The Ministry of the Interior of Estonia is in favor of introducing a ban on name changes for people convicted of serious crimes, so that they cannot “hide” from their past immediately after being released from prison. About this informs ERR.
The department is preparing legislative changes that will temporarily limit the ability to change the name and surname for those convicted of serious offenses. Currently, there are no restrictions in this area.
The list of serious crimes that will be covered by the innovation includes murder, rape and other sexual crimes, including sexual relations with minors for money, production and viewing of pornography with the participation of minors, exploitation of children in this area, as well as human trafficking, terrorist activities, hostage-taking, treason or support of actions directed against Estonia, crimes related to drugs, money laundering, illegal trafficking weapons and explosives.
“After the name is changed, others may not know that it is a dangerous criminal and may not be able to foresee the possible danger”, – the Ministry of Internal Affairs notes in the explanatory note to the project.
The Ministry of Justice, for its part, proposes to add to the list also articles related to fraud and document forgery, arguing that persons convicted of such crimes can continue illegal activities after release, using a new name as a cover.
The proposed ban would not be a lifetime ban — it would be for a limited time depending on the length of the sentence and the person’s behavior after release. For those sentenced to a term of up to 5 years, the ban will last 5 years after serving the sentence, and for those who received from 5 to 20 years – 10 years. At the same time, the draft law provides for exceptions: changing the surname before the expiration of the limitation period will be allowed in the event of marriage or return of the previous surname after a divorce.
