Published: 2011-01-01
Key Benefits:
Passed 06.02.1995
RT I 1995, 17, 233
Entry into force 28.03.1995
| 26.01.1999 | RT I 1999, 16, 271 | 28.02.1999 |
| 22.05.2002 | RT I 2002, 50, 314 | 29.06.2002 |
| 19.06.2002 | RT I 2002, 61, 375 | 01.08.2002 |
| 22.04.2010 | RT I 2010, 19, 101 | 01.06.2010 |
| 22.04.2010 | RT I 2010, 22, 108 | 01.01.2011 enters into force on the date determined by the Decision of the Council of the European Union on abrogation of a derogation established in respect of the Republic of Estonia on the basis of Article 140 (2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Council Decision No. 2010/416/EU of 13 July 2010 (OJ L 196, 28.07.2010, pp. 24–26). |
(1) This Act regulates the procedure for the registration and disclosure of persons who have served in or co-operated with security organisations or intelligence or counterintelligence organisations of armed forces of states which have occupied Estonia (hereinafter security or intelligence organisations).
(2) The provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act apply to administrative proceedings prescribed in this Act, taking account of the specifications provided for in this Act.
[RT I 2002, 61, 375 - entry into force 01.08.2002]
(1) For the purposes of this Act, security and intelligence organisations are the following security organisations and intelligence and counterintelligence organisations of the armed forces of the German State and the structures subordinate to them:
1) the Security Police of the German State (Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo)) and the Security Service of the German State (Sicherheitsdienst (SD)) which operated as the III and VI Offices of the Reich Main Security Office of the Protection Squadron (Reichs Sicherheits Hauptamt (RSHA)) starting from 1939;
2) the Secret State Police of the German State (Geheime Staatspolitzei (Gestapo)) which operated as the IV Office of the Reich Main Security Office of the Protection Squadron (RSHA) starting from 1939;
3) the Office of Defence (Abwehr) of the Armed Forces High Command which operated in the subordination of the IV and VI Offices of the Reich Main Security Office of the Protection Squadron (RSHA) and the Military Office (Militärisches Amt) starting from July 1944.
(2) For the purposes of this Act, security and intelligence organisations are the following security organisations and intelligence and counterintelligence organisations of the armed forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the structures subordinate to them:
1) the Main Directorate of State Security (GUGB— Glavnoye Upravlenie Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti) which was included in the USSR People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (Narodnyi Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del) and which existed from 10 July 1934 to 3 February 1941 and from 20 July 1941 to 14 April 1943;
2) the USSR People’s Commissariat for State Security (NKGB— Narodnyi Komissariat Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti) which existed from 3 February to 20 July 1941 and from 14 April 1943 to 15 March 1946;
3) the Chief Counterintelligence Directorate of the USSR People’s Commissariat of Defence (Glavnoye Kontrrazvedyvatelnoye Upravlenie Narodnogo Komissariata Oborony (SMERSH)) which existed from 14 April 1943 to May 1946;
4) the Ministry of State Security (MGB— Ministerstvo Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti) which existed from 15 March 1946 to 15 March 1953;
5) the Main Directorate of State Security (GUGB) which was included in the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs (Ministerstvo Vnutrennikh Del) and which existed from 15 March 1953 to 13 March 1954;
6) the USSR Committee for State Security (KGB— Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti) which was established on 13 March 1954;
7) the USSR Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff (GRU— Glavnoye Razvedyvatelnoye Upravlenie);
8) special departments of the army, naval forces and border guard forces of the USSR.
For the purposes of this Act, the following are persons who have served in or co-operated with security or intelligence organisations:
1) a citizen of the Republic of Estonia who served in or co-operated with security or intelligence organisations during the period from 17 June 1940 to 31 December 1991 and resides in the territory under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Estonia;
2) an alien or a stateless person who served in or co-operated with security or intelligence organisations during the period from 17 June 1940 to 31 December 1991 and resides in the territory under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Estonia.
(1) For the purposes of this Act, serving in security or intelligence organisations is employment as staff employee of a security or intelligence organisation.
(2) For the purposes of this Act, co-operating with security or intelligence organisations is being an agent, a resident, a keeper of a conspiratorial flat or being a trustee of security or intelligence organisations or knowingly and voluntarily co-operating in any other manner with such organisations. A person who co-operated or granted consent for co-operation with security or intelligence organisations without having had employment relationships with the latter shall be deemed to be an agent, a resident, a keeper of a conspiratorial flat or a trustee. A person’s co-operation with security or intelligence organisations is deemed to be proved by signing a corresponding obligation (consent) or a report expressing co-operation addressed to such organisation by him or her or receipt of monetary or other compensation for co-operation, and other evidence evaluated pursuant to the procedure prescribed by law.
(1) Persons who have served in or co-operated with security or intelligence organisations shall be registered by the Estonian Internal Security Service (hereinafter the Internal Security Service).
(2) The following shall be the basis for registration:
1) a personal confession submitted to the Internal Security Service within one year after the entry into force of this Act concerning service in or co-operation with security or intelligence organisations;
2) written applications of persons together with evidence concerning other persons who served in or co-operated with security or intelligence organisations;
3) materials which substantiate that the person served in or co-operated with security or intelligence organisations.
(3) The Internal Security Service shall decide whether or not the evidence specified in clause (2) 2) of this section concerning the person’s service in or co-operation with security or intelligence organisations is authentic and sufficient for the registration of the person.
(4) The Government of the Republic shall prepare and publish the procedure for the confession specified in clause (2) 1) of this section within one month after the publication of this Act in the Riigi Teataja.
(5) The Internal Security Service is required to forward the information which contests the oath taken by the person if the person has not contested the notice of the Internal Security Service specified in subsection 8 (2) of this Act during the period of time provided for in subsection 8 (4) or after it has been established by a court decision which has entered into force that the person has served in or co-operated with security or intelligence organisations to the Office of the Prosecutor General who has the obligation to contest the oath in court pursuant to the Prosecutor’s Office Act and the Republic of Estonia Act on Procedure for Taking Oath.
(1) In a confession to the Internal Security Service concerning service in or co-operation with security or intelligence organisations the person who submits the confession shall provide the following information concerning himself or herself:
1) name, given name and father’s name and other names which the person uses;
2) date of birth;
3) place of birth;
4) residence at the time of service in or co-operation with security or intelligence organisations and at the time of submitting the confession;
5) the names of the security or intelligence organisations which the person served in or co-operated with;
6) in which office the person served in or co-operated with security or intelligence organisations;
7) the time of service in or co-operation with security or intelligence organisations;
8) the activities of the person at the time of submission of the confession;
9) other information concerning his or her activities in the security or intelligence organisations, except for the information which may be used against him or her or persons close to him or her.
(2) If a person refuses to provide the information specified in subsection (1) of this section or knowingly provides false information, his or her person shall be disclosed pursuant to the procedure provided for in this Act.
(1) The basis for disclosure of the person’s service in or co-operation with security or intelligence organisations is the documents (archive files, card files, agency cards or copies thereof, reports, directives, financial or operational documents, correspondence, audio tapes, films, photographs or other media) concerning such service or co-operation.
(2) A person registered on the basis of clause 5 (2) 1) of this Act may only be disclosed on the basis of his or her written consent, except in the cases provided for in subsection 6 (2) and subsection 8 (1) of this Act.
(1) Persons who have served in or co-operated with security or intelligence organisations, except for persons who have submitted a confession by the time and pursuant to the procedure set out in clause 5 (2) 1) of this Act, shall be disclosed by way of a notice of the Internal Security Service in the Riigi Teataja after one year as of the entry into force of this Act. A person who has submitted a personal confession by the time and pursuant to the procedure set out in clause 5 (2) 1) of this Act shall also be disclosed if information concerning him or her is not classified as a state secret.
[RT I 2010, 19, 101 - entry into force 01.06.2010]
(2) Before presentation of the notice for publication the person shall be notified of the text thereof by a notice of the Internal Security Service in which the rights of the person shall also be communicated pursuant to subsection (4) of this section.
(3) The person shall be notified of the notice by delivery by the Internal Security Service.
[RT I 2002, 61, 375 - entry into force 01.08.2002]
(4) The person who has received the notice has the right, within one month after the receipt of the notice, to:
1) have access to the documents in the Internal Security Service which substantiate his service in or co-operation with security or intelligence organisations, whereas the names of other persons mentioned in the documents shall not be disclosed to him or her;
2) contest the information contained in the notice concerning the person’s service in or co-operation with security or intelligence organisations in a written application submitted to the Internal Security Service or in court, whereas the burden of proof of the person’s service in or co-operation with security or intelligence organisations lies with the Internal Security Service.
(5) The person concerning whom a notice of the Internal Security Service concerning his or her service in or co-operation with security or intelligence organisations has been declared unfounded by a court decision which has entered into force shall not be disclosed pursuant to the procedure provided for in subsection (1) of this section and he or she shall be deleted from the register of the Internal Security Service and the documents which were the basis for his or her registration shall be returned to the respective archives.
(1) The Internal Security Service has the right to summon and question persons in order to ascertain and register a person who has served in or co-operated with security or intelligence organisations, and to ascertain facts relating to service in or co-operation with security or intelligence organisations if there is good reason to believe that:
1) the person who is summoned has served in or co-operated with security or intelligence organisations, or
2) the person who is summoned has become aware, arising from his or her position or due to other circumstances, of the connection of the other person with security or intelligence organisations.
[RT I 2002, 50, 314 - entry into force 29.06.2002]
(2) The person who is summoned has the rights of a witness as provided for in the Administrative Procedure Act.
[RT I 2002, 50, 314 - entry into force 29.06.2002]
(3) A penalty payment shall be imposed pursuant to the procedure provided for in the Substitutive Enforcement and Penalty Payment Act for failure to appear without good reason following a summons from an official of the Internal Security Service.
[RT I 2002, 50, 314 - entry into force 29.06.2002]
(4) The upper limit for a penalty payment specified in subsection (3) of this section is 640 euros.
[RT I 2010, 22, 108 - entry into force 01.01.2011]
(1) The following information concerning a person who has served in or co-operated with security or intelligence organisations shall be disclosed in a notice of the Internal Security Service in the Riigi Teataja:
[RT I 2010, 19, 101 - entry into force 01.06.2010]
1) given name and surname;
2) date of birth;
3) place of birth;
4) activities or employment at the moment of the disclosure;
5) the names of the security or intelligence organisations which the person served in or co-operated with;
6) in which office the person served in or co-operated with security or intelligence organisations.
(2) The Government of the Republic shall prepare and publish the format of the notice specified in subsection (1) of this section within one month after the publication of this Act in the Riigi Teataja.
Supervision over the legality of the activities of the Internal Security Service upon the implementation of the procedure for the registration and disclosure of persons who have served in or co-operated with security or intelligence organisations of states which have occupied Estonia shall be exercised by a committee formed by the Riigikogu.
This Act shall enter into force one month after its publication in the Riigi Teataja.
