Summary

Problems which have arisen in recent years concerning the structure of the court system and the exercise of judicial power show that the court reform in Estonia has not been completed yet. In the court reform, principles for the exercise of judicial power and their application in Estonia are particularly significant. It is important that the Estonian legal system rely at its development stage on the legal traditions of Continental Europe which constitute a necessary foundation and provide general guidelines for the further development of the court practice in Estonia.
This article addresses some of the main problems concerning the regulation of the court system by the Constitution, on the one hand, and possible solutions to practical problems, on the other. The author examines the limits of competence of the courts and practical aspects of the administration of justice (including the administration of justice by officials who are not judges), administration of the courts, legal status of judges, exercise of disciplinary control over judges and a need for the establishment of a labour division system for the courts in order to specify the jurisdiction of court matters and thereby allow specialisation of the courts.