Slovenia | Ombudsman Svetina presents the 2021 Annual Report to the speaker of the National Assembly

Today, on 13 June 2022, the Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina presented to the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia Urška Klakočar Zupančič the 27th annual report of the Human Rights Ombudsman and the 14th report of the National Preventive Mechanism for 2021. In the new report, the Ombudsman addressed 86 new recommendations to various bodies. "We made fewer new recommendations this year than last year, but there is still a lot of work to be done by the competent authorities and institutions.

Many of the previous recommendations by the Ombudsman have not yet been implemented, which is unacceptable. The people's rights defined in the relevant acts presuppose the obligation of the state to exercise them. The Constitution and laws impose a mandate on the Ombudsman to supervise their implementation. It does this in accordance with the highest international standards, which has been confirmed by evaluators as part of the accreditation procedure for a national institution for human rights with A status in accordance with the Paris Principles.

The awarding of this status in 2021 is a signal to the Slovenian state that respecting the Ombudsman as a national institution for human rights and its strengthening is the right path. This is why I expect this signal to be perceived and demonstrated in practice. If the authorities follow the Ombudsman's recommendations, it means that they are doing good for the people. After all, they were elected by them and they are expected to create a society in which rights are respected," Ombudsman Svetina noted.

The work of the institution of the Ombudsman in 2021 was strongly marked by the coronavirus pandemic. "We processed 6,863 cases, which is a third more than in the pre-Covid period, and this is a record number of cases in the time since I've been running the institution. This shows that the institution of the Ombudsman is recognised in society, as an increasing number of people are turning to it. Last year we identified 276 violations of human rights, fundamental freedoms and other irregularities. Although I'm very happy that their number dropped by 40% compared to 2020, any violation found is inadmissible and too many," said Ombudsman Svetina.

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Source: Office of the Ombudsman, Slovenia