In July, the Estonian Parliament adopted a bill that will at least try to decriminalize an extensive amount of white-collar offences.

The bill will enter into force from January 2015 and is a result of analysis of the Supreme Court dating back to some years emphasizing that Estonian law is over criminalized. The tendency has been evident also in commercial law – one can be held liable criminally for all competition law breaches, as well as most breaches regarding bankruptcy, and last but not least – if a company is prosecuted the maximum fine can be up to 16 million Euros.

The aim of this seminar - arranged in cooperation between law firm VARUL, the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Estonia, and the Baltic-German Chamber of Commerce - is not to intimidate or scare, but to give an overview of what are the breaches under Estonian law that may lead to an elevated interest of the police or the prosecutor’s office and answer to the question whether 2015 will bring about either a silent revolution or just some minor changes.

Our speakers from law firm VARUL:

Senior associate Marko Kairjak, who also was head of the expert group on decriminalization of white-collar offences, will focus on company and bankruptcy offences. Senior associate Triinu Järviste, firm’s expert on competition law inc. cartels, will talk about competition crimes and corruption in the private sector. Partner Ants Mailend will give an overview of dawn raids.

Date and time: Tuesday, November 4th, 08.45 - 11.00 (Breakfast buffet
08.45 - 9.20, Seminar 09.20 - 11.00)

Venue: The Tammsaare Hall, Meriton Grand Conference & Spa
Hotel, Paldiski mnt. 4, Tallinn

Cost: - Free of charge for members of the SCCE and the
German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce
- Non-members: € 20 per person
A cancellation/no-show fee, € 20 per person, will be charged
for cancellations made after October 31st and/or for
registered participants not showing up.

Registration: Please register as soon as possible and by Friday,
October 31st latest: Kristiina Sikk, tel: (372) 501 9813,
e-mail: kristiina@swedishchamber.ee

On behalf of law firm VARUL, the SCCE Council and the German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce, I wish you very welcome to our joint Business Seminar and look forward to seeing you.

Sincerely,

Kristiina Sikk
SCCE Ombudsman