Both a court and an extra-judicial body (hereinafter a procedural body, including the police) have the right to punish for misdemeanours. A body conducting extra-judicial proceedings may only apply a fine or deprivation of driving privileges. Only the court has the power to impose a detention order.
A body conducting proceedings may prosecute an individual for a misdemeanour and apply non-penal measures or punish the individual by a written cautionary, abridged, expedited, or general procedure. The procedural authority must also prepare procedural documents (including a report and a decision), on the basis of which the decision may be contested.
You can examine the documents of civil, administrative, criminal and misdemeanour proceedings, associated actions, etc. related to you in the online information system e-File. There you can contest claims and decisions as well.
A written cautionary procedure applies only to misdemeanours relating to safe driving or violations of the rules of conduct committed by the driver. In the case of a written cautionary procedure, the penalty notice is sent to the registered owner or the responsible user of the vehicle. Instead of applying a penalty (a fine), the individual is penalised verbally (with no cautionary decision drawn up) or a non-penal cautionary penalty in the maximum amount of 300 euros is applied. The cautionary penalty imposed is not entered in the criminal records database.
The cautionary fine has to be paid in full or contested within 30 days following receipt of the decision, after which the cautionary fine will become enforceable.
You can view your outstanding cautionary fines and pay them on the cautionary fines portal of the Police and Border Guard Board.
An alternative procedure is a procedure which is applied in the case of misdemeanours of a lower level of unlawfulness in the course of which the body conducting extra-judicial proceedings may issue other procedural documents (e.g. an interrogation record) at the site of committing the misdemeanour to the individual subjected to the alternative procedure without applying a fixed penalty. This provides an opportunity to document a lower-level offence with no direct damage caused to human lives or property several times quicker. Fixed penalties of an abridged procedure are not entered in the criminal records database. In most cases, just one document is drawn up – the decision made in the abridged procedure – which is sent to the individual electronically with their consent. The maximum amount of the fixed penalty is 100 euros.
In the event of an individual who is at least 14 years of age, but who is under the age of 18, the fixed penalty rate established by the law is divided by two.
A person has the right to contest the determination within 15 days, and then the clarification of what happened will continue in the regular proceedings.
If the person fails to pay the corrective fine and does not contest the determination that concludes the procedure by the due date, the determination will be forwarded for compulsory enforcement within ten days of its entry into force.
An expedited procedure is applied by the body conducting extra-judicial proceedings if the facts of the misdemeanour are clear, the rights and obligations have been explained to the person and the person subject to proceedings consents. Under the expedited procedure, an extra-judicial body cannot impose a fine exceeding 200 fine units (1 fine unit equals 4 euros). Expedited procedure is not applied if the person is 14 to 18 years of age or suffers from a mental disorder.
The fine applied in an expedited procedure** must be** paid within 15 days after receiving the decision or the decision must be appealed in a county court. The unpaid fine will be transmitted to an enforcement agent for immediate compulsory enforcement once the decision has entered into force.
The regular proceedings, unlike the cautionary, abridged, and expedited procedures, does not take place in the case of the misdemeanour. If the facts of the violation are not clear, if further evidence needs to be gathered, or if the party to the proceedings does not agree to another form of procedure, etc., the regular proceedings are opened. The person subject to proceedings is summoned to the body conducting extra-judicial proceedings. The evidence collected are assessed to decide whether to close the misdemeanour procedure, apply alternative measures, apply a fine to the individual, or file a petition with a court for applying detention.
The person subject to proceedings may file an objection to the misdemeanour report drawn up and explained to them within 15 days of receipt of the misdemeanour report, or, if no objection is filed, a decision is made in the misdemeanour proceedings.
The fine applied must be paid in full (if paying in parts is not established) or the decision must be appealed in a county court within 15 days after the date on which the decision became accessible for reviewing in the office of the body conducting extra-judicial proceedings. If the culprit fails to pay the fine in time or appeal the decision in a timely manner, the decision is sent by the body conducting extra-judicial proceedings to a enforcement agent for compulsory enforcement.
When paying a fine, it is important to specify the correct reference number (e-account number) and the misdemeanour matter number in the payment order for the fine paid to be associated with the specific misdemeanour procedure. In the event of compulsory enforcement of a fine by an enforcement agent, the fee and execution expenses of the enforcement agent are added in the execution proceeding. Further information about the payment of fines is available on the website of the Police and Border Guard Board.
Appellation of the activity of an individual conducting extra-judicial proceedings or a decision
A person subject to proceedings has the right to contest a decision made by an extra-judicial body in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Code of Misdemeanour Procedure. A person subject to proceedings also has the right to file a complaint about the actions of an extra-judicial body to the head of that body. Only the activity of the individual, not the decision made, can be appealed to the supervisor.
The head has to resolve the complaint within five days following its receipt. If the person does not agree with the decision made by the head, he or she has the right to appeal to a county court within ten days following receipt of the order they are contesting.
The party to a proceeding may appeal the decision of a body conducting extra-judicial proceedings to a county court (in expedited and general procedures) within 15 days after receipt of the decision of the body conducting extra-judicial proceedings by the individual subjected to the procedure or the date on which the decision of the body conducting extra-judicial proceedings became available to the party to the proceeding at the office of the body conducting extra-judicial proceedings.
An appeal against a misdemeanour case or against a decision in a misdemeanour case is heard by the county court in whose jurisdiction the misdemeanour case was committed. The court will hear the misdemeanour case in full, regardless of the scope of the appeal, by examining the circumstances that led to the decision.
The parties to the proceedings may appeal the county court ruling to a circuit court and file an appeal in cassation against the circuit court ruling to the Supreme Court.
The State Portal eesti.ee does not provide legal assistance. Legal portal Hugo.legal will help you find solutions to legal issues of everyday life. European e-Justice portal provides information on justice systems.
Related articles
References
- Misdemeanour fines
- About incidents of speeding and fine notice (Police and Border Guard Board)
- Free legal aid by the HUGO.legal
- Website of state legal aid
- Estonian Courts
- European e-Justice Portal
Services
- Cautionary Fines Portal
- e-File - court procedure information system (e-Toimik)
- Execution proceedings commenced against a debtor