History of establishment and features of constitutional control in Estonia

Abstract

Ukraine has chosen for itself the European model of centralized constitutional control, which implies creation of a separate Constitutional Court to resolve cases on the constitutionality of laws and some other legal acts. Of course, this model is not unique is also not the only one in the organization of constitutional control among those used in Europe. One of the most attention-grabbing alternative options for the organization of constitutional control is the Estonian model - which, although it is similar to those countries where disputes about the constitutionality of laws are resolved by courts of general jurisdiction (or only by the Supreme Court), is nevertheless unique in many ways.
 The article examines the factors that influenced Estonia's development of its unique approach to the organization of constitutional control, as well as an analysis of the possibility and expediency of transferring this experience to countries with already existing constitutional control, where the Constitutional Court operates. In particular, to begin with, the history of the development of the judicial system in Estonia in the 20th century was considered. Immediately after this country gained independence, its first Constitution was adopted, which became the basis for the birth of constitutional control in Estonia. The article also examines the peculiarities of the procedure for reviewing constitutionality of laws in Estonia by courts of all levels (including the Supreme Court) under the current legislation.
 A separate subject of attention in the article is the discussion that has been going on for a long time in Estonia about the necessity and expediency of depriving the Supreme Court of its powers to exercise constitutional control with the formation of the Constitutional Court as a separate body. The key arguments put forward by both supporters and opponents of the changes have been considered.
 According to the results of the study, possible risks for the Supreme Court and the mandate of its judges, which may be accompanied by the transfer of the Estonian experience in the organization of constitutional control to countries where there is a separate Constitutional Court, are highlighted.
 The relevance of the study is due to the fact that despite the lively interest in the unique features of the organization of the Estonian judicial system, due to the language barrier, the question of the history of the formation of the Supreme Court of Estonia as a body of constitutional control escapes the attention of researchers.