Originally from The Journal of Eurasian Law (JEL)

Executive Summary

1. Estonia has traditionally been considered and remains one of the least corrupt countries in post-communist Europe. Preceding to and subsequent to its accession to the EU, the levels of perceived corruption have decreased significantly. However, specifically in the field of corruption prevention amongst members of Parliament, judges and prosecutors more progress could be achieved.

2. The size of the Estonian society, the relatively low number of the country’s officials and the compact nature of the above professional groups, are seen by themselves as a deterrent and an efficient self-regulatory framework for reducing corruption. For this reason, corruption prevention in Estonia has not been pursued in a systematic and coherent manner.

3. While the general legal framework for the prevention and the fight against corruption applicable to the three professional groups appears to be satisfactory, and would potentially become more focused following the entry into force in April 2013 of the revised Anti-Corruption Act, the manner in which the currently effective law has been applied in the different contexts, i.e. in Parliament, within the judiciary and the prosecutorial service, has not been sufficiently clarified and has led to a number of implementation gaps.