We compiled a list of proposals related to the protection of human rights, which we recommend that political parties take into account in their programmes ahead of the 2027 Riigikogu elections. The recommendations cover four areas: hate speech and hate crimes, discrimination and equal treatment, the involvement of civil society organisations in law-making, and voting rights.

We recommend making hate speech genuinely punishable in Estonia, expanding the list of protected characteristics, and establishing a systematic mechanism for collecting data on hate crimes. The current offence of incitement to hatred is merely nominal, and the relevant provision of the Penal Code is applied extremely rarely. In 2024, for example, only one misdemeanour and one criminal offence were registered on this basis.

In the field of equal treatment, we draw the attention of political parties to the fact that current legislation continues to offer unequal protection: discrimination on the grounds of religion, age, disability or sexual orientation is only prohibited in employment relations, but not in education, healthcare and social welfare, or in access to goods and services available to the public, including housing. Health status, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics should be added to the list of protected grounds.

On voting rights, we call for guaranteeing the right to vote for persons under guardianship, and for abolishing the blanket ban on prisoner voting. Clear guidance on removing this ban has been provided by both the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights, yet it continues to be disregarded