influencing Minors
Act, art. 26).
458. The committee does not make decisions regarding
deprivation of the liberty of a young offender. Decisions it takes regarding
a
young offender are enforced in accordance with the legislation. The Committee
develops a system of social means of influencing
young offenders which
guarantees feedback on the effectiveness of the decisions.
459. A
discussion for the application of a means of influencing may be initiated
by:
A minor’s legal representative;
An official of the juvenile police or a constable;
A representative of a school on the authorization of the school director;
A child protection official;
An official of a social services department;
A judge;
An investigator;
A prosecutor;
Environmental supervision officials (Means of Influencing Minors Act,
art. 14).
460. In the case of an act with the characteristics of an
offence or an administrative offence, the request is normally (but not only)
submitted by the juvenile police officer who registers the offence if the
minor’s age was the reason for not starting criminal
proceedings or
administrative proceedings.
461. The meeting of a juvenile committee is
prepared by the juvenile committee secretary and the chairman. Discussion of
the matter
may be postponed if the minor and his or her representative fail to
appear at the meeting.
462. The secretary of a juvenile committee will
establish the reason for failure to appear and take measures sending a new
summons
by registered mail and explaining the necessity of appearing at the
meeting. The juvenile committee may also decide to enforce the
compulsory
attendance of a minor.
463. The meeting is chaired by the chairman of the
juvenile committee and at the meeting materials gathered on the case are
reviewed
and statements by the minor and his or her representative, and also
statements by witnesses and the victim, if there are any, are
heard. The
discussion is always conducted in a closed meeting (to protect the minor’s
interests).
464. It is important that the minor does not appear alone at
the meeting. If his or her legal representative cannot or is not willing
to
appear at the meeting, a representative is appointed for the minor for the time
of the meeting who will protect the minor’s
interests.
465. With
the decision of a juvenile committee, either:
The matter is closed and no means of influencing is applied;
Discussion of the matter is adjourned (if persons whose participation is necessary fail to appear at the meeting);
A means of influencing is applied.
466. According to the Means of
Influencing Minors Act, the following implementing legislation has been prepared
and approved:
(a) By regulation of the Government of the
Republic:
(i) Basic statute of juvenile committees (RT I 1998, 85, 1391);
(ii) List of socially useful works (RT I 1998, 75, 1237);
(b) By regulation of the Minister of Social
Affairs:
Procedure for bail (RTL 1998, 250, 1037);
Procedure for implementation of the obligation for a minor to live with a parent, foster parent or guardian or at a children’s home (RTL 1998, 250, 1037);
Procedure for conciliation (RTL 1998, 250, 1037);
Procedure for participation in social programmes or in treatment (RTL 1998, 250, 1037);
Procedure for applying socially useful work (RTL 1998, 250, 1037);
(c) By regulation of the Minister of Education:
Procedure for referral for consultation by a juvenile committee (RTL 1998, 277, 1157);
Procedure for placement of a minor in a young offenders’ institution (RTL 1998, 277, 1157);
Procedure for participation in youth programmes (RTL 1998, 277, 1157);
An example of a basic statute of a young offenders’ institution (RTL 1998, 316/317, 1291).
467. The main task of a juvenile committee is to coordinate the work with
minors in its administrative territory, to organize the
life of juvenile
offenders by applying means of influencing them, to reduce the lack of
supervision of minors and factors contributing
to crime, through cooperation
with social, educational and police workers and nongovernmental
organizations.
468. On the basis of the Means of Influencing Minors Act,
15 county juvenile committees and 19 local government juvenile
committees
were formed in 1999.
469. In 1999, approximately 1,400
discussions were conducted and experience was gained at both county and local
government levels
in applying different means of influencing. Compulsory
attendance was enforced in 85 cases out of the 1,400 to guarantee presence
of a
minor at a meeting of a juvenile committee.
470. There were more young
male offenders (72 per cent of the total) than female offenders
(22 per cent of the total).
471. Requests to the committees
were most often submitted by representatives of schools (648 cases),
police officers (398 cases) and
social services officials (65
cases).
472. The most often used means of influencing are warnings
(37 per cent), followed by special school arrangements
(21 per cent), referral
for consultation to a specialist
(18 per cent), placement in a young offenders’ institution
(6 per cent), referral to youth
or social programmes
(5 per cent), community service (5 per cent), obligation to
live with a parent (4 per cent), conciliation (1
per cent).
Surety has not been used so far.
473. In 1999, juvenile committees provided support in the amount of
approximately 2 million kroons to 156 youth projects in
counties,
involving about 10,500 young people in crimepreventing
activities. Juvenile committees have conducted 56 training sessions
to provide
their cooperation partners with necessary
skills and experience.
474. In spring 2000, county juvenile
committees prepared a plan until 2004 to develop a network of persons and
institutions to carry
out crimeprevention activities in counties, and
consequently to be more successful in preventing offences by young
people.
475. In 1999, 1,532 minors were convicted by Estonian courts
17.4 per cent of all convicted persons. (In 1998, 1,502 minors were
convicted 18.2 per cent of the total.)
476. By type of crime,
the convictions were as follows:
Secret theft 993 (64.8 per cent);
Public theft 176 (11.5 per cent);
Hooliganism 120 (7.8 per cent);
Robbery 25 (1.6 per cent);
Stealing a vehicle 56 (3.7 per cent);
Intentional causing of extremely severe bodily injury 8 (0.5 per cent);
Rape 9 (0.6 per cent);
Intentional aggravated murder 8 (0.5 per cent);
Intentional murder 1 (0.1 per cent);
Other crimes 136 (8.9 per cent).
477. The offence was
committed under the influence of alcohol or drugs by 361 convicted minors
(23.6 per cent) (in 1998, 372 or
24.8
per cent).
478. The offence was committed as a member of a
group by 1,161 minors (75.8 per cent) (in 1997, 1,178 or
78.4 per cent), including
in a group with adults 423 minors
(27.6 per cent) (in 1998, 457 or
30.4 per cent).
479. Among convicted minors there were 121
girls (7.8 per cent) (in 1998, 141
or 9.3 per cent).
480. Of all convicted young offenders,
379 (24.7 per cent) did not study or work at the time of committing
the offence (in 1998, 382
or 25.4 per cent).
481. By citizenship,
the distribution of young offenders was as follows:
Estonian 1,042 (68.0 per cent);
Russian 52 (3.4 per cent);
Other 6 (0.4 per cent);
Stateless 432 (28.2 per cent).
482. Among the juvenile
convicts 229 had a previous record of judicial punishment and 55 had
previously committed an offence but had
been released from criminal
liability.
Table 41
Number of definitively sentenced juveniles
1977
|
Percentage of the total number of convicts
|
1998
|
Percentage of the total number of convicts
|
1999
|
Percentage of the total number of convicts
|
|
Persons
|
Persons
|
Persons
|
||||
Suspended
imprisonment |
1 134
|
68
|
998
|
66.4
|
1 048
|
68.4
|
Imprisonment
|
269
|
16.1
|
272
|
18.1
|
256
|
16.7
|
Fine
|
204
|
12.2
|
208
|
13.8
|
168
|
10.9
|
Arrest
|
35
|
2.1
|
16
|
1.0
|
35
|
2.3
|
Relieved from
punishment |
25
|
1.5
|
17
|
1.1
|
25
|
1.6
|
Other penalties
|
1
|
0.1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Source: Ministry of Justice, 1999.
483. The most used
means of influencing is the imposition of a conditional imprisonment. The
proportion of this type of punishment
in 1999 increased by 5 per cent compared
to the data for 1998. The next in frequency is actual imprisonment, which,
compared to
the 1998 data, decreased by 5.8 per cent in 1999. Such a change in
the penal practice of courts can be explained by a rise in the
credibility of
the criminal parole system.
484. Since 1992, juvenile crime was rising
constantly until 1996, when it stabilized at a high level. In 1999, minors
committed every
twentieth offence (in 1996 every fifteenth). An offence is
regarded as having been committed by juveniles (aged under 18) after
it has been
cleared up. In 1999 out of offences that had been cleared up every sixth one
had been committed by juveniles (in 1996
every fifth one).
Table 42
Juvenile crime in Estonia 1992-1999
Source: Police Board.
485. If detention is used as a
restraint with respect to minors during preliminary investigation and court
proceedings, they stay
in Maardu prison juvenile department. Minors serve their
sentence in a juvenile prison. The male juvenile prison is in Viljandi.
Girls
serve their sentence in a female juvenile prison.
486. According to the
Imprisonment Act, the prison medical services are part of the general national
health-care service (art. 49).
The medical services in the prison are organized
by the prison doctor. The prison doctor has to monitor the state of health of
inmates and provide necessary treatment. If necessary, the prison doctor will
send the inmate to a medical institution for treatment.
There is a hospital in
the central prison providing medical services to inmates. To monitor the state
of health of the inmates,
the prisons have a permanent medical point. The
prison medical service is also required to check the food catering for the
prisoners.
Possibilities for doing sport must be guaranteed in a prison. The
inmates are guaranteed the possibility of having a walk outside
for at least one
hour a day (arts. 52, 53).
487. If necessary, special rooms are furnished for the care of pregnant women
and a nursery is organized in prison. A mother and
a child up to (and
including) 3 years old are allowed to live together on the request of the mother
and with the consent of the guardianship
or caregiver authority and the prison
committee (art. 54).
488. With Minister of Justice decree No. 155 of 18
July 1997, food rations were established for minors on the basis of
recommendations
of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Tallinn Technical
University. Minors are entitled to food rations which meet the demands of
the
growing organism.
489. The requirements established by the legislation
have been observed in organizing health care for inmates. So far practical
problems
in prison medicine have been caused by outdated technical equipment.
In addition to the requirements established by the legislation,
a programme for
reducing alcohol and drug dependency among young inmates has been carried out
since the second half of 1999. Participation
in the programme is
voluntary.
490. In practice, special care and supervision is guaranteed
to epileptics and asthmatics (including daily health checks). The number
of
minors who are sick and need hospital treatment is small: there are on average
three minors a month in the central prison hospital.
The incidence of
tuberculosis among minors is also small, there is a permanent average of 55
inmates in the tuberculosis department
of the central prison hospital, among
them one minor, in 1999.
C. Children in situations of exploitation; physical and
psychological
recovery and social reintegration (art. 39)
1. Economic exploitation and child labour (art. 32)
491. No
one shall be compelled to perform work or service against his or her free will,
except service in the Defence Forces or alternative
service, work to prevent the
spread of an infectious disease, work in the case of a natural disaster or a
catastrophe, and work which
a convict must perform on the basis of and pursuant
to procedure established by law
(Constitution, art. 29).
492. According to article 14 of the
Child Protection Act, the child shall be protected from economic exploitation
and from performing
work which is hazardous, beyond the child’s
capabilities, harmful to the child’s development or may interfere with the
child’s education.
493. A child who has completed basic education,
who does not wish or is unable to continue studying, may be admitted to
employment.
The admittance to employment of a child without basic education or
a child without parental care is decided by employment offices
together with the
social services departments. Schools are required to inform social services
departments of all children who discontinue
their basic
education.
494. The employment offices are required to keep a register of
children who are neither working nor studying and to inform the social
services
departments of such children. The social services departments are required to
assist children who do not study or work
in arranging for their education and
employment (Child Protection Act, arts. 14, 43, 44).
495. According to
the Labour Contracts Act (RT I 1992, 15/16, 241; 1993, 10, 150;
1993, 26, 441; 1995, 14, 170; 16, 228; 1996, 3, 57; 40, 773; 45, 850;
49, 953; 1997, 5/6,
32; 1998, 111, 1829; 1999, 16, 276; 60, 616; 2000, 25, 144),
an employee may be a natural person who has attained 18 years of age
and who has
active legal capacity or limited active legal capacity. By law, a higher age
limit may be established for certain categories
of employees.
496. In
exceptional cases, employees may be minors who are at least 13 years of age. To
enter into a labour law relationship, a minor
who is 15 years old must have the
consent of at least one parent or caregiver, a minor who is between 13 and 15
years of age must
in addition have the consent of the labour inspector of their
place of residence, on the condition that the work does not endanger
the
minor’s health, morals or acquiring of education and the work is not
prohibited for minors by a collective agreement or
by law.
497. The
labour inspector of the location of a parent, guardian, caregiver or employer of
a minor may demand that an employment contract
with a minor be terminated if the
work endangers the minor’s health, morals or acquiring of
education.
498. When admitting a minor to employment, no probationary
period may be used to ascertain the employee’s suitability to perform
the
work or to ascertain the employee’s state of health, abilities,
communication skills and professional skills. It is also
prohibited to send a
minor on a business trip, i.e. send a minor to perform work outside the location
of work set out in the labour
contract.
499. It is prohibited to hire and
employ minors for heavy work, work which poses a health hazard or has dangerous
working conditions,
underground work, or work which endangers the morality of
minors.
500. The general normative working time in Estonia may not exceed
8 hours a day and 40 hours a week. A reduced working time has been
established for minors in accordance with article 10 of the Working and Rest
Time Act (RT I 1994, 2, 12). The reduced working time
may not
exceed:
20 hours a week for employees who are 13-14 years of
age;
25 hours a week for employees who are 15-16 years of
age;
30 hours a week for employees who are 17 years of
age.
501. Article 14 of the Working and Rest Time Act prohibits requiring
a minor to work overtime and work at night, i.e. work between
10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
According to article 12, upon the recording of total working time, the
duration of working time of employees who
are 1314 years of age may
not exceed five hours per day, the duration of working time of employees who are
15–16 years of age
may not exceed six hours per day and the duration of
working time of employees who are 17 years of age may not exceed seven hours
per
day.
502. Minors enjoy equal rights with adults in employment
relationships and disputes, and they have benefits prescribed by law,
administrative
legislation and collective agreements (Labour Contracts Act, art.
12).
503. The procedure for settling labour disputes is established by
law. If a minor has concluded a labour contract in violation of
the law, then
in accordance with article 125 of the Labour Contracts Act, a labour dispute
resolution body will declare the labour contract invalid. A labour contract is
declared invalid if: both parties
were minors; the labour contract was entered
into in the capacity of employer by a minor - on the basis of an action by one
parent
or the guardian of such minor; the labour contract was entered into in
the capacity of employee by a minor aged 13-15 without the
consent of one
parent, a guardian, caregiver or the labour inspector; commencement of
employment would endanger the health, morals
or education of the
minor on the basis of an action by one parent, guardian or the labour
inspector.
504. The Government, by its regulation No. 214 of 22 July
1992, has approved “The list of heavy work, work hazardous to the
health
or hazardous working conditions and work where employment of minors is
prohibited”.
505. It is prohibited to employ minors for work for
which medical checks prior to employment and regular medical checks during the
employment are required; work requiring manual displacement of loads for one
third of the working time; work involving inflammable
and explosive substances;
work requiring contact with dangerous animals; work related to the production,
storage, transport and sale
of alcoholic beverages; underground work;
etc.
506. With government regulation No. 214 of 22 July 1992 “The
list of works endangering the morals of minors, where employment
of minors is
prohibited” was approved. The following works are prohibited: work
involving the slaughter or destruction and
processing of live animals and birds;
work related to exploiting and promoting sex, violence or gambling; work where a
minor is in
contact with alcohol or narcotic, toxic and psychotropic
substances.
507. The list of work minors who are 13-15 years of age are
allowed to undertake was approved by government regulation No. 214 of
22 July
1992. Minors who are 13-15 years of age may be employed for the following work:
picking berries and fruit; selling small-sized
and cheap goods; putting up
posters on billboards; working as a messenger; picking herbs; weeding; cleaning
vegetables; manual knitting
of nets; watering; stamping of objects or manual
gluing of labels, etc.
508. Occupational Health and Safety Act (RT I
1999, 60, 616) states that a legal person will bear administrative liability for
not
observing the restrictions on the employment of minors or disabled persons.
A fine of up to 50,000 kroons may be imposed. Supervision
of compliance with
the requirements of the legislation is exercised by the National Labour
Inspectorate (art. 26). The Labour Inspectorate
will monitor compliance
with provisions of labour law with respect to children. There is no economic
exploitation of children or
forced child labour in Estonia.
509. Information about the employment of children can only be obtained from
labour surveys. Surveys in the first quarter of 1995
and in 1999 indicated that
employees aged 16-17 make up 0.2 per cent of the total number of employees.
Thus it may be stated on the
basis of the surveys that employment of children is
at a very low level in Estonia and no exploitation of children has been noted.
There are no national statistical data on it.
510. In the first quarter
of 2000, the labour inspectorate carried out targeted checks in eight counties
on 129 businesses and establishments.
First of all, those establishments were
checked where use of children as labour could be expected (theatre, television,
modelling
agencies, film studios, recreational centres and community centres).
The checks revealed that no child labour was used in recreational
centres
and community centres where children participate in the activities of music
groups and hobby groups. Child labour was used
in theatres (in 56 cases either
a labour contract, a role contract or an acting contract was concluded or
payment was made on the
basis of written notice). Contracts were concluded with
a child or a child’s parent. The contract stipulated the number of
performances and pay per performance. Performances in which children
participated took place either during the day or ended before
10 p.m.
Children were appointed a tutor for the time of the performance; rest
possibilities were created during breaks.
511. In television, child
labour is used for recording children’s programmes which take place during
the day. No labour contracts
were concluded; payment was on the basis of
written notice.
512. Use of child labour in modelling agencies is not
common. In a few instances minors are found to work for foreign modelling
agencies.
This activity takes place strictly with the written consent of a
parent. The working time is two to three hours a day (preparation
and
photographing of a model). In all cases, working conditions were agreed
previously, including pay, and a contract was made with
a parent.
513. In
1999, there were five children working in film studios, four of them under 13
years old. Working time limits were observed
and payment was on the basis of a
contract which had been concluded either with a child or parent.
514. Use
of child labour in Estonia poses no problems. In 1999, the labour inspectorate
gave its consent for the employment of children
13-15 years of age in 102 cases.
In most cases employment was for summer during the school summer
vacation.
515. In connection with preparation for the ratification of ILO
Conventions No. 182 on the elimination of the worst forms of child
labour and
No. 138 concerning minimum age for admission to employment, a need for
additional surveys on child labour arose. The
Ministry of Social Affairs
contacted in January 2000 the ILO Director General for technical assistance and
to join the IPEC programme.
Based on the possibility of fulfilling the
conditions of Convention No. 182 in Estonia, the Ministry of Social Affairs
requested
an expert assessment from the ILO working standards department, which
assessed Estonian laws to be fully in compliance with the requirements
of the
Convention. On 28 January 2000, the trilateral Estonian ILO council decided to
propose the ratification of the child labour
convention to the
Riigikogu.
2. Drug abuse (art. 33)
516. Easy availability of illegal drugs among
youth has become a problem. An international survey (the European School Survey
Project
on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD)) was carried out in 1995 and
1999 on the consumption of alcohol and drugs among pupils 15-16 years
old.
According to the surveys, in Estonian schools in 1995, 40 per cent of pupils
found that it was easy to obtain drugs. If in
1995 about 8 per cent of
pupils had tried some illegal drugs (4.5 per cent of Estonian and 16
per cent of non-Estonian pupils aged
15-16), in 1999 the number of pupils who
had tried drugs had grown to 16 per cent (13 per cent of Estonian pupils and 22
per cent
of non-Estonian pupils).
517. The proportion of young people who
have tried amphetamines (from 0.4 per cent to 6.8 per cent) or
cannabis (from 7.2 per cent
to 12.7 per cent) has increased most. According
to the 1995 data, there were regular uses only among cannabis users,
but the data
for 1999 show that some pupils have also used heroin, cocaine and
stimulants more than 40 times.
518. The proportion of pupils who have
tried drugs is the highest in IdaVirumaa cities (25 per cent) and
in Tallinn (23 per cent).
In Tallinn, 40 per cent of pupils (908 minors)
had friends who smoke marihuana and 33.5 per cent had friends who
use amphetamines;
30 per cent of pupils in Tallinn considered
cannabis and 25 per cent amphetamines to be easily available.
519. By
nationality and sex, the number of pupils who have tried drugs is highest among
nonEstonian young men (29 per cent of respondents).
Drug use is more widespread
among pupils of vocational schools than in basic schools or upper secondary
schools.
520. According to the survey of pupils in 1997 and 1998,
consumption of addictive substances was on the rise. Among Estonian
students,
at least 30 per cent had tried drugs in 1997; in 1998 the
proportion was already 36 per cent. Among non-Estonians the proportion
was
respectively 39 per cent and 45 per cent. The number of users among male
students rose 5 per cent in one year and among female
students 9
per cent. In 1997, 9 per cent of pupils had used drugs more than 10 times, in
1998 already 13 per cent.
521. According to the survey “Estonia
1998”, 6.3 per cent of the adult population had tried or used drugs and
0.1 per
cent is currently using them. Compared to 1994, the rise is
respectively fourfold and fivefold. The most endangered group are young
people.
Approximately one fifth of 18 to 24-year-old youth have experience of drug use.
The average age of drug addicts treated
in Estonian psychiatric hospitals is 23
years, which is lower than in European Union countries. It characterizes drug
use in Estonia
as a new and growing problem. In four years, the number of
people coming to treatment for drug-related psychological disorders per
100
thousand inhabitants has grown five times (respectively 16.4 in 1994 and 82.2 in
1998).
522. In 1994-1998, 39 new patients under 15 years of age having
psychological and behavioural problems due to use of psychoactive
substances
(alcohol, drugs, tobacco) were referred to health-care institutions, among them
12 children, in 1998.
523. The consumption of alcohol and smoking starts
earlier than the consumption of illegal drugs - almost half of
the pupils who drink
or smoke started to do so before the age
of 12. Answers by pupils indicate that availability of alcohol
is not a problem for them.
According to the survey “Pupil 95”,
among pupils 15-16 years of age the following proportions have been drunk more
than
three times in their life:
Among pupils in the ninth year at school - 30 per cent of boys and 3 per cent
of girls;
Among pupils in the tenth year at school - 27 per cent of boys and 9 per cent
of girls;
Among vocational school pupils - 37 per cent of boys and 20 per cent of
girls.
524. As the surveys indicate, trying “new” substances,
i.e. illegal drugs, is not related to poor scholastic performance
of pupils
as is the case with drinking or smoking. Pupils are urged to try drugs
first out of interest and they wish to follow the
example of friends. The
influence of parents can also be felt: 80 per cent of young people have seen
their parents drunk, in 61
per cent of families at least one
parent smokes.
525. Of all persons referred for treatment, 89 per cent
have used drugs intravenously, among drug addicts younger than 19 years the
proportion of intravenous users is 85 per cent. Of intravenous drug addicts, 86
per cent are Russians and 11 per cent Estonians.
The average age of drug
addicts coming for treatment in 1998-1999 was 22.9 years.
526. On 25
November 1997, the Government of the Republic approved the alcohol and drug
prevention programme for 1997-2007. The programme
is mostly aimed at reducing
the damage from the consumption of alcohol and drugs and developing an alcohol
and drug policy which
guarantees coordinated preventive activity at the
international, national and local levels, based on international conventions,
national
programmes and other national documents. The subgoals of the programme
are the creation of a national information system for assessing
alcohol and drug
consumption and the damage arising from it, as well as the provision of better
information to the society about
the harmful effects of the consumption of
alcohol and drugs, improved preventive work with children and youth, more
effective treatment
for addicts and better availability of treatment, and
restraining the rise of alcohol and drug-related legal
offences.
527. Within the framework of the programme, in 1998 a database
on the treatment of drug dependency was created, recording and accounting
of
drug-related offences will be brought into line with international requirements,
a sociological survey will be carried out among
the population on the
consumption of alcohol and drugs, and a qualitative survey among drug users.
Assessment of the spread of drug
use in prisons was started in 1998 with a pilot
study in Viljandi juvenile prison. Under the administration of the Ministry of
Education,
a training course on drugs for teachers of higher educational
institutions will be developed. Among special schools, the drug prevention
programme will be first launched in Kaagvere special boarding school. The
Estonian Drug Prevention Foundation will organize training
seminars for
teachers, social and healthcare workers. One fifth of this year’s
programme budget will be used for supporting
primary referral for treatment of
drug users without medical insurance.
528. Inducing minors to consume
alcoholic beverages, use narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances or to engage
in non-medical use
of medicinal products or other narcotic substances results in
criminal liability and punishment (Criminal Code, art. 202).
3. Sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (art. 34)
529. An overview of sexual exploitation and
abuse (art. 34) was given in chapter V, section I above.
4. Sale, trafficking and abduction (art. 35)
530. The Criminal Code establishes that the
sale or purchase of a child is punishable by up to seven years’
imprisonment (art.
1231).
531. Switching or theft of children
in revenge or for the purpose of personal gain or for other personal reasons is
punishable by
up to five years’ imprisonment. The same acts, if committed
by a group of persons, are punishable by five to eight years’
imprisonment
(art. 124).
532. In recent years there has been one court case concerning
an offence under this article. It resulted in a conviction.
533. Taking
or holding a person hostage under a threat to kill, cause bodily injury or
continue to hold the person hostage, in order
to force a State, international
organization, natural or legal person or a group of persons to perform or
refrain from performing
certain acts as a condition for the release of the
hostage, is punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment. The same acts,
if
they result in serious consequences or are committed against a child, are
punishable by from 8 to 15 years’ imprisonment
(art.
1241).
534. Unlawful deprivation of the liberty of a person is
punishable by a fine or detention or up to one year’s imprisonment.
The
same act, if it involves the use of violence that threatens life or health, is
punishable by a fine or up to five years’
imprisonment (art.
1243).
D. Children belonging to a minority or an indigenous group (art. 30)
535. In the Estonian censuses people of more
than 140 nationalities have been registered. In 1999 the total population
of Estonia
was 1,445,580, among them: 406,049 Russians, 36,659 Ukrainians,
21,363 Belarusians, 13,027 Finns, 2,338 Jews, 3,246 Tartars, 1,250
Germans,
2,658 Latvians, 2,324 Poles, 2,206 Lithuanians, and 11,934 people of other
nationalities.
536. Data concerning a person’s nationality and
language is deemed sensitive data and it is gathered only with the consent of
the person concerned. Therefore, the review of the situation is incomplete.
Information on language or nationality is necessary
for the planning of cultural
and education policy. Currently there is practically no information on
people’s home language
or preferred language. The most exact data will be
available after the data of the 2000 census have been
processed.
537. Several institutions in Estonia protect the interests of
ethnic minorities. Since 1992, several governments have included a
minister
without portfolio for population issues. The main tasks of the minister include
issues of population and the integration
of ethnic minorities into Estonian
society. On 10 February 1998, the Government of the Republic approved a
document outlining a
strategy regarding “The foundations of the Estonian
national integration policy for integrating non-Estonians into Estonian
society”. The document was debated in the Riigikogu and was passed by it
with amendments on 10 June 1998. On 28 December
1999, the Government approved
the principles of the national programme “Integration into Estonian
society 2000-2007”.
The national programme is a detailed integration
action plan for 2000-2007 both for government agencies and other parties. The
national programme is aimed at promoting social unification of society, thereby
offering the ethnic minorities possibilities for
preserving their language and
culture. The national programme approaches integration by proceeding from
attitudes of different groups
in society and from political, cultural,
educational, media-related, economic and regional policy aspects of the
topic.
538. The Ministry of Education plays a special role in organizing
the education of children belonging to ethnic minorities. The Estonian
educational system is based on the Education Act, which establishes the
recognition of general humanistic and national values, freedom of person,
religion and conscience as a founding
principle in education. The national
curriculum for basic and secondary education in Estonia approved by the
Government appreciates
the Estonian national conscience, culture and traditions,
as well as claims for national identity and cultivation of national culture
of
the Estonian State and of other nationalities living in Estonia. The national
curriculum also establishes equal possibilities
for everyone to acquire
education; in the organization of education and the laying down of its content,
national, regional, age,
sex and individual peculiarities are taken into
account.
539. In Russian-language schools some important changes have
occurred since the passing of the Education Act in 1992: Estonian
programme/subject syllabuses are used, over half of the textbooks in use have
been published in Estonia, the upper
secondary school level was extended from
two to three years, teaching of the Estonian language has been introduced in all
schools.
Since autumn 1998, in years 1, 4, 7 and 10 of Russian-language
schools, transfer to the national curriculum was started. Intensification
of
Estonian language teaching enables pupils at the upper secondary school level to
transfer to instruction in Estonian in most subjects.
The aims and scope of
teaching in Russian will be fixed in the school’s
curriculum.
540. The proportion of pupils in Russian-language schools of
the total number of pupils has dropped compared to school year 1992/93.
This is
related to the decrease in the number of Russian-speaking children in general
(first due to out-migration; in recent years
also to a low birth-rate) and
increasing recognition of Ukrainian, Belarusian and languages of other ethnic
minorities, due to which
the importance of Russian as a home language is also on
the decline. In autumn 1999, first-year pupils in Russian-language schools
made
up a little over 20 per cent of the total number of first-year pupils (in autumn
1990, 40.6 per cent). For pupils of all years
at school the proportion was 28
per cent (36.8 per cent in autumn 1990).
541. The national curriculum
establishes the scope of tuition in the mother tongue if the mother tongue is
the language of instruction.
If the mother tongue is not the language of
instruction, it is studied as an optional subject, in group work or at Sunday
schools.
The scope of Russian instruction at Russian-language schools and the
scope of Estonian instruction at Estonian-language schools
is the same,
according to the national curriculum. Differences may be introduced in a
school’s curriculum.
542. At basic schools (years 1 to 9), the
number of lessons of Estonian per week was previously 14 (accordingly a total of
490 lessons
per nine school years), in school year 1996/97 - 27.5 (accordingly,
a total of 962.5 lessons per nine school years). The national
curriculum leaves
it up to schools to decide whether to use 30 to 40 lessons per week for the
teaching of Estonian (thus, 1,050 to
1,400 lessons can be used per nine school
years). In the first years of Russianlanguage schools, the subjects where
instruction
is more frequently in Estonian are physical education, music, art
and regional studies; at basic school instruction in Estonian is
extended to
those parts of geography, history and literature which deal with topics
concerning Estonia. In a few schools, mathematics,
economics and cultural
studies are taught in Estonian. Extension of instruction in Estonian and
training of teachers for it has
been included at the State’s initiative in
the development plan and in the description of the status of teachers of the
State
language.
543. With government order No. 464-k of 11 June 1997
“Approving the main goals of government activities for 1997 and
1998”
the status of teachers of the State language was established, with
the aim of improving the effectiveness of the learning of Estonian
as a second
language. Qualified teachers who are ready to extend their activities in
Russian-language schools are used as advisers
and consultants to school
administrations; they organize additional training within their area of
competence.
544. The proportion of teachers with higher education is
significantly higher in Russian-language schools than in Estonian-language
schools, but the number of teachers with special pedagogical training is
significantly lower. The number of specialized teachers
is the smallest for the
teaching of manual skills, music, Estonian and art. 8.9 per cent of teachers
have the qualification of senior
teacher and teacher-methodologist. Among
teachers with higher degrees of qualification the majority are teachers of
Russian and
mother tongue.
545. In recent years, the number of teachers
of Estonian has grown considerably. Based on the scope of syllabuses and the
number
of classes, the deficit of teachers is still large. Of teachers of
Estonian, one third have actually received education in Russian
philology and
only one fifth have studied Estonian philology. Many teachers have education as
a basic schoolteacher or have been
trained as teachers of another subject than
the one they are currently teaching. 14.7 per cent of teachers of Estonian have
acquired
higher education outside Estonia. Older teachers are in the majority:
teachers 40 years old or older make up half of all teachers.
The number of
teachers participating in retraining has increased considerably.
546. In
years 1 to 4 of Russian-language schools, already since 1994 subject syllabuses
of the national curriculum are followed because
the writing of relevant
textbooks started in 1991. Most of the textbooks are translated or adjusted.
There are textbooks for learning
Estonian as a second language for all schools
years. There are separate Estonian-language textbooks in regional studies.
547. In Estonian-language schools, there are some classes and a few
pupils whose home language is not Estonian. This means there
is a need for new
teaching materials and for special training of teachers, for extension of the
time of study or for assistance in
study.
548. The general education
schools for national and ethnic minorities may be owned by rural municipality
governments, city governments,
private law legal or natural persons. The
curriculum approved by the owner of a private general education school must
comply with
the national curriculum for basic and general secondary education
(or with the simplified curriculum or coping curriculum). The
language of
instruction is chosen by the school’s owner but in basic schools the
instruction of Estonian is compulsory within
the scope prescribed by the
national curriculum, so that a pupil completing this stage of study could
continue his or her studies
at the next level in Estonian.
549. Wages of
teachers of elementary, basic, upper secondary and vocational schools and the
cost of the acquisition of teaching materials
are covered from the State budget
to the extent that is necessary to achieve compliance with the national
curriculum and in accordance
with the procedure established for State or
municipal schools of the same type. A private school may receive
purpose-oriented support
from the State and local government
budgets.
550. Several campaigns promoting international mutual
understanding have been financed through the Open Estonia Foundation and the
Integration Foundation. In May 1999, the advertising company IO carried out a
social advertising campaign, “A lot of nice
people”, in the media
and over the radio. The campaign was aimed at introducing to the public people
of different nationalities
living in Estonia. This social advertising was
continued in February 2000. In addition, a series of programmes have been
produced
by television channels, including programme “Subboteja” on
Kanal 2, programmes produced by the editors of Russian-language
programmes of
Estonian Television, and others. The public service radio station Radio 4 was
founded with the aim of assisting ethnic
minorities in Estonia in integrating
into the society, familiarizing them with Estonian culture, politics, music,
literature, etc.
551. The national programme “Integration into
Estonian society, 2000-2007” places the main emphasis on youth and sets
the following goals:
Language-communicative integration;
The Estonian education system will become a central area of integration; teachers are prepared for work with multi-language and multicultural pupils;
Knowledge of Estonian - the knowledge of Estonian among non-Estonians will improve significantly and Estonian will become the main language of communication in the society; graduates of schools with instruction in another language will not need to pass any other examinations besides school-leaving examinations to apply for Estonian citizenship;
Change of attitudes - the attitude “non-Estonians as a problem”
will be replaced by an attitude “non-Estonians as
a development potential
and participants in promoting Estonia”.
552. Shaping of a common
Estonian-language environment will take place in parallel with the creation of
favourable conditions for
promoting the language and cultural identity of ethnic
minorities. Toleration of people different from oneself and mutual recognition
will make Estonia an open multicultural society. Positive attitudes of
Estonians and non-Estonians towards each other will promote
the emerging of a
common information area and will value the Estonian language environment and
sense of statehood.
553. The project “Support to the national
programme for the integration of non-Estonians into Estonian society” was
launched
on 27 August 1997 with the conclusion of an agreement between the
Nordic countries (Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland), the United
Nations
Development Programme and the Government. The project is divided into eight
components, one of which is youth work. One
of the goals of the activities
under the project is to promote knowledge of the Estonian language and Estonian
culture and customs
among non-Estonian youth. In summer 1999, a
competition entitled “Cooperation between youth of different
nationalities”
was announced to support events in which young people of
different nationalities who are permanently residing in Estonia participate.
From 50 project applications submitted to the competition, the evaluation
committee selected 17. The activities of the projects
fall within the period
September 1999-January 2000.
554. The Non-Estonians’ Integration
Foundation financed 20 projects directed at children in 1998 and 1999, from
a total of 1.2
million kroons.
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[*] The annexes are available for consultation in the files of the secretariat.
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