Märt Rask (born 19 December 1950) is an Estonian attorney, jurist, and politician who was the Estonian Minister of the Interior from 1995 to 1996, as well as being the

Justice Minister A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

in 1992 and from 1999 to 2003 and Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court of Estonia The Supreme Court of Estonia () is the court of last resort in Estonia. It is both a court of cassation and a constitutional court. The courthouse is in Tartu. History During the first independence period (1919-1940) With the First Constituti ...

from 2004 to 2013.

Biography

Rask is the son of lawyer Valdeko Leeto (1927–1992). Rask's son, Rasmus Rask (born 1977) was a member of the Estonian Bar Association from 2000 to 2001. Rask graduated from the Faculty of Law of the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

in 1978. Starting 1 August 1978, From August 1, 1978, he was a member of the

Estonian SSR The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, (abbreviated Estonian SSR, Soviet Estonia, or simply Estonia ) was an administrative subunit ( union republic) of the former Soviet Union (USSR), covering the occupied and annexed territory of Estonia ...

Lawyers' College. From 1978 to 1979, he worked as a legal adviser in

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth-largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second-largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of ...

and

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

. He is currently a partner of Rask Advokaadibüroo.

Political career

Rask later became the Deputy Legal Director and Head of Legal Advice from 1979 to 1990, as well as the first Deputy Minister of Justice of the Estonian SSR from 1990 to 1992. From 1995 to 1996, Rask was the Estonian Minister of the Interior, as well as being the

in 1992 and from 1999 to 2003. From 2004 to 2013, Rask was the Chief Justice of the

. He retired from public life after being voted out of his last post. He was a legal adviser to former prime minister

Taavi Rõivas Taavi Rõivas (; born 26 September 1979) is an Estonian politician, former Prime Minister of Estonia from 2014 to 2016 and former leader of the Reform Party. Before his term as the Prime Minister, Rõivas was the Minister of Social Affairs from ...

. Rask is a member of the

Estonian Reform Party The Estonian Reform Party () is a liberal political party in Estonia. The party has been led by Kristen Michal since 2024. It is colloquially known as the "Squirrel Party" () or as "the Squirrels" (), referencing its logo. It was founded in ...

and was a member of the

Riigikogu The Riigikogu (, from Estonian ''riigi-'', "of the state", and ''kogu'', "assembly") is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the prime minister and chi ...

from 1999 to 2007 for their party. In March 2001, the Ministry of Justice carried out a reform in the area of government of Märt Rask´, which abolished the former executive departments subordinated to county and city courts and appointed freelance bailiffs who had successfully passed the attestation. The superficial implementation of the reform and Märt Rask´'s incompetent behavior are reflected in the latter's directive, which imposed an unjustified fine of 50,000 kroons on bailiff Raul Uesson´. Raul Uesson appealed the minister's order to the court and won both the court of first and second instance. The court found that the order of the Minister of Justice had significantly violated the basic requirements for imposing a disciplinary sanction. The content of the disciplinary offense and the factual circumstances are not clear from the directive, the description of the offense does not correspond to the composition of the identified disciplinary offense.

Awards

* 6 February 2006: Second Class of the Order of the White Star

References

7. https://epl.delfi.ee/eesti/kohtutaitur-seljatas-justiitsministeeriumi?id=51166234 - Eesti Päevaleht, 21.04.2009. 8. https://www.postimees.ee/1963409/justiitsministeerium-jattis-otsuse-taitmata - Postimees, 9.09.2002.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rask, Mart 1950 births Living people Estonian Reform Party politicians Estonian jurists Justice ministers of Estonia Ministers of the interior of Estonia Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 2nd Class Members of the Riigikogu, 2003–2007 Members of the Riigikogu, 1999–2003