Introduction
In 1991, Estonia began its journey away from five decades under Soviet rule and toward constitutional and legislative reform. The Constitution of EstoniaFootnote 1 adopted in 1992 marked the start of a decade-long quest to establish the rule of law and return to Western democratic norms. Given Estonia’s relatively small populationFootnote 2 and the correspondingly limited cadre of legal professionals available for this undertaking, individual contributions gained pronounced importance.
This chapter examines the dynamics of Estonia’s legislative reforms during its transitional decade, with a focus on the influence and contributions of two key groups. The first comprises young, enthusiastic tabula rasa lawyers entering the scene with a fresh perspective, while the second consists of seasoned but open-minded leaders from the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic (ESSR) establishment with a proclivity for Western democratic norms, who were ready to empower, inspire, and protect them. Grounded in empirical data from interviews conducted in 2020–2021 with twenty-five key legal figuresFootnote 3 and a thorough analysis of primary legal documents, this chapter sheds light on the critical role individuals played in state-building during Estonia’s turbulent 1990s. The narratives that emerge illuminate these actors’ pivotal role in the state-building project, particularly amid that decade’s turbulence. Unexpected opportunities and individual influences proved significant, underscoring how essential fortitude would prove for decision-making.
The analysis begins with a contextual overview of Estonia’s historical and societal landscape from 1992 to 2002. This is followed by discussion of the generational divisions evident in the legal sector within the same timeframe. It incorporates perspectives from young state officials, some in the early stages of their legal careers, juxtaposed with insight from senior officials and politicians rooted in the Soviet legal framework. Acknowledging the contributions of an external foreign academic adviser affords a comprehensive view of the forces shaping Estonia’s legal transformation over the course of the period under review.
Estonia’s Historical and Societal Landscape
Until 1990, the Estonian legal system was tightly intertwined with the legal system of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).Footnote 4 Formally, power within the ESSR legal system was vested in people; de facto, it was held by the Communist Party and its members.Footnote 5 The ESSR’s legal system did not recognise administrative or civil law in the modern sense,Footnote 6 and both it and the institutions overall were highly politicised and, at times, engaged in clear violations of the rule of law. For example, they fabricated politically underpinned criminal offences in the service of the Communist system.Footnote 7 The independence movement, in turn, was led by a set of activists consisting of, on the one hand, Soviet dissidents and, on the other, critical intellectuals (mostly historians).Footnote 8
Estonia had to rebuild its whole legal and institutional system. The process had two aspects: dismantling the interconnected legal systems of the USSR and ESSR and building a new legal system coupled with institutions that would lead to the re-establishment of the independent Estonian state.Footnote 9 In the course of the legislative process, the continental European legal system, particularly the German legal tradition, was chosen as the model for the forthcoming Estonian legal frameworks.Footnote 10 Private law had to be reformed especially extensively, as this was vital for a radical turn from a Soviet-style planned economy to a modern market economy with private initiative and private property at its core. Another reason for this major reform was that Estonia in the early 1990s was in desperate need of foreign investment – and investors needed a clear, firm message about the state’s guarantees for their investments. In addition to the reforms in private law, initiatives were undertaken to reform public law and criminal law. Simultaneously, comprehensive restructuring was deemed necessary for state administration, the court system, and the prosecutor’s office.Footnote 11
The Tabula Rasa
Estonia’s move away from Soviet legal traditions was influenced by the proactive efforts of its youth, who were leading the independence movement, supported by seasoned freedom fighters. These individuals played a critical role in distancing the nascent legal system from the stagnation and dependencies characteristic of the previous regime. Young legal professionals and scholars, less burdened by a legacy of entrenched connections to the Soviet legal elite, were central in initiating progressive legal reforms. Meanwhile, the freedom fighters utilised their experience of history to guide these reforms, ensuring that they reflected Estonia’s renewed commitment to democratic governance and autonomy.
The interaction between these groups facilitated a break from the Soviet era’s institutional inertia, allowing for transformation that was as much a product of individuals’ initiative as it was of collective will. The extent of their influence in the shaping of Estonia’s legal framework becomes clear as one delves more deeply into the importance of individuals’ agency in the country’s transition to democracy.
The Fresh Face of Leadership and Decisive Factors in Reform
The first post-independence government under the 1992 Constitution of Estonia was headed by thirty-two-year-old historian Mart Laar, whose government served until 1994.Footnote 12 While land and property reform, as well as reforms to the court system, had been initiated in 1990–1991, civil law continued to be governed by the Civil Code of the ESSR of 1965,Footnote 13 and punishments were still handed down in line with Soviet penal law, the Criminal Code of the ESSR of 1961.Footnote 14 The interim government’s stabilisation of the economy and completion of monetary reform set the stage for Laar’s administration to undertake comprehensive legal reforms, despite its limited legislative experience. These reforms went uncontested by subsequent governments, signalling a collective commitment to transformation.
Free from Soviet nomenklatura influences, the administration sought to alter the status quo rapidly and fundamentally. The coalition pursuing this aim consisted of newly founded parties – the national conservatives (Isamaa), the Estonian National Independence Party (ERSP),Footnote 15 and the Moderates.Footnote 16 Its main objective was implementing the reforms necessary for transition to a market economy, in accordance with Milton Friedman’s principles, and fostering Estonia’s integration into the Western world.Footnote 17 Efficiency, coupled with receptiveness to external legal ideas and innovation, was central to the transition programme.
Isamaa member Kaido Kama served as the inaugural Minister of Justice, in the first government. His ascension to this role was rather unexpected, as he had initially aspired to be Minister of Defence, a position that ultimately went to a member of coalition partner ERSP. Kama’s nomination for the Ministry of Justice position was influenced by his legislative experience; he had spent several years in Estonia’s Soviet-era Parliament, where he contributed to the Legal Affairs Committee, led the Property and Land Reform Committee, and crafted legislation in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice and its staff. This tenure had familiarised him with the inner workings of that ministry and with its personnel. Consistent with the tapestry of unconventional backgrounds characteristic of the time, his academic training was in architecture, not law. This unique perspective was not a disadvantage; rather, it aligned with the ministry’s need to rethink law and the legal system fundamentally. After all, Estonia had embarked on constructing an entirely new legal framework.Footnote 18
Societal confidence in the youth was palpable during this era. Alongside the notably young Prime Minister, the cabinet featured a number of ministers in their twenties and thirties who were charged with overseeing critical sectors.Footnote 19 When it came to reconstructing the banking and financial system, a deliberate choice was made to entrust the leading roles to young individuals, unfettered by ties to the Soviet planned economy and equipped instead with Western-style economic training.Footnote 20
The government’s efforts were supported by freedom fighters in the Parliament (Riigikogu), who were intent on attenuating the influence of the former ESSR elite and lessening the dependency on Soviet legal doctrine and practices. For example, they exerted a decisive influence on the Constitution’s development, as the Constitutional Assembly set aside the draft from the ESSR Minister of Justice in favour of the version proposed by freedom fighter Jüri Adams.Footnote 21 Similarly, they blocked the appointment of several ESSR Supreme Court justices, the chief justice among them, to the newly created Supreme Court.Footnote 22 Strong ties with the Estonian diaspora further cemented their dedication to strict political oversight and upholding of core values: efficiency concerns could not justify compromises relating to democracy and the rule of law. Nevertheless, the government and freedom fighters had acknowledged the pragmatic necessity of reforming the legal system. This entailed enforcement of transitional justice measures, albeit limited, alongside strategic engagement with the ESSR elite to ensure thorough renewal without perpetuating outdated concepts and practices in the reformed legal framework. Estonia only used written oaths of conscience until 2000 to exclude persons who had taken part in the Soviet repression from higher civil service positions.Footnote 23
In September 1994, the government led by Laar tendered its resignation. A new government was formed under the leadership of Prime Minister Andres Tarand, which came to be known informally as the ‘Christmas-peace government’. In this reconfiguration, Adams, who had been a prominent figure in the dissident movement, was appointed Minister of Justice. Though these years saw it function at times as a minority government, his tenure, which endured until April 1995, was marked by a dedication to maintaining the momentum of reform. A key achievement of this time was the enactment of the Commercial Code, a significant legislative undertaking co-ordinated with the young chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee, Daimar Liiv. Together, the seasoned dissidents and the new generation of legal experts pursued a shared vision: the swift replacement of the Soviet legal system, effectively marginalising the vestiges of the Soviet establishment.Footnote 24
The victors in the 1995 elections were predominantly those parties and electoral alliances that had been in the opposition in the previous Parliament. Thus, the 1995 parliamentary election results reflected a resurgence of attention to societal groups whose interests had been sidelined amid the initial reforming fervour. The Estonian Centre Party and the Estonian Coalition Party, representing the centre left and centre right, respectively, along with Maarahva Ühendus (the Rural People’s Union), echoed the electorate’s desire to acknowledge and integrate broader interests, not least those of rural communities. Subsequent governments, led by Tiit Vähi and later Mart Siimann with Paul Varul as Minister of Justice, exemplified a nuanced approach to governance. Both Vähi and Varul, reform-embracing technocrats with roots in the Soviet establishment, symbolised the era’s spirit of reconciliation and pragmatic engagement with the former elite. This period underscored the necessity of balancing the zeal of the reform-minded youth and dissidents against the experience and restraining influence of the old guard, reflecting the ethos of limited lustration that characterised the transition era.Footnote 25
Lawyers’ Generational Divide
As Estonia underwent legal transition in the 1990s, a generation gap was evident in the legal profession. Seasoned lawyers directed their expertise towards institutional/pragmatic reforms, such as revision to citizenship regulations and the overhaul of the monetary system, while newly minted legal scholars, many of whom were recent university graduates, concentrated on the theoretical underpinnings of legal drafting. These young civil servants shouldered the critical task of re-envisioning laws to meet the demands of an evolving democratic society. They embodied the advantage of being able to assimilate diverse legal principles from various established democracies, an endeavour in which the former legal establishment, constrained by outdated paradigms and perspectives inculcated by a Soviet education, had little to offer. Accordingly, it was the young professionals who were given broad discretion in legislative drafting roles, operating with minimal political interference. Such a setting was necessary for reconstructing the legal system from the ground up to accord with international democratic standards.Footnote 26
Under Soviet rule, the political landscape of the ESSR was such that membership in the Communist Party, or at least candidacy for it, was a de facto prerequisite for any significant professional role within state institutions. The University of Tartu’s Faculty of Law, as Estonia’s lone legal education institution, mirrored this exclusivity by limiting admission to a select few. In the 1980s, places were capped at 50–55 full-time students per year. The dawn of the 1990s witnessed significant expansion, with the number admitted doubling to 100–120. This surge represented not only growing interest in the legal profession but also a strategic move to cultivate a new generation of legal experts equipped with a democratic ethos and a broader vision for Estonia’s legal system.Footnote 27
The Role of Young Civil Servants within the Ministry of Justice
Examining the contributions of young civil servants in the Estonian Ministry of Justice sheds light on their decisive impact on the legal reforms. Interviews revealed strategic personnel selection to be a crucial element in facilitating swift and effective legislative reform. The reform initiatives were deliberately assigned not to the seasoned officials steeped in Soviet legal training but to a cohort of young legal practitioners, some newly graduated and others still pursuing their studies. This approach stemmed from recognition of a certain doctrinal inertia inherent in the legal profession; lawyers often become entrenched in the conceptual frameworks featuring in their education. Disengagement from established, implicit doctrines is typically arduous. Consequently, it was evident to the decision-makers within the Ministry of Justice that entrusting the reform process to experienced lawyers whose education had mired them in the Soviet system would likely result in stagnation, since they might not even perceive a need for adjusting or outright abandoning the doctrines they had assimilated.Footnote 28 Mihkel Oviir, then Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice, articulated the sentiment thus: ‘The Ministry of Justice needed young people who were eager to learn and who did not have to go through the trouble of forgetting the old’.Footnote 29
Kama, appointed as Minister of Justice in autumn 1992, recognised the foundational nature of the reforms initiated by his predecessors, Jüri Raidla and Märt Rask. A significant development during their tenure was the establishment of the Department of Economic Law, which subsequently focused on the drafting of civil law. It was within this new department that, in the final days of the Soviet regime, pioneering legislative frameworks for private enterprise, notably co-operatives, were first formulated.Footnote 30 ‘The mood and the people had already changed there, and I don’t remember that in the autumn of 1992 I had to fight with any Soviet-era persons. Anyway, the people who were in that building at the time, this hundred people, went along with the reforms.’Footnote 31
Innovative Recruitment Strategies in the Ministry of Justice
In the search for capable young talent to take on the challenges of legislative reform, the Ministry of Justice engaged closely with the faculty at the University of Tartu, Estonia’s only university at the time to offer a law degree. Academics from the university were instrumental to identifying students with expansive vision and a distinct interest in the complexities of legislative drafting. The legal field’s intense demand for professionals was evident in the fact that most law students matriculating in 1992 had found employment by the end of their second year of study. The acute shortage had prompted recruiters to seek out those who either were nearing the completion of their law degree or had recently graduated.Footnote 32 Crucially, the Ministry of Justice sought out young, ambitious individuals who, instead of being inclined to offer perfunctory affirmations such as ‘yes, Chancellor’ or ‘yes, Minister’, demonstrated independent thought and dared to challenge the status quo.Footnote 33 Also, in those years it was not uncommon for chance to play a significant part in the recruitment of personnel. A case in point is the career of Priidu Pärna, who would later ascend to the roles of Vice-Secretary General and Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice. He recalled learning about the opportunity to contribute to the draft Law of Property Act through an informal tip from a peer, who mentioned that the working group was on the lookout for graduates proficient in German.Footnote 34
Given the factors mentioned above, the legislative drafting divisions within the Estonian Ministry of Justice were staffed predominantly by recent law graduates. Foremost among the sought-after qualifications was, indeed, proficiency in the German language, coupled with an understanding of German legal principles. This was a strategic necessity: the decision to apply the associated legal tradition as a template for crafting Estonian legislation rendered such expertise crucial.Footnote 35 Simultaneously, the Ministry of Justice capitalised on the opportunity to send young civil servants to Germany for one to two years to pursue further legal studies. In addition to German, skills in English were vital for personnel at the ministry, permitting comprehensive engagement with and understanding of legislative and regulatory developments within the European Union. Young civil servants often possessed a distinct advantage over their middle-aged colleagues in terms of language proficiency, given the inadequate emphasis on foreign-language training in schools during the Soviet era.Footnote 36
The successful recruitment of young, enthusiastic officials was a critical component in the success of Estonia’s legal reforms. Exploring the methods used to attract and retain such individuals in the Ministry of Justice merits attention particularly on account of the context of low public sector salaries juxtaposed with the high demand for legal professionals at the time. Despite the competitive draw from law firms, notarial firms, and the business sector generally, the ministry adopted various strategies to attract young, gifted individuals to the civil service. Many young recruits were swayed by questions framed as contemplation of their legacy for the future: ‘In 30–40 years, what stories will you share with your grandchildren? Will you recount the purchase of a Žiguli car that succumbed to rust after five years, or will you be able to say that you played a role in the unique process of shaping a nation’s legal framework?’Footnote 37
Efforts were made to secure financial incentives for young civil servants as well. One noteworthy initiative was the provision of flats in a residential building constructed by the Ministry of Justice.Footnote 38 Key contributors to legal reforms also received supplementary compensation from funds designated for legal drafting, payments that were, at times, quite substantial.Footnote 39 Such financial considerations formed a key element of the ministry’s strategy to attract, and retain, promising young lawyers. Beyond monetary incentives, the prospect of contributing to the country’s legal framework offered a compelling career path. These young professionals were presented with an opportunity to shape the legal landscape of Estonia significantly. The enduring relevance of the legislation they drafted, much of which remains in force today, speaks to the significance of their work.Footnote 40
Balance between Political Oversight and Autonomous Drafting
Fully comprehending the legislative process in Estonia during the reform years requires one to understand the atypical nature of political guidance at the time. While democratic governance usually involves politicians outlining specific legislative directions, this tradition was eschewed in the case of 1990s Estonia. Politicians provided only broad legislative objectives, leaving substantive policy decision-making to the discretion of the working groups. These groups, composed of civil servants and legal scholars, steered the course of legal policy effectively in the absence of conventional political directives.
That said, exceptions to this general legislative approach of the 1990s were visible in critical areas such as property and land reform, which had been initiated before the regaining of independence and been subject to long-term political debate. In these sectors, the necessity of explicit political consensus was clear and ministers aimed to establish clear political accord prior to the drafting phase, to streamline the work of the legal teams.Footnote 41 Similarly, the formulation of local government regulation was preceded by extensive, meticulous discussion within the coalition. The outcomes of these debates provided the Ministry of Justice with definitive mandates for the specific type of legislation to develop.Footnote 42
Again, political involvement with most of the other legislative reforms was scarce or highly selective.Footnote 43 The drafting of the Law of Obligations Act serves as a textbook example of selectiveness. While that Act’s comprehensive framing was drafted largely without political interference, specific areas such as regulation of rental agreements emerged as focal points for political debate and decision-making. This selective political focus was a strategic response to the urgent societal challenges posed by demands for restitution and restoration of pre-World War II property rights. Thus, while political influence was restrained on the broader stage of legislative development, with initial draft concepts too being subject to minimal ministerial scrutinyFootnote 44 (instead, the recommendations of the legislative drafting groups, along with foundational texts of model legislation, directed the drafting), it became concentrated in areas of direct engagement with pressing transition-linked issues of the time.
In the domain of public law, especially with respect to organisational structures, the influence of political directives was more substantial. Notably, prior to the introduction of the updated Civil Service Act,Footnote 45 comprehensive discussions held during cabinet meetings developed the structural blueprint for the ministries. Such a concerted strategy guaranteed that the foundational legal framework of the ministries corresponded with the collective strategic plan articulated at government level.Footnote 46
In the sphere of penal law, ministerial engagement was commonly set within the boundaries of examining particular proposals. Priit Pikamäe, the head of the department for penal law during that period, recalls the considerable independence afforded to his team, marked by the absence of intricate political guidelines.Footnote 47 When looking back at those years, key legal figures consistently point out the lack of political direction in the selection of legal paradigms. They emphasise the extensive latitude granted to civil servants in shaping legal statutes and core legal policy decisions – in marked divergence from the prescriptive norms that characterise the current legal environment.Footnote 48
The induction of Rask as Minister of Justice in 1999 marked a significant shift in the functioning of the Ministry of Justice, bringing greater consistency with broader policy statements and strategic directives decided upon by politicians at the governmental level. Transition to this state of affairs was indicative of the maturation and refinement of Estonia’s political machinery, reflecting advancement towards a more intricate and systematic approach to governance and legal drafting. Previous years’ relatively limited political steering of the ministry’s civil servants can be ascribed largely to the initial post-independence resource issues and to ambiguity as to the legal avenues available, both of which naturally constrained the formulation of comprehensive political directives.Footnote 49
Challenges in Drafting Comprehensive Legal Codes
In the 1990s, Estonia’s legal drafting was focused on the development of comprehensive legal codes for thorough regulation of various fields of law. Although the goal initially was to establish complete codes, the reality of legal and political complexities often led to creation of separate statutes such as the Property Law Act and Law of Obligations Act. Awareness of the need for systematic drafting and meticulous oversight in the area of civil law led to convening the High Commission of Civil Law. This commission was formed to provide ‘quality control’Footnote 50 and guide the process of legal drafting, rather than exercise political oversight.
Established in December 1992 and presided over by Professor Varul, this commission featured eminent legal professionals – lecturers from the University of Tartu, judges, and Bar Association representatives – who had received their education during Soviet times and brought experience of those times to the table. The commission operated for more than a decade, serving until the adoption of the Law of Obligations Act in 2001.Footnote 51 The ministry’s working groups were responsible for drafting and submitting legislation to the commission, which reviewed their work, making amendments or suggesting revisions as needed. The role of the High Commission was limited in the main to language editing for the drafts, the removal of unnecessary repetition and irrelevant provisions, and legal editing.Footnote 52 This commission provided a quality-assurance mechanism, thereby also securing the legal community’s endorsement of the legislation drafted by the ministry’s young staff. Addressing the balance between expertise and experience, Minister Varul stated in 1998: ‘The members of the working groups are mostly young individuals with little experience in the legal drafting. They grasp the substance well, yet they lack the practised skill of translating their understanding into written legislation.’Footnote 53
In several instances, the efforts at thoroughly revising existing legislation were not entirely successful. For example, the Law of Obligations working group faced an impasse with trade union representatives when dealing with employment contracts. This stalemate, partially attributable to the working group’s inexperience, manifested itself in sub-optimal communication and some reluctance to work towards compromise. It led to employment contract regulation being omitted entirely from the Law of Obligations Act.Footnote 54 The Labour Code, prepared by the Ministry of Social Affairs working group, likewise fell at the enactment hurdle, leaving the Employment Contracts Act of 1992 – amended on several occasions since its passage – as the prevailing statute until 2009. It was not until 2008 that Estonia adopted its first modern Employment Contracts Act, consistent with the overarching principles of civil law.Footnote 55 Villu Kõve, who led the Law of Obligations Act working group, has said that the Employment Contracts Act of 2008, which remains in force, is significantly less favourable for employees than the draft prepared by the Ministry of Justice in 2000–2001, which was intended for incorporation into the Law of Obligations Act – particularly with respect to the provisions governing termination of employment contracts.Footnote 56
The Role of Ministers of Justice and Senior Civil Servants
From 1995, the Ministers of Justice consistently had been drawn from the former establishment, figures who had played central roles in the final years of the ESSR. These individuals were among the reformists of the previous regime. Despite having been educated within the ESSR and possessing considerable professional and administrative experience from the Soviet era,Footnote 57 they remained committed to the established goal of joining the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and they maintained the momentum of the legal reforms.
In Vähi’s inaugural cabinet of 1995, several ministers were appointed for reason of their special expertise rather than their political background. Varul was one of them. A civil law professor at the University of Tartu, who held the office Minister of Justice across two administrations, from April 1995 to March 1999, he left his mark with a series of institutional reforms that commenced with the overhaul of the prosecutor’s office and culminated in the planning stages for new correctional facilities. Concurrent with these developments, the drafting of comprehensive legislation addressing key areas of law persisted.
Rask, with the liberal Estonian Reform Party, served as the decade’s final Minister of Justice, holding the office from 1999 to 2003. During his term, a series of legislative reforms reached completion, resulting in the enactment of several lynchpin legislative acts that had been under development for half a decade or more. Among the seminal works were the new Penal Code, the Law of Obligations Act, the General Part of the Civil Code Act, and the Private International Law Act,Footnote 58 along with their corresponding implementing regulations. Whereas Ministry of Justice officials had previously played a significant role in shaping legal policy, it was during Rask’s term that the major legal reforms reached completion and the legislative activities took a more traditional form.Footnote 59
Over the decade of legal reforms, Estonia was served by six ministers of justice, yet it was Oviir,Footnote 60 in his longstanding role as Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice, who guaranteed continuity and acted as a driving force for significant reforms. He was particularly influential in mentoring an entire generation of young, aspiring civil servants. Oviir’s tenure with the ministry can be traced back to the Soviet era, when he assumed leadership of the economic law division of the ESSR’s Ministry of Justice in 1972. His ascent to the position of Secretary General was a condition set by Kama, who agreed to accept a position as the first Minister of Justice in Laar’s government only if Oviir were appointed as stipulated.Footnote 61
Many officials and key legislators from that era remember Oviir for displaying remarkably strong leadership qualities. Despite his Soviet-era education and ten-plus years’ experience in Soviet institutions, he had an innate ability to attract and trust young, promising individuals, backed up by the readiness to defend them when this became necessary.Footnote 62 His significant contribution as Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice, especially to its staffing with suitable individuals, has been recognised by many of Estonia’s leading lawyers, both his contemporaries and those active today. Drafters of extensive private‑law legislation have reflected thus: ‘I think only today do we understand how challenging it must have been for him to effectively isolate us, to allow us to do our job, and to shield us so that we could do it. In such a bureaucratic structure, that is an extraordinary accomplishment that should not be underestimated.’Footnote 63
Oviir was crucial in recruiting several young officials who would go on to play highly significant roles in the legislative reforms.Footnote 64 Key figures were attracted to the Ministry of Justice also through the encouragement of Varul, who, upon becoming Minister of Justice in 1995, initiated a structural reform that included transforming the Soviet-era economic law department into an entity focused on private law and introducing new departments for public law, penal law, and legislative methodology. His extensive network as a professor at the University of Tartu informed the associated recruitment. In one notable move, he brought in twenty-four-year-old Heiki Loot, a consultant with the Supreme Court, to head the public law department in the same year.Footnote 65 Furthermore, Varul persuaded Pärna, also aged twenty-four at the time, to forgo a position as a notary and instead become Vice-Secretary General. Thus, Pärna took charge of co-ordinating the Ministry of Justice’s legislative drafting in 1995.Footnote 66
Finally, in retrospect, Oviir’s keen interest in technology stands out. He not only prioritised the development of electronic registers within the Ministry of Justice but also secured the necessary funding from the state budget.Footnote 67 In the latter half of the 1990s, some countries had already begun working towards electronic registers. With Austria’s efforts in this area serving as inspiration, the concept of creating electronic judicial registers took root within the Estonian Ministry of Justice in those years. This idea would later be hailed as the inception of the Estonian e-state.Footnote 68
Foreign Experts’ Part in Shaping the Estonian Legal System: The Impact of Professor Peter Schlechtriem
In assessing the legal reforms, the influence of international legal scholars deserves particular recognition. While the foregoing discussion has highlighted the efforts of young Estonian jurists in drafting new legal statutes, supported by experienced political leaders, it is important to bear in mind that these individuals often lacked extensive legal education and practical drafting experience. To bridge this gap, the Estonian Ministry of Justice forged a partnership with the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation (Deutsche Stiftung für Internationale Rechtliche Zusammenarbeit), established in 1992. This initiative, spearheaded by Germany’s Minister of Justice Klaus Kinkel, was underpinned by German interest in supporting the economic and legal development of post-Soviet states.Footnote 69 Through this collaboration, Estonia benefited from a broad spectrum of support, encompassing legal drafting expertise, consultation with high-level German experts, institutional study visits, and professional training programmes.Footnote 70 Most importantly, in the early years of the co-operation, distinguished German legal experts offered their advice for drafting of Estonian legislative acts.Footnote 71
Among these experts, we cite Professor Peter Schlechtriem of the University of Freiburg for his notable contributions. Highly regarded for his extensive contribution to the international harmonisation of private law,Footnote 72 Schlechtriem acted as the main expert behind the shaping of the Estonian law of obligations: he wrote several expert briefs for the Estonian Law of Obligations Act, including material on the law of non-contractual obligations.Footnote 73
His influence is unique in that, unlike many others’, it extended beyond providing expert advice on legal drafting. In his trademark unassuming and modest manner, he moulded the legal education and awareness of an entire generation of young Estonian lawyers. His two textbooks on the German law of obligations were translated into Estonian in 1999 and 2000,Footnote 74 making them the first law-of-obligations textbooks adopted by Estonian law faculties. Furthermore, numerous young Estonian researchers had the opportunity to study law and complete their doctoral and master’s theses under his guidance at the Faculty of Law of the University of Freiburg.
These Estonian scholars, the ‘Freiburger Schule’, introduced European legal thinking to Estonian legal practitioners. Many of them later assumed roles as Supreme Court judges, notaries, or university professors, exerting significant influence on the evolution of Estonian legal culture for decades to come. In addition, Schlechtriem served as a foreign member of the editorial board for the Estonia-based law journal Juridica International and facilitated Estonian legal scholars’ active contribution to the academic endeavour of drafting the European Civil Code. For over a decade, he proved himself a cherished friend of Estonia, in recognition of which the University of Tartu awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2002.Footnote 75
Conclusions
In a nutshell, Estonia’s experience underscores the lasting importance of individuals while simultaneously highlighting the need to strike a balance between innovation and practicality when undertaking extensive legal transitions. Instead of relying on officials with a Soviet-era education, these reforms were led by a new generation of legal practitioners, often recent graduates, not burdened by the constraints of Soviet legal doctrine. Their Western European education, their strong work ethic, and ample opportunities for fulfilling ambitious visions were central to reshaping Estonia’s legal landscape.
While young and ambitious lawyers played a crucial role at the outset, the landscape shifted over time. The later phases of the reforms witnessed transition toward a more collaborative approach, with the younger generation of legal practitioners working alongside their more experienced counterparts, many of whom held a wealth of practical expertise. This collaboration between generations allowed for synthesis of new ideas and established practices, and it guaranteed institutional support. Thus, adjustment for balance contributed to the success of Estonia’s legal transformation.
The lasting impact of these reforms continues to affect Estonia’s legal framework. Furthermore, it offers valuable lessons for nations contemplating constitutional change in the modern era: it draws attention to the importance of maintaining the delicate equilibrium between innovation and tradition. Also, it highlights the value of willingness to change while underlining the significance of backing this up by identifying, nurturing, and harnessing the potential of individuals willing and able to take on the task of legislative innovation.
Moreover, this case study underscores the centrality of international support and collaboration for transition-related decisions at national level. Estonia benefited from non-intrusive assistance, including education, training, and expertise, which allowed the domestic drafters to shape the legislative agenda independently and make specific decisions as required. This approach empowered Estonians to chart their own course in legal reform while benefiting from international insights, expertise, and a supportive network with which they could ensure the compliance of the ensuing reforms with international standards and best practice.
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