Independence of jurisdiction remains among lowest in EU

This year brought slight improvement; Ministry of Justice satisfied

The commission has singled out the progress at efficiency of the judiciary system in the field of administrative matters, while the backlog of court cases remains a challenge for civil and economic courts. Foto: BoBo

As shown by the latest EU Justice Scoreboard, the perceived judicial independence in Slovenia still remains the 5th lowest among the EU member states, after ranking fifth from the bottom in last year's report.

Yet people and companies still have low opinion of the independence of the Slovenian jurisdiction. The Eurobarometer research shows that the perceived independence is the fifth lowest among the EU member states, according to the competent commissioner Vera Jourova, while the perceived judicial independence is only lower in Slovakia, Bulgaria, Italy and Croatia.

In the countries with low ranking the respondents mainly contribute this to the interference or pressure from government and politicians, and economic or other specific interests, she explained, and is not mainly caused by regulatory status and standing of judges.

The commissioner is satisfied with the attitude of the Slovenian authorities, and she has noticed the present government's strong commitment to improve the state of perceived judicial independence. The commissioner believes that today's report is likely to contribute to the improvement.

Compared to last year, Slovenia has improved the efficiency of the judicial system in administrative matters, while the backlog of court cases and long-lasting procedures remain a challenge for civil and economic courts.

Also in February report on Slovenia the commission established that last year the number of unresolved cases diminished by almost one quarter, but not due to higher efficiency, but also because of the smaller caseload, and different statistics.

Jourova sees the possibility for improvement mainly through use of information and communication technologies. Through electronic and centralized delivery of documents to clients and advocates the courts in Slovenia according to her managed to save more than € 4 mil., which is more than 2% of their budget.

Slovenia stands out from the other member states in at least two things – considering the number of inhabitants, it occupies the first place both regarding the new caseload, and regarding the number of judges.

E. Š. (RA SLO)
Translated by G. K.