On September 27, 2024, Harju District Court found Reps guilty of embezzlement and fraud. However, on June 4, the Tallinn Circuit Court amended the county court's decision.

The circuit court held that the charges of embezzlement and fraud were justified, though to a somewhat lesser extent than found by the district court. At the same time, the circuit court said the district court had made errors in resolving the civil claim and ordered Reps to pay higher damages to the state than the county court had imposed.

In summary, Reps' convictions for embezzlement and fraud remain in force, along with the sentence of one year and five months of imprisonment, suspended with a two-year probationary period.

The circuit court also amended the district court's decision regarding the distribution of legal costs. Under the new decision, Reps must pay the victim's – the Ministry of Education – legal fees, which total €46,426.50.

The circuit court also ordered the state to pay Reps €52,000 to cover her defense costs.

The defense's requests to award Reps compensation for damages caused during the proceedings and to oblige the Prosecutor's Office to issue an apology were rejected by the circuit court.

Marko Kairjak, a partner at law firm Ellex Raidla representing the Ministry of Education, said in a comment sent to ERR that the district and circuit court rulings awarded partial damages to the state, plus considerable interest on top of the damages.

"In addition, Reps has to reimburse the ministry's legal costs. The amount increases every day, as interest must be paid on both the damages and the legal costs for each day of delay in the payment. It also should be noted that in the case of certain claims, the court decided that they cannot be resolved in the context of a criminal case and the state must decide whether to file a separate civil claim," Kairjak said.

Kairjak added that the decisions made in the case have now entered into force and the decision is considered an enforcement document for all of the ministry's claims.

"Therefore, if Mailis Reps does not fulfill her obligations to the state, the ministry can turn to a bailiff. The bailiff will initiate enforcement proceedings, first giving the debtor a deadline for voluntary payment. If the obligation is not fulfilled, the bailiff has the right to enforce the claim against the debtor's (in this case, Reps') known assets," he said.

"Usually, when a decision comes into force, the debtor, i.e. Reps, pays the debt themselves to avoid enforcement proceedings or makes a proposal to the creditor, i.e. the representative of the ministry, on how to arrange the payment, for example, by proposing a payment schedule. As the representative of the injured party, I am not aware that Mailis Reps has yet fulfilled her obligations or made a proposal of this kind," Kairjak added.

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