Human Rights Ombudsman Zdenka Cebasek Travnik presented her report for 2008 on Monday, stressing that an increase had been noted both in the number of appeals addressed to her office as well in the share of grievances that were justified.

Cebasek Travnik told a press conference in Ljubljana that the number of complaints had gone up by 10% over the year before and that 25% of the appeals were legitimate.

Most complaints were related to judicial affairs, such as court backlogs as well as the protection of children's rights, the ombudsman said, repeating her call for special court departments that would deal exclusively with family-related issues.

The elderly and above all persons with disabilities were two other groups that Cebasek Travnik highlighted in her report, pointing out among other things that progress in the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Slovenia ratified, was "absolutely too slow".

She added that there were also other problems in the area of normative provisions concerning the disabled.

Cabasek Travnik moreover highlighted the problem of hate speech, saying that the prosecution would need to do more in this field. It should address the issue with well thought out charges, which would also contribute to raising public awareness about the issue.

She added that nobody, not even MPs, should evade prosecution for instances of hate speech.

Also featured highly in the report are cases related to religious freedom. They include the introduction of religious care in health care institutions and prisons, which has hurt smaller religious communities.

Irregularities in police procedures made it into the report again, the office is however satisfied with the response of the police to the complaints. The ombudsman also praised the police for what she sees as enormous progress made in addressing domestic violence.

The year also brought a number of laws that had been long in the planning, notably the domestic violence prevention act, the patients' rights act and the mental health act, but the ombudsman suggested that all needed to be upgraded.

She meanwhile pointed to the need for Slovenia to adopt a family law act and an act on long-term care as well as the prohibition of domestic corporal punishment.

In the morning, Cebasek Travnik handed over the report to Parliament Speaker Pavel Gantar, who said after the meeting that the annual reports of the ombudsman were a very important guide for the National Assembly in acting on human rights issues.

The reports moreover instructs the National Assembly on how to supervise the work of government in a way that will improve the functioning of executive and administrative bodies, Gantar added.

While saying that Cabasek Travnik's report would be thoroughly studied and debated in parliament, Gantar assessed the human rights situation in Slovenia as good, but allowing no room for complacency.

He said that a number of problems, such as those concerning the erased, asylum-seekers and migrants - were dragging on, while new issues, mostly related to the environment, were emerging.