Director General of the Riigikogu Chancellery Antero Habicht last week dismissed veteran parliamentary official Piia Schultz, accusing her of an error in the wording of the Gambling Tax Act and of comments she later gave to a journalist.

Commenting on the issue on ERR's "Vikerhommik," Taro emphasized that civil servants have the right to communicate with the press, as they are entitled to the same freedoms of speech and opinion as any private citizen. "In fact, based on both their professional duties and broader obligations, officials sometimes even have a responsibility to explain to the public how the state functions and whether it is functioning properly," Taro said, adding that while differing opinions should first be discussed internally, expressing them publicly is not objectionable.

According to Taro, outsiders cannot determine whether the dismissal of the official in this specific case was justified on the grounds of a breach of duty. However, the expert noted: "An adviser to a Riigikogu committee is responsible for ensuring that a draft legal act is written correctly, exactly in line with the proposed amendments and the will of the legislator. And in the case of this particular bill, the responsible adviser was indeed the same Chancellery adviser we are discussing today."

If, as the official has claimed, the legislative process was too rushed for her to properly fulfill her duties, that is something for the Riigikogu Chancellery to assess, Taro said. "From what I can see in the legislative process, the second reading of the bill was concluded on November 19, which meant there was more than a week to finalize the text. At that stage, the main body of the bill is already set, no further amendments can be made and only technical corrections remain. That is precisely when it is the adviser's task to review the text," Taro explained.

"She had more than a week to do so. Of course, I understand that this error did not originate solely from the work of this particular adviser; it came from proposals by the Ministry of Finance. We usually do not have situations where a problem arises from just one person's work — rather, it is always a combination of factors. But the specific circumstances in this case must be resolved by a court," Taro added.

Asked about the responsibility of Riigikogu members themselves for the error, Taro said that lawmakers who press the voting button are, of course, responsible for legislation. In particular, members of the relevant committee — in this case, the Finance Committee — bear responsibility and, in Taro's view, should thoroughly review all bills they consider to ensure there are no provisions that later prove problematic.

"At the same time, administratively, responsibility for the legislative process lies with the Riigikogu Chancellery because every member of the Riigikogu has the constitutional right to initiate draft legislation and no member is required to be a lawyer or even to know how to draft a bill. Therefore, it is the Chancellery that must ensure, in legal, technical and substantive terms, that draft legislation is properly prepared," Taro stressed.

Speaker: My recommendation was not to dismiss the official

Riigikogu President Lauri Hussar told ERR on Monday that while the Riigikogu Chancellery is free in its decisions and the Board of the Riigikogu has not intervened, his personal recommendation was not to dismiss Schultz over the error.

Regarding MPs collecting signatures to demand the official's reinstatement, Hussar said he does not understand the aim of the campaign, as the Board of the Riigikogu was not involved and because it risks further damaging the parliament's reputation by suggesting the legislature can or should meddle in the Riigikogu Chancellery's decisions.

Piia Schultz, a long-serving advisor to the Riigikogu Economic Affairs Committee, was dismissed from office earlier this month after a legislative error in amendments to the Gambling Tax Act caused Estonia to miss out on €4 million in gambling tax revenue for 2026. The Riigikogu Chancellery accused Schultz of negligence in her work, as well as of speaking to the press and, in doing so, damaging the Riigikogu's reputation.

While not denying she made a mistake in processing the text, Schultz plans to challenge her dismissal in court. The incident has sparked a wider public debate about the lines of responsibility between officials and politicians, as well as whether public servants will dare speak to the press at all in the future if this precedent is allowed to stand.

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