1. General outline The principle of equal treatment is one of the fundamental principles under the Estonian Constitution. Under § 12(1) of the Constitution, everyone is equal before the law. No one may be discriminated against on the basis of nationality, race, colour, sex, language, origin, religion, political or other views, property or social status, or on other grounds. Under the Chancellor of Justice Act, with regard to the issues of equality and equal treatment the Chancellor is competent to verify conformity of legislation with the Constitution and the Acts (i.e. the constitutional review competence), verify the activities of representatives of public authority (i.e. the ombudsman competence) and arrange conciliation proceedings for resolving disputes between persons under private law. Division 4 of Chapter 4 of the Chancellor of Justice Act establishes the activities of the Chancellor in promoting the principle of equality and equal treatment. In 2014, the Chancellor was contacted on 51 occasions in connection with the issues of equal treatment. Of these, 34 cases concerned the general fundamental right to equality and 17 concerned discrimination. In 28 proceedings, the matter concerned conformity of a legal act with the Constitution (i.e. the constitutional review proceedings). 2. Conformity of legislation of general application with the Constitution With regard to the constitutional review of legislative acts, on 4 July 2014 the Chancellor submitted a memorandum to the Minister of Internal Affairs, as he found that the obligation of a person who provides housing for an alien or concludes a commercial lease agreement with an alien to verify the legal basis for the alien’s stay in Estonia was contrary to the Constitution. The Chancellor noted that § 289(1) and § 305 of the Aliens Act disproportionately interfered with the fundamental right to ownership in combination with the right to the inviolability of family life and privacy, as well as the general fundamental right to equality. With regard to the principle of equal treatment, the Chancellor noted that the additional obligations and inconveniences arising in connection with the conclusion of a lease agreement with a person not holding Estonian citizenship may induce the lessor to refrain from concluding an agreement with such an alien, which may lead to indirect discrimination on grounds of ethnicity in terms of availability of housing. The Chancellor sent a memorandum to the Minister of Education and Research concerning the conditions for applying for a study loan. The Chancellor assessed the conformity of § 15(1) of the Study Allowances and Study Loans Act with the Constitution, because under the Act a person staying in the country on the basis of a temporary residence permit or right of residence cannot apply for a study loan. The Chancellor found that such a restriction was contrary to § 37(1) in combination with § 12(1) of the Constitution. The Chancellor found that it is possible to distinguish situations of staying in the country on the basis of a temporary residence permit where the purpose of moving to Estonia was of permanent nature, and to delimit the grounds for applying for a temporary residence permit which cannot be equated with the cases of applying for a study loan. The Chancellor also received three petitions requesting review of constitutionality of legislation concerning compliance with the principle of equal treatment on grounds of sex, but the Chancellor did not find the existence of discrimination. 71