{ Adopted on: 28 June 1992 }
{ ICL Document Status: 28 June 1992 }

{ Editor's Note
The raw text is a translation provided by Martin Scheinin to ICL in 1995.  The ICL edition features additional Article Titles for better overview in the table of contents. }

 
Article 1  [Entering Into Force]
(1) The Constitution shall enter into force on the day following its adoption by referendum and shall be applied in accordance with procedures established by this law.
(2) The authority of the Republic of Estonia Supreme Council and the Congress of Estonia shall cease upon the announcement of the results of the Parliament elections.
(3) Until the results of the Parliament elections have been announced, the Republic of Estonia Supreme Council shall carry out the functions of the legislative body.
(4) The Government of the Republic, confirmed into office by the Supreme Council, shall be released from office upon the assumption of office of a government formed by the Parliament.
 
Article 2  [Old Laws]
(1) Legal acts currently in force in the Republic of Estonia shall continue to be in force after the Constitution enters into force, insofar as they do not contradict the Constitution or of the Law on the Application of the Constitution and until such a time as they are voided or brought into full accordance with the Constitution.
(1) In cases of dispute, the National Court shall decide whether a legal act is in accordance with the Constitution and with the Law on the Application of the Constitution.
 
Article 3  [First Elections]
(1) Elections to the Parliament and for the President of the Republic shall be announced by the Supreme Council after the adoption of the Constitution, whereby the schedule for the election shall be determined  The elections must be held no later than 27 Sep 1992.
(2) The authority of the first complement of the Parliament elected after the adoption of the Constitution shall extend, as an exception, up to three years.
(3) The first session of the Parliament shall be convened by the Chairman or Vice-Chairman of the Republic of Estonia Electoral Committee within ten days after the announcement of the election results.
(4) The Chairman or Vice-Chairman of the Republic of Estonia Electoral Committee shall lead the work of the Parliament until the election of the Chairman of the Parliament.
(5) Until the adoption of the Law on the Parliament Standing Orders and Law on Parliament Procedure, the Parliament shall have a quorum if at least one half of its members are present at a session.
(6) For the purposes of the Constitution, the following shall mean:
- majority of affirmative votes -- more affirmative votes than negative votes are cast;
- two thirds majority of votes -- at least twice as many affirmative votes than negative votes are cast;
- four fifths majority of votes -- at least four times as many affirmative votes than negative votes are cast;
- majority of the members of the Parliament -- over one half of the members of the Parliament cast an affirmative vote;
- two thirds majority of the members of the Parliament -- at least two thirds of the members of the Parliament cast an affirmative vote;
- three fifths majority of the members of the Parliament -- atleast three fifths of the members of the Parliament cast an
affirmative vote.
(7) Prior to the announcement of the elections to the Parliament and for the President of the Republic, the Supreme Council shall enact legal acts on electing the President of the Republic and on the remuneration and social security for members of the Parliament and the President of the Republic.
 
Article 4  [Delayed Provisions]
(1) Point 11 of Article 78 and Article 79 of the Constitution shall be applied after the President of the Republic, elected on the basis of the present Article, assumes office.
(2) In applying the Constitution, the President of the Republic, as an exception, shall be elected simultaneously with the election of the Parliament through a general, uniform and direct election, by secret ballot, by a majority of votes cast, for a term of four years. If no one candidate receives over one half of the votes cast, the President of the Republic shall be elected by the Parliament from amongst the two candidates who receive the greatest number of votes within ten days of the convention of the Parliament. Detailed procedures for the election of the President of the Republic shall be established by the Presidential Electoral Law.
(3) The right to nominate candidates for President shall rest with at least ten thousand Republic of Estonia citizens, who have the right to vote.
(4) Any persons who is a candidate for the office of President of the Republic may not simultaneously be a candidate for the Parliament.
 
Article 5  [Government Employees]
(1) The entering into force of the Constitution shall not in itself bring about the end of the employment relations of existing employees of government bodies.
(2) The authority of the Auditor-General, the President of the Bank of the Estonia, the Chairman of the National Court and the members of the National Court, appointed to office for a term by the Supreme Council, shall extend until the end of their appointed term.
(3) Candidates for the offices listed in Point 11 of Article 78 of the Constitution, and which are not specified in Paragraph 2 of the present Article, shall be presented by the President of the Republic to the Parliament within 60 days after assuming office.
 
Article 6  [Oath of Conscience]
(1) Until 31 Dec 2000, candidates for the office of President of the Republic, the Parliament or local government councils, as well as persons who seek the office of Prime Minister, minister, Chairman of the National Court, member of the National Court, judge, Legal Chancellor, Auditor-General, President of the Bank of Estonia, Commander or Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces or any other government or local government office filled by election or appointment must take a written oath of conscience that they have not been in the service or an agent of security organizations, military intelligence or counter intelligence services of states which have occupied Estonia and that they have not participated in the persecution or repression of citizens for their political convictions, disloyalty, social class or service in the government or defence services of the Republic of Estonia.
(2) If a court determines that the information confirmed by the oath is untrue, the candidate shall be excluded from the list of candidates or his or her mandate shall be voided, or the person shall not be appointed to the of offices noted in paragraph 1 of the present Article or the person shall be dismissed from of office.
 
Article 7  [Oath of Conscience Prevailing Officers]
(1) Persons who wish to remain in the offices specifiedin Article 6 (1), which they have assumed prior to the convention of the Parliament, must take the written oath of conscience within 30 days after the convention of the Parliament. If a person refuses to take the oath or if a court determines that the information confirmed by the oath is untrue, the person shall be dismissed from office.
(2) Regulations for taking the oath shall be enacted by the Supreme Council prior to the declaration of the elections to the Parliament and for the President of the Republic.
 
Article 8  [Reduced Majority for Urgent Amendments]
(1) During the three years following the adoption of the Constitution by referendum, the Parliament shall have the right to make urgent amendments to the Constitution with a two thirds majority vote of the Parliament. The decision to consider a draft law to amend the Constitution as a matter of urgency shall be adopted by a majority of affirmative votes.
(2) The right to initiate amendments to the Constitution during the three years after the adoption of the Constitution by referendum shall also rest with public initiative, in the form of at least ten thousand citizens, who have the right to vote. The proposal to amend the Constitution by public initiative shall be entered into the agenda of the Parliament as a matter of urgency and shall be resolved in accordance with procedures established in paragraph 1 of the present Article.
 
Article 9  [Enforcement Together With Constitution]
(1) This law is adopted together with the Constitution, by Referendum on 28 June 1992. The law shall enter into force simultaneously with the Constitution.
(2) The Law on the Application of the Constitution may be amended in accordance with procedures prescribed for amendments to the Constitution.

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For methodology see: Comparing Constitutions and International Constitutional Law.
© 1994 - 27.6.2020 / Translation provided by M. Scheinin.
For corrections please contact A. Tschentscher.