On Oct. 7 the parliamentary constitutional committee declined to back a bill that would make it mandatory for parliament's secret services' panel to examine electronic surveillance log files. The bill submitted by the People's Union would order the parliamentary committee for supervision over the activities of secret services to examine the log files kept by communications operators at least once a quarter. Under law, communications operators must enable surveillance and security institutions to monitor telephone calls and text messages, and keep a log of such activities, keeping it at least for five years. The chairman of the constitutional committee, Vaino Linde, said the they decided not to back the bill as the parliamentary committee already has the power to look at the log files. The authors of the bill argue that the state's quarterly surveillance reports must be checked on a regular basis, which doesn't happen under current regulations.
The draft of a new public service law by the Estonian Ministry of Justice would cut the extras that public servants are entitled to, Postimees said. The new law should solve problems related officials with non-transparent remuneration, the paper said. The bill will be released for public consultations next week. The announcement caught trade unions off-guard. "We were asked if we had two representatives to deal with public services. But our representatives haven't been invited anywhere," said Harri Taliga, head of the trade union. confederation.
