Lengthy court proceedings are a recurring problem in Slovenia, Human Rights Ombudsman Matjaz Hanzek told the parliament as he presented the 10th annual human rights report for last year on Thursday.

Nobody needs court rulings which are too late, Hanzek said, as they cause a lot of existential problems for the country's population.
The situation has not improved since last year, Hanzek warned. He especially stressed the intolerable length of proceedings regarding cases which involve children, and delays in administrative disputes at the first and second instances.

Hanzek, who has been Ombudsman since 2001, however expressed his pleasure over the fact that the number of complaints by Slovenians regarding citizenship and denationalisaion decreased in 2004.

He was also pleased about the improved attitude towards the Constitutional Court, as only five of the body's decisions still need to be implemented.

After a debate on the report, the parliament passed 31 recommendations to the government, prepared by the parliamentary committee for petitions, human rights and equal opportunities.
The proposals include a demand for the drafting of a constitutional act on the erased, a feasibility study on the passage of a law on special rights for the Roma community, and a call on the police to respect human rights, especially during pre-trial procedures.
The committee also tasked the government with preparing legislation on the rights of mental health patients and asked it to step up efforts to enforce the right to due process.

The parliament also adopted the amendments by the opposition Social Democrats (SD) deputy group. The SD called on the government to resolve the problems of people who rent denationalised flats.

The five-hour long discussion on the report also heard criticisms regarding Ombudsman's activities, with deputies from coalition Slovenian Democrats (SDS) and Nova Slovenija (NSi) accusing Hanzek of putting too much stress on the issues of the erased and the Roma.

The hard-line National Party (SNS) went even further, calling on the Ombudsman to resign, as he had spoken in favour of "rapists" and "ruffians". Hanzek dismissed such claims as unfounded, as he has constantly called on the government to address domestic violence.
Government representatives said that they took the Ombudsman's warnings very seriously and that they have already started with the preparation of several acts that address the issues presented by Hanzek, including the rights of mental health patients, the Roma and lengthy court proceedings.