Venice Commission - Report on Bicameralism

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Estonia

1.Has the country ever had a bicameral parliamentary (or congressional) system in the past? If so, in which period? Why was it decided to change into a unicameral system? Is there a public debate about changing to a bicameral system? What are the terms of the debate?

The Republic of Estonia had a bicameral system in its 1937 Constitution which came into force on 1 January 1938. In June 1940, the Soviet Union occupied the Republic of Estonia and in August 1940, annexed it, illegally in terms of international law. Estonia's independence was restored in August 1991 and then it was decided to, proceeding from the Constitution of 1937, work out a new Constitution which was adopted by referendum in 1992. The 1992 Constitution (which is currently valid) has a unicameral system.

In 1991/1992, there was a sense that the Constitution of 1937, although still formally valid from the perspective of Estonian constitutional law and legal doctrine, was too authoritarian and presidential, reflecting constitutional ideas which were popular in the 1930s but felt outdated by the early 1990s. The Constitution of 1937 was in itself a result of a coup d'etat which happened in Estonia on 12 March 1934 and thus the 1937 Constitution first and foremost reflected the power ambitions of President Konstantin Päts who had gathered the political power in his hands. The bicameralism as it was practiced according to the 1937 Constitution was organized so that the second chamber of the parliament was made inter alia of representatives of professional chambers.

There is currently no debate in Estonia to switch (back) into bicameral system.

2.What is the population of the country? What is its size?

45,339 km2 . Estonia has a population of 1,357,739 people

3.What form of state and form of government has the country? Please provide details with reference to relevant constitutional provisions. a) Unitarian or federal/regional/other form of decentralization; b) Parliamentary, presidential, semi-presidential or mixed

Estonia is a parliamentary democracy, with a 101-member parliament (the Riigikogu) and a president who is elected indirectly by parliament or, if no candidate wins a two-thirds majority in parliament, by an electoral college composed of members of parliament and of local government representatives.

4.How many members are in the lower house?

101 members.