Liisa-Ly Pakosta

Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs of the Republic of Estonia from 23 July 2024.

Liisa-Ly Pakosta was born on 3 September 1969 in Tallinn. She is in a non-marital partnership and a mother of five. Pakosta joined the Eesti 200 political party in 2023. She has previously been a member of the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union political party (2000–2015).

Career

• 2023–2024 Member of the 15th Riigikogu, Chair of the European Union Affairs Committee
• 2022 Director General of the National Heritage Board
• 2015–2022 Gender Equality and Equal Treatment Commissioner
• 2009–2014 Member of the 11th and 12th Riigikogu, Deputy Chair of the Anti-Corruption Select Committee (2013–2014)
• 2008–2009 Head of the Planning Department of the Ministry of the Interior
• 2004–2008 Member of the Board of AS Suur Eesti Raamatuklubi, Editor-in-Chief of AS Ühinenud Ajakirjad
• 2005–2009 and 2015–2017 Member of the Tallinn City Council
• 2002–2005 Project Manager at the Estonian Academy of Arts, 2015–2016 Head of Research and Development Department and lecturer
• 1999–2001 Deputy Mayor of Tallinn
• 1998–1999 Head of the Tallinn Cultural Heritage Department
• 1997–1998 Head of the Department of Information and Development at Tallinn City Government
• 1995–1997 Director of ME Tallinn Tourist Information
• 1994–1995 Information clerk at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• 1984–1994 Kindergarten teacher, museum educator, and hotel administrator

Education

Liisa-Ly Pakosta graduated from the University of Tartu in 1993 with a degree in history and from Tallinn University in 2021 with a master’s degree in law. She has started her doctoral studies in law at the University of Tartu in 2022.

Awards and Recognition

In 2023 L.-L. Pakosta was awarded the Commander Cross of the Swedish Royal Order of the Polar Star.

Other

Member of the Supervisory Board of the Estonian Open Air Museum in 2013–2015, Member of the Supervisory Board of the Estonian Anti-Doping and Sports Ethics Foundation since 2019.
Her hobbies are crafting, culture, working out, and pets.

About the job of the Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs

The Minister of Justice chairs the Ministry of Justice and is responsible for its area of governance.

The minister is appointed and released from office by the President of the Republic on the proposal of the prime minister. The minister will assume office by taking an oath of office before the Riigikogu.

• The Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs heads the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs and is responsible for its area of governance and drafting the Gender Equality and Equal Opportunities Act.
• The Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs makes proposals to the Government for the appointment of the Prosecutor General, appoints the chief state prosecutor and the chief prosecutor, and exercises operational supervision over the Office of the Prosecutor General.
• The Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs appoints and dismisses directors of prisons and sets the maximum number of persons to be detained in each specific prison.
• The Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs determines the territorial jurisdiction of county and administrative courts, the exact location of the courts and the number of judges working in them, and appoints the chairmen of the courts, the directors of the courts and the assistant judges.
• The Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs makes proposals to the Government of the Republic on the Ministry’s annual budget and, if necessary, a supplementary budget. She decides on the use of budgetary funds and is responsible for the targeted use of the funds allocated by the European Union and other external aid. The Minister also approves the budgets of the state agencies within the area of government of the Ministry of Justice.
• In addition, the Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs is responsible for the planning and implementation of the policy for digital society, the organisation and supervision of digital development and cyber security, the coordination of state information systems, the organisation of telecommunications and the management of the relevant structural units of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.
• The Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs represents Estonia in the Justice and Home Affairs Council of the European Union in matters of justice and in the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council in issues concerning information technology and telecommunications.