Publications, documents, statements

The National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, pursuant to Articles 272 and 111 of the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly (Uradni list RS, Nos. 35/02 and 60/04), at its session on 27 October 2005, after considering the Tenth Regular Annual Report of the Human Rights Ombudsman for the year 2004, adopted the following

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

 

I. Constitutional rights

1. The Government should use adequate measures to ensure, in practice and everyday life, efficient exercise of the special rights of the constitutionally recognised national minorities, as provided for by the Constitution and relevant laws.

2. The Government should study the possibilities of a regulatory frame governing special rights of the Roma community, including the policies of education, housing, social care, and employment.

3. The Government should study the possibilities of monitoring the state aid to religious communities in the Republic of Slovenia.

4. The Government should promptly draft amendments to the electoral law in order to eliminate incompatibility with the Constitution as regards methods of establishing the postal vote results, and regulate the method of exercising the right to vote for citizens abroad - the procedure of voting at diplomatic – consular missions of the Republic of Slovenia, the extent of persons entitled to postal voting; and ensure equal opportunities in candidacy procedures for both sexes. The Government should use appropriate measures to facilitate access of disabled persons to the polling stations.

II. Restrictions of personal freedom

5. All the bodies involved in the criminal procedure should strictly abide by laws which guarantee the respect and protection of human rights, especially in the preliminary criminal procedure. They should bear in mind that detention should be limited to the minimum necessary time, and should be done in the ways which guarantee the respect of privacy and human dignity.

6. The Government should promptly draft a suitable legal framework to ensure a comprehensive regulation of the protection of the mental patients’ rights.

III. Justice

7. The Government should promptly prepare the Act ratifying the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

8. The Government, courts and other judiciary bodies should adopt additional measures within their competence to guarantee the right to a trial within a reasonable time, with a particular stress on the quality and efficiency of judicial treatment at all levels of decision-making at courts.

9. The Government and courts should ensure the conditions, within their competence, for adequate control and more efficient work of judicial bailiffs and liquidators.

10. The Ministry of Justice should analyse the performance of disciplinary bodies of the Bar Association of Slovenia in establishing and deliberating on the infringements of attorneys’ duties and, where appropriate, adopt suitable measures to ensure strict respect of the rules of professional conduct.

11. The Bar Association of Slovenia should inform the notifiers on all the findings related to their notification, and on the results of concrete procedures.

IV. Police procedures

12. The Government should ensure quality performance of police duties, and its strict compliance with the legal guarantees in the preliminary criminal procedure or in the procedure of police apprehension, and in the criminal procedure.

V. Administrative matters

13. The Ministry of Public Administration should adopt, in cooperation with the competent line ministries, appropriate measures to reduce backlogs and speed up the handling of administrative cases, thus ensuring the resolution of administrative cases at the first and the second instance within the statutory time limits.

14. The Ministry of Finance should ensure efficient information system for taxes and contributions which would guarantee complete, updated and accurate data on the taxpayers’ paid and outstanding liabilities.

15. The Government and the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning should prepare a proposal of uniform solutions to assess the compensation for the use of unexploited building land, which will take into account the actual use of lands until the envisaged use is made possible.

16. The Government and the competent ministries should with further efficient measures and activities ensure prompt resolution of the outstanding denationalization claims. In doing so it should consider if the law sufficiently protect the rights of former janitors and former holders of housing rights in denationalised apartments.

17. The Government should encourage a speeding up of procedures and decisions on claims under the Redressing of Injustices Act, and take a final position regarding the compensation for damages incurred by material victims, prisoners of war, and persons mobilised by the German army against their will.

18. The Government and the Ministry of the Interior should promptly prepare a draft Constitutional law to regulate the position of ‘the erased’.

VI. Labour relationships and unemployment

19. The Government should study the adequacy of the applicable regulations on over-indebtedness, compulsory settlement and liquidation in terms of adequate protection of the employees in relation to economic agents.

VII. Pension and disability insurance

20. The Government should adopt all the necessary measures to ensure as early as possible the setting up of common records of the calculated and paid contributions for the pension and disability insurance of each individual beneficiary, and guarantee updated and efficient control of payments.

21. The Government should promptly ensure and propose to the National Assembly the solutions for redressing injustice to pension recipients who acquired part of their seniority before the Slovenian independence by working for legal entities from the republics of the former Yugoslavia, in line with the principle that this seniority grants them equal position and rights as to other beneficiaries from Slovenia.

VIII. Health insurance and health care

22. The Government should regulate the contents and the procedure of exercising the rights for the patients and the insured persons.

23. The Government should adopt the necessary measures to ensure that compulsory health insurance include, as family members, also the students under part-time education.

24. The Government of the Republic of Slovenia should study the option that the amended legislation defines in detail the patients’ right of insight into their health file, and the possibility for close relatives to have insight into his health file.

25. The Government of the Republic of Slovenia or the competent ministry should study the possibility of amending the legislation so that the insured persons who are entitled to compensation for absence from work a maximum of 30 days after the termination of the labour relationship (if the latter terminates during their sick leave), include also the insured persons who pursue independent economic or professional activity as a sole source, or major occupation.

26. The Government of the Republic of Slovenia should take the necessary steps so that the compensation for nursing a close family member does not depend only on the common household or common residence, but that the condition for exercising the rights is the education and protection of the child.

27. The Government of the Republic of Slovenia should study the possibility that persons who are being treated for addiction to illicit drugs should be entitled to salary compensation during the period of their social rehabilitation.

28. The Government of the Republic of Slovenia or the competent ministry should upon drafting amendments to the Health Care and Health Insurance Act review the criteria and the conditions for including the persons, for whom the charges under the compulsory health insurance are paid by municipalities.

IX. Social security

29. In planning the policy of social relationships and adopting the measures for its implementation, the Government should adopt such measures that would mitigate the negative effects of social stratification.

X. Protection of children’s rights

30. The Government should prepare a framework law dealing with the problems of family violence, and propose adequate solutions.

31. The Government should study the possibilities for amending the legislation that would extend the right to child support compensation until children have completed their education.

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