Ex-Justice Chancellor: Estonian Orthodox Church Has Slim Chance in European Court

Former Estonian justice chancellor Allar Jõks says the Estonian Christian Orthodox Church (EKÕK) and Pühtitsa Convent have little chance before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), because they filed their complaint prematurely. Both organizations are contesting amendments to Estonia's Churches and Congregations Act that require them to cut ties with the Russian Orthodox Church by December 28.

Jõks explained that the court's admissibility rules are strict: applicants must first exhaust all domestic legal remedies and show their rights have actually been violated. In his words, the ECtHR does not assess laws in the abstract for compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights, and certainly does not issue advance rulings on how they should be applied.

Because both organizations still have until late December to make the changes the law requires, Jõks said it is too early to conclude whether either one's rights have been violated, or whether domestic remedies have been exhausted.

Estonian courts bypassed

The Interior Ministry cannot evaluate any changes until after the December 28 deadline. If it finds them insufficient, it can ask a district court to order the religious organizations dissolved. Even then, Jõks noted, the church would retain access to judicial review and the right to appeal, so the dispute could pass through three levels of the Estonian court system. If questions arose about the act's constitutionality, a constitutional review could also be triggered, potentially producing a different outcome from the Supreme Court's June 8 ruling that upheld the legislation.

Jõks said the early complaint to the ECtHR appears to signal distrust of Estonia's judicial system. "Anyone who agrees with that line of thinking should try testing the judicial system on the other side of the Narva River," he said, referring to Russia.

Six months to cut ties with Moscow

The Interior Ministry gave the EKÕK, which remains affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate, six months to appoint a new metropolitan and sever its ties with the Russian Orthodox Church. Its previous leader, Metropolitan Eugene (legal name Valeri Reshetnikov), was ordered to leave Estonia in February 2024 after authorities refused to extend the Russian citizen's residence permit on national security grounds. The Police and Border Guard Board cited his activities and public statements as a Moscow Patriarchate representative, while the Internal Security Service said he and Patriarch Kirill had consistently backed Russia's war against Ukraine and advanced the Kremlin's security policy in Estonia.

The EKÕK, formerly the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, is separate from the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church, the legal continuation of the Estonian Orthodox Church under the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.