Even a plural rule of law in itself does not vouch for political independence of ombudsmen, so the only guarantee for ombudsman independence is in the high quality and argumentation of their stances and their determination to defy any attempt to be subjected to politics, said Ljubljana Law Faculty professor Ljubo Bavcon at Thursday's launch of the annual meeting of European members of the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI).
The 62 European ombudsmen and their representatives from 27 countries were also addressed by Slovenian Speaker of Parliament Borut Pahor and Justice Minister Ivo Bizjak.

Pahor said that the expectations in respect to human rights protection went up in the early 1990's and in 1993 Slovenia passed a law on ombudsman, while the first ombudsman - incumbent Justice Minister Bizjak - was appointed a year later.

In Pahor's opinion the ombudsman in Slovenia does not have major difficulties with politics' meddling in his affairs, besides the parliament pays great attention to the ombudsman's annual reports.

Bavcon on the other hand, did not agree. He said that the government and parliament until recently indifferently postponed the discussions on ombudsman annual reports, while recently Slovenian Ombudsman Matjaz Hanzek had to report about his work to the parliament before a nearly empty hall.

The professor also mentioned the Council for the Protection of Human Rights, which acted as the first ombudsman institute in Slovenia and was led by him. Bavcon explained that at the beginning the members of the institution distrusted the decision of the then socialist union to establish a body to protect human rights, but doubts were unnecessary as the council indeed had independence.

Bavcon pointed out that even in Slovenia's recent past certain political groups took every opportunity to seize control over the police, prosecution and the ombudsman. He added that even today it does not seem that political independence in Slovenia is any more respected by the carriers of the most important social mechanisms, called "checks and balances".

He also touched on the situation in the United States where bodies of state repression are being given more authorities on the expense of human rights. Even though terrorism must be fought, stressed Bavcon, it should not be fought by terrorist means.

Minister Bizjak stressed that there is no absolute independence in the real world and that the ombudsman's independence should not be exaggerated, because without contact with politics the ombudsman would not have a real effect.

Regional vice-president of the European section of the IOI Herman Wuyts stressed that the ombudsman's independence is the absolute pre-condition of the institute to even exist. About Slovenia, he said that the ombudsman is an autonomous person, independent from state bodies, which cannot be said for some other countries.

According to Wuyts, the ombudsman's principal mission is to monitor all three branches of power - the legislative, executive and judiciary.

The regular annual meeting, which is to conclude on Saturday, is to elect a new leadership and go over the past work.