Slovenia, Varuh človekovih pravic

Slovenia, Varuh človekovih pravic

WORK

On March 21, 2000 the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia discussed the Ombudsman’s Annual Report for 1998. After the debate Mr. Bizjak stated that it has been the best and most comprehensive debate on his Annual Reports so far. At the end of the debate the National Assembly passed 17 resolutions.

Resolutions of the National Assembly passed at the debate on the Ombudsman's Annual Report for 1998

1. The National Assembly has familiarised itself with the fourth regular annual report of the Human Rights Ombudsman for 1998.

2. The National Assembly supports the Human Rights Ombudsman (the Ombudsman), who through decisive action and functioning, and within the remit of his powers, ensures a high level of awareness that respect and protection of human rights and basic freedoms is one of the most important values in a democratic society, and supports the proposals of the Ombudsman relating to the earliest possible adoption of appropriate legislation in individual areas, this being essential for the successful protection of rights, and necessary for improving legal security and the formal protection of rights.

3. The National Assembly supports the findings of the Ombudsman that the functioning of the state based on the rule of law in individual sections of public life is still not satisfactory, for there remain unresolved a range of systemic problems such as the non-harmonised and substantively inappropriate labour legislation and the backlogs in the courts and in other state bodies, for which reason certain basic constitutional rights of citizens are being violated.

4. The National Assembly supports the findings of the Ombudsman that as a result of staffing and other factors in individual bodies of the first and second instance, lengthy decision-making on provisional questions and legal remedies, the actions of participants in the procedure and also as a result of inherent complexity, there have been marked delays in the process of denationalisation, which dictates the need for all factors involved in the denationalisation process to invest some effort in the accelerated resolving of demands for denationalisation.

5. The National Assembly supports the findings of the Ombudsman that there are many specific problems that individuals encounter which are the result or reflection of inadequate and outdated legislation, and which are not adjusted to the legal foundations and actual situation in society. For this reason it recommends that the Government of the Republic of Slovenia (the Government) speeds up the drafting of the necessary laws and that at the same time, or within a set time, the Constitutional Court eliminates the identified lack of harmony between individual laws and eliminates the inadequacies of new laws that have been demonstrated in their practical implementation.

6. The National Assembly supports the findings of the Ombudsman that in connection with the treatment of detained persons in Slovenia, real respect of human rights and basic freedoms in the imposition of penal sanctions and particularly in addressing prison sentences should be expressed primarily in the specific attitude towards each individual serving a prison sentence or under detention, and this criterion may also serve as a basis for a true evaluation of the state of affairs in Slovenia’s detention and imprisonment facilities.

7. The National Assembly recommends that the Government, as a matter of urgency for the protection of constitutional rights, which are being restricted in the forced confinement and treatment of patients with mental illness, and in view of the inadequate legislation providing judicial supervision of this sensitive area of human privacy and personal rights, does everything necessary for the earliest possible adoption of a law which would comprehensively settle this area.

8. The National Assembly supports the recommendations of the Ombudsman that it will be necessary to continue devoting special attention to various types of social problems, including the acute issue of social exclusion through long-term unemployment and cases of poverty, where particular mention should be made of the vulnerable position of children in families which encounter these problems.

9. The National Assembly supports the efforts of the Ombudsman for the earliest possible adoption of a law that would facilitate the consistent fulfilment of the provision contained in Article 39, paragraph two of the Constitution, whereby everyone has the right to obtain information of a public nature in which he or she has under law a well founded legal interest. Here it should be stressed that the public transparency of the work of state bodies, as well as their openness and facilitation of access to information of a public nature, is an essential component of a modern, democratic country ruled by law.

10. The research department of the National Assembly should draft a comparative review of European countries, focusing on the possibility of setting up a special ombudsman for children’s rights.

11. Within the current term, the National Assembly will draft a report on the fulfilment of resolutions adopted upon reading of the four regular annual reports of the Ombudsman.

12. The National Assembly proposes that the Government speeds up reform of the public administration, and submits to the National Assembly at the earliest opportunity appropriate legislative proposals (Civil Servants Act and the Organisation of the Government, Ministers and Administration Act).

13. The National Assembly proposes that within a deadline of three months the Government drafts a report on how it is responding to the cautions of the Ombudsman in connection with inadequate legislation, which is in many areas giving rise to a range of initiatives and complaints from citizens and is even preventing the effective resolving of issues and problems which affect protection of human rights. Such a report should in future be drafted every year by the Government, and the National Assembly should include it in the parliamentary agenda, deliberating upon it at the same time as the Ombudsman’s report for that individual year.

14. The National Assembly proposes that the Government drafts at the earliest opportunity, and if possible within this term, a special law on protection of patients’ rights, to provide more effective protection of patients’ rights, whereby the entire healthcare system would also be improved.

15. The National Assembly proposes that from the aspect of protection of patients’ rights the Government studies the possibility of setting up a special ombudsman for the area of healthcare.

16. In drafting the law governing public media the Government should study the possibility of setting up an ombudsman for the area of public communications.

17. The Government should acquaint the National Assembly with the resolutions it has passed following its perusal of the Ombudsman’s report for 1998.

Annual Report 1999 presented to the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia

On April 20, 2000 Mr. Bizjak presented his Annual Report for 1999 to the Speaker of the Slovene National Assembly.

The Annual Report of the ombudsman for 1999 is the fifth report from this institution and the last in the term of office of the first Human Rights Ombudsman. Although the format is similar to previous reports it draws attention to several new problems and additional proposals and justifications for the resolution of those which the Ombudsman has already presented. The abridged annual report in English (available on www.varuh-rs.si) contains the majority of cases from the original version in Slovenian. We have omitted only certain detailed points of argumentation and specific cases from chapter three, and the descriptions of certain cases dealt with. In the assessment of the state of human rights and legal security in the country, contained in the first chapter, a review of identified shortcomings by individual branches of authority and by areas of operation of the state and local communities is presented. Here the Ombudsman proceeds from the concept of a state based on the rule of law and within this framework the need for integral and executable regulations and efficient implementation of the same. Dependent on these are the position of the individual, the possibility of exercising his rights, and the protection of these rights. Chapter Two aims to shed light on certain aspects of problems encountered by the more vulnerable groups of the population. There are summarised certain findings relating to the position of the elderly, the disabled, children and women, and the exercising of their rights. In Chapter Three there are described, as is now customary, problems dealt with, by individual sectors. In Chapter Four information on the method and scope of the work of the institution itself, including statistical data are provided. Chapter Five contains some of the more interesting cases dealt with.

Some assessments of the respecting of human rights and legal security in the country

The Ombudsman claims in his Annual Report for 1999 that the implementation of legislation is inconsistent and that this has considerable consequences for legal security as regulation is changing quickly. Numerous regulations are deficient and discordant with the current legislation and these gaps are being fixed too slowly. Mr. Bizjak warns of a number of bills that are vital for the security of human rights, but have still not been passed. This includes the law on the fund for the payment of war compensation, the labour relations act, a law governing the protection of rights in the area of mental health, a law on the supervision of intelligence and security activities, and a law on free legal aid. The passing of the latter is even more important in the conditions which have arisen since the entering into force of the new Civil Procedure Act - which in certain proceedings requires compulsory representation by a lawyer. At the same time the Ombudsman finds that some important laws were nevertheless passed over the past year, in particular the Asylum Act, a law on the regulation of the status of the citizens of the other successor states of the former Yugoslavia, the general administrative and civil procedure act, and the legal regulation of the maintenance fund.

In concern to the executive branch, the Ombudsman established that the majority of the problems that concern individuals are a result of unsuitable, ineffective and sometimes illegal activity. It is worrying that reforms of the public administration move into an unclear future. The Ombudsman came to the conclusion that with the working of the public administration the regulations usually go to the detriment of an individual, especially when the regulations are unclear and deficient. The Ombudsman plays a great role in these and in many cases achieves the reversal of such interpretations which are made to the detriment of an individual.

Concerning the legal authority, once again in 1999 the Ombudsman found that proceedings in many courts are lasting an unreasonable length of time. Despite the resolution of the National Assembly there is still no all-embracing programme to remove backlogs. The problem is a complex one which cannot be solved overnight. For this reason it is all the more important that those responsible in the executive and judicial branches of authority prepare a plan of all measures of a legislative, organisational, personnel and financial nature which will ensure the normalisation of the situation in due time. In the area of legislation it will be necessary to continue modifying material, procedural and organisational legislation. The introduction of arbitration and conciliation are a vital element of seeking solutions here.

INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS

Working visit of the Albanian Ombudsman to the Ombudsman of Slovenia

In co-operation with OSCE/ODIHR Slovene Ombudsman hosted in his office in Ljubljana from April 3 to 7, 2000 the Ombudsman of the Republic of Albania Mr. Ermir Dobjani and his three deputies (commissioners). Albanian Ombudsman is in the process of establishing his office therefore was the main aim of his working visit to the office of Mr. Bizjak to get acquainted with the structure and work of the Ombudsman institution in Slovenia.

Other international activities

Slovene ombudsman also participated at the 1st Council of Europe Round Table with National Human Rights Institutions/3rd European Meeting of National Institutions (Strasbourg), at the Conference on Ethics in Public Administration in Bratislava, at the Conference on the role of National Human Rights Institutions in Montenegro, and at the Conference on the Role and Institution of Ombudsman in Prague.

Newsletter No. 21