CHAPTER VII. LEGISLATION
Article 102
Laws shall be passed in accordance with the Constitution.
Article 103
The following have the right to initiate laws:
- a member of the Riigikogu;
- a faction of the Riigikogu;
- a committee of the Riigikogu;
- the Government of the Republic;
- the President of the Republic, for amendment of the Constitution.
The Riigikogu has the right, on the basis of a resolution made by a majority of its membership, to propose to the Government of the Republic to initiate a bill desired by the Riigikogu.
Article 104
The procedure for the passage of laws shall be provided by the Riigikogu Procedure Act.
The following laws may be passed and amended only by a majority of the membership of the Riigikogu:
- Citizenship Act;
- Riigikogu Election Act;
- President of the Republic Election Act;
- Local Government Election Act;
- Referendum Act;
- Riigikogu Procedure Act and Riigikogu Administration Act;
- Remuneration of the President of the Republic and Members of the Riigikogu Act;
- Government of the Republic Act;
- Institution of Court Proceedings against the President of the Republic and Members of the Government Act;
- National Minorities Cultural Autonomy Act;
- State Budget Act;
- Bank of Estonia Act;
- State Audit Office Act;
- Courts Administration Act and court procedure Acts;
- Acts pertaining to foreign and domestic borrowing, and to proprietary obligations of the state;
- State of Emergency Act;
- Peace-Time National Defense Act and War-Time National Defense Act.
Article 105
The Riigikogu has the right to submit a bill or other national issue to a referendum.
The decision of the people shall be made by a majority of the participants in the voting.
A law which is passed by a referendum shall promptly be proclaimed by the President of the Republic. The decision of the referendum shall be binding on all state institutions.
If a bill which is submitted to a referendum does not receive a majority of votes in favor, the President of the Republic shall declare extraordinary elections to the Riigikogu.
Article 106
Issues regarding the budget, taxation, financial obligations of the state, ratification and denunciation of international treaties, the declaration or termination of a state of emergency, or national defense shall not be submitted to a referendum.
The procedure for holding a referendum shall be provided by the Referendum Act.
Article 107
Laws shall be proclaimed by the President of the Republic.
The President of the Republic may refuse to proclaim a law passed by the Riigikogu and, within fourteen days after its receipt, return the law, together with his or her reasoned resolution, to the Riigikogu for a new debate and decision. If the Riigikogu again passes the law which is returned to it by the President of the Republic, unamended, the President of the Republic shall proclaim the law or shall propose to the Supreme Court to declare the law unconstitutional. If the Supreme Court declares the law constitutional, the President of the Republic shall proclaim the law.
Article 108
A law shall enter into force on the tenth day after its publication in the Riigi Teataja (the State Gazette), unless the law itself provides otherwise.
Article 109
If the Riigikogu is unable to convene, the President of the Republic may, in cases of urgent state need, issue decrees which have the force of law, and which shall bear the counter-signatures of the Chairman of the Riigikogu and the Prime Minister.
When the Riigikogu convenes, the President of the Republic shall present the decrees to the Riigikogu, which shall promptly pass a law for their confirmation or repeal.
Article 110
The Constitution, the Acts set out in Article 104 of the Constitution, laws which establish state taxes, and the state budget shall not be enacted, amended or repealed by a decree of the President of the Republic.
