HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN BIZJAK MET WITH PRESIDENT KUCAN

Ljubljana, 3 May 2000



The President of the Republic Milan Kucan received the human rights ombudsman Ivan Bizjak, who presented the 1999 annual report to the President. The ombudsman finds that the issues he has been exposing since taking office have witnessed a positive development, albeit too slow. Some of the laws which are of importance in terms of human rights still have not been adopted. The lack of convergence within the legal system is being rectified too slowly. A particularly serious problem is the too slow pace of amending those laws that have been declared as unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court. The ombudsman also finds that most violations of rights as well as other irregularities are the consequence of the poor functioning of the state. The ombudsman's report covers all three branches of government with a whole range of issues that still negatively affect the position of the individual vis-à-vis the state.

In these talks President Kucan also assessed that there is a practical need and benefit in having the institution of human rights ombudsman. One cannot be satisfied with the general level of legal awareness at all. Public administration remains one of the key problems both in terms of resolving individual issues as well as the harmonisation of laws and other regulations with the acquis, particularly as regards the enforcement of the body of law that is already in place. It is up to the Government and on the National Assembly to adopt, still in the current term, appropriate measures aimed at rectifying the problems that were found.