Slovenia

ENTRY INTO FORCE of the European Convention on Human Rights

28 June 1994

Number of implemented cases*

328

Examples

Parents win fight for justice following their son’s death

Gregor Šilih was 20 when he died in hospital. His parents believed that medical negligence was to blame. They launched legal action to find out the truth. Thirteen years later their claim had still not been resolved. The European court ruled that the authorities had failed to take effective steps to discover the truth. The case led to reforms to stop the same thing from happening again.

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Official apology for woman asked offensive questions by alleged abuser in court

Y. was 14 years old when she told her mother that she had been sexually assaulted. An investigation into her claims dragged on for years, and when her case eventually came to trial, Y. was asked humiliating questions by her alleged abuser. The European court ruled that the authorities had failed to properly protect her. The ruling caused Slovenia’s Minister of Justice to apologise to Y.

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Thousands of people win right to recover ‘old’ foreign-currency savings

Thousands of people could not access their ‘old’ foreign currency savings for decades after the breakup of Yugoslavia. The European court ruled that Serbia and Slovenia’s delay in enabling savers to recover their funds had breached their rights. It ordered both countries to make changes to allow depositors to access their savings. Serbia and Slovenia then set up successful repayment schemes.

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Justice for shoemaker who lived without rights for 20 years

In February 1992, over 25,000 people living in Slovenia were automatically stripped of their residency rights. Many of them – including Mustafa Kurić – had their papers taken away, were evicted, could not work or travel, lost personal possessions or lived in poor conditions. The law was changed, and a compensation scheme set up after a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights.

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Justice for thousands of “erased” people after 20 years without rights

In February 1992, 25,671 people in Slovenia were automatically stripped of their right to live there. Many people – including Ana Mezga - had their papers taken away, were evicted from their homes, could not work, lost personal possessions or had their families broken apart. The law was changed and a compensation scheme set up after a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights.

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Magazine made to pay damages for criticising politician’s homophobic behaviour

The magazine Mladina published an article criticising a politician for homophobic remarks in a parliamentary debate. The politician sued the magazine because he had been offended by its criticism. The Slovenian courts ruled against the magazine, ordering it to pay damages. The European court ruled this had violated the magazine’s rights – leading to reforms to protect free speech.

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* This figure includes all judgments and decisions from the European Court of Human Rights (including friendly settlements) concerning which the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has decided that all necessary follow-up measures have been taken. Source: the database of the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the ECHR, HUDOC-EXEC.