Summary

The court reform was carried out in Estonia already in 1991. Currently preparations are made for the adoption of a second round of legislation which should significantly improve the quality of Acts passed with haste at the beginning of the 90s. To avoid the passage of short-lived legislation of poor quality, attention should be paid to the analysis of the system as a whole. Therefore, in his analysis the author relies on the theory of separation of powers as one of the cornerstones of Western democracy and as a basis of the Estonian Constitution.
In addition to the threefold system of separation of powers, the author focuses on the division of powers into legislative power and executive power which integrates executive and judicial powers. This division of powers is a point of departure for the relations of judicial power with other powers which the author deals with in the article.
The author addresses the approach taken in different Estonian Constitutions to the principle of separation of powers and the solutions provided therein. The author comes to the conclusion that the balance of powers has posed problems for all Estonia Constitutions. Detachment from the principle of balance of powers can also be observed in Acts in force and in draft legislation. At present, the relations between state administration and the courts are confusing. There is no uniform court system as the courts of first and second instances are administered by the Ministry of Justice. As possible solutions, the author proposes the release of the courts from the performance of administrative functions, the establishment of a uniform court system, and the development of a judicial monitoring system.