Land Reform and the Principle of Legal Certainty: The Practice of the Supreme Court of Estonia in 1918-1933

• Author: Karin Visnapuu
• Pages: 53-60

53

JURIDICA INTERNATIONAL 27/2018

Karin Visnapuu

Doctoral student

University of Tartu

Land Reform and the Principle

of Legal Certainty:

The Practice of the Supreme Court of Estonia

in 1918–1933*1

1. Introduction

Before gaining its independence on 24 February 1918, Estonia was part of the Russian Empire. The legal

acts that were in force in Estonia before the gaining of independence were not democratic – for instance,

in the Russian Empire’s legal system, people were separated into categories on the basis of their class and

titles. Nonetheless, it would have been unrealistic to declare blanket annulment of all laws that were in

place prior to gaining of independence. Because of this practical factor, the Estonian legislator had to deal

with intensive legislative work not only in the f‌i rst years of independence but throughout it. In addition

to amending the laws valid under the Russian scheme or otherwise adapting them to the new democratic

state, it was necessary to create a foundation for this new modern state and society. The foundation had to

be created before particularities could be coherently tackled. That is why the most important task of this

newly created republic was to build and ensure the persistence of a democratic state based on the rule of

law. Accordingly, the number-one priority of the Estonian Constituent Assembly (the forerunner to the

Estonian Parliament, or Riigikogu) was to develop the Constitution of Estonia. However, in Article 7 of

the Estonian declaration of independence*2 it was stated that the Estonian Provisional Government had to

instantly develop a draft for a law designed to resolve the ‘land question’ (this is dealt with in greater detail

in Section 2 of the present article).

The f‌i rst Constitution of Estonia was adopted in 1920.*3 The principle of rule of law was not written

into it expressis verbis, but the elements of it were specif‌i ed therein.*4 Also, contemporary legal literature

referred to Estonia as a state where the rule of law prevails.*5 Nowadays, the principle of legal certainty is an

obvious component of the rule of law. Legal clarity and legitimate expectation are the two main principles

 The research for this article was supported by the Estonian Research Council (IUT-).

 Manifest kõigile Eestimaa rahvastele. – RT ,  (in Estonian).

 Eesti Vabariigi põhiseadus. – RT , / (in Estonian).

 E.g., the principle of legality was set forth in §. Also the Constitution carried forth the idea of separation of powers.

 ‘Free Estonia is a legal state. At least it has a great will to be one,’ wrote F. Karlson. Õigusteaduse oskussõnad [‘Terms of

jurisprudence’]. – Õigus /, pp. – (in Estonian), on p. . ‘The most positive moment of the Constitution of  is

that there was a great impact of lawyers in its development. All life in Estonia was based on law, and rule of law was created

with juridical rationalising of life,’ wrote E. Laaman. Isik ja riik Eesti põhiseadustes [‘Individual and state in the Constitu-

tions of Estonia’]. – Õigus /, pp. – (in Estonian), on p. .

https://doi.org/10.12697/JI.2018.27.05