Prisoners' complaints now make up over a quarter of the caseload in Estonia's administrative courts, public broadcaster ERR reports.
Inmates filed 908 complaints with the Tallinn and Tartu administrative courts in 2025, or 27% of their caseload, and more than 680 in the first nine months of this year. Only about 1.5% have been upheld so far.
Courts expect the workload to grow as Estonia takes in prisoners from Sweden under a prison rental deal. Tallinn Administrative Court chairman Kaupo Kruusvee said around 600 transferred inmates could add roughly 300 complaints a year. Some Estonian prisoners have already complained that the Swedish inmates get better conditions.
A lawyer told ERR that some complaints might be justified and could improve the wider prison system. Kruusvee said it was worth studying why prisoners in neighbouring countries go to court far less often.
Source: ERR News
