Human Rights Ombudsman Zdenka Cebasek Travnik urged the government on Tuesday to craft a bill to ensure the public has a say in the legislative process. "Regulations are, as a rule, crafted in select circles and non-transparently, and the deadlines for the submission of proposals in public debate are too tight," she said.

Addressing reporters in Ljubljana, the ombudsman complained that public debate is too often limited to draft bills being posted briefly on government websites.

"We do not think that's sufficient," she said, adding that such a weak attempt to inform the public "fails to provide a realistic chance for the expert circles, non-governmental organisations or other concerned stakeholders to participate" in the process.

The ombudsman underscored that public participation in the administration of public matters was a constitutionally guaranteed right. She believes that the only way for the public to have a realistic possibility of influencing the content of laws is for interested parties to weigh in while bills are being crafted.

Jernej Rovsek of the Ombudsman's Office added that the ministries that write regulations should promote their publication on websites in the mass media and should invite all stakeholders to join a public debate.

The government has often been criticised for its alleged failure to allow stakeholders to participate in the preparation of bills. Most recently, the opposition has criticised the government for rushing into amending the criminal law without first considering the remarks made by experts.

The leading opposition factions, Social Democrats (SD) and Liberal Democrats (LDS), on Monday requested the withdrawal of the new criminal code and the proposed amendments to the criminal procedures act and enforcement of penalties act from the parliamentary agenda until the experts have made their comments.