President of the Republic Official Perquisites Act

(1) Official perquisites of the President of the Republic (hereinafter, the ‘President’) are the official salary and pension and other official perquisites which have been granted to a person who has been elected President.

(2) During his or her mandate, the President may not receive from the government any perquisites that have not been specified in this Act.

(1) The salary of the President is established by the Official Salaries of Top Government Officials Act.

(1¹) [Repealed – RT I 2010, 1, 2 – entry into force 01.01.2014 (date of entry into force amended – RT I, 29.12.2012, 1)]

(2) The official salary of the President is also paid to the President of the Riigikogu acting as President of the Republic.

(3) The President’s salary is paid to the President once a month from the beginning until the end of his or her mandate.

(1) In order to cover representation expenses, the President receives a representation allowance which amounts to 20 percent of the President’s salary.

(2) [Repealed – RT I 2000, 55, 359 – entry into force 01.01.2001]

(3) The representation allowance is also paid to the President of the Riigikogu acting as President of the Republic.

During his or her mandate, the President is entitled, at government expense, to use work offices, living quarters, reception rooms and an official state car together with the services related to the maintenance and use of such offices, quarters, rooms and car.

President’s vacation

The procedure for reimbursement of secondment expenses provided by this Act is established by the Government of the Republic in a regulation.

The Office of the President of the Republic shall reimburse other expenses related to the President’s official duties incurred during the President’s mandate.

During the President’s mandate, protection of the President is provided by the Police and Board Guard, which also ensures the security of the President’s family and residence.

(1) During the President’s mandate, the President’s spouse is entitled to

1) have at his or her disposal a secretary who is a public servant employed by the Office of the President of the Republic;

2) use, at government expense, an official car and services related to the maintenance and use thereof;

3) receive, in order to cover expenses related to representation, a monthly representation allowance the amount of which is 30 percent of the salary of the President;

4) be reimbursed pursuant to the procedure specified in section 6 of this Act for secondment expenses and other justified expenses.

(1¹) The President’s spouse who has been convicted of an offence specified in Chapter 15 or Division 2 of Chapter 17 of the Republic of Estonia Penal Code, for which the Penal Code prescribes a prison sentence of at least five years, forfeits his or her entitlement to the official perquisites specified in subsection 1 of this section.

(2) After the end of the President’s mandate, the allowance specified in point 3 of subsection 1 of this section is to be paid to the spouse of the President until the death of that spouse in an amount equal to 20 percent of the salary of the President.

(2¹) The President’s spouse who has been convicted of an offence specified in Chapter 15 or Division 2 of Chapter 17 of the Republic of Estonia Penal Code, for which the Penal Code prescribes a prison sentence of at least five years, forfeits his or her entitlement to the allowance specified in subsection 2 of this section.

(3) At the request of the widowed spouse of the person who has been elected President, the Government of the Republic may, by an order, extend his or her right to use an official car and services related to the maintenance and use thereof at the government expense.

(4) The spouse of the President may receive from the state perquisites specified in other Acts.

(1) After the end of the President’s mandate, the President is paid a presidential pension at the rate of 75 percent of the President’s salary. The President will not be entitled to receive presidential pension if his or her mandate has been terminated due to a judgment of criminal conviction entered in respect of the President having become final.

(2) If the total duration of the President’s mandate amounts to less than five years, the rate of the pension will be reduced by 2 percent for every month short of the five-year duration of the mandate, but not below half the rate of the presidential pension specified in subsection 1 of this section.

(3) If, during the President’s mandate, he or she is declared to possess limited ability to work or to be unable to work, his or her pension is increased by 25 percent.

(4) The President is not paid any other government pensions while he or she receives a presidential pension.

(5) The payment of the presidential pension is terminated if the President declines the presidential pension, is re-elected President or dies.

(6) The payment of the presidential pension to the President is suspended during imprisonment or administration of coercive treatment.

(7) A person who has been convicted of an offence specified in Chapter 15 or Division 2 of Chapter 17 of the Republic of Estonia Penal Code, for which the Penal Code prescribes a prison sentence of at least five years, forfeits his or her entitlement to a presidential pension.

(8) If a person was paid the presidential pension specified in this section, payment of the pension is terminated in the month following the month when the judgment became final. A person who forfeits his or her entitlement to the pension specified in this section retains the right to apply for a pension pursuant to standard procedure.

(1) Upon the death of the President, every family member who is incapacitated for work will be granted a survivor’s pension, the amount of which is one half of the presidential pension.

(2) The total amount of the pensions received by a family member of the President may not exceed the rate of the presidential pension.

(3) A survivor's pension is granted pursuant to section 20 of the State Pension Insurance Act.

(4) The widowed spouse of a person who served in the office of the President is entitled to survivor’s pension regardless of the restrictions specified in subsections 1 and 3 of this section if he or she was the spouse of the President during the President’s mandate.

(5) Payment of survivor’s pension to the entitled person is suspended during imprisonment or administration of coercive treatment.

(1) After the end of his or her mandate, the President is entitled, unless his or her mandate has been terminated due to resignation from office or due to a convicting judgment entered in respect of the President having become final, to

1) have at his or her disposal living quarters, reception rooms and work offices with reimbursement of rent and maintenance expenses by the state or to receive compensation from the state for reasonable expenses relating to the maintenance of the residence of the President;

2) have an adviser and a secretary at his or her disposal who are public servants employed by the Office of the President of the Republic;

3) receive a lump sum compensation payment in the extent of one year’s salary;

4) use an official car and services related to the maintenance and use thereof at the expense of the state;

5) be reimbursed pursuant to the procedure specified in section 6 of this Act for travel expenses and other justified expenses.

(2) Within one year after the end of the President’s mandate, the Government of the Republic makes and order to decide between the perquisites specified in point 1 of subsection 1 of this section, taking into account the social position of the President and the functions which the President performs after the end of his or her mandate, the financial resources of the Republic of Estonia and the opinion of the President. The provisions of the State Assets Act do not apply to the granting of the use of living quarters, reception rooms and work offices.

(3) In the event of the death of the President during his or her mandate or during the time specified in subsection 2, the Government of the Republic makes an order in which it decides on the grant of use of living quarters, reception rooms and work offices to the widowed spouse of the President or the covering of reasonable expenses relating to the maintenance of the residence of the President until the death of the widowed spouse.

(4) After the end of the President’s mandate, the minister responsible for the area may, if necessary, decide to assign protection to the President at the request of the Office of the President of the Republic and on the basis of a threat assessment prepared by the Police and Border Guard Board. In that case the protection is provided by the Police and Border Guard Board.

(5) The security detail of the residence of a widowed spouse of the President is assigned on the grounds and following the procedure set out in subsection 4 of this section.

A person who has been elected President is given a ceremonial funeral at government expense.

(1) The Office of the President of the Republic arranges implementation of the President’s official perquisites specified in this Act from the national budget.

(1¹) The implementation of official perquisites with regard to the President whose mandate has ended is arranged by the Office of the President of the Republic from the sums prescribed for this purpose in the national budget. The Government of the Republic arranges implementation of the official perquisite specified in section 11(1)(1) from the funds of its own reserve.

(2) In the cases not specified in this Act, the provisions of State Pension Insurance Act apply to granting and payment of the presidential pension and of the pension of a family member of the President.

(3) Within 10 working days after its judgment becomes final, the court must inform the Office of the President of the Republic in writing of the facts which constitute the grounds for forfeiture of the entitlement to perquisites specified in section 81 of this Act or of the presidential pension specified in section 9 of this Act.

If the mandate of the President has been terminated due to a judgment which convicts the President of a criminal offence and which has become final or if a judgment which convicts the President of a criminal offence has become final after the end of his or her mandate, he or she forfeits the entitlement to official perquisites specified in sections 11 and 12 of this Act.

(1) Section 9(2) of this Act does not apply to the President who has been elected pursuant to the provisions of section 4 of the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia Implementation Act and to the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Estonia.

(2) Section 11(1)(1) of this Act also applies to the President whose mandate has ended by the time of entry into force of this provision and to the widowed spouse of such President.

A President who has been declared to possess limited ability to work under the State Pension Insurance Act is deemed to fulfil the condition of limited ability to work provided in section 9 of this Act. A President who has been declared to be unable to work under the State Pension Insurance Act is deemed to fulfil the condition of being unable to work provided in section 9 of this Act.

[Omitted from this version]

Sections 9–14 of this Act apply to the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Estonia.

This Act enters into force on 1 October 1996.