Status
UNCAT ratification date
16 July 1993
OPCAT ratification date
23 January 2007
NPM designated
Human Rights Ombudsman, in collaboration with NGOs (Slovenian Red Cross, Legal Information Center for NGOs, Primus Institute, Slovenian Federation of Pensioners' Organisations and Novi paradoks)
NPM Type
Multiple body
NPM Legal Framework
OPCAT Ratification Law, Official Gazette n°20/2006 International Treaties, Official Gazette n°114/2006 (Unofficial translation)
Slovenia ratified the OPCAT in 2007 and made a formal declaration under Article 17, designating the Human Rights Ombudsperson’s Office as its NPM. The declaration made also foresees a formal cooperation between its Human Rights Ombudsperson’s Office and civil society organisations in the implementation of the NPM mandate.
The Human Rights Ombudsperson’s Office became operational in 2007, and carries out its mandate as NPM in formal cooperation with five national NGOs.
The SPT member who is the SPT Focal Point for Slovenia is available here.
NPM Structure
Formal cooperation agreement between Human Rights Ombudsperson and NGOs
The Human Rights Ombudsperson’s Office concludes a contract of cooperation with the selected organisations which regulates the mutual relations of the contracting parties in more detail. The Cooperation Agreement is valid for a year (see annex 5, 2008 NPM annual report). The contract specifies the divisions of tasks, responsibilities and decision-making between the Ombudsperson’s Office and the selected NGOs.
In 2012, the Ombudsperson's Office cooperates with 5 NGOs: the Legal-Informational Centre of NGOs, Primus Institute, the Slovenian Red Cross, Novi Paradoks and the Association of Slovenian Pensioners.
Roles and responsibilities
The contract of cooperation specifies the relationship between the Ombudsperson’s Office and the selected NGOs. Therefore, the experts from the selected organisations shall provide the Ombudsperson’s Office with a preliminary written declaration which states that they will perform their duties according to the instructions of the Human Rights Ombudsperson’s Office and act according to the regulations on the protection of personal and confidential data in the same manner as applies to the Ombudsman, his deputies and staff.
Internal financial procedures
The experts from the selected NGOs are entitled to the reimbursement of their costs and rewards. For this purpose, the Human Rights Ombudsperson’s Office issued the “Rules on reimbursement of costs and on payment of remunerations to persons from organisations performing the tasks or exercising the powers under the provisions of the OPCAT”, in 2008. Following consultations with the participating NGOs, the rules were revised and an amended version was published in 2011 (see Annex 1, 2011 NPM annual report).
The costs reimbursed are the following:
- travelling expenses and costs for food and accommodation
- rights to compensation of pay or compensation of lost earnings during the time of monitoring
These costs are refunded in the manner and in the amount as determined for civil servants (public employees).
The rewards refer to the payments for producing a report on monitoring (100 EUROS) and a symbolic payment (5 EUROS for each hour or part of an hour of cooperation in monitoring)