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Varuh človekovih pravic

SLOVENIA

OMBUDSMAN FOR CHILDREN

As early as the parliamentary discussion of annual reports in June 2001 the Human Rights Ombudsman Matjaž Hanžek set out his priorities, placing special emphasis on the intensification of efforts aimed at protecting and assisting children. Parliament endorsed his desire to increase the number of employees working largely with issues connected with children and other related social problems. Two experts in the sphere of social rights and children's rights have been newly employed by the office.
Following the decision to devote more attention to children's rights, the Ombudsman invited all children on 5 October, during Children's Week, to come to an Open Day for a short chat. He told them about his work and asked them to actively cooperate in raising the awareness of their rights and exercising them, as well as in formulating solutions when these rights are infringed. The children also called attention to some ambiguous points relating to the protection of their rights and enquired about how one appeals to the Ombudsman; they also put forward some concrete initiatives. They expressed a desire for more open days and expressed their desire to closely cooperate with the Ombudsman. The open day revealed that adults are also interested in the provision of guidance and education about the protection of children's rights.
He responded to the initiatives put forward by his young guests very enthusiastically. He succeeded to talk the children's newspapers Ciciban and Cicido into promoting and providing information on rights; in addition, a brief profile of the Ombudsman was published in a supplement to the January editions of these newspapers, called "For Parents". He spoke on the protection of the children and young people's rights during a speech at the 12th session of the children's parliament, organised at the end of January.

OMBUDSMAN CALLS ATTENTION TO PROBLEMS WITH SECONDARY LEGISLATION

In the middle of January the Ombudsman sent the government a memorandum pointing out that it often adopts laws that subsequently cannot be put into practice because the relevant secondary legislation (executive regulations) is not adopted. http://www.varuh-rs.si/cgi/teksti-slo.cgi?podzakkazang
Every year the Ombudsman has discovered inconsistencies in the formulation of the bases for executive regulations and in their subsequent adoption, which he described in the 1995-2000 Report, dealing with these issues http://www.varuh-rs.si/cgi/teksti-slo.cgi?podzakpregledang
The Ombudsman proposed that the government adopt the measures required to rectify the current situation and to improve the process of determining, preparing and implementing executive regulations at all levels in the future.

THE PROBLEM OF TENANTS IN DENATIONALISED HOUSING

In a special report on tenants living in denationalised housing http://www.varuh-rs.si/cgi/teksti-eng.cgi?denackazalo the Ombudsman came to the conclusion that the state, which is responsible for the present situation in this field (more specifically the government and the Ministry of the Environment) has not, in the decade since the appearance of this problem, found any satisfactory solutions to the ongoing conflict between tenants and owners of denationalised housing. This conflict has its roots in the legal solutions of 1991 that were not sufficiently thought through at the time. The Ombudsman wanted his special report on the matter to trigger a discussion and especially to encourage the search for ways to solve these problems. He therefore suggested that his report be heard before a competent working body of interested parties in the National Assembly, who could then charge the government with the task of preparing suitable legal and other measures, taking into account the Ombudsman's proposals.

SUCCESSFUL MEDIATION WITH THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY

The Muslim community registered a complaint with the ombudsman during the year because RTV Slovenia refused to allow them free airtime to address their community during Ramadan - a privilege granted to the Catholic, Serb Orthodox, and Protestant communities during their respective religious holidays. The ombudsman pursued the complaint with TV Slovenia, which agreed to grant airtime to the Muslim community for this purpose in 2002.
The US Department of State also reported on the matter in its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

As part of the Stability Pact Project on Independent National Human Rights Institutions, including ombudsman institutions, the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia organised, in cooperation with the Council of Europe, an International Conference on "The Relationship between Ombudsmen and Judicial Bodies". The meeting was held on 12 - 13 November 2001 in the Slon Hotel, Ljubljana and co-sponsored by the generous contribution of the Government of Sweden.
The Conference enabled ombudsmen, representatives of judicatory and intergovernmental organisations in the region and outside to compare experiences and recommend the most effective methods of preventing violations of human rights in this field.
The issues dealt with at the conference fell under two thematic headings:
1. Ombudsmen and the possibilities of supervision of the courts.
This topic covered general questions concerning the relationship between ombudsmen and judicial bodies, particularly the possibility of taking steps in the case of tackling the problems of unreasonably lengthy court procedures and other irregularities in the judicial process. Also discussed were the indirect possibilities of influencing the courts via recommendations to the minister of justice, the judicial council or superior courts. We compared experiences of the role of ombudsman as an amicus curiae. We attempted to establish what statutory powers were most appropriate in order for the ombudsman effectively to carry out his role in this field.
2. Powers of the ombudsman in relation to the constitutional court Within the context of this topic conference participants discussed the ombudsman's ability to take steps in cases where discrepancies between regulations and the constitution are identified. Cases where the ombudsman appears before such courts as the proposer of proceedings (constitutional complaint) were also discussed.

Conclusions of the conference are on the web page http://www.varuh-rs.si/cgi/teksti-eng.cgi?zakljang

ABOUT ETHNIC DISCRIMINATION AT THE MEETING BETWEEN ETHNIC COMMUNITIES AND THE OMBUDSMAN OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

In February the Human Rights' Ombudsman Matjaž Hanžek hosted his counterpart from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Frank Orton:
http://www.ohro.ba/articles_ba/article.php?lit_id=ombud_ba
At the Office of the Human Rights' Ombudsman we took the opportunity to prepare a meeting with representatives of more than 20 ethnic communities living in Slovenia. The ethnic communities, including Germans, Serbs, Macedonians, Bosnians, Croatians and Romanians informed the two Ombudsmen of their problems.
The Slovenian Ombudsman Matjaž Hanžek stressed that ignorance about people that are different to us causes fear and intolerance towards other people. He said that latent conflict between ethnic groups in Slovenia is present and that it could only be solved by constant learning about differences among us.
Mr Frank Orton welcomed the idea of a working group for ethnic minorities, which has also been endorsed by one of the United Nations resolutions. He appealed to his guests not to be content simply with statements from the authorities that they are aware of the problems of ethnic minorities and that it is important for them to be regularly notified of these problems; rather, the state should be forced to begin to address them. "Generally speaking, when it comes to human rights there are too many fine words, reports or conventions, and far too little focus on implementing already adopted documents." warned Mr Orton.

HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN TAKES PART IN ESTABLISHING HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN'S OFFICE IN MONTENEGRO

On 4-5 February the Deputy ombudsman Jernej Rovšek participated in an international conference on possible models for the institution of Ombudsman in Montenegro. Conference participants showed considerable interest in the Slovenian Ombudsman's operations, on which nations of the region look as a model of success among countries in transition. The Deputy ombudsman was received as special guest of the President of the Montenegrin Assembly Vesna Perović who also expressed an interest in cooperation in the preparation of legislation to found an Ombudsman in Montenegro. In principle this already has the political consensus of Montenegro's parliamentary parties.

THE SLOVENE HUMAN RIGHTS' OMBUDSMAN VISITS KOSOVO

From 20-22 February representatives of the Slovene Human Rights' Ombudsman were invited by colleagues on a working visit to Kosovo. The director of Human Rights' Ombudsman's expert services Tone Dolčič and independent expert associate Ivan Šelih gave a presentation to their counterparts from Kosovo on how the Human Rights' Ombudsman operates within the state administration system in Slovenia, also outlining the legislative framework and rules of operation. Their presentation went on to cover the Ombudsman's operational methods, particularly in the area of limiting personal freedoms, political procedures and the health system. The visit of the Slovene representatives was seen as useful contribution to the development of the relatively new institution for the protection of human rights in Kosovo.

SLOVENIAN HUMAN RIGHTS' OMBUDSMAN EXPERIENCE EXPEDIENT FOR AN OMBUDSMAN'S OFFICE IN SLOVAKIA

In March a delegation of the Constitutional Law Committee of the Slovakian National Council visited the Human Rights' Ombudsman to find out about the organisation and operation of the Slovenian Ombudsman.
A representative of the delegation informed the Ombudsman of the progress towards the establishment of a Slovakian Ombudsman's Office and expressed his hope that Slovenia's experience would help to fully fill in the void that currently exists.

The Ombudsman Matjaž Hanžek gave his guests a short presentation of the seven years of experience of the Slovenian Ombudsman's Office and expressed his desire to meet his newly-elected Slovakian counterpart in the near future.

Varuh človekovih pravic

SLOVENIA

OMBUDSMAN FOR CHILDREN

As early as the parliamentary discussion of annual reports in June 2001 the Human Rights Ombudsman Matjaž Hanžek set out his priorities, placing special emphasis on the intensification of efforts aimed at protecting and assisting children. Parliament endorsed his desire to increase the number of employees working largely with issues connected with children and other related social problems. Two experts in the sphere of social rights and children's rights have been newly employed by the office.
Following the decision to devote more attention to children's rights, the Ombudsman invited all children on 5 October, during Children's Week, to come to an Open Day for a short chat. He told them about his work and asked them to actively cooperate in raising the awareness of their rights and exercising them, as well as in formulating solutions when these rights are infringed. The children also called attention to some ambiguous points relating to the protection of their rights and enquired about how one appeals to the Ombudsman; they also put forward some concrete initiatives. They expressed a desire for more open days and expressed their desire to closely cooperate with the Ombudsman. The open day revealed that adults are also interested in the provision of guidance and education about the protection of children's rights.
He responded to the initiatives put forward by his young guests very enthusiastically. He succeeded to talk the children's newspapers Ciciban and Cicido into promoting and providing information on rights; in addition, a brief profile of the Ombudsman was published in a supplement to the January editions of these newspapers, called "For Parents". He spoke on the protection of the children and young people's rights during a speech at the 12th session of the children's parliament, organised at the end of January.

OMBUDSMAN CALLS ATTENTION TO PROBLEMS WITH SECONDARY LEGISLATION

In the middle of January the Ombudsman sent the government a memorandum pointing out that it often adopts laws that subsequently cannot be put into practice because the relevant secondary legislation (executive regulations) is not adopted. http://www.varuh-rs.si/cgi/teksti-slo.cgi?podzakkazang
Every year the Ombudsman has discovered inconsistencies in the formulation of the bases for executive regulations and in their subsequent adoption, which he described in the 1995-2000 Report, dealing with these issues http://www.varuh-rs.si/cgi/teksti-slo.cgi?podzakpregledang
The Ombudsman proposed that the government adopt the measures required to rectify the current situation and to improve the process of determining, preparing and implementing executive regulations at all levels in the future.

THE PROBLEM OF TENANTS IN DENATIONALISED HOUSING

In a special report on tenants living in denationalised housing http://www.varuh-rs.si/cgi/teksti-eng.cgi?denackazalo the Ombudsman came to the conclusion that the state, which is responsible for the present situation in this field (more specifically the government and the Ministry of the Environment) has not, in the decade since the appearance of this problem, found any satisfactory solutions to the ongoing conflict between tenants and owners of denationalised housing. This conflict has its roots in the legal solutions of 1991 that were not sufficiently thought through at the time. The Ombudsman wanted his special report on the matter to trigger a discussion and especially to encourage the search for ways to solve these problems. He therefore suggested that his report be heard before a competent working body of interested parties in the National Assembly, who could then charge the government with the task of preparing suitable legal and other measures, taking into account the Ombudsman's proposals.

SUCCESSFUL MEDIATION WITH THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY

The Muslim community registered a complaint with the ombudsman during the year because RTV Slovenia refused to allow them free airtime to address their community during Ramadan - a privilege granted to the Catholic, Serb Orthodox, and Protestant communities during their respective religious holidays. The ombudsman pursued the complaint with TV Slovenia, which agreed to grant airtime to the Muslim community for this purpose in 2002.
The US Department of State also reported on the matter in its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

As part of the Stability Pact Project on Independent National Human Rights Institutions, including ombudsman institutions, the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia organised, in cooperation with the Council of Europe, an International Conference on "The Relationship between Ombudsmen and Judicial Bodies". The meeting was held on 12 - 13 November 2001 in the Slon Hotel, Ljubljana and co-sponsored by the generous contribution of the Government of Sweden.
The Conference enabled ombudsmen, representatives of judicatory and intergovernmental organisations in the region and outside to compare experiences and recommend the most effective methods of preventing violations of human rights in this field.
The issues dealt with at the conference fell under two thematic headings:
1. Ombudsmen and the possibilities of supervision of the courts.
This topic covered general questions concerning the relationship between ombudsmen and judicial bodies, particularly the possibility of taking steps in the case of tackling the problems of unreasonably lengthy court procedures and other irregularities in the judicial process. Also discussed were the indirect possibilities of influencing the courts via recommendations to the minister of justice, the judicial council or superior courts. We compared experiences of the role of ombudsman as an amicus curiae. We attempted to establish what statutory powers were most appropriate in order for the ombudsman effectively to carry out his role in this field.
2. Powers of the ombudsman in relation to the constitutional court Within the context of this topic conference participants discussed the ombudsman's ability to take steps in cases where discrepancies between regulations and the constitution are identified. Cases where the ombudsman appears before such courts as the proposer of proceedings (constitutional complaint) were also discussed.

Conclusions of the conference are on the web page http://www.varuh-rs.si/cgi/teksti-eng.cgi?zakljang

ABOUT ETHNIC DISCRIMINATION AT THE MEETING BETWEEN ETHNIC COMMUNITIES AND THE OMBUDSMAN OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

In February the Human Rights' Ombudsman Matjaž Hanžek hosted his counterpart from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Frank Orton:
http://www.ohro.ba/articles_ba/article.php?lit_id=ombud_ba
At the Office of the Human Rights' Ombudsman we took the opportunity to prepare a meeting with representatives of more than 20 ethnic communities living in Slovenia. The ethnic communities, including Germans, Serbs, Macedonians, Bosnians, Croatians and Romanians informed the two Ombudsmen of their problems.
The Slovenian Ombudsman Matjaž Hanžek stressed that ignorance about people that are different to us causes fear and intolerance towards other people. He said that latent conflict between ethnic groups in Slovenia is present and that it could only be solved by constant learning about differences among us.
Mr Frank Orton welcomed the idea of a working group for ethnic minorities, which has also been endorsed by one of the United Nations resolutions. He appealed to his guests not to be content simply with statements from the authorities that they are aware of the problems of ethnic minorities and that it is important for them to be regularly notified of these problems; rather, the state should be forced to begin to address them. "Generally speaking, when it comes to human rights there are too many fine words, reports or conventions, and far too little focus on implementing already adopted documents." warned Mr Orton.

HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN TAKES PART IN ESTABLISHING HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN'S OFFICE IN MONTENEGRO

On 4-5 February the Deputy ombudsman Jernej Rovšek participated in an international conference on possible models for the institution of Ombudsman in Montenegro. Conference participants showed considerable interest in the Slovenian Ombudsman's operations, on which nations of the region look as a model of success among countries in transition. The Deputy ombudsman was received as special guest of the President of the Montenegrin Assembly Vesna Peroviæ who also expressed an interest in cooperation in the preparation of legislation to found an Ombudsman in Montenegro. In principle this already has the political consensus of Montenegro's parliamentary parties.

THE SLOVENE HUMAN RIGHTS' OMBUDSMAN VISITS KOSOVO

From 20-22 February representatives of the Slovene Human Rights' Ombudsman were invited by colleagues on a working visit to Kosovo. The director of Human Rights' Ombudsman's expert services Tone Dolčič and independent expert associate Ivan Šelih gave a presentation to their counterparts from Kosovo on how the Human Rights' Ombudsman operates within the state administration system in Slovenia, also outlining the legislative framework and rules of operation. Their presentation went on to cover the Ombudsman's operational methods, particularly in the area of limiting personal freedoms, political procedures and the health system. The visit of the Slovene representatives was seen as useful contribution to the development of the relatively new institution for the protection of human rights in Kosovo.

SLOVENIAN HUMAN RIGHTS' OMBUDSMAN EXPERIENCE EXPEDIENT FOR AN OMBUDSMAN'S OFFICE IN SLOVAKIA

In March a delegation of the Constitutional Law Committee of the Slovakian National Council visited the Human Rights' Ombudsman to find out about the organisation and operation of the Slovenian Ombudsman.
A representative of the delegation informed the Ombudsman of the progress towards the establishment of a Slovakian Ombudsman's Office and expressed his hope that Slovenia's experience would help to fully fill in the void that currently exists.

The Ombudsman Matjaž Hanžek gave his guests a short presentation of the seven years of experience of the Slovenian Ombudsman's Office and expressed his desire to meet his newly-elected Slovakian counterpart in the near future.