In mid-September, The Prosecutor's Office mid-month last month instructed prosecutors to stop using telecoms data as evidence in criminal proceedings, Eesti Ekspress reported.

Chief Prosecutor Taavi Pern told Eesti Ekspress: "When considering court practice, it is indeed not possible to collect evidence in criminal proceedings in this way."

This followed a ruling by the second-tier Tartu Circuit Court which had declared telecoms data inadmissible as evidence, particularly in a case concerning Bigbank owner and major Isamaa donor Parvel Pruunsild.

Estonian law requires telecoms firms to retain data for one year before destroying it, even as the European Court of Justice (EDJ) considers this a violation of human rights.

Estonia's own Supreme Court also expressed support for this position in a 2021 ruling, and refused to hear an appeal to overturn the Tartu Circuit Court ruling.

This if it becomes standard means law enforcement agencies can no longer rely on telecoms data, which had up to now been critical in solving crimes, the prosecutor's office argues, and will mean many cases may remain unsolved.

As a solution, the prosecutor's office advocates for changes to the Criminal Procedures Code and the Electronic Communications Act, to permit some limited use of communication data by the Police and Border Guard Board and other law enforcement agencies, albeit under stricter regulations.

Up to now, telecommunications companies in Estonia have retained information for one year that shows the date, time, duration, recipient of phone and internet connections, and the location of a communications user.

The Pruunsild case also involves former Tartu deputy mayor Priit Humal and concerns alleged procedural violations over a real estate deal in Estonia's second city; the evidence had pointed to frequent phone contact between the two men.

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