In November, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Estonia had not provided sufficient grounds for imposing a total smoking ban in prisons and had also exceeded its margin of discretion by failing to assess the impact of the ban on prisoners' freedom of choice.

The Ministry of Justice is therefore required to analyze whether a complete smoking ban in Estonian prisons is lawful. The analysis must answer the question of whether and why the reasons for a complete ban outweigh the right of smoking prisoners to free self-expression.

The analysis will be commissioned by the ministry via a small procurement procedure at a maximum cost of €20,000.

The Ministry of Justice employs a lot of lawyers, however, according to Kirsi Pruudel, head of media relations for the Estonian Prison Service, legal issues are often specific and field-based, meaning it is not always possible to guarantee the organization has a specialist for every issue that arises.

"Our lawyers do an excellent job, but it is common practice to seek expert advice from external experts in the relevant field in the case of more complex or time-critical legal issues," Pruudel explained.

The analysis to be commissioned has to take into account the employer's obligation to ensure a tobacco-free environment as well as the prison's obligation to ensure a tobacco-free living environment for non-smokers in prison.

It is therefore not necessary to analyze whether the restriction is constitutional, but only how it affects the prisoners' personal rights.

The analysis is to be completed by January 14, 2026, with the Ministry of Justice pointing out that, as the task is urgent, the tenderer may respond to the questions in stages.

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