On 27 March 2024, Deputy Ombudsman Ivan Šelih attended a conference in Strasbourg, France, entitled Mentally Ill Mind: Convention-Compliant Approaches to the Enforcement of Judgments on Compulsory Detention and Mental Health Treatment. The event was organised in the framework of Liechtenstein's Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, in cooperation with the Council of Europe's Department for the Enforcement of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

Participants paid particular attention to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in relation to Article 5 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), which (among other things) provides for the right to liberty and security for persons detained on account of their mental disorder. According to some accounts, the case law of the ECtHR in this area has advanced considerably in recent years, but there have been setbacks in the enforcement of judgments. The main purpose of the conference was therefore to examine the possibilities for progress in this area as well.

After reviewing the developments and initiatives of the Council of Europe on the ECHR standards on the protection of persons with mental disorders, the (new) formal legal safeguards in the case of compulsory treatment of persons with mental disorders (also stemming from the case X v. Finland) and the importance of effective advocacy for these persons were also discussed. The standards of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) and the experiences of persons treated in psychiatric institutions were also presented, as well as the possibilities for reducing compulsory treatment and how to make transitions from institutional to community care.

From the very beginning of its activities, the Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia has paid special attention to the protection of persons with mental disorders, taking into account the standards set by the ECHR. In 2012, the Ombudsman submitted a request to the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia to review the constitutionality of the second and third paragraphs of Article 74(1) of the ECHR and to review the constitutionality of Article 74(1) of the ECHR. This provision stipulated that a person deprived of legal capacity could only be admitted to a secure ward of a social welfare institution with the consent of his/her legal representative, and that consent could only be withdrawn at any time by the legal representative or by requesting that the person be discharged. In the Ombudsman's view, the provision impermissibly interfered with human rights or fundamental freedoms, as it did not guarantee judicial protection to the person deprived of legal capacity. The Ombudsman considered that it was incompatible with Article 5(3) and (4) of the ECHR and Articles 14, 19, 22 and 23 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia.

The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia (the Constitutional Court) followed the Ombudsman's request and repealed the third sentence of Article 74(2) and (3) (Constitutional Court Decision No U-I-294/12 of 10 June 2015, Official Journal of the RS No 46/15 of 26 June 2015). The unconstitutionality found was belatedly abolished by the first amendment to the ZDZdr, which was adopted only last year (Official Journal of the RS No 109/2023 of 27 October 2023).