Estonia already recognizes the concept of professional confidentiality and members of certain professions have the right to refuse to testify. However, Justice Minister Liisa Pakosta (Eesti 200) says the relevant provisions in existing legislation are too narrow and unclear.

"Our idea is to establish clear professional privileges. This is different from professional confidentiality. Professional privilege specifically means that people working in certain professions who may come into possession of information that could, for example, be relevant to a criminal investigation are not required, and in some cases are not permitted, to disclose that information to investigative authorities," Pakosta explained.

Such clearly defined professional privileges could apply to lawyers, notaries, victim support workers, bankruptcy trustees, clergy, journalists and patent attorneys.

Estonian Bar Association President Imbi Jürgen said such violations of privacy in criminal proceedings are not merely a theoretical threat.

"The biggest concern at present is the interception of calls between lawyers and their clients during surveillance operations. This is a very serious problem and disputes concerning the issue have also reached the Supreme Court," Jürgen said.

Justice Minister Pakosta acknowledged that protecting members of these professions would also make certain crimes more difficult to investigate.

"If the state wants to convict someone, it must gather all the evidence itself. It cannot assume that just because someone has told their story to a journalist, that means they can be convicted on that basis the following day," Pakosta said.

Chief State Prosecutor Taavi Pern said the Prosecutor's Office welcomes the proposal, as the law governing these professions has so far been relatively unclear.

"Both the Bar Association and the Prosecutor's Office have been telling the Ministry of Justice for years that this bill and more precise regulations are needed," Pern said.

According to Pern, the bill will increase the Prosecutor's Office's workload.

"If we have to carry out various investigative procedures involving people covered by professional privilege, such as conducting searches or arguing in court over whether the contents of certain emails are protected by professional confidentiality, this will add to our workload," Pern said.

Despite the additional workload, the state does not plan to allocate any extra funding to the Prosecutor's Office. This could mean that prosecutors will have to reorganize their work.

"Given how complex criminal proceedings have become, it would be welcome if discussions about any legislative amendments also included consideration of how many resources, for example, the Prosecutor's Office or the courts would need to implement them," Pern said.

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