Legal Ombudsman Teder: Pharmacy Law Amendments Should Be Repealed
Like his predecessor Allar Jõks, who commented yesterday, current Chancellor of Justice Indrek Teder said fresh amendments to two phamacy-related acts were unconstitutional.
Tederi said that Parliament did not take into account the Supreme Court's decision, and said he would address himself to Parliament if and when President Toomas Hendrik Ilves signs the bill into law.
Teder told ETV that Parliament should have heeded the Supreme Court decision that held that a one-year moratorium on opening new pharmacies was impermissible.
The one-year moratorium sought to keep the pharmacy business - which is consolidated in the hands of a few players - from disappearing entirely from low-density, unprofitable areas.
Teder said his main concern was that the amendments to the Medicinal Products Act and Health Care Administration Act set a precedent that would undermine the whole system of checks and balances.
"The problem is that there is a market prohibition for one year," said Teder in arguing that the Supreme Court decision should take precedence.