Legal developments in Estonia concerning family reunification

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From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 10:55:18 +0200 (EET)
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Subject: Legal developments in Estonia concerning family reunification

From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>

Original sender: Legal Information Centre for Human Rights (LICHR)
<[email protected]>

Legal developments in Estonia concerning family reunification


In our recent publication (see message from 15.04.2000 "Human Rights
in Estonia"
[http://racoon.riga.lv/minelres/archive//04152000-22:02:56-11498.html
- Boris]) we have informed that the LICHR had initiated a number of
lawsuits over refusal to issue the residence permits for spouses of
Estonian residents on the grounds of exhausted immigration quota.
 
On 18 May 2000 the National (Supreme) Court of the Estonian Republic
made a judgment by which it satisfied the petition of the LICHR'
client, who had been twice rejected in issuing a residence permit. In
its ruling, the Court held that exertion of the immigration quota with
respect to residence applications purposing the family unification did
not apply provisions of the Estonian Constitution and European
Convention on Human Rights. However, the Supreme Court confirmed that
implementation of the immigration quota system in itself did not
contradict human rights and was used by the number of the democratic
states.
 
Due to the court decision the parliament of Estonia is to make an
amendment to the Law on Aliens allowing all foreigners, who wish to
settle in Estonia with his or her spouse, to get a residence permit
beyond quota. At the moment the annual immigration quota excludes
citizens of EU member states, USA, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and
Japan. The immigration quota is estimated according to the immigration
ceiling restricting the number as equivalent to 0,05 per cent of the
permanent population figure.

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