The Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia (Ombudsman) dealt with various complaints from people who contacted him regarding the protection of the human rights of persons with disabilities between January and March 2025. He assisted the complainants with explanations about their rights and legislation, addressed recommendations to the competent authorities for better implementation of rights, and publicly drew attention to the rights of persons with disabilities. The following is an overview of the completed consideration of complaints and various public activities.
Meeting with the Employment Service of the Republic of Slovenia regarding the exercise of the rights of people with disabilities
On 20 February 2025, at a meeting with the Employment Service of the Republic of Slovenia (ZRSZ), the Ombudsman discussed the implementation of Recommendation No. 12 (2023), which concerns the right to compensation for protected categories of employees in the event of unlawful termination of an employment contract. The Service presented its efforts to alter the start of the deadline for filing a lawsuit and a leaflet campaign for informing employees. The Ombudsman also highlighted the issue of inconsistent behaviour of social work centres in procedures for transitioning from temporary to permanent unemployment status and emphasised the importance of coordinated cooperation between the ZRSZ and social work centres.
Successful intervention by the Ombudsman regarding the definition of students with special needs
The Ombudsman was alerted to the controversial definition of students with special needs in the proposal for the new Higher Education Act, which could exclude students with autism spectrum disorders from the scope of beneficiaries. He therefore sent a letter to the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation calling for a change, in which he stressed the importance of a precise and inclusive definition in accordance with Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In its response, the Ministry informed the Ombudsman that it had corrected the wording and that the new proposal for the Act explicitly includes students with autism spectrum disorders. The Ombudsman welcomes the change and expects it to be adopted in this form in the further legislative process.
Delay in deciding on the right to a family member caregiver
The Ombudsman considered the complaint of a candidate for a family carer, who, together with her mother, the applicant for recognition of the right to a family carer, had been waiting for a decision from the Social Work Centre (CSD) for more than five months. The Ombudsman found that the delay was a consequence of the lengthy process of obtaining expert opinions by the Pension and Disability Insurance Institute of Slovenia (ZPIZ), which, due to the large number of cases, resolved the proceedings with a delay. Although the decision of the CSD in this case was ultimately positive, the Ombudsman found a violation of the right to social security and the principle of good administration. The ZPIZ informed the Ombudsman that it had already taken measures to eliminate the backlog. The Ombudsman stressed that it is extremely important for this right to be decided on in a timely manner, as the consequences of delays for individuals can be very serious.
Warning regarding the role of disability committees in deciding on assistance and service allowances
The Ombudsman considered the complaint of a disabled person, who pointed out that the ZPIZ did not take into account his health condition when deciding on the allowance for assistance and service, as he cannot live without external help. The complaint initiated legal proceedings against the ZPIZ decision. The Ombudsman explained to him that the ZPIZ decides on the basis of the opinion of expert bodies, but must comprehensively assess all evidence. Disability commissions only provide an expert opinion based on existing medical documentation, but do not carry out diagnostics. The complainant once again raised the issue of excessive influence of expert bodies on final decisions, which the Ombudsman has repeatedly warned about and called for changes. He stressed that legal recourse is available, but is often lengthy and associated with high costs for the individual.
Due to the uncoordinated actions of the ZPIZ and ZZZS, the complainant suffered damage when claiming a disability pension
The Ombudsman considered a well-founded complaint from a self-employed person who suffered material damage due to the unlawful and inconsistent conduct of the ZPIZ and the Health Insurance Institute of Slovenia (ZZZS) when exercising her right to a disability pension. Due to delays and inadequate coordination between the competent authorities, the complainant lost all her social insurance rights between 30 January and 19 February 2024, despite the fact that she was on sick leave the entire time and her disability pension was granted retroactively. After inquiries with the ZPIZ, ZZZS, and AJPES, the Ombudsman highlighted several violations of the principles of good administration, legal certainty, and procedural economy and called on the competent authorities to ensure coordinated and lawful conduct in comparable cases in the future.
Warning regarding the incompatibility of legislation with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
The Ombudsman considered the complaint of a person with disabilities who, despite the opinions of several specialists, was not recognised as a disabled person. The complainant asked for assistance in exercising the rights arising from this. The Ombudsman addressed a call to the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities (MDDSZ) to harmonise the legislation with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), as the current medical model leads to unequal treatment of persons with the same disabilities. The MDDSZ stated that the Pension and Disability Insurance Act (ZPIZ-2) is being revised, but the Ombudsman emphasised that this can only be the first step towards eliminating the discrepancies. The complainant was advised to re-submit the request to the ZPIZ and to enforce the conditions from Article 63 of ZPIZ-2 in the proceedings.
Delays in expert opinions under the ZSVI and measures to eliminate them
Based on the warnings of the Association of Social Work Centres of Slovenia, the Ombudsman conducted inquiries regarding delays in obtaining expert opinions under the Social Inclusion of Disabled Persons Act (ZSVI), which are prepared by URI Soča and the ZPIZ. In some cases, the wait for URI Soča's opinions was more than eight months. The MDDSZ explained that the contract with URI Soča for 2024 and 2025 was signed in September 2024 and includes obligations to prepare opinions in a timely and professional manner. According to the MDDSZ's analysis, the average time for preparing ZPIZ opinions is approximately ten weeks. The Ombudsman welcomes the contractual arrangement, which is expected to contribute to faster processing of applications, and will remain attentive to these cases in the future.
Violation of the principle of good administration in the decision-making of the ZPIZ on assistance and service allowance
The Ombudsman considered a complaint regarding the lengthy decision-making process of the ZPIZ on the recognition of the right to assistance and service allowance. He found that the personal examination was only carried out four months after the application was submitted, and the entire process was extended to seven months due to additional audit procedures. The Ombudsman assessed that there had been a violation of the principle of good administration and warned that such delays also constitute an interference with the right to social security. The ZPIZ was again called upon to respect the statutory deadlines for decision-making. (more)
Addressing various complaints in the field of the rights of children with special needs and persons with disabilities
In addition to the above, during this period, the Ombudsman also addressed several complaints related to the exercise of the rights of children with special needs and persons with disabilities. Among other things, he pointed out the inadequate treatment of children with special needs in knowledge testing and educational measures, rejected the unjustified delay of the procedure at the second instance regarding the right to a family member as a caregiver, and provided explanations on the reduction of hours of personal assistance under Article 9 of the Personal Assistance Act (ZOA). He also addressed cases of unequal treatment of children in school transport, guidance, access to dietary nutrition, failure to provide transport while the child is living with one of the parents, and drew attention to issues regarding access to services for children with autism. In relation to personal assistance, he addressed the position of users and providers in the case of annulled decisions and provided positions in several proceedings. He also pointed out the difficulties in claiming leave to care for a child after the age of 18 and the consequences of the insufficient scope of recognised personal assistance, which can even be dangerous for the user. In individual cases, the Ombudsman has already provided clarifications, while in others, procedures are still ongoing.
Participation at the session of the Parliamentary Commission on Personal Assistance
On 12 February 2025, the Deputy Human Rights Ombudsman, Dr Dijana Možina Zupanc, attended a session of the National Assembly Commission for Petitions, Human Rights and Equal Opportunities, where a discussion was held on the challenges and shortcomings of personal assistance. On behalf of the Ombudsman, she highlighted several years of warnings regarding inadequately reasoned decisions on the right to personal assistance and lengthy decision-making on complaints, which constitutes an interference with the human rights of individuals. She also drew attention to specific cases where, despite confirmed needs, users were not granted the right, and stressed that temporary solutions with the help of relatives cannot replace systemic regulation. She stressed that by introducing personal assistance, the state has set a standard that it must maintain and implement in practice.
The National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) continued to visit Care and Work Centres
A representative of the NPM[1] visited the Dr. Marijan Borštnar Institute for Training, Work and Care in Dornava in February.
The Ombudsman's participation in a research project on the transformation of protected wards
The targeted research project Transformation of Protected Wards into Community-Based Forms of Care for Adults and Children with Disabilities (V5-2335) was carried out from 1 October 2023 to 31 March 2025, funded by the Public Agency for Scientific Research and Innovation of the Republic of Slovenia and the Ministry for a Solidarity-Based Future. The project involved the Faculty of Social Work of the University of Ljubljana, the Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for Social Welfare, and the Institute of Criminology at the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana. Representatives of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) participated in the research by participating in an interview. The final report is available here.
Expert event on the establishment of an independent mechanism for monitoring the implementation of the CRPD
On 30 January 2025, a professional event organised by the Human Rights Centre of the Ombudsman took place at the European Union House in Ljubljana, dedicated to the issue of establishing an independent monitoring mechanism for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in Slovenia. Slovenia does not yet have in place a mechanism that would be in line with Paragraph 2 of Article 33 of the CRPD and the Paris Principles, and the Ombudsman has been expressing its willingness to take on this task for several years, as the only institution with A status.
The event was attended by international experts Markus Schefer, a member of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and Catherine Pedreros, a representative of the Committee's secretariat, who presented national obligations and stressed the importance of inclusive monitoring of the implementation of the Convention. Jerneja Turin, adviser-analyst at the Human Rights Centre at the Ombudsman and chair of the ENNHRI Working Group on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, presented the Ombudsman's analysis of the organisation of independent mechanisms in other European national institutions and highlighted the importance of legal regulation, adequate resources, and cooperation with disability organisations.
The Ombudsman co-organised a meeting of the ENNHRI Working Group on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
A two-day meeting of the Working Group on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which operates within the framework of the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI), took place in Berlin on 31 March and 1 April 2025. The event was co-organised and chaired by Jerneja Turin, Advisor to the Ombudsman’s Centre for Human Rights and Chair of the Working Group, in cooperation with the German Institute for Human Rights. The meeting was attended by representatives of European national human rights institutions and independent monitoring mechanisms for the implementation of the CRPD, who exchanged experiences and good practices in promoting, protecting, and monitoring the rights of persons with disabilities. Thematic presentations and discussions addressed the issues of legal capacity, deinstitutionalisation, the impact of austerity measures, and methodologies for the effective implementation of mandates. Jerneja Turin also presented the Ombudsman’s analysis of the organisation of these mechanisms within the institutions. Representatives of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights and the European Disability Forum also participated in the meeting.
Contribution of the Ombudsman's representative at the international panel on the rights of persons with disabilities as part of the GANHRI 2025 session
The Ombudsman's representative Jerneja Turin, adviser to the Human Rights Centre and chair of the ENNHRI Working Group on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, participated in a panel discussion at the annual meeting of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) in Geneva on 11 March 2025. At the panel entitled "Promoting the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: A Common Approach and Experiences of National Human Rights Institutions", she presented the activities of the working group to strengthen the capacity of institutions and promote cooperation with regional and international actors in monitoring the implementation of the CRPD. The panel also included the Deputy Commissioner of the Australian Human Rights Commission, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Commissioner of the Kenya Human Rights Commission, the Executive Director of the International Disability Alliance (IDA), and the President of the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
Participation in a conference on the impact of long-term care
On 11 March 2025, the Ombudsman's representative attended a conference entitled The Impact of Long-Term Care on Individuals and the Economy, where renowned speakers discussed key challenges related to the financing and accessibility of long-term care services. The impacts of long-term care on the financial well-being of individuals and the economy as a whole were also presented.
Previous reviews of the Ombudsman's activities in the field of the rights of persons with disabilities (clicking on the indents below will take you to the place where they are published):
- July-September 2024
- October-December 2022
[1] The task of the National Preventive Mechanism (which was established within the Ombudsman based on the requirement of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment) is to visit places of deprivation of liberty in the country and to verify the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty, with the aim of strengthening their protection from torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
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