The amendments anticipate the recent EU directive criminalizing the violations of restrictive measures, which came into effect at the start of this week, and will allow for the immediate confiscation of both sanctioned and other prohibited goods at customs.

Justice Minister Madis Timpson (Reform) said: "Currently, all sanction violations are considered crimes under Estonian law."

"However, in the future, violations involving goods or cash worth less than €10,000 that are prohibited from being imported or exported will be treated as misdemeanors. Handling smaller violations as misdemeanors is quicker and more efficient, as the Tax and Customs Board (EMT), which already has the authority to handle these types of violations from an administrative perspective, will oversee them," Timpson said.

One significant change introduced by the bill brings scope to confiscate sanctioned and other prohibited goods at customs via expedited procedures, which, Timpson said, the current Misdemeanor Procedure Act does not allow for expedited procedures if that confiscation needs to be decided on during the process

"We are creating a long-discussed option to allow for less burdensome and simpler expedited procedures for an individual, whereby prohibited goods can be immediately confiscated from the violator, then the procedure can be completed at the border crossing point," the minister went on.

All other sanction violations, excluding those involving the import or export of prohibited goods, will continue to be treated as crimes, as will repeated violations of the import or export ban on sanctioned goods.

Additionally, the bill clarifies issues relating to the violations involving prohibited strategic goods. It explicitly states that transporting prohibited strategic goods or providing related services will be penalized under more severe criminal provisions, while liability will be established, even if the act was committed out of negligence.

The new EU directive requires all sanction violations to be considered crimes where goods, services, transactions, financial resources, or economic resources worth €10,000 or more are involved. Sanctions violations of values below that can be treated as misdemeanors.

The Ministry of Justice is set to review whether additional changes are necessary in other areas during the course of the directive's implementation.

The bill is to be processed at the Riigikogu with a view to it entering into force this year.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!