Are EU Administrative Penalties Reshaping the Estonian System of Sanctions?

Abstract:

EU legislation on administrative penalties has prompted an intense discussion in Estonia on whether to resurrect a measure from the past, namely administrative penalties. These penalties were abolished in Estonia in 2002, with all minor offences since then being classified as misdemeanours.

Proponents of the administrative penalty procedure raise two main arguments: first, that the EU requires transposition of administrative penalties laid down in EU legislation specifically under a domestic administrative procedure; and second, that an administrative procedure would be a speedier and effective way to detect and punish offenders. In 2019, the authors of this article carried out a research project for the Estonian Ministry of Justice to map out the options for transposing EU administrative sanctions into Estonian law and to assess their compatibility, feasibility, and consequences. This paper summarizes the main results of that project.