The Supreme Court confirmed the lawfulness of the PPFSC precept in the Centre Party financing case

Attorneys-at-law Küllike Namm and Kristiina Urb-Semjonov successfully represented the Political Parties Financing Surveillance Committee (PPFSC) in a dispute with the non-profit association Eesti Keskerakond concerning whether the amount of EUR 110,100 should be treated as a prohibited donation.

By its judgment of 17 June 2020 in case no. 3-17-572, the Supreme Court dismissed the Centre Party’s appeal in cassation and confirmed the lawfulness of the PPFSC precept. The Court agreed that the party had failed to prove the origin of the cash paid into its bank account and that the party’s accounting records did not make it possible to verify the movement of the cash or its sources.

According to the Court, political parties must ensure full transparency of their financing. If a party cannot prove the origin or movement of cash held in its cash desk with proper source documents, the PPFSC may treat money of unknown origin as a prohibited donation. The Supreme Court emphasised that, in the case of political parties, transparent and verifiable accounting is particularly important for the functioning of democracy.

The judgment is significant for the practice of supervising political party financing, confirming the obligation of political parties to ensure that their cash flows are fully traceable and documented. The judgment can be accessed here.