Human Rights Ombudsman, Dr Zdenka Čebašek–Travnik, handed over her annual Ombudsman's report for 2009 to the President of the National Assembly, Dr Pavel Gantar on Monday 26 July 2010. 

After the handover, which took place in the premises of the National Assembly, the President of the National Assembly and the Ombudsman addressed the public.

The Ombudsman presented the annual report in more detail at a press conference in the premises of the institution of the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia in Ljubljana.

Limited access to education, health and employment has been highlighted as the most pressing issue in the 2009 annual report. The state is not efficient in reacting to the changing economic environment, said Ombudsman Dr Zdenka Cebasek - Travnik.

Dr Cebasek - Travnik went as far as saying that Slovenia risked ceasing to be a welfare state considering that access to public goods is becoming difficult for some.

More specifically, she pointed to the situation of workers who want to sue their employers for unpaid wages.

"They should hire a lawyer but they don't have the means to do it...They often miss deadlines for appeals," she noted.

The report mentions violations of the right to living in a healthy environment, discrimination of minorities, workplace mobbing and violence against institutionalised persons, most notably the elderly.

The ombudsman also pointed to children's rights violations, including unreasonable court decisions, and children who lack health insurance.

More broadly, Gantar and Cebasek Travnik agreed that the public needed to take part in the legislative procedure, especially in the earlier phases, before laws and regulations make it to parliament.

"This area should be regulated in a special law," Gantar said.