 The 1997 Annual Report on the state of human rights in Slovenia, prepared by The Human Rights Ombudsman Mr. Ivan Bizjak, was discussed in Slovene parliament (National Assembly) on March 17, 1999. The 200-page report has been waiting on the parliamentary benches for almost a year.
The key, system-related problems that appeared in the 1997 report were still not resolved in 1998, Slovenia's Ombudsman said in his speech in the parliament. There has been no substantial progress in the area of the legislature, and the lengthy nature of legal and administrative procedures remains the feature of the ombudsman's statistics. The situation has improved in the processing of applications for citizenship and some new laws pertaining to human rights have been adopted, but the majority of them are still waiting to be prepared and passed.
Ombudsman's general assessment is that unfortunately no progress has been made in essential and most delicate areas that affect most people. That brings up again the question whether those in charge have not identified the major priority tasks regarding the issue or they have been unsuccessful in implementing them, Mr. Bizjak pointed out. In his opinion both alternatives are unacceptable as that means that the situation concerning the problems he is constantly warning of is in no way improving. At the same time one wonders about the responsibility of those who should contribute to it as it is impossible to accept the opinion that nothing can be done, the ombudsman stated.
Ombudsman does not expect the priorities in adopting the EU's legislation will check other legislation. He stressed the issue of human rights itself was one of the key issues in Slovenia's accession to the Union. It means human rights are no less important in the aspect of integration into the EU as those explicitly mentioned in the European programme. The legislators are obliged to do everything in their power to speed up the parliamentary procedure, Ombudsman said. He expects they will ask the government to prepare the necessary legislation promptly.
