1. Data on Children’s Access to Justice. Violence Against Children.
Estonia
Brit Tammiste
Ministry of Justice of Estonia
Criminal Policy Department, Analysis division
October 2018

2. Strategy for Preventing Violence for 2015-2020
Through its sub-goal 1, the Strategy materially contributes to knowledge-based policymaking. An increase of informed awareness about violence requires both the collection and the active dissemination of crime statistics as well as the conducting of studies about the prevalence of violence and about the feasibility and impact of new violence prevention measures.
The fulfilment of this goal is assessed as the decline in the numbers of victims of violence, based on studies and statistics.

3. Strategy for Preventing Violence for 2015-2020
Overall goal’s impact indicators
Starting level
Target level 2018
Target level 2020
Source; measurement frequency
Proportion of people falling victim to violence during the year
2.3% (2014)
≤ 1.9%
≤ 1.4%
Victim survey of the Ministry of Justice: every year
Deaths due to violent assaults
40 (2014)
< 35
< 25
Register of causes of death: every year
Deaths due to domestic violence
10 (2014)
< 8
< 5
Crime statistics: every year
Proportion of children falling victim to sexual abuse
TBD 2015
Study of prevalence of sexual abuse of children: 2015, 2020.
Proportion of children falling victim to school bullying
22% (2014)
< 20%
< 18%
Study of children’s deviant behaviour (ISRD-4): 2019

4. Source; measurement frequency
Indicators of the strategy and sources of data
Sub-goal 1: People’s skills in avoiding, recognising and intervening in violence have improved.
Impact indicators of sub-goal 1
Starting level
Target level 2018
Target level 2020
Source; measurement frequency
Proportion of people considering physical punishment of children to be sometimes unavoidable
28% (2013)
< 25%
< 22%
Gender equality monitoring: 2016, 2020
Proportion of children having committed an act of violence
12% (2014)
< 10%
< 8%
Study of children’s delinquent behaviour (ISRD-4): 2019

5. Source; measurement frequency
Indicators of the strategy and sources of data
Sub-goal 2: Protection and support of violence victims corresponding to their needs is better ensured.
Impact indicators of sub-goal 2
Starting level
Target level 2018
Target level 2020
Source; measurement frequency
Proportion of violence victims having contacted victim support services
TBD 2016
TBD 2016
Victim treatment study: 2016, 2020
Number of temporary restraining orders imposed for the protection of violence victims
15 (2013)
> 20
> 25
Crime statistics: every year
Level of satisfaction of victims with crime victim support services
The satisfaction measuring system will be developed in 2016

6. Source; measurement frequency
Indicators of the strategy and sources of data
Sub-goal 3: Proceedings of violence cases are more victim-friendly
Impact indicators of sub-goal 3
Starting level
Target level 2018
Target level 2020
Source; measurement frequency
Duration of pre-trial proceedings of violent crimes with child victims
S4.2 months
(2013)
< 3 months
< 2.8 months
Crime statistics: 2016, 2018, 2020

7. Source; measurement frequency
Indicators of the strategy and data from the IT system
Sub-goal 4: Treatment of perpetrators of violence is more effective and their repeat offending has decreased.
Impact indicators of sub-goal 4
Starting level
Target level 2018
Target level 2020
Source; measurement frequency
Number of children in special schools and prisons
89 (2013) 75 60
EHIS; crime statistics: every year
Repeat offending rate (in two years) of minors released from prison
68% (2010)
< 65%
< 60%
Analysis of repeat offending: 2018, 2020

8. SDG indicators, indicators of the strategy and data from the IT system
Indicator : Proportion of young women and men aged 18‑29 years who experienced sexual violence by age 18
Proportion of children falling victim to sexual abuse (Strategy for Preventing Violence) = survey data
Indicator : Proportion of children aged 1-17 years who experienced any physical punishment and/or psychological aggression by caregivers in the past month
Proportion of people considering physical punishment of children to be sometimes unavoidable (Strategy for Preventing Violence) = survey data

9. SDG indicators, indicators of the strategy and data from the IT system
Indicator Proportion of victims of violence in the previous 12 months who reported their victimization to competent authorities or other officially recognized conflict resolution mechanisms
Proportion of violence victims having contacted victim support services (Strategy for Preventing Violence) = STAR data

10. Sources of data on VAC indicators
Crime statistics, recorded offences = E-file
Data on child maltreatment, child protection cases = STAR
Surveys and research

11. 1. E-file – reported crime
The e-File is an online information system which allows procedural parties and their representatives to electronically submit procedural documents to courts and to observe the progress of the proceedings related to them. For example, a single parent can apply for alimony without making a trip to the court house.
E-file: Police Information System (police), Criminal Case Management System (Office of Public Prosecutor), Court Information System (courts), Jells’ Information System (prisons).
It enables a completely digital workflow for all the parties to the proceeding process and provides precise statistics in the legal protection field.
Instructions given by National Police and Border Guard Board in September 2016
There is one value resp. the “hate motive” (vaenumotiiv in Estonian). The motive can be marked/field filled, when the crime has been discovered and the crime has been qualified (according to the list of offences of the Penal Code).
According to the Code of Criminal Procedure it is obligatory to carry out the individual assessment of the victims of crime.
The police officers use an electronic database (MIS) and are supposed to classify the reported case (choose between 3 different categories of hate crime – see above), but at present state the “flagging” is not visible/presented to the prosecutors. Once the Estonian Penal Code will be amended, developments will be made also in the electronic file sharing system (E-file, see below).

12. 1. E-file
Instructions given by National Police and Border Guard Board in September 2016
There is one value resp. the “hate motive” (vaenumotiiv in Estonian). The motive can be marked/field filled, when the crime has been discovered and the crime has been qualified (according to the list of offences of the Penal Code).
According to the Code of Criminal Procedure it is obligatory to carry out the individual assessment of the victims of crime.
The police officers use an electronic database (MIS) and are supposed to classify the reported case (choose between 3 different categories of hate crime – see above), but at present state the “flagging” is not visible/presented to the prosecutors. Once the Estonian Penal Code will be amended, developments will be made also in the electronic file sharing system (E-file, see below).

13. E-file
Data entered in the Police Information System (called MIS) is simultaneously accessible by a prosecutor in the prosecutors’ Register (called Criminal Case Management Register).
the information can be further used and changed by the prosecutor in the prosecutors’ Register and sent if necessary to the courts information system (called KIS);
Instructions given by National Police and Border Guard Board in September 2016
There is one value resp. the “hate motive” (vaenumotiiv in Estonian). The motive can be marked/field filled, when the crime has been discovered and the crime has been qualified (according to the list of offences of the Penal Code).
According to the Code of Criminal Procedure it is obligatory to carry out the individual assessment of the victims of crime.
The police officers use an electronic database (MIS) and are supposed to classify the reported case (choose between 3 different categories of hate crime – see above), but at present state the “flagging” is not visible/presented to the prosecutors. Once the Estonian Penal Code will be amended, developments will be made also in the electronic file sharing system (E-file, see below).

14. 1. E-file
later, the procedural information and the court decision entered into the force, could be delivered to the Information System of Prisons (called VangIS).
Generally, all the data entered into the E-File through its client-systems (e.g. MIS, KIS etc.) is selected and sent to other interested parties by the E-File itself. It means that a user of the client-system is basically obliged only to enter all the relevant data into the system, whereas all other operations, including data transferring, are performed by the E-File itself.
Instructions given by National Police and Border Guard Board in September 2016
There is one value resp. the “hate motive” (vaenumotiiv in Estonian). The motive can be marked/field filled, when the crime has been discovered and the crime has been qualified (according to the list of offences of the Penal Code).
According to the Code of Criminal Procedure it is obligatory to carry out the individual assessment of the victims of crime.
The police officers use an electronic database (MIS) and are supposed to classify the reported case (choose between 3 different categories of hate crime – see above), but at present state the “flagging” is not visible/presented to the prosecutors. Once the Estonian Penal Code will be amended, developments will be made also in the electronic file sharing system (E-file, see below).

15. Annual reports of crime statistics (source: E-file)
“Crime in Estonia“
Recorded offences
Age, gender of victims and offenders, victim-offender relationship;
Prosecution (length of proceedings, punishments, sentences, repeated offending etc.)
Key-word search.
Contact information of victims/offenders for conducting surveys -> need to apply for special permission from Estonian Data Protection Inspectorate ( and Ethics Commitee.
See:

16. Child protection – data on child maltreatment
2. STAR – Register of Social Services and Benefits
The social services data register called STAR has been developed in the Ministry of Social Affairs and is functioning since 1st of April 2010.
The application of STAR provides the social workers (including child protection workers) a tool to implement the case management methodology.
The expected outcome of the application of STAR is as follows: the data reflecting social services and benefits are collected in the central database where they are comparable and ready for processing in order to create statistics, which in turn shall ensure the improvement of the quality of services and the need based approach to the client’s problems.
-> STAR will be linked with MIS (police IT-system) by 2020/21

17. 3. Surveys and research
“Child and youth sexual abuse prevalence study” (2003, 2015)
Proportion of children falling victim to sexual abuse
Self-Reported Delinquency Study (ISRD), ISRD-2 (2006), ISRD-3 (2014)
Proportion of children having committed an act of violence
Proportion of children falling victim to school bullying
Gender Equality Monitoring (2016, 2010, Ministry of Social Affairs)
Proportion of people considering physical punishment of children to be sometimes unavoidable

18. Challenges
Linking some of the IT-systems’ data (EHIS, STAR) with E-file
Using the full potential of data of IT systems
Quality of data: understanding the need of correct recording, user- friendly IT-systems
There is no automatic breakdown for the relationship be­tween the victim and the perpetrator in E-file and as recording the relationship between the victim and perpetrator is not mandatory, identifying inti­mate partner violence cases is problematic.
Understanding evidence-based policy-making / shared values: importance of correct recording
Special provision in the Penal Code (i.e. „domestic violence“, no separate article in the Penal Code) – sometimes lacking

19. Useful links and information materials
Criminal Records Database:
E-file:
STAR:
Health Information System:
Strategy for Preventing Violence :
Guidelines for Development of Criminal Policy until 2018:

20. Thank you!
Brit Tammiste