Vooglaid says law allows Madise to run for president

Law does not prevent Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise from being nominated or elected president, Varro Vooglaid, a lawyer and member of the Riigikogu legal committee, said, ERR reported.

Vooglaid said claims that Madise could not legally be elected while serving as chancellor overlooked Article 84 of the Constitution. The provision states that a president’s powers and duties in all elected and appointed offices end when the president assumes office.

He said the Chancellor of Justice is an appointed office because the Riigikogu appoints the chancellor on the president’s proposal. The constitutional provision has greater legal force than the Chancellor of Justice Act and applies directly, he added.

If Madise were elected president, her powers as Chancellor of Justice would end when she took the presidential oath and assumed office, Vooglaid said. “There is no legal restriction preventing a serving Chancellor of Justice from being nominated as a presidential candidate or elected president,” he said.

EKRE leader Martin Helme, however, said Madise would face a conflict of roles if she sought the presidency while serving as chancellor, which could lead to the election result being challenged in court.