The Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia (Ombudsman) recognised a violation of the principle of good governance in the conduct of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning (MNVP). It took one year and two months for a decision on a complainant's appeal against the decision of the Geodetic Administration of the Republic of Slovenia, which is unacceptable. In January, the MNVP adopted an action plan to eliminate backlogs, the implementation of which is actively underway. However, in the Ombudsman's opinion, it will take some time to establish an appropriate situation, so the Ombudsman will continue to actively monitor the issue in question as a broader issue, important for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms and for the legal security of citizens in the Republic of Slovenia.

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A complainant informed the Ombudsman about the process of registering a border, in which he played the role of a side participant. He did not express more specific expectations for the Ombudsman in this task, but it was necessary to understand a series of criticisms both against the Geodetic Administration of the Republic of Slovenia (GURS) and against the MNVP.

The Ombudsman did not find any grounds or irregularities in the conduct of GURS that would require his intervention. From the submitted documentation, it appeared that GURS had issued a decision in the border registration process in question, against which the complaint had appealed, but his appeal had been rejected. All of his subsequent letters referred to the aforementioned decision, and it was not clear whether the complainant, after receiving the second-instance decision against the GURS decision, also initiated an administrative dispute, as a result of which the disputed first-instance decision probably became final for him. This fact must also be respected by the Ombudsman.[1]

However, the Ombudsman was able to the confirm complainant's complaint about the long-term decision-making by the MNVP in relation to his complaint. In this regard, the MNVP explained that due to the large number of cases and some organisational and personnel changes, there were delays in the management and decision-making of individual appeal procedures against specific administrative acts, including in the decision-making process on the complainant's appeal. In connection with this, the MNVP has announced that it has initiated activities to eliminate backlogs and that for this purpose, in January of this year it adopted an Action Plan for eliminating backlogs in decision-making in appeal administrative procedures in the form of solving additional administrative matters within the framework of the increased scope of work (Action Plan). The elimination of the backlog should take place according to the mentioned plan.

In view of the proven long duration of the MNVP's decision on the complainant's complaint, the Ombudsman found a violation of the principle of good management. Otherwise, he welcomed the adoption and implementation of the Action Plan, but anticipates that it will be some time before the appropriate situation is established. Therefore, he will continue to actively monitor the problem of backlogs at MNVP as a broader issue. The complaint was considered justified. 14.2-9/2023

[1] As expressly stipulated in the first line of Article 2 of the Courts Act (ZS), every natural and legal person in the Republic of Slovenia must respect the final decision of the judicial authority. The decisions of the judicial authority are therefore binding on the courts and all other state bodies of the Republic of Slovenia, as well as the Ombudsman. Within the framework of his powers, the Ombudsman, cannot achieve the annulment or elimination of the disputed decision for the complainant; this can only be achieved by the individual by timely use of the legal remedies provided for in the prescribed procedures. The Ombudsman's intervention in his subordinate role cannot replace the activity of the rights holder.