: A Guide to the Republic of Slovenia Legal System and Legal Research
By Maja Čarni and Špela Košak
Maja Čarni holds a law degree from the University of Ljubljana (2003) and an LL.M. in European law from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (2004). She is currently an employee of International Relations Department at the Ministry of Public Administration in Slovenia.
Spela Kosak holds a law degree from the University of Ljubljana (2004) and an LL.M. in International law from the University of Helsinki (2005). She currently works as a legal clerk at the Higher Court in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Published September 2006
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2.1 State
2.1.1. Legislative Power
2.1.1.1. The National Assembly
2.1.1.2. The National Council
2.1.2. Executive Power
2.1.2.1 The Government
2.1.2.2. The President of the Republic
2.1.3. Judicial Power
2.1.3.1. Courts of General Jurisdiction
2.1.3.2. Labour and Social Court
2.1.3.3. Administrative Court
2.1.3.4. The Supreme Court
2.1.3.5. Constitutional Court
2.1.4. Court of Audits
2.1.5. Ombudsman
2.2. Municipalities
3. Legal System
3.1. Sources of Law
3.1.1. Constitution
3.1.2. International Treaties
3.1.3. Laws
3.1.4. Case Law
3.1.5. Regulations
3.2. National Legislation
3.2.1. Bearers of Public Authorities
3.2.2. Regulations Issued by the Competent Ministers
3.2.3. Government Regulations
3.2.4. Procedure of Adopting Regulations in the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia
5.1. Online Resources
5.2. Legal Publishers
5.3. Legal Journals
5.4. Miscellaneous
With its 20,000 square kilometers and almost 2 million inhabitants, the Republic of Slovenia has enjoyed its independence only for a little more than a decade. It was a part of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia that fell apart in the 1990s in the cruel fights between the ethnic groups in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. As Slovenia is not as ethnically colorful as the other Federal states were, its secession was not as painful. After a 95% approval of the citizens in the referendum on December 23, 1990, Slovenia declared its independence on June 26, 1991. Although it had to face an invasion of Yugoslav armed forces, the war only lasted for 10 days and without the massacres that happened in the southern parts of the ex-Yugoslavia.
Slovenia shares its borders with Italy on the West, Austria on the North, Hungary on the Northeast and Croatia on the South and East. It also borders the Adriatic Sea to the Southwest. Geographically it lies on the borders of the Balkan Peninsula but historically it has always been connected to the Central Europe, being a part of Habsburg’s Empire for centuries.
On May 1, 2004 Slovenia became a full member of the European Union. At the moment of writing this article, Slovenia is already a part of MTC-2 (the new exchange rate mechanism of the European Monetary Union) and will adopt EURO as its currency on January 1, 2007. Until then it still has its own currency, Slovene Tolar (the parity exchange rate: 1 EUR = 239,640 SIT). In 2007 Slovenia will also became a member of the Schengen Agreement.
Slovenia became a member of the United Nations on May 22, 1992, a participating state to the OSCE on 24 March 1992 and joined the Council of Europe on May 14, 1993.
The official language in Slovenia is Slovene (a language that belongs into the Slavic language group). In the parts of the country by the borders of Italy and Hungary, in those municipalities where Italian or Hungarian national communities reside, the official languages are also Italian and Hungarian respectively (Art. 11. of the Constitution).
The capital of Slovenia is Ljubljana (Art. 10 of the Constitution).
Slovenia is a democratic republic (Art.1 of the Constitution) and it endorses the parliamentary system of democracy. According to the Constitution, Slovenia has an “incomplete bicameral system”, meaning that the upper chamber (in Slovenian case the National Council) does not have equal competences with the lower chamber (in the Slovenian case, the National Assembly) but it only supervises the work of the lower chamber.
It is also a territorially unified and indivisible state (Art. 4 of the Constitution). Slovenia is currently still organised in a two-railed system which means the national level and the local - municipal level to which self-government is guaranteed by the Constitution (Art. 9). However, the idea of introducing the regional level was very strong in the past few years and it got even broader support when joining European Union in 2004. This resulted in changing the Constitution in order to facilitate the establishment of the regional level[i]. The National Assembly agreed on regulating the organization of regional level with a law, which is yet to be enacted.
The National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia is the supreme representative and legislative institution, exercising legislative and electoral powers as well as control over the Executive and the Judiciary.
Tasks of the National Assembly:
In its legislative power, the National Assembly:
In its electoral power, the National Assembly appoints and dismisses:
In its control power, the National Assembly:
The National Assembly exercises control also through parliamentary questions.
In addition to the above three fundamental functions, the National Assembly decides on the declaration of war or state emergency, and on the use of armed forces. The National Assembly confirms the elections of deputies, and decides on the immunity of deputies and judges.
The National Assembly is composed of 90 deputies, of which 2 posts are guaranteed for the representatives of ethnical minorities (Italian and Hungarian). A deputy's term of office normally lasts four years.
National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia
Address: Šubičeva 4, 1102 Ljubljana
P.O. Box: p.p. 636
Phone: +386 1 478 94 00
Fax: +386 1 478 94 45
E-mail: info@dz-rs.si
The National Council (“the upper chamber”) is, in accordance with the Constitution, the representative of social, economic, professional and local interest groups. The forty-member National Council comprises 22 representatives of local interests, six representatives of non-commercial activities four representatives of employers and four of employees and four representatives of farmers, crafts and trades and independent professionals. All together there are 40 representatives.
Powers of the National Council:
The National Council of the Republic of Slovenia
Subiceva 4
1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia
Phone:
+386 1 478 9802
Fax: +386 1 478 9851
The government is a collective body presided by the Prime Minister. Other members are the ministers responsible for a certain field of work. Currently the government is composed of 15 ministers heading the 15 ministries and 2 ministers heading the government offices. The Government of the Republic of Slovenia (RS) is the executive body and, at the same time, the supreme body of the state administration. Thus the function of the Government is twofold: executive-political and administrative. Its executive-political function involves mainly the execution of policies agreed by the National Assembly and the implementation of the laws and other regulations passed by the National Assembly. In accordance with the Constitution, with the laws and with other general acts of the National Assembly, the Government sets, directs and harmonises the implementation of state policies. As the highest body of the state administration, it issues regulations and passes legal, political, economic, financial, organisational and other measures, which are needed for development of the state and the regulation of conditions in all the areas of the state’s jurisdiction. The Government of Republic of SloveniaGregorčičeva 20-25
1000 Ljubljana
Gregorčičeva 20, 25
1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia
Phone: +386 1 478 1000
Fax: +386 1 478 1140
E-mail: gp.kpv(at)gov.si
The President of the Republic represents the Republic of Slovenia and he is the commander-in-chief of its defence forces (Art.102 of the Constitution). The President is elected in direct, in general elections by secret ballot for a term of five years. The President of the Republic: · calls elections to the National Assembly;
· promulgates laws;
· appoints state officials where provided by law;
· appoints and recalls ambassadors and envoys of the Republic, and accepts the letters of credence of foreign diplomatic representatives;
· issues instruments of ratification;
· decides on the granting of clemency;
· confers decorations and honorary titles;
· performs other duties determined by this Constitution.
Where required by the National Assembly, the President of the Republic must express his opinion on an individual issue. If in the performance of his office the President of the Republic violates the Constitution or seriously violates the law, he may be impeached by the National Assembly before the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court decides either that the impeachment charges are justified or it dismisses the charges, and it may further decide on relieving the President of office by a two-thirds majority vote of all judges. Upon receiving a resolution on impeachment from the National Assembly, the Constitutional Court may decide that pending a decision on impeachment the President of the Republic may not perform his office. Office of the President of the Republic
Erjavčeva 17
SI-1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia
Phone: +386 1 478 12 22
Fax: +386 1 478 13 57
Judges are independent in the performance of the judicial function (Art. 125. of the Constitution) and their office is permanent (Art. 129. of the Constitution; there are strong debates in the moment of writing, though, about abolition of the permanent function. The question is about motivating the judges to trial more cases and to reduce the number of cases waiting for the process. Namely, in 2006 judges still have to adjudicate cases from 1998 and newer. Due to that fact the Republic of Slovenia already lost some cases in front of the European Court for Human rights in Strasbourg for violating the right to a hearing within a reasonable time - Par. 1, Art. 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights.). The Constitutional provision on the direct participation of citizens in the exercising of judicial power (Art. 128. of the Constitution) is achieved by the institute of lay judges that sit in some panels as provided by law. In Slovenia there is no institute of a jury that passes verdicts of guilt; all the decisions are brought by the single judge or by the panel.
The Courts Act regulates the jurisdiction and composition of the Courts in Slovenia. In general, there are two different kinds of courts of first instance (43 County courts and 11 District courts) and 2 stages of appeal, first one being High courts (4) and the second one the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia. In same cases the rulings of the later can also be examined by the Constitutional Court. Beside the general civil and criminal courts there are several different types of specialized courts in Slovenia; their competences are defined by special acts and they proceed pursuant to special rules of procedure. Specialized courts (courts of specialized jurisdiction) have the jurisdiction ratione materiae and not ratione personae (there are no specialized courts for juvenile cases, for example). Specialized courts in the Republic of Slovenia are:
It is prohibited to establish extraordinary courts, as well as military courts in peacetime (Art. 126. of the Constitution).
It is in the domain of the Civil District courts and of the Labor courts to organize the legal aid for the people that can not afford to pay the costs of the legal procedure and their lawyers. The costs are paid from the budget, but the help is limited to the people which do not exceed the census of the legally determined minimal salary (Legal Aid Act of the Republic of Slovenia).
1. Civil courts
The general civil jurisdiction lies on the civil courts. The rules regulating courtroom procedure are governed either by the Civil Procedure Act or Non-litigious Civil Procedure Act.
The courts of first instance are county and district courts. The jurisdiction between them is divided according to the subject of the trial.
In general the county courts are competent to adjudicate in the property-law related disputes, when the value of dispute does not exceed 2.000.000 SIT (app. 8.300 EUR), the disputes on trespassing, easement, real encumbrance and disputes on lease or tenancy relations. Beside the civil department local courts are furthermore divided into:
There is always one judge conducting proceedings and adjudicating or deciding in front of the Local courts.
On the other hand the district courts bring to trial the property-law related disputes, when the value of a dispute exceeds 2.000.000 SIT (app. 8.300 EUR), disputes arising from the family relations, copyrights, disputes relating to the protection or use of inventions and marks of distinctiveness or to the right to use a firm name, in disputes relating to the protection of competition, commercial/business disputes, and disputes arising from bankruptcy proceedings. District courts also have following departments:
As a rule the District courts are constituted by a single Judge, except in the cases foreseen by the law. In such cases the courts sit as a panel in the composition of one judge and two lay judges. In the cases of commercial/business disputes, that is to say in the proceedings where the parties are companies, institutes, state or municipalities as legal subjects, as well as in the disputes concerning ships and sea navigation, bankruptcy proceedings and disputes concerning intellectual property (trialed by commercial claims department), the special rules lead the procedure and the court sits in the composition of three judges. In deciding in disputes on the rights of intellectual property, the District Court in Ljubljana has the exclusive territorial jurisdiction at the first instance, except for disputes between employers and workers in connection with inventions, forms of bodies, pictures, drawings and technical improvements.
Appeals are to be solved by Higher courts that sit in the panels in the composition of three judges: a president of the panel, a judge rapporteur and a member.
To review the rulings of the Higher courts, extraordinary legal remedies are possible, namely revision and request for protection of legality, both trialed by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia sitting in the composition of 5 judges. Revision is only allowed in claims exceeding 1,000,000 SIT and the request for protection of legality can only be presented by the Public Prosecutor Office.
The third way of reviewing a valid court decision is opening a new trial within the absolute period of 5 years.
2. Criminal CourtsThe criminal procedure in Slovenia is a contradictory one with the strong influence of the “material truth” principle, which gives the judge an active position in the procedure and that is why Slovene criminal procedure is still rather inquisitorial (it has to be noticed, though, that the presumption of innocence is strictly followed). The criminal procedure law (governed by the Criminal Procedure Act) regulates courtroom procedure (together with the composition of the courts) as well as actions of the police and the investigational procedure in front of the court (the pre-hearing procedure). In Slovenia there is no death sentence and the highest punishment foreseen by the Penal code is 20 years of imprisonment.
The courts of the first instance are also here county and district courts. The jurisdiction between them is divided according to the severity of the punishment foreseen by the Penal Code for the committed criminal offence.
According to the Courts Act, county courts have jurisdiction in criminal matters to adjudicate at the first instance on criminal offences which are punishable by a fine or to a term of up to three years of imprisonment, except in matters of criminal offences against honor and reputation committed by press, via radio, television or other means of public information and to perform investigatory actions regarding these criminal offences.
Special department within county court is a department adjudicating minor offences. It is trialing according to a special procedure, the court of appeal in those cases is Higher Court.
In a county court, the proceedings are conducted and adjudicated or decided by a single judge, the same goes also for the investigation acts before the trial.
District courts have jurisdiction in criminal matters on criminal offences which are punishable by more than three years of imprisonment and to carry out an investigation or investigatory actions concerning those criminal offences; to perform preliminary proceedings and adjudicate at the first instance on criminal offences of minors; to decide at the first instance on the enforcement of a criminal judgment issued by a foreign court; to execute criminal judgments (of both, county and district courts); to decide about permission for the encroachment in human rights and fundamental liberties; to reach decisions in a non-trial panel (also in criminal matters falling within the jurisdiction of county courts); and to exercise supervision regarding the lawful and correct treatment of convicts, and supervision over detainees.
Beside the investigation department district courts also have a special department for the criminal offences of minors (if the defendant committed the criminal offence as a minor (until 18 years old) and was not yet 21 years old at the beginning of criminal procedure). The public in those procedures is excluded and the whole criminal procedure follows the special rules of conducts. The court sit as a panel in the composition of a judge for minors and two lay judges that are elected among professors, teachers, tutors and other persons having experiences with education of minors. Also higher courts and the Supreme Court have special panels in composition of three judges to decide about the appeals. District courts sit as a panel in the composition of two judges and three lay judges when adjudicating criminal offences which are punishable by fifteen years or more of imprisonment and in the composition of one judge and two lay judges when adjudicating in other cases. Investigation acts before the trial starts are carried out by investigation judges. Non-trial panels (izvenobravnavni senati) in the composition of three judges decide without the hearing about the appeals against the decisions of investigation judges and judges of the county courts when performing investigation acts. Higher courts decide on the appeals in the panels composed by three judges. The appeal withholds the execution of the sentence and in case that only defendant files an appeal the verdict can not be changed in his detriment.
The Supreme Court adjudicates at the third instance on regular legal remedies against the decisions of courts of the second instance. The panels of the Supreme Court in these cases are composed by five judges.
Jurisdiction of the labor and social courts is determined by the Labor and Social Courts Act. They have the position of district courts at the first instance and their appeal court is High Labor-Social Court in Ljubljana. Appeals against rulings of the High Labor-Social Court as well as extraordinary appeals are trialed by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia. Both first instance courts sit in the panels in the composition of one judge and two lay judges (one of them being elected by the National assembly among employers/institutions and one of them being elected among employees/insurants for the fixed period).
Labor courts adjudicate disputes arising from the working relations between employers and employees, such as disputes concerning working contracts, beginnings and endings of working relations, etc. (individual labor disputes). Labor courts have also jurisdiction in collective labor disputes, such as validity and execution of collective agreements, accordance of the collective agreements with the law, accordance of the general acts of the employers with the collective agreements and laws, legality of the strikes, participation of the workers at the management, etc.
There is only one Social court with its seat in Ljubljana, although it also holds hearings in its external departments. It adjudicates the disputes arising from pension and disability insurance, unemployment insurance, health insurance, social and family incomes; it is competent to review legality of the acts issued by institutions dealing with the above insurances.
Labour and Social CourtDelovno sodišče v Ljubljani
Resljeva 14, Ljubljana
1000 Ljubljana
Phone: (01) 232-51-96
Fax: (01) 432-82-31
E-mail: urad.dslj@sodisce.si
The establishment, organization and function of the Administrative Court of Republic of Slovenia are governed by the Administrative dispute act. The Court is situated in Ljubljana and holds the external departments in Nova Gorica, Celje and Maribor.
In Ljubljana the workload is divided among five departments: Department for public finances; Department for property relations; Department for protection of constitutional rights; Department for environment, spatial planning and construction; Department for customs and other taxes.
The administrative court ensures in accordance with the Administrative dispute act judicial protection of rights and legal interest of individuals, legal and other persons if they hold rights and responsibilities against decisions brought by administrative or other state bodies authorized by law.
This procedure is followed when the court decides: on legality of the final individual decision that is enacted by state bodies, self-government bodies or other bodies holding a public authorization; on legality of individual decisions and actions violating constitutional rights of an individual if there is no other legal remedy; on legality of regulations enacted by state bodies, self-government bodies or other bodies holding a public authorization so far as they regulate individual relations.
Administrative Court of Republic of Slovenia
"Upravno sodisce Republike Slovenije"
Tržaška 68a
SI-1000
Ljubljana
Slovenia
Phone.: 01/ 47 00 100
Fax: 01/ 47 00 150
The Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in the state. It functions primarily as a court of cassation. It is a court of appellate jurisdiction in criminal and civil cases, in commercial lawsuits, in cases of administrative review and in labor and social security disputes. It is the court of the third instance in almost all the cases within its jurisdiction. The grounds of appeal to the Supreme Court (defined as extraordinary legal remedies in Slovenian procedural laws) are therefore limited to issues of substantive law and to the most severe breaches of procedure.
Apart from administering justice (reviewing cases in its jurisdiction), the Supreme Court also determines most cases of disputes over jurisdiction between lower courts, grants the transfer of jurisdiction to another court in cases provided by law, and keeps records of the judicial practice of courts.
The Supreme Court takes care also for the uniform case law. To decide on questions related to the uniform practice of the courts the court sits in the panel in composition of all the judges of the Supreme Court (obča seja).
The Court is organized in seven departments:
Criminal Department, Civil Department, Commercial Lawsuits Department, Labor and Social Security Disputes Department, Administrative Review Department, Registry Department, and Department for International Cooperation.
Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia
»Vrhovno sodisce Republike Slovenije«
Tavčarjeva 9, 1000 Ljubljana
Phone: ++ 386 1 366 44 44
Fax: ++ 386 1 366 43 01
Franc Testen, President
Phone: ++ 386 1 366 42 00
Fax: ++ 386 1 366 43 01
On June 25, 1991 the Republic of Slovenia became an independent and sovereign State. The Constitutional Court of the former federal unit of the former Yugoslavia, which had been established in 1963 (on 5 June 1963 the first President and eight judges of the then Constitutional Court were appointed), thus became the constitutional court of the newly independent State. With new Constitution coming into force the Constitutional Court acquired new important powers and the position of the highest body of judicial power for the protection of constitutionality, legality and human rights.
In relation to other State bodies, the Constitutional Court is an autonomous and independent State body. It regulates its organization and work by the rules of procedure and other general acts. The existing organization is determined by the Constitutional Court Act, Rules of Procedure of the Constitutional Court and the Rules on the Internal Organization and Office Operations of the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court is composed of nine judges, elected on the proposal of the President of the Republic by the National Assembly. The judges are elected for a term of nine years and may not be re-elected. The President of the Constitutional Court shall be elected by the judges from among themselves for a term of three years. Most powers of the Constitutional Court are explicitly determined in the Constitution however, they may also be determined by statute: According to the Constitution, the Constitutional Court decides:· on the conformity of statutes and other regulations with the Constitution, ratified treaties and with general principles of international law;
· on the conformity of executive regulations and local community regulations with statutes;
· on constitutional complaints stemming from the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms by individual acts;
· on jurisdictional disputes between the State and local communities and between the local communities themselves, between courts and other State authorities and between the National Assembly, the President of the Republic and the Government;
· on the unconstitutionality of the acts and activities of political parties;
· on appeals against National Assembly decisions on the confirmation of National Assembly Deputies' mandates;
· on impeachment against the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister and Ministers;
· issues an opinion on the conformity of a treaty with the Constitution in the process of ratifying such treaty.
Statute determines the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court to:· decide on appeals against National Council decisions on the confirmation of its members' mandate;
· review the constitutionality of a referendum question concerning a legislative referendum, and the decision of the National Assembly not to call a referendum;
· review the constitutionality and legality of a referendum question concerning a local referendum;
· review the constitutionality and legality of a National Assembly decision on finding that conditions for the establishment of a municipality or a change in its territory are not fulfilled;
· review the constitutionality of a National Assembly decision to dissolve a municipal council or dismiss a mayor.
Constitutional CourtBeethovnova ulica 10
P.O. Box 1713, 1000 Ljubljana
Phone: +386 1 477 64 00
Fax: +386 1 251 04 51
E-mail: info@us-rs.si
The Court of Audit has been brought to Slovene legal system with the new Constitution. It is the highest body for supervising state accounts, the state budget and all public spending (art. 150 of the Constitution); it may audit any act on past operations as well as the act on the planned operations of public fund users. The Court of Audit cannot be categorized within any of the three branches of power, legislative, executive or judicial. The court is independent in the performance of its duties and bound by the Constitution and laws - its functioning is determined in the Court of Audit Act as well as in number of other laws dealing with functioning of public fund users. The Court has three members: a president and two deputy presidents; they are appointed for a term of nine years on a proposal from the President of the Republic by the National Assembly by majority vote of all the deputies in a secret ballot. In addition to the Members the Court of Audit also has a maximum of six Supreme State Auditors, who head the audit departments and have the status of public officials. They are appointed by the President of the Court of Audit for a term of nine years. The Court of Audit is accountable to the National Assembly and the public for the implementation of its tasks, it has the right and the duty to report on its audit findings.
Court of Audit of the Republic of Slovenia
Računsko sodišče Republike Slovenije
Slovenska c. 50, 1000 Ljubljana
Phone: + 386 (01) 478 58 88
Fax: + 386 (01) 478 58 91
The institute of the human right ombudsman has been created in Slovenian law according to the Scandinavian model and has been created by the new constitution in 1991 (Art. 159 of the Constitution). His function is a constitutional category that does not fall under the executive, judicial or legislative branch of authority; it is therefore not part of any mechanism of authority, but rather acts as an overseer of authority since as an institution it restricts its capricious encroachment of human rights and fundamental freedoms. In his work the Ombudsman is not only limited to handling direct violations defined as human rights and freedoms in the constitution, moreover, he may act in any case whatsoever dealing with a violation of any right of an individual arising from a holder of authority. He can intervene also in the case if unfair and poor state administration in relation to the individual. The Human Rights Ombudsman is elected by the Parliament upon the nomination made by the President of the Republic for the term of 6 years.
Before turning to the Ombudsman, all regular and extraordinary legal remedies have to be exhausted, except in cases where it would be useless for the petitioner to start or continue such proceedings, or if individuals would suffer great or irreparable damage in the meantime.
Among other means of acting, the ombudsman can request the Constitutional Court to review the constitutionality and legality of specific regulations or acts in the name of the applicant and with his authorization, or file a constitutional complaint about a rights violation. He can also submit suggestions for changes to statutes and other regulations to Parliament or the Government.
According to the Constitution Special ombudsmen for the rights of citizens may also be established by law for particular fields, but that provision has not been realized in the practice yet. The position and functioning of the institute of the ombudsman is regulated by the Human Rights Ombudsman Act. Human Rights Ombudsman"Varuh clovekovih pravic"Dunajska 56, 1000 LjubljanaTel: + 386 (0)1 475 00 50Fax: + 386 (01) 475 00 40E-mail: info@varuh-rs.si
According to the Constitution, municipalities represent self-governing local communities (art. 139 of the Constitution). The territory of a municipality comprises a settlement or several settlements bound together by the common needs and interests of the residents. A municipality is established by law following a referendum by which the will of the residents in a given territory is determined. The territory of the municipality is also defined by law. Currently Slovenia has around 200 municipalities (some procedures are in progress in time of writing; if it turns out all candidates fulfil the requirements, there will be 210 municipalities).
The competences of the municipality are either autonomous dealing with local affairs affecting residents or are delegated from the state level with the prior consent of the municipality. The state may by law vest specific duties within the state jurisdiction in the municipality, if the state provides financial resources for this purpose. The proper and competent performance of duties (delegated by the state) is supervised by the state, while the general acts enacted within the scope of autonomous competences can only be challenged before the Constitutional court. The competences may vary also upon the status of the municipality. Already the Constitution itself determines a specific form of municipality – urban municipality. The conditions to attain the status and its competences are determined by law (Local Self-Government Act).
Municipality is defined as a community capable of meeting the needs and interests of its residents and to carry out other tasks laid down by the law. The community is considered to meet the requirements when it provides: complete elementary schooling, primary citizens’ health care, food shop and general store, municipal services (drinking water supply, removal and purification of waste water, electricity supply), postal services, financial services (bank), library, premises for local community administration (Art. 13 of Local Self-Government Act). The lower limitation of number of inhabitants is 5000, exceptionally not less then 2000 in the case of special circumstances.
The urban municipality (20 000 inhabitants minimum) in addition to the previously mentioned requirements needs to ensure at least 15 000 working posts, of which at least half must be in tertiary and quaternary activities and it is the geographic, economic and cultural centre of its gravitational area (Art.16 of Local Self-Government Act).
The main municipal bodies are municipal council, mayor and supervisory committee. The municipal councilors and mayor are elected in direct, general elections by secret ballot, municipal councillors for a term of four years.
The municipal council holds “the legislative” power, mayor and municipal administration an “executive” one, while supervisory committee supervises the municipal expenditure.
The Slovene legal system is a part of the continental legal systems with the strong influence of German law and legal order. As the territory of today’s Slovenia was a part of the Austrian Empire for a long time, the influence has rather historical roots. The law was transformed after the socialist models in the post war time when the territory joined the Yugoslav republic. The impact of the institutes such as socialized property, socialistic self-management, protection of workers and lower social class can still be found in the legal system today (such as denationalized procedures that are about to come to an end; social security system; special arrangements of the labor and social courts; etc.).
In 1991, after the favorable referendum on accession from Yugoslavia on June 25, 1991, Slovene assembly has enacted the Basic Constitutional Charter on the Sovereignty and Independence of the Republic of Slovenia which became the legal basis for its independence. The Constitution was adopted on December 23, 1991 and hereinafter the laws started to pass; until they were put into force, the old Yugoslav Republic and Federal laws and rules have been applicable. In this legislation activity the legislator followed the German model in a lot of the areas.
The legislation is still very vivid in Slovenia, it was especially necessary before joining European Union (with taking over aquis communitaire). Also the Constitution has been changed several times since it entered into force.
Slovenia has a constitution in the formal meaning of the word - it is written in a single document and it is the top of the Slovene legal system, hierarchically it is above the other legislative acts: the international treaties, laws and regulations. The Slovene Constitution regulates the foundations of the Slovene political and legal order. It is divided in 10 chapters:
· General Provisions: are regulating the base of the Slovene independence with the provisions on the organization of the state, they define symbols, official language and the capital of the state.
· The list of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms: human rights are guaranteed to everyone, irrespective of national origin, race, sex, language, religion, political or other conviction, material standing, birth, education, social status, disability or any other personal circumstance; All are equal before the law. Furthermore, human rights and fundamental freedoms have to be exercised directly on the basis of the Constitution and they can only be limited by the rights of others and in such cases as are provided by this Constitution. The manner in which human rights and fundamental freedoms are exercised have to be regulated by law (and not other, lower acts). The list of the individual rights follows the lists in international documents, specially the European Convention of the Human Rights and reflects the former legal regulation with stressing the social and economical human rights (freedom of work, right to social security, right to health care, … ). In the Art. 64 Special Rights of the Autochthonous Italian and Hungarian National Communities in Slovenia are guarantied. The position and the rights of those communities are considered to be ve