Today, 19 December 2023, is the 13th Pro Bono Legal Aid Day organised by the Bar Association of Slovenia (OZS). This year, the OZS's honorary patron is Ombudsman Peter Svetina. For years, the Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia (the Ombudsman) has been emphasising the importance of accessibility of all forms of assistance to people, including free legal aid as one of the fundamental aids in protecting people's rights. "When a person finds himself in a maze of procedures, he needs a person with the right skills. Many people do not know where to turn, so free legal aid can be the first step in protecting their rights," stresses the Ombudsman.
In his work, the Ombudsman often perceives the plight of people who seek free legal aid but are not entitled to it because they do not meet the legal conditions under the Law on Free Legal Aid, or because they do not receive it for various reasons. In these cases, some NGOs, associations and individuals are of great help to individuals, providing various forms of legal aid through their advisory activities and helping people to enforce their rights and, in particular, to raise awareness.
The Ombudsman continues to find that the court decision-making procedures for entitlement to free legal aid are too long. The Ombudsman is committed to ensuring that the State makes free legal aid of good quality and more widely available, and that it is made available to clients in a timely manner. Although many municipalities also provide free legal aid within their services, the Ombudsman considers that more could be done to ensure legal certainty and access to adequate legal aid for the population. The need for free legal aid, in the Ombudsman's view, goes beyond the statutory framework and would require a review of the statutory provisions on the current solutions. The Ombudsman considers the action of the Slovenian Bar Association and its members to be a pebble in the mosaic of protecting people's rights, which is necessary but not sufficient.
"First legal advice should be available quickly and to the person who needs it, and should respect the principle of equality before the law. The person should be informed about the appropriate solutions to protect and enforce his or her rights, and the aim should be to reduce the burden on the courts and to remove administrative obstacles, which is why it is necessary to take into account certain alternative forms of resolving potential disputes (consultation of the parties to the dispute and assessment of the reasonableness of the dispute, out-of-court settlements, mediation, etc.)," says Ombudsman Svetina.
With the Pro Bono Day, the OZS marks an important date in its history, when it transformed itself from a regional to a national chamber. In order to mark this day in a solemn and useful way, Slovenian lawyers decided several years ago to offer free legal aid on this occasion. This is mainly aimed at those who, due to their difficult financial situation, would otherwise not seek legal assistance. In accordance with the Code of Ethics for the Legal Profession, the vast majority of lawyers also regularly help people free of charge, but the Pro Bono Legal Aid Day is a special extra day, dedicated solely to such activities, on which a large number of lawyers across the country offer their legal assistance free of charge to clients in a simultaneous and organised manner.
