The issue concerns the Social Welfare Act and the requirements amendments to it have put on local governments, some of whom say have not been matched with the required financial support.

Given the complexity and significant impact of the case, a decision is not expected any time soon, however, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Villu Kõve said.

"We have combined the requests from the councils of Põlva and Räpina municipalities and plus Tartu city council into the one proceeding," Judge Kõve told "Aktuaalne kaamera" Tuesday.

"Their main positions are similar, so we will resolve them via a single decision," he added.

"The common allegation to be found among all requests is that while local governments were tasked with partly funding care services, the state did not correspondingly increase funding," Kõve went on.

All the municipalities in question share the complaint that the state, when establishing these requirements, should have also provided funding, which it failed to do.

"Räpina and Põlva municipal councils have further argued that the state has not sufficiently distinguished between the responsibilities of local government and of the state, and additionally, rules on bearing the costs had been changed hastily, preventing them from adjusting their budgets accordingly," the chief justice elaborated.

Given the case's complexity, Kõve remarked that the best case scenario would be the Supreme Court potentially reaching a decision before the Jaanipäev break (June 22-24), but that it certainly would not materialize before that.

"We reviewed all significant aspects on Tuesday, and I hope that nothing was left unresolved, allowing us to start discussing the matter. As I mentioned during the session, the case is complex and multi-faceted, and any decision could broadly affect the functions allocated to local governments and the state, plus who should be funding them," Kõve added.

"For this reason, we need to take time and consider the consequences of deciding one way or another. We will start discussing it tomorrow (Wednesday – ed.), beginning with whether the right questions have been posed. Ideally, we would like to wrap this up before summer, but it depends on how complex the matter turns out to be," Kõve concluded.

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