The Supreme Court took up the complaint from the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) on Thursday, April 18, but by Friday morning, the court had not yet set a date for its deliberation.

Raul Eamets, former dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Tartu, was accused of signing and authorizing a cooperation agreement on behalf of the university with the Pere Sihtkapital Foundation for conducting research, while simultaneously being a member of the foundation's board. The accusation stated that Eamets thereby violated the Anti-Corruption Act's procedural restriction, which prohibits an official from making decisions or conducting actions that concern themselves or a related person. For this, the southern branch of the Central Criminal Police's corruption crimes unit imposed a fine of €400 on Eamets.

However, in February of this year, the Tartu County Court decided to annul the decision of the Central Criminal Police. The court terminated the misdemeanor proceedings against Eamets, finding that his actions did not meet the characteristics of a misdemeanor.

The court determined that a person is not at fault if they do not understand the prohibition of their actions and the mistake is unavoidable for them. The court found that Eamets made efforts to clarify whether he could sign and authorize a cooperation agreement on behalf of the University of Tartu while being a member of the foundation's board.

He sought advice on this matter from lawyers with legal education, but did not receive any indication that signing the agreement would constitute a conflict of interest. The County Court concluded that the advisors were reliable and qualified, and Eamets relied on their opinions when signing the agreement.

In August of the previous year, ERR reported that population policy think tank Pere Sihtkapital Foundation, supported by the Isamaa party, had requested data on thousands of childless Estonian women from the population register on behalf of the University of Tartu and sent them a questionnaire with personal and sensitive questions, such as why they do not have children. The Data Protection Inspectorate found the survey problematic, and the University of Tartu stated that they were involved unlawfully.

Professor Eamets, who was a member of the board of the Pere Sihtkapital and working as the dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the university, signed the agreement with the foundation. This action led to access to the personal data of thousands of women, which otherwise would not have been released to the researchers. Following the revelation of these details, the university decided to terminate its employment relationship with Eamets.

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