Varuh ДЌlovekovih pravic

Miha Horvat

Deputy ombudsman Miha Horvat

Deputy Ombudsman

Fields of work:

  • equality before the law and prohibition of discrimination
  • protection of dignity, personal rights, safety and privacy
  • freedom of conscience and religious communities
  • freedom of expression
  • assembly and association, participation in the management of public affairs
  • national and ethnic communities
  • foreigners
  • Center for Human Rights
  • International relations

Biography:

  • In 2006, he was awarded the title of university graduate in political science at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Ljubljana, whereupon he took up studies of law. In 2017, he obtained the title of Master of Laws and is currently completing his doctoral studies in law.
  • He joined the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia in 2007. In addition to dealing with initiatives from individuals, he joined the team of staff in charge of inspecting places of detention (such as prisons, psychiatric wards under special supervision and protected wards of social welfare institutions) in 2008, when the Ombudsman started carrying out the tasks of the national preventive mechanism under the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
  • In 2018, he became also the head of the Centre for Human Rights as a special internal organisational unit of the Ombudsman’s Office, the tasks of which include promoting, informing, educating, training, and preparing analyses and reports regarding individual fields of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms.
  • Among other things, he also drew up a number of motions in cases in which the Ombudsman appeared before the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia. He also led the Ombudsman’s Office’s preparations for obtaining the A-status under the Paris Principles and successfully defended the written application before the Accreditation Committee at the end of 2020.
  • 29 March 2016 - deputies of the National Assembly appoint him deputy ombudsman at the suggestion of the then ombudsman Vlasta Nussdorfer
  • In 2017, he obtains the professional title of Master of Law
  • 16 December 2021 - deputies of the National Assembly, this time on the proposal of the Ombudsman Peter Svetina, appoint him as a deputy again (his term started on 30 March 2022)