In September 2018, the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers ended the supervision of execution of the European Court’s judgment in Šilih v. Slovenia. It considered that the Slovenian government has fully executed the judgment.
The applicants in the case were Slovenian nationals, Ivan and Franja Šilih, whose 20-years old son Gregor died in hospital in May 1993. Gregor’s parents believed that his death had been the result of negligent medical practice. They initiated legal proceedings against the hospital to find out what happened. Sixteen years later, the Slovenian courts had still not fully resolved the case.
In 2009, the European Court ruled that the Slovenian authorities had failed to set up an effective independent judicial system so that the cause of death of medical patients can be determined. The Court found a violation of the applicants’ right to life.
In addition to the compensation that the government paid to the applicants, a representative of the hospital expressed sincere regrets for the loss of their son’s life and deplored the fact that his death occurred while he was receiving medical assistance.
The reforms taken to execute the judgment have included changes to the legislation and capacity-building measures for judges aimed at preventing excessive length of this type of judicial proceedings. A number of Slovenian court decisions have since upheld the standards contained in the Strasbourg Court’s judgment, while the government launched the “Šilih Project” aimed at preventing similar medical malpractice cases and ensuring safe and effective treatment.
