ANOM evidence reaches Strasbourg: Estonian convictions challenged under Articles 8 and 6 ECHR

On 12 February 2026 the European Court of Human Rights (Third Section) communicated the applications Raal v. Estonia and Reudolph v. Estonia, which concern ANOM data used as sole or decisive evidence in Estonian drug and money-laundering proceedings. The Tallinn Court of Appeal had excluded the ANOM evidence because compliance with the fundamental principles of Estonian criminal procedure could not be verified. On 16 January 2025 the Supreme Court overturned that ruling and convicted the applicants, relying on a presumption of lawfulness towards treaty partners and on US assurances. The applicants complain under Art. 8 ECHR of mass surveillance without individual suspicion and without verifiable authorisation, and under Art. 6 § 1 of having had no access to the authorisations and no effective way to contest admissibility. The Court's questions refer to Big Brother Watch v. United Kingdom [GC] and Yüksel Yalçınkaya v. Türkiye [GC].