STATISTICS OF PROCEEDINGS Figure 7. Distribution of special proceedings PART IV PART III Special proceedings are divided as follows: • providing an opinion on a legal act within constitutional review proceedings (40 cases); • other activities arising from law (27 cases) • opinions on draft legal acts and documents (19 cases); • initiating disciplinary proceedings against judges and other proceedings relating to the activities of courts (17 cases); • replying to written questions by members of the Riigikogu (5 cases) (see also Figure 7). PART II There were 107 special proceedings during the reporting year, i.e. 7% of the total number of cases opened and 26% of the total number of substantive proceedings. PART I 2.3. Special proceedings The largest number of proceedings were related to providing an opinion on a legal act within constitutional review proceedings and other activities arising from law (40 and 27 proceedings respectively). 2.4. Cases without substantive proceedings The Chancellor of Justice does not initiate substantive proceedings with regard to a petition if its resolution is not within his competence. In that case, the Chancellor explains to the petitioner which institution should deal with the issue. The Chancellor can also reject a petition if it is clearly unfounded or if it is not clear from the petition what constituted the alleged violation of the petitioner’s rights or principles of good administration. The Chancellor is not competent to intervene if a court judgment has been made in the matter of the petition, the matter is concurrently subject to judicial proceedings or pre-trial complaint proceedings (e.g. when a complaint is being reviewed by an individual labour dispute settlement committee or similar pre-judicial body). The Chancellor cannot, and is not permitted to duplicate these proceedings, as the possibility of filing a petition with the Chancellor of Justice is not considered a legal remedy. Rather, the Chancellor of Justice is a petition body, with no direct possibility to use any means of enforcement. The Chancellor resolves cases of violation of people’s rights if the individual cannot use any other legal remedies. In cases when a person can file an administrative challenge or use other legal remedies or if administrative challenge proceedings or other non-compulsory pre-trial proceedings are pending, the Chancellor’s decision is based on the right of discretion, which takes into account the circumstances of each particular case. 75