Justice chancellor backs president's veto of conscripts language rule
Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise has sided with President Alar Karis in questioning a new law that would bar conscripts with limited Estonian skills from military service.
Asked whether an amendment barring conscripts with less than B1-level Estonian proficiency is unconstitutional, the chancellor of justice said concerns about unequal treatment are justified.
The amendment to the Military Service Act passed by the Riigikogu last month, Madise noted, allows conscripts with insufficient Estonian proficiency to be exempted from conscription service until they have achieved the required level of proficiency.
"This unjustifiably favors those call-up selectees who don't speak Estonian well enough," she added.
Madise noted that the president had highlighted the same issue when vetoing the amendment on December 4. In his decision, Karis wrote that the amendment violates the principle of equal treatment under § 12 of the Estonian Constitution.
The head of state, she noted, sent the law of amendments back to the Riigikogu for review.
Under a law of amendments to the Military Service Act and related legislation passed by the Riigikogu on November 19, only call-up selectees who speak Estonian at a minimum B1 level would be called up by the Defense Resources Agency (KRA) for conscription service.
Officials from the KRA told ERR that the rule reflects the Estonian Defense Forces' (EDF) preference, noting that training is conducted in Estonian and increasingly involves complex weapons and communications systems and technical terminology, making a language proficiency standard necessary.
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Editor: Urmet Kook, Aili Vahtla
