Remedies and enforcement

• Author: Poleshchuk, Vadim
• Pages: 36-43

36

6 REMEDIES AND ENFORCEMENT

6.1 Judicial and/or administrative procedures (Article 7 Directive 2000/43,

Article 9 Directive 2000/78)

a) Available procedures for enforcing the principle of equal treatment

In Estonia, the following procedures exist for enforcing the principle of equal treatment:

− Judicial procedures

A victim of discrimination can use criminal procedures (if s/he suffered from

crimes/misdemeanours), administrative court procedures (e.g. complaints against the

action of an official or state/municipal institution, including conflicts between a public

officials and his or her employer) or civil court procedures (e.g. labour disputes in the

private sector, the issue of non-pecuniary damage and protection of consumer rights).

Discrimination-related cases are solved on the basis of general rules and standards. The

only exception is the application of provisions regarding a shift in the burden of proof

established by the Equal Treatment Act (see section 6.3 below for details).

− Non-judicial procedures

• Quasi-judicial procedures at labour disputes committees

Article 23 of the Equal Treatment Act stipulates that discrimination disputes will

be resolved by court and labour dispute committees.81 A labour dispute

committee is an extrajudicial authority within the Labour Inspectorate that

adjudicates labour disputes (Article 4(1) of the Resolution of Labour Disputes

Act). Their decisions are based on laws and other legislation, international

agreements, collective agreements and employment contracts (Article 4(2)). If

the parties do not agree with a decision of a labour dispute committee, they

have recourse to the courts, which may hear the same labour dispute (Article

58(1)). Participation in this procedure is not compulsory before bringing the

lawsuit to court.

• Conciliation

Conciliation procedures may be conducted by the Chancellor of Justice (in

relation to discrimination in private sector). If the conciliation procedure fails,

a victim may seek the protection of his or her rights in court. Participation in a

conciliation procedure is not compulsory before lodging the lawsuit to the court.

Conciliation can be also provided by labour dispute committees.

• Ombudsman-like procedures

The Chancellor of Justice (in the public sector) and the Commissioner for

Gender Equality and Equal Treatment (in the public and private sectors as falls

within the Commissioner’s competence) are entitled to conduct ombudsman-

like procedures, the results of which are not legally binding (see below).

A decision of a court, a labour dispute committee decision or an agreement

between parties in a conciliation procedure is legally binding (see below).

81 Töövaidluste komisjonid. Resolution of Labour Disputes Act (Töövaidluse lahendamise seadus), 14 June

2017, RT I, 28.12.2017, 18.