The Estonian Ministry of Justice is proposing changes to the court law in a bid to accelerate court proceedings, which have notably slowed down over the past ten years across various levels of the judiciary. The draft law includes a 50 percent increase in state fees, the abolition of the lay judge system, and the introduction of artificial intelligence to create protocol records during court sessions. These steps are expected to streamline operations within the judicial system and improve efficiency.

Towards the end of February, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Digital Affairs submitted the draft law to the government for approval, aiming to not only speed up legal proceedings but also to make judicial governance more flexible. This approach aligns with the government's action program for 2025-2027, which explicitly outlines the intent to enhance the efficiency of court processes and the management of courts in Estonia.

According to the explanatory memorandum of the draft law, court proceedings in Estonia have lengthened across all court levels and types of proceedings over the past decade. Specifically, civil cases, which account for 66 percent of all court cases, saw an average processing time in the first instance that was 34 percent longer in the previous year compared to 2020, along with a 12 percent increase in the volume of such cases. This alarming trend highlights the urgent need for judicial reform in Estonia.