The Reform Party on Saturday nominated Viljandi Mayor and the party's board member Madis Timpson as Estonia's new justice minister. President Alar Karis appointed Timpson Monday morning.

"My first consideration was that a proposal like that does not happen every week," Timpson commented. "Secondly, I have been serving as mayor for quite a long time, coming up on seven years. It is also not polite to turn down some invitations."

Timpson also said that supervisory proceedings at the Prosecutor's Office, ordered by his predecessor Kalle Laanet, will be carried out.

"I have been in touch with the prosecutor general. We talked during the weekend and agreed that we'll see the proceedings through. And then we'll have a sit down and a frank conversation," Timpson said. He added that he and Prosecutor General Andres Parmas went to university together and got along brilliantly, while this matter is professional.

The proceedings are not aimed at a single person, Timpson noted.

The new minister said that he has kept an eye on the prosecution's work through the media and that some proceedings have taken too long. "There may be objective reasons involved. I have no fear that the prosecution is stalling on purpose," Timpson said, adding that he will first get up to speed on the ministry's administrative area and meet with people, before tackling problematic aspects.

Timpson also said that he has pointed to the problem of the administration of courts, legal proceedings taking too long in the past. "People want the Estonian justice system to be clear, transparent and subject to exact norms etc." He added that a clear justice system also attracts investors.

Timpson graduated from the University of Tartu in 2001 and has a master's degree in law. He has worked in both the private and public sectors, helping, among other things, to write the Public Service Act of 2012 while working as an adviser to the justice minister. Timpson was elected mayor of Viljandi at the 2017 and 2021 local elections.

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