The National Assembly appointed another deputy ombudsman on Wednesday. Toncek Dolcic - Ombudsman Matjaz Hanzek's fourth deputy - will be in charge of social affairs and children's rights. "One of my priorities will be informing children about their rights as well as domestic violence," Dolcic told STA upon the appointment.

As Dolcic, a lawyer by trade, explained, the Ombudsman's Office started drawing more attention to children's rights last year when a group of experts on children was expanded. One of the most important things for Dolcic is raising awareness of rights among children.

Last year alone around 130 violations of children's rights were reported to the Ombudsman. According to Dolcic, who has worked in the Ombudsman's Office since June 2001, "children's rights are being systematically violated" particularly in cases when the child's parents are divorced and contacts with both parents need to be arranged.

Domestic violence requires, according to the new deputy ombudsman, a special attention, as while "children are not the only victims of domestic violence, they are certainly the biggest ones".

Dolcic explained that just recently this issue has been discussed with officials from several ministries and State Prosecutor General Zdenka Cerar. The meeting's message was that there will be "zero-tolerance towards domestic violence".

Toncek Dolcic, born in 1954, graduated in law in 1978, and has been engaged with health and social security most of his career. In 1990, he joined the government legislation office as a deputy director, and later on became its director.

With the law on the ombudsman enabling two to four deputies to be appointed, Ombudsman Hanzek asked the parliament to back Dolcic as his fourth deputy last December. The other three deputies are: Ales Butala, in charge of judicial procedures and infringements of freedom; Jernej Rovsek, responsible for constitutional rights; and France Jamnik, whose main field is administrative matters and employment protection law. All three were appointed in July 2000, and are to serve six years. Hanzek, on the other hand, was appointed in February 2001.

SOURCE: STA, 29. 1. 2003