Majanduspoliitika rakenduslikke probleeme Eesti omandireformis, inglisekeelne kokkuvõte (Summary)

Vello Rekkaro,      06. august 2003


Implementer problems of economic policy in Estonian ownership reform
Vello Rekkaro, prof, PhD

Property law, privatisation, genocide, prescription, human rights, presenting, kleptocracy, right for a home, corruption, legalism, legism, property, right of ownership, theft, restitution, enclosure, artificial owner, owners-in-will, involuntary tenants, tenants-in-will, legal fetishism.

Even though science grows on the basis of common sense, it is delivered of its influence as it approaches perfection. Science starts to fulfil its specific function in society only when it is capable of saying something, which is beyond common sense. The goal of science is always and everywhere to clarify the regularities of the essence and functioning of things or phenomena. It is economics that deals with the essence of a society's wealth, forms of ownership and the problems of sources. The organisational side of the matter is regulated by customary practices, rules of law and legal statutes, which are not objective as the economic laws, which form a basis for economic life, but are subjective. This makes it possible for the established legal regulations to be out of harmony with natural and economic laws.

In the politics of Estonia today, such phenomena can be traced. While measuring the distribution of wealth in society, sociologists have pointed out such endeavours by politicians: I wouldn't have believed to see the fulfilment of what Marx said - that if a natural law is contradictory to political interests, it will be proclaimed irrelevant. (R. Ruutsoo) Economic-political goals are first of all realised through daily political decisions, which have to do with the foundations of social life. In transitional societies, ownership reform is, in this case, of great importance, meaning the privatisation of former social (state and cooperative) property into private property, and that, among other things, by restitution of property.

Principles of Ownership Reform Act was passed on June 13th, 1991, and was supposed to become the basis for ensuring inviolability of property and free enterprise upon reorganisation of ownership relations and to be aimed at being the cure of injustice related to violation of right of ownership and at creating abilities for changeover to market economy. As a required objective, the law stated: the restitution of property or the compensation of it to former owners or their legal successors in the process of ownership reform, may not damage the secured-by-law interests nor cause further injustice /§ 2 (2)/. Among other terms, the meaning of restitution has not been legally clarified in the law.

In reality, the formal legal owners of 1940 and the so called legal subjects of the now expanded circle of their successors are granted property, as it now exists, without even taking into account the economic belonging of the property in those days (debts, pledging), whereby even those became owners in 1990, who were not owners before 1940. (A. Kuddo) The economic activities during half a century, incl. the influence of natural forces on the one hand, and investments, work on the other, have not been entertained at all, neither the legal intentions of the present legal possessors, borrowers and also owners (as co-owners of public property).

The proceeding redistribution of properties in the form of restitution has brought about acts of violation of human rights regarding right for a home. The fundamental document of international law, Convention of Avoiding and Punishing of Genocide, signed in Geneva in 1948, defines genocide as an act, which is committed with the intention of destroying national units by intentionally imposing upon them such living conditions, which will cause destruction. (Guidelines…1999) Have not the involuntary tenants, i.e. residents who in the process of ownership reform have by state violence been robbed of the right of keeping their legally acquired homes, become such a unit with the restitution of residential buildings?

The hitherto existing redistribution of property, which has ignored human rights and violated the provisions of the Principles of Ownership Reform Act, under the disguise of their restitution, has actually been a case of economic violence, arbitrary exercise of state authority (L. Sumera) upon its own nation. The unwillingness of some officials to recognize the sovereignty of natural and economic laws in relation to the legal policy practices in Estonia is evident: our "minister of justice" has lied, cheated and repeatedly transgressed the law, and he is backed by a great and mighty army of officials, who are not intimidated by any deceit. (A. Raukas) The cooperation of politicians - officials of the regulator and the executive power in expropriating the property of fellow citizens to a group of people determined by the arbitrary will of the officials in their private economic interests is corruption. Such powers have been called kleptocracy (E. Lippmaa). Corruption (Latin - corruptio) generally means the misuse of official position and the corresponding privileges for personal enrichment or for other purposes of personal gain. The following formula has been used to describe corruption:
C (corruption) = M (monopoly) + D (discredition) - A (accountability)

Corruption takes place when a person (official) possesses monopoly power over the distribution of certain products or services; he can act arbitrarily to decide, who gets what, and how much; there is no definite responsibility and accountability. (V. Vensel) The restitution of properties is thereby actually a classical case of corruption, which has bound together many people from regulators to so called artificial owners, to whom as to maybe bona fide legal subjects, the right of ownership to other people's property has, often illegally, been given by officials, calling it restitution.

At the time of restitution of properties a contemporary European Criminal Code remained in force in Estonia, which provides a to-the-point evaluation to such activities. Concerning criminal offences against property, § 141 prim treats theft by way of embezzlement, wasting or misuse of official position, where subsection 3 provides punishment for the embezzlement or wasting of other people's property entrusted to or managed by the offender, also for theft of other people's property by officials by misuse of official position in a great measure or by a criminal organisation.

As right for a home are a part of human rights and genocide crimes are timeless, then theft of residents' properties, harassment of their rights and forced transplantation constitutes a timeless criminal act. But is our small nation yet able to review the enforcement of the previous ownership reform, on the level of European justice - first of all where residential buildings are concerned? Can we guarantee a rule of law? Justice is a part of culture. It is difficult to lead justice back to fairness, once it has alienated from it. But I share Plato's convictions, that the essence of justice must be fairness. "Ius est ars boni et aequi!" - Justice is the art of goodness and fairness!

If Estonia desires to resemble Europe, she has no other choice - we must advance in monitoring basic human rights and stop the corrupt practice of ownership reform, which is in conflict with human rights and to correct the mistakes. Success can only be achieved by science-based politics and economy, laying the foundation for stability and economic advances and social security, to draw closer to our common European Home.

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