On 19 April 2023, the Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina introduced to the diplomats of the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs the role of the institution of the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia and its competences. He presented his assessment of the state of human rights in Slovenia and spoke about the most frequent challenges the institution faces in its work. “The scope of Ombudsman’s work is quite extensive as we cover no less than 24 fields, including the treatment of vulnerable groups of citizens and semantic areas of human rights. Our competences are against state bodies, local self-governing bodies, and bearers of public authority. In our work we are governed by the constitution, international law, and Slovenian laws,” emphasised Ombudsman Svetina at the presentation.

Even though the competences of the Ombudsman are limited, since 2017, with the amendment of the Human Rights Ombudsman Act and especially since January 2021, when the institution of the Ombudsman became the national institution for human rights with A status according to Paris Principles of the United Nations, the Ombudsman has been able to bring attention to systematic problems and make international reports and analyses. “As the head of the Slovenian national institution for human rights I often stress the importance of global responsibility. In different countries around the world, we unfortunately still encounter systematic and gross violations. In the field of human rights constant attention is necessary because every violation of rights marks an individual and influences their life. National institutions for human rights are the critic and motivator of the authorities and key actors in the protection and promotion of the rule of law in our respective countries,” added Ombudsman Svetina.

The Human Rights Ombudsman is a valued international partner since they strive with their work to spread a culture of respect for human rights, on the national and regional and international levels. In December 2021, Ombudsman Peter Svetina was unanimously elected to the Board of Directors for Europe within the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI), and recently became a member of the Advisory Board of this international ombudsman organisation. “In the IOI we strive to ensure that the position of ombudsman’s institutions is also appropriately acknowledged on the level of the United Nations, just as we do for the national institutions for human rights. We have already written to the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs about this initiative,” concluded Ombudsman Svetina.