MP: Port of Tallinn case is a legal failure

The Port of Tallinn legal case, which was acquitted on Thursday due to the statute of limitations expiring, is a legal failure and must be analyzed, Riigikogu Legal Affairs Committee Chairman Andre Hanimägi (SDE) told ERR.
Hanimägi said it is necessary to analyze whether the reasons for the failure lie in outdated legislation, as noted by former Chief Prosecutor Lavly Perling, or in the Prosecutor's Office itself.
"I think this is a legal failure. Certainly we have to analyze why it happened, and how it happened. But what is clear is that for the Estonian people, it is legally questionable and raises big questions as to why these mammoth procedures are taking place and why they are not reaching the expected conclusion. In any case, it is a legal failure that needs to be analyzed," he said.
It is still too early to say who is responsible and what solutions can be taken to prevent similar situations from happening again, the MP said.
"But the situation certainly needs to be analyzed. Once again, people's sense of justice is equally important. And if mammoth proceedings arise that last for years and at some point it turns out that a great deal of money has been spent, a great deal of people's health and sense of justice has been destroyed, and then we come to this result, the legislator cannot ignore it either. We should look at where the bottlenecks are – whether they are in the prosecution, in the legislation or in something else – and put those things right," said Hanimägi.
The committee will definitely discuss the case, he added.
As a legislator, Hanimägi did not want to give a general assessment of the work of the Prosecutor's Office but stated that there were areas of concern.
"The prosecutor's office has given its assessment of why things have dragged on, why problems have arisen. But society has its own expectations, and in my view, the prosecution has failed to meet them. And we have to discuss whether and how we would like to meet these expectations of society. I'm thinking of procedural deadlines, or a situation where the public has had a very strong knowledge of an accusation that hasn't gone very far," said Hanimägi.
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Editor: Marko Tooming, Helen Wright