In a letter to PPA Director General Egert Belitšev, Deputy Secretary General for Prisons at the Ministry of Justice Rait Kuuse sharply criticized the PPA's decreasing willingness to co-operate and the resulting decrease in security.

Egert Belitšev hit back at Kuuse's criticism by saying that there is no line that could be cut from the PPA's budget without the impact being felt.

"When you cut something, you end up with fewer hours, longer delays or waiting times, and you have to take into account that you can't do things as well or as conveniently as before. This means a change not only for the Estonian people, but also for institutions," he added.

Belitšev pointed out that the state budget strategy approved by the government last fall reduced the capacity of the police court convoy i.e. transport, by twenty percent. As a result, the PPA has fewer people and fewer working hours to use in order to bring detainees to court.

The head of the PPA acknowledged that this decision would understandably cause inconvenience for the courts and also for the prison service, and created the need for some reorganization.

"When considering this decision, it was considered that the need to bring detainees to court under police supervision could be reduced by the use of video sessions," Belitšev said.

"That was the main idea behind the decision, to make more use of these remote solutions in court. Unfortunately, some of our partners have been expecting us to continue with the convoy work. For us, this means that instead of having a police officer on patrol to ensure everyone's safety, we instead have to send them to take a prisoner from the prison to the courtroom and then keep guard there," he continued.

"To resolve the situation, the PPA proposed to agree that there will be no convoys on Fridays. In this way, the courts can schedule sessions on Fridays where convoys are not needed, consider using video sessions or involve the prison service, whose duty it is by law to bring detainees to court. For the PPA, it is Friday that is the most critical day and when the removal of people from patrol has the greatest impact on security," Belitšev added.

According to Belitšev, the PPA has been implementing this in practice since September 6 and has also informed the courts, the Prosecutor's Office, the Estonian Bar Association , the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice.

Belitšev said that the PPA is prepared to conduct emergency convoys even on Fridays if, for example, a hearing needs to be held urgently or within 24 hours. However, he said, this means that instead of responding to callouts, one patrol officer will be in the courtroom for at least a few hours, and perhaps even for the whole day.

"The PPA has proven that it is prepared to support and assist other agencies as much as possible and we will not shirk this responsibility. However, it must be understood that at a time of cuts, it is necessary to rearrange the day-to-day work in all agencies and it is surprising if the civil service wants to live with changes that come at the expense of ordinary Estonians," Belitšev added.

Tarmo Miilits: Criticism unfounded

Secretary General of the Ministry of the Interior Tarmo Miilits said that Rait Kuuse's criticism is both ill-considered and unfounded.

Miilits explained that the change in the court convoy service is the result of the enactment of the government's 2023 decision on fixed spending which reduced the court convoy's capacity by twenty percent.

"Simple logic says that this also means twenty percent less activities. The resulting change in current practice and the reduction in the convoy service was something that both the courts and the prison service had known about beforehand and for a long time in advance," said Miilits.

"Neither the Ministry of the Interior nor the PPA is going to dictate to the courts how they should organize their work. However, we have tried to propose a solution that is as rational as possible. If the choice is between a proportionate reduction of the service on each day of the week or the termination of the service on one day, we felt that it was clearer in terms of the organization of work to give up one day of the week. In this way, it is also possible to schedule long-distance sessions for that particular day," he explained.

Miilits added that the possibility of using modern technology such as video links during court hearings and  bringing an end to Friday convoy services had already been discussed months ago in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice. According to the Millits all parties and partners were informed of this change earlier this year by the Ministry of the Interior.

"If this solution was not suitable, it would have been correct to analyze the effects of the long-notified cut in the Judicial Review service at an expert level and identify other solutions, rather than level accusations through the media. And as always, shared responsibility is never the best solution. Perhaps the solution is to move the entire responsibility for the convoy service and its resources to the Ministry of Justice in the future. That way it will be possible to organize the use of these resources in the most appropriate manner," said Miilits.

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