Dr Carri Ginter

Professional highlights

Expert on EU law. I served as an expert witness in a historic hearing before the Estonian Supreme Court regarding the constitutionality of the European Stability Mechanism. I have also represented a client in a dispute against the City of Tallinn over a sales tax imposed in the City between 2010-2011. The European Court of Justice delivered a judgment that found the sales tax to be a violation of EU law and the excise duty directive, obligating the City to return illegally collected tax to companies. As a recognition to my experience in the field of EU law, I have been appointed avocat conseil (legal adviser) to the French Embassy in Estonia.

IP advice. As an IP litigator I had the privilege of representing a major Estonian food manufacturer in a ground-breaking trademark infringement case in which the court ordered ‒ and the Supreme Court upheld ‒ that the infringing party pay all of its gross profits to the client. This represented a change in Estonian IP law and in trademark infringement cases.

Fighting corruption. In 2015 the supervisory board of the Estonian state-owned company Port of Tallinn appointed me as a member of their management board. The Port of Tallinn, the eighth most profitable company in the country, had accepted the resignation of two board members who were arrested as part of a bribery investigation.

State issues. I have defended Estonian government ministries and the City of Tallinn in court and also won the largest civil damages claim in history against the Republic of Estonia. Also, I have successfully represented retired judges in constitutional review proceedings challenging new legal amendments adopted by the Parliament of Estonia (Riigikogu) introducing a new indexing system for judges’ pensions.

Academic at heart. I am an associate professor of EU law at the University of Tartu, where I have twice been named Lecturer of the Year and recognised with a medal for a long-term significant contribution to the university’s development. I publish internationally in the field of EU law. With Sorainen, I mentor the Sorainen Academy and ThinkTank, initiatives that seek to advance young people.