The biggest reform of the judiciary in the last three decades

For a more effective, transparent and responsible operation of the court system, the government has adopted a package of four judicial laws, which is represented Matej Arčonthe biggest reform of the judiciary in the last three decades. « The goal is to make the courts evenly burdened so that the judges can be more effective, while we want it to affect the reduction of refereeing, » Arčon said after the government’s session.

According to the Minister of Justice Andreja Katič The analysis of the ministry on the operations of the courts in the period from 2014 to 2023 showed that the right to effective judicial protection faced the challenges related to the extension of court proceedings, the number of unresolved matters and court backlogs. The government has thus passed a new law on judges and a new law on courts, while amending the law on the Council and on the State Prosecutor’s Office.

The government proposal sets the district as the basic organizational level of the courts at first instance. The county and district courts will thus be connected, without the assurances of Katic’s individual locations. She explained that the county courts are characterized by great fragmentation, and Slovenia is among European countries with the largest number of courts per 100,000 inhabitants. In 14 courts, only three judges or less were performed in 14 courts. Judges at different parts of Slovenia are unevenly burdened, but now the president of the court will be given the opportunity to be able to put them even more evenly. The single type of first -instance courts will also be followed by a single title for first -instance judges, which, as the minister said, will be eliminated and the load will be more balanced.

The responsibilities of the President of the Court will be a greater emphasis on the day, and his key task will be to ensure a uniform burden on judges and to resolve cases in a timely manner. The so -called judicial norm will be replaced by time standards, there will be no interference with an independent trial of each judge. There will be internal control every three years. Within two years, a new information system for the allocation of cases will need to be established and thus to ensure the right to a legal or natural judge.

According to the bill, the term of office of the court will be shortened from six years to five, and at the same time a term in the same court will only be repeated once. The President of the Supreme Court will be appointed by the National Assembly, and the judges who have already been elected to the judicial office will be appointed by the Judicial Council, and no longer the National Assembly. The renovation of the law on the Judicial Council is ahead of the provision of greater transparency of the Judicial Council, the regulation of disciplinary proceedings and disciplinary authorities.

The amended legislation is expected to apply from 1 January 2027.