On 17 July 2025, Deputy Human Rights Ombudsman Ivan Šelih - who has been leading the Human Rights Ombudsman institution since the conclusion of Ombudsman Peter Svetina’s term on 24 February 2025 - and Deputy Ombudsman Dr. Dijana Možina Zupanc presented the 2024 Annual Report of the Human Rights Ombudsman to the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, Urška Klakočar Zupančič, MSc. On this occasion, they also presented her with the Annual Report of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM).
In his press release, Deputy Šelih emphasised that the number of processed complaints in comparison to last year slightly increased – the total number was 6,288. “Calls to the more efficient operation of state bodies, greater respect of rights of vulnerable groups, and elimination of long-lasting systemic deficiencies remain at the forefront of the report,” he emphasised.
In his words, the report clearly shows that changes for the better – especially in the field of human rights – frequently happen too slowly and are hindered by the lack of political and expert dialogue. “Naturally, the will to talk is not enough for the realisation of the Ombudsman’s recommendations; the political will for urgent systemic change and respect for human rights in concrete situations is crucial,” he warned.
He also touched upon the significance of the legitimate management of independent state institutions. He stated the concern that the institution has been operating without its head with a full mandate for more than four months which he deemed as alarming. “Such a state lessens the institution’s authority, its strategic direction, and its ability to respond to complex social challenges; above all, it weakens its convincingness when warning about violations of human rights,” he explained.
Šelih added that in its incomplete assembly the Ombudsman is forced to act primarily reactively, which lessens its influence and creates a serious gap in the system of encouraging and protecting human rights. The long-lasting institutional uncertainty weakens the legitimacy of the institution and, in long term, certainly undermines the trust of the public that is crucial for the operation of independent institutions.
Šelih especially warned about the fact that all this is happening in a time when the Ombudsman is preparing for the reaccreditation with the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI). “Status A according to the Paris Principles that the Ombudsman acquired in 2022, after more than 20 years of continues efforts, is the highest international confirmation of independence and efficiency. The long-lasting situation of being without the appointed leader can jeopardise the conditions for the preservation of this status and consequently Slovenia’s reputation,” he emphasised.
Among the main points from the institution’s annual report for last year, he highlighted the slow realisation of Ombudsman’s recommendations and warned that without the collaboration of all stake-holders and the realisation that a person must be in the centre of all decisions as well as a serious political approach no systemic change can be achieved.
In 2024, the institution of the Ombudsman dealt with 3,137 complaints and found 174 violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms (defined in the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia) or other irregularities (the violation of the principle of fairness and good administration, unjustified delay of the procedure or a clear abuse of power according to the ZVarCP). In 2024, the Ombudsman addressed the total of 95 new recommendations for the elimination of violations and irregularities to state bodies, local self-governing bodies, and bearers of public authority.
Bodies and institutions continue to most frequently violate the principle of good administration, unjustifiably delay procedures, violate the equal protection of rights, and disregard the equality of people before the law. Still, the Ombudsman too frequently deals with violations of the right to social security and healthcare as well as the violation of Article 2 of the Constitution of the RS stating that Slovenia is a state governed by the rule of law and a social state. The Ombudsman is worried about the violations of rights of persons with disabilities and children.
Among bodies with the most determined violations, the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities (19 violations), Ministry of Health (13), local communities and courts (11 each), prisons (10), Police (9), Pension and Disability Insurance Institute of Slovenia (7), Ministry of the Interior, and Ministry of Education (6 each) stand out.
The situation in the field of social security and disability, where the Ombudsman continues to warn about long-lasting procedures, the lack of staff, and slow transformation of the model of treating disability from the medical to the social one is especially worrying. The Ombudsman also expects the government to regulate the question of accessibility of the built environment for persons with physical and sensory disabilities in the shortest possible time, with more work awaiting in the field of personal assistance. In 2024, the actions undertaken in the field of heath were additionally made difficult by the doctors’ strike, while the right to health is still being jeopardised by the lack of family doctors, long waiting periods, and the poor accessibility to specialist care, especially in paediatrics and child psychiatry.
The elderly are all too frequently pushed to the edge of dignified treatment; retirement homes face staffing collapses, deinstitutionalisation remains unrealised to a great extent, while the lack of staff and spatial capacities for people needing medical care after the completed hospitalisation remains acute. The field of sheltered housing for the elderly also awaits regulation. The Ombudsman offers the proposal for the establishment of the institution of the Elderly’s Confidant.
When caring for the rights of children, the Ombudsman detects the issue of poor spatial conditions in schools with special programmes and difficulties with adjustments in the educational process for children with special needs. Also worrying is the access to paediatricians and other specialist as well as deficiencies in the institutional protection of unaccompanied children. Numerous were also complaints warning about problems with deciding about the care and upbringing of children, changing schools, and other issues important for the development of a child. 2024 was also in the work of the Ombudsman marked by the pressing question of peer violence and calls for a more appropriate addressing of this issue in schools and outside.
Matters dealing with foreigners also raise concern since systemic delays in administrative procedures occur which are often long-lasting and additionally made difficult by the shortage of staff. In the field of justice, the Ombudsman warns about the need to eliminate delays in the Administrative Court and for the greater accessibility of free legal aid.
In numerous municipalities, the rights of the Roma community have still not been realised, but these cannot be equated with the protection from any responsibility for an illegal act. The Ombudsman also warns about the discrimination in the use of the Hungarian and Italian languages in notary procedures. Regarding the rights of the LGBTIQ+ community, the Ombudsman reminds of the urgency to adopt the law about the legal recognition of gender and calls for the appointment of legislative proposal that would appropriately deal with this issue.
Among the issues regarding the environment, the Ombudsman’s report highlights long-lasting construction procedures, problems due to the use of individualised heating devices, and noise, including due to night-time mining during the construction of the second track.
In 2024, the Ombudsman achieved a few important successes in protecting the rights and freedoms.
In May 2024, the Constitutional Court of the RS agreed with the Ombudsman and repealed Article 18a of the Financial Administration Act regarding the use of GPS tracking devices during the execution of a financial investigation. In April this year, the Constitutional Court agreed with the Ombudsman and repealed Article 10b of the Foreigners Act which defined the measures in a complex crisis in the field of migrations.
In December 2024, the European Human Rights Court (EHRC) in the matter X and others against Slovenia agreed with the Ombudsman regarding the violation of the right to the natural judge in a case of three children being taken away which was publicly very high-profile. The court emphasised that measures for assigning cases must be transparent and defined in advance. EHRC completely supported the Ombudsman’s views that have been overlooked by Slovenian courts. Due to the violation of the right to fair trial and family life, Slovenia was also convicted to paying the just satisfaction.
The Ombudsman also achieved the correction of the housing tender of the real-estate fund which unjustifiably excluded persons with disabilities even though apartments were officially accessible. The Ombudsman was also successful with the recommendation that the experts should treat all women in labour in all maternity wards equally regarding the handling of the placenta and regulate this with a unified legislation. Hospitals now also have to unify the communication with the health visiting service after the discharge of women giving birth, in order for tragic cases of newborn death such as the one in Prekmurje would not happen again.
Upon the presentation of the reports, Deputy Šelih briefly touched upon the operation of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) that he is heading. In 2024, NPM made 72 visits to places of deprivation of liberty, most of which were conducted without prior notice. In nine cases, the realisation of past recommendations was checked and the majority of 294 given recommendations were accepted. NPM finds that living conditions and handling of people deprived of liberty improved, the collaboration with non-governmental organisations and experts during the execution of jurisdictions remains good.
