Former Chancellor of Justice Eerik-Juhan Truuväli dies at 81
Truuväli, who retired in 2010, was Estonia's first chancellor of justice after the country regained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. As a member of the Constitutional Assembly's expert committee as well as the head of Estonia's National Electoral Committee in the early 1990s, Truuväli played an important role in the democratic development and the reestablishment of Estonian institutions after the end of the Soviet occupation.
Truuväli was born on March 7, 1938 in Pärnu. He graduated the Tartu State University's law school in 1962, following which he first worked for the Communist Party, and later had a career in academia mainly related to law and the history of law in the Estonian SSR.
Starting in 1988, he increasingly associated himself with the movement for the restoration of statehood and independence. He was a member of the constitutional committee of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Estonian SSR, and from 1990 onwards was part of the government's work group for the creation of a new constitution.
In 1991, Truuväli became a member of the expert commission of the Constitutional Assembly. In parallel, he also headed the National Electoral Committee, a position he had held since 1988. Two years later, in 1993, President Lennart Meri appointed him chancellor of justice. Truuväli remained in office until 2000.
Throughout his career in government, he continued working as a professor of law both at the University of Tartu as well as the Academy of Security Sciences.
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Editor: Dario Cavegn