Parliament to Ponder Changes to University Reform Bill
Parliament has decided that it will make changes in the higher education reform bill vetoed by the President late last month.
Both the Cultural Affairs Committee and the Constitutional Committee recommended that the legislation be amended to address issues Toomas Hendrik Ilves said rendered the bill unconstitutional.
The Constitutional Committee said Ilves's February 27 decision to veto the bill was justified.
"It would be judicious to make changes into the legislation that make it clearer and in better harmony with the Constitution, including defining - at the legislative, not regulatory level - the principles for funding universities and the rights and responsibilities of students," said the committee's chairman Rait Maruste in a statement on March 7.
"These are above all refinements of the legal form, as the president did not cast doubt on the overall principles and aspirations of the reform," said Maruste.
Under Estonian law, Parliament cannot directly override a presidential veto, but it can opt to pass vetoed legislation in unchanged form. Such a bill then generally travels to the Supreme Court for consideration, which essentially has the final say on its constitutionality.
The university reform bill was passed on February 7. Opponents said that it subjected universities to too much government control and did not adequately address the rules for qualifying for free tuition and study allowances.
Kristopher Rikken