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RASK’s legal expert Birgit Aasa (PhD) helps prepare a new Academy of Sciences constitutional commentary

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RASK’s legal expert Birgit Aasa (PhD) helps prepare a new Academy of Sciences constitutional commentary

On 7 November, the Constitutional Law Endowment of the Estonian Academy of Sciences presented a revised commentary on the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia providing a high-quality up-to-date perspective for interpreting constitutional law.

The editor-in-chief of the Constitutional Commentary is legal scholar, former president of the Estonian Supreme Court and judge of the European Court of Human Rights, Uno Lõhmus. The commentary on the preamble of the Estonian Constitution was prepared by Birgit Aasa, a postdoctoral fellow at the iCourts research centre of the Faculty of Law at the University of Copenhagen and a legal expert at RASK.

According to Birgit herself, preparing the commentary was a kind of academic challenge, pushing her to ponder complex concepts such as freedom, justice and law. “What makes this commentary special is the research-based approach and in-depth treatment,” says Birgit. “I am sure that in addition to legal scholars, practitioners will also find the more comprehensive and in-depth approach of the commentary useful in their daily work.”

At the presentation event held at the Estonian Academy of Sciences, editor-in-chief Uno Lõhmus gave an overview of the new commentary. As author of the commentary on the preamble, Birgit Aasa spoke about the preamble to the Estonian Constitution. Chapter IX of the Constitution, “Foreign Relations and International Treaties”, was discussed by Tiina Pajuste and Rain Liivoja, the authors of the commentary on this chapter. The discussion was moderated by Kristi Land.

The commentary, intended primarily for legislators, civil servants in state and local government, the judiciary as well as lawyers, will be published in sections online at pohiseadus.riigioigus.ee.

The commentary on the Preamble and Chapter IX “Foreign Relations and International Treaties” will be published first. The innovative web-based solution for the new commentary is designed with a strong focus on user-friendliness.
The Constitutional Commentary is published by the Constitutional Law Endowment of the Estonian Academy of Sciences and co-funded by the Estonian Ministry of Justice.