COBALT successfully represented the Government of the Republic in Tallinn Circuit Court in a dispute related to the use of Russian as a language of instruction


2013 - 04 - 25

COBALT attorney-at-law Triinu Hiob successfully represented the Government of the Republic in Tallinn Circuit Court in a dispute with the city governments of Tallinn and Narva and a parent of a pupil regarding the requirement set forth in the Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act which obligates municipal schools to teach subjects in Estonian in the extent of at least 60% of the compulsory part of the curriculum.

By its decision of 22 April, Tallinn Circuit Court upheld the earlier decision of the administrative court in the same dispute. In 2012, the cities of Tallinn and Narva and a parent of one pupil in Narva appealed the orders of the Government of the Republic by which the Government did not grant consent to conducting studies in Russian in the upper secondary parts of four municipal schools in Narva or for bilingual studies in the upper secondary parts of ten municipal schools in Tallinn due to the lack of good reason. Tallinn Administrative Court dismissed the complaints of the cities and the private person in the summer of 2012, finding the orders of the Government of the Republic lawful. The circuit court agreed with the position of Tallinn Administrative Court, dismissing all of the appellants’ appeals and leaving the decision of the court of first instance unchanged. The decision of Tallinn Circuit Court is yet to enter into force.