According to a 2021 ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union, the mass retention of communications data constitutes a violation of human rights. Estonia's Supreme Court adopted the same position in 2021, but the legal provision requiring telecom companies to retain such data has not yet been amended in Estonia.

In its ruling on Friday, the Supreme Court remanded to the circuit court for reconsideration a criminal case in which Narva city officials Tatjana Lennuk and Julia Tuštšenko, along with entrepreneur Eduard Lennuk, are accused of breaching a procedural restriction.

The prosecution alleges that Tatjana Lennuk, head of the communal and construction department of the Narva city government, accepted design and construction work carried out by her former spouse Eduard Lennuk's company, Edlen Service OÜ, in the amount of €45,240, which an official subordinate to her had previously refused.

According to the charges, Tatjana Lennuk herself also prepared the company's bid for participation in a public procurement and the certificate of completed work. She also assisted Eduard Lennuk in compiling inquiries and responses for the procurement committee and the city government in order to present the work as having been properly carried out.

Former head of the law enforcement service of the city's urban economy department Julia Tuštšenko and Eduard Lennuk are accused of aiding and abetting the offense.

The county court found all defendants guilty, but the circuit court acquitted them.

On Friday, the Supreme Court overturned the acquittal and sent the case back to the circuit court for a new hearing. According to the Supreme Court's Criminal Chamber, the charges are sufficiently detailed to allow the defendants to understand what they are accused of. However, the court may amend the initial legal classification of the acts provided by the prosecution if necessary.

At the same time, the Supreme Court agreed with the circuit court that call data records obtained from a telecommunications company should not have been used as evidence in the criminal case.

Back in 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that telecommunications companies cannot be required to provide phone data retained for one year under law for the purposes of criminal investigations, as Estonia's system of blanket data retention and use is contrary to European Union law.

At the same time, telecommunications companies also retain data for business purposes, for example for billing and resolving customer disputes.

The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court noted that the use of such data in criminal proceedings is not in principle excluded. However, the prosecution must demonstrate that the telecommunications company collected the data specifically for business purposes rather than under state compulsion. In the present case, the prosecution failed to meet this obligation.

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