"She has strong opinions regarding judicial matters and a strong theoretical background, meaning she could enrich the Supreme Court's discussions," Kõve said.

A vacancy for the member of the Supreme Court is to open at the end of the year.

Sepp has a Science of Law degree from the University of Tartu and has worked in the field for 24 years. She is currently a judge of the Tallinn Circuit Court and was previously a judge of Viru County Court.

Before becoming a judge, Sepp worked in the Office of the Chancellor of Justice as Adviser-Head of Department and Deputy Chancellor of Justice. She has previously worked in the Ministry of Justice as the Head of the Criminal Law and Procedure Service and as the Undersecretary of Criminal Policy.

Sepp has also been in the prosecutor's office for a long time, starting as an assistant prosecutor and ending as a leading public prosecutor.

The Supreme Court, based in Tartu, employs a total of 19 judges, and the distribution of seats between the administrative, criminal and civil chambers depends on the workload of the area in question.

A public competitive process for the position of Supreme Judge in the Criminal Chamber was held, in which seven people put themselves forwards. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Villu Kõve heard the opinion of the Council for the Administration of Courts and the Supreme Court en banc, on the candidate,s and decided to nominate Heili Sepp.

As a next step, Kõve introduces the candidate to the party groups at the Riigikogu, and its Constitutional Committee. The Riigikogu ultimately decides on the appointment of a Supreme Judge.

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