Estonia
-The Estonian Parliament
Openness and transparency
Information about access to parliamentary documents, parliament’s reporting to the public, parliament’s relation to Freedom of Information laws, and lobbying.
Parliamentary documents
The agendas of plenary meetings are published online in advance
The agendas of plenary meetings are published online in advance.
The agendas of committee meetings are published online in advance
The agendas of committee meetings are published online in advance.
Results of votes on draft legislation are published on the parliamentary web site
Results of votes on draft legislation are published on the parliamentary web site.
Draft legislation is published on the parliamentary website
Draft legislation is published on the parliamentary website.
Citizens can submit comments on draft legislation on the parliamentary web site
No
Compare data of this field.
Annual reporting by parliament
Parliament publishes an annual report on its activities
The annual report is available on the parliamentary web site
Yes
Parliament publishes the parliamentary budget
Level of detail of the parliamentary budget made available to the public
Level of detail of the parliamentary budget made available to the public: Only the total amount; A summary of the main elements; The complete budget
A summary of the main elements
The parliamentary budget is available on the parliamentary web site
Yes
Access to parliament
Plenary meetings are open to the public
Notes
Sittings of the Riigikogu are public. Sittings may be followed from the gallery of the chamber and may be filmed, video-recorded or broadcast on television or radio. Photographs may be taken with the permission of the Riigikogu’s President. The Riigikogu may declare a closed sitting if approved by a two-thirds majority. A closed sitting must be so declared separately for each agenda item.
Notes
Representatives of State agencies and other persons may participate in committee sittings at the invitation of the committee chairman. A committee may decide to declare a public sitting if approved by more than one-half of its members.
There is a dedicated channel for broadcasting parliamentary meetings
A dedicated channel is one that is mainly about parliament, and is accessible free of charge to the general public. The channel might be owned by Parliament or a public or private company. Dedicated channels may be broadcast by parliament, government, or another broadcaster. They may be carried on television, radio or the Internet (webcasting).
Media used for the dedicated channel
Webcast
Meetings broadcast on the dedicated channel
Plenary sittings
Committee meetings
Freedom of information
There is a freedom of information law in the country
Yes
Parliament is subject to the freedom of information law
Parliament has an office/division dedicated to FOI requests
No
Categories of Information that are exempt from disclosure
Certain categories of information may be exempt from disclosure
The many items exempt from disclosure include State secrets, verbatim records of closed sittings of parliament, sensitive personal data, information whose disclosure could damage the State’s foreign relations or violate a business secret, and descriptions of security systems, security organizations or security measures.