What is the project?

The European Union-Council of Europe joint project “Ensuring the best interests of the child in civil court proceedings in Slovenia” aims to improve the protection of children’s rights in civil court proceedings in Slovenia through ensuring the best interests of the child. Implementation of the Project contributes to the ongoing reform in Slovenia on upholding the rights of the child and becoming a pioneer country spreading excellence in child-friendly justice in all EU Member States.

While Slovenia has made big steps forward for the protection of the rights of the child in criminal law proceedings, significant improvements are still needed to uphold the rights of the child in the area of civil law, particularly as regards delays in family law proceedings involving children. According to the Slovenian Supreme Court report, the main two challenges to overcome these delays are:

  • The lack of court experts in clinical psychology, who are the most appointed experts in family law proceedings.
  • The excessive use of legal instruments, as the law is often ineffective during the process and there is lack of systemic approach.

The project is co-funded by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument, and implemented by the Council of Europe, in co-operation with the European Commission. It is implemented by the Council of Europe’s Children's Rights Division in close co-operation with the Slovenian Ministry of Justice, from 1 September 2023 to 30 June 2026.

 Project at a glance (in English and in Slovenian)

  Project news

​

Development of a comprehensive Strategy and Action plan to reform Slovenia’s legal framework in the field of civil court proceedings involving children

Development of a comprehensive Strategy and Action plan to reform Slovenia’s legal framework in the field of civil court proceedings involving children

Development of a comprehensive Strategy and Action plan to reform Slovenia’s legal framework in the field of civil court proceedings involving children

 

The project will support an analysis of the current legal, institutional and policy frameworks in civil court proceedings involving children to be followed by a gap analysis of the required framework and a set of recommendations for the revision of the Slovenian civil procedure legislation. This preparatory work will lead to the development and dissemination of a Strategy and Action plan on the implementation of the required changes to enable a systemic child-friendly response and to ensure the best interests of the child in civil court proceedings.

  • an assessment of the current legal, policy and institutional framework with a focus on priority issues identified with the Ministry of Justice and the IMWG (Original Slovenian version, unofficial English translation)
  • Comparative Study: A selection of guidance, methods and tools on securing the best interests of the child in civil proceedings used in Council of Europe member and observer states (Original full version in English, summary in English, summary in Slovenian)
  • Strategy and national action plan (available in English, Slovenian)
Implementation of the Strategy and the Action plan

Implementation of the Strategy and the Action plan

Implementation of the Strategy and the Action plan

 

The Project will support the Slovenian authorities in the implementation of the developed Strategy and Action Plan on the application of the required changes to enable a systemic child-friendly and quick response and to ensure the best interests of the child in civil court proceedings. This implementation phase will focus on a number of selected actions from the Action Plan with the support of relevant national and international stakeholders. The implementation report will be presented at the final conference of the Project.

In parallel with the Strategy and Action plan, a training needs analysis will be conducted. The Project will then develop training materials, tools, mechanisms and training programmes to ensure that the capacity of the professionals working with and for children in civil law proceedings in Slovenia can be strengthened, and the number of court experts capable of providing expert opinions in family court proceedings can be increased. A training of trainers will be organised, and a pool of national experts will be created.

Awareness-raising activities on the best interests of the child in civil court proceedings will be organised to present the priorities and recommendations identified during the Project to decision makers and relevant government agencies staff, but also to professionals working with and for children and the general population.

Practical tools developed to support professionals working with and for children

  • Study report and recommendations on the role and the legal status of Guardians ad Litem (Original Slovenian version, unofficial English version)
  • Protocol of Recommended Measures in cases of suspected violence and its Risk Assessment Form (Original Slovenian version, unofficial English translation)
  • Guidelines for judges on interviewing children in civil proceedings in Slovenia (Original Slovenian version, unofficial English translation)
  • Guidelines on the determination of the best Interests of the child in civil proceedings (Original Slovenian version, unofficial English translation)

Improved skills and professional capacities

 

Increased awareness on the best interests of the child in civil proceedings

  • Launching conference, 13 February 2025
  • 1st Roundtable, 14 October 2024
  • 2nd Roundtable, 6 June 2025
  • Final conference, 10 June 2026
  • Project at a glance (in English and in Slovenian)
  • Development of the content and structure for a future website on the best interests of the child in civil proceedings in Slovenia
  • Translation of Recommendation CM/Rec(2025)4 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on the protection of the rights and best interests of the child in parental separation proceeding s and its Explanatory Memorandum into Slovenian
  • Translation of Recommendation CM/Rec(2025)5 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on the protection of the rights and best interests of the child in care proceedings and its Explanatory Memorandum into Slovenian

 Who do we work with?

The participation of representatives of the relevant bodies and institutions is foreseen. Civil society organisations and academia will also be involved in project activities and will contribute to identifying existing shortcomings of the justice system for children in Slovenia and formulating concrete potential solutions.

 Who will benefit from the project?

The Project targets relevant authorities and legal and non-legal professionals dealing with civil law proceedings involving children including judges, magistrates, court experts and representatives of the Ministry of Justice. They will benefit directly from the Project through reports, analysis and tools on how to modify the legal framework, as well as capacity building activities.

The final beneficiaries of the Project are children involved in civil law proceedings, who will eventually benefit from improved access to justice, more effective state response and more child-centred and child-friendly practices during civil proceedings.

The Slovenian society as a whole will ultimately benefit from the Project with the wider public reached through awareness-raising and promotional activities.