Chapter 14: Slovenia

MILADA MIRKOVIC



LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK AND PRACTICES FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

General

Constitutional Rights

The 1991 Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia (hereafter termed the constitution)1, introduces the following:

It also provides that the manner in which property is acquired and enjoyed must ensure its ecological function.7

The constitutional right to a healthy environment is not placed in the chapter of human rights and fundamental freedoms8 of the constitution, and therefore the direct exercise of this right is not guaranteed by the constitution itself.9 Consequently, the right to a healthy environment cannot be directly enforced before the constitutional court by the institute of "constitutional complaint," which is otherwise foreseen as the protection against human rights being breached. In the procedure for the assessment of constitutionality and legality of statutes, regulations and general rules issued for the exercise of public authority, where violation of the right to a healthy environment may be involved, the constitutional court may or may not recognize the legal interest of a person seeking protection in order to give his/her locus standi before the court in every particular procedure. However, after a few unsuccessful cases regarding this issue before the constitutional court, in the year 1996 there was a case in which the court recognized standing for some individuals merely on the basis of the constitutional right to a healthy environment.10

Implementation of International Legal Instruments

In accordance with the constitution, international treaties ratified by parliament come into effect immediately after they are proclaimed and published.11 They become a part of the legal system without adoption of any particular legislation.

Some of the ratified conventions are additionally implemented in certain points by domestic legislation, as in the case of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, Vienna, 1985, and their protocols,12 the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, New York, 199213 and the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, Basel, 1989.14

Implementation of International Nonbinding Instruments: Sofia Guidelines

According to available resources, initiatives which have been taken in the course of the implementation of the Sofia Guidelines are as follows:

Powers and Responsibilities of Local/Regional Governments Concerning Environment

Local governments have competence in local issues, which municipalities can manage/regulate autonomously and which concern only their inhabitants.16 The highest legal act of municipalities is a statute of a municipality whose adoption is in the competence of a municipal council. It defines basic principals of organization and activities of the municipality, as well as the method of informing the public of the work performed by the municipal bodies and prescribing the form of co-operation of the citizens in the decisionmaking process of the municipalities.17 A municipality regulates issues which are in its competence by adoption of its own legal regulations: ordinances, orders, rulebooks and guidelines. The statute and other regulations of the municipality are to be published in an official gazette.18

Although environmental protection is primarily the responsibility of the state, regional communities are responsible for matters of local importance - i.e. those matters originating in the area of the community, the impact of which does not reach beyond certain regional boundaries and which can be handled, organized, managed, controlled, prevented, financed, promoted or otherwise dealt with by the local community itself. Such matters include:

In addition, the urban municipality is responsible for the protection of natural and cultural monuments of local importance, and for the management of city traffic.20 The municipality can also prescribe levels of pollutants' emissions into the ground, water, and air, and related measures; these levels can be stricter than those prescribed at the national level.21

Access to Environmental Information

Legislation on Access to Information/ Environmental Information

In accordance with the constitution, all laws (statutes, regulations and bylaws) must be proclaimed and published before they come into effect. State laws must be published in the official gazette of the state. Local government laws must be published in an official gazette as is determined by the local government body concerned.22

This issue is regulated in detail by the Law on the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia.23 All laws and other legal documents adopted by parliament (the National Assembly), the National Council (an elected advisory and, to a certain level, supervisory body of the parliament), the president of the state, the government and ministries, as well as general legal documents issued for the performance of public authorizations, must be published in the official gazette of the State - the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia. Other legal documents are also to be published in the Official Gazette if it is provided so in a specific law or regulation.

Regulations issued by local governments are to be published in the Official Gazette if the highest legal acts - statutes of local communities (e.g. municipal statutes) - so provide. Some local communities publish their regulations in their own official gazettes.

The constitution also provides a general right to obtain information of a public nature,24 provided that the person interested in information must show sufficient legal interest as determined by statute.25 The constitution foresees a possibility of limitation of this right, as determined by the statute. The statute may limit access to information of a public nature which is declared as a private, state, official, military or business secret.26

In Slovenia's legislation there is no general law providing freedom of information held by public authorities.

The Law on Public Media/Press (Article 24)27 provides that government bodies, local government bodies or statutory authorities must assure the public of their work; these bodies are obliged to provide timely, complete and truthful information concerning questions regarding their field of activity. Such bodies must assign a person to be responsible for the issuing of such information.

Provision of information to journalists may be refused only in the following cases:

The Law provides that a publisher can also be an NGO or a private person who is not licensed for publishing, if such a publisher is non-commercial and distributes information for free.

Freedom of environmental information is regulated by the 1993 Environmental Protection Act (hereafter termed the EPA).28

In accordance with the EPA, environmental information is to be made available to the public. Public authorities, namely bodies of the state and local authorities, parties involved in the delivery of public services, and those with public authorizations related to the environment, are to disseminate environmental information, and to provide environmental information upon request.

Regarding procedural rules, the EPA prescribes that environmental information requested by the public must be provided in the prescribed manner not later than one month from the request and at a price which may not exceed the material costs of provided information.29 These rules apply also when local authorities request information from persons whose business operations cause an environmental strain.30 The EPA does not provide any other procedural rules. Although the statute says "in the prescribed manner," it does not explicitly foresee the adoption of any particular regulation concerning this issue. Laws (and their implementing regulations) concerning a particular field of environmental protection (e.g. the monitoring of discharges and of the quality of different environmental media, the management of hazardous substances, etc.) do not contain any procedural rules to the purpose of obtaining information.

Whether the rules of the general administrative procedure are to be applied in a subsidiary manner in these cases is still not thoroughly tested in practice. According to informal meetings between representatives of the MoE and NGOs and citizens, opinions concerning this question are divided. NGOs and citizens have shared the opinion that the rules of the general administrative procedure subsidiary apply. According to available resources at the end of 1997, eight individual requests from the public have been brought before different state and local government bodies requesting different environmental information, mainly about industrial emissions into the air and water. Only two answers were given in a timely manner. One of them provided requested information only partially. Several complaints have been fulfilled in accordance with the rules of the general administrative procedure. These cases have not been resolved to date.

Passive Provision of Information

Definition of Environmental Information

The EPA defines environmental information as:

  1. information concerning the state of the environment;
  2. information concerning changes of the environment;
  3. the procedures and activities of bodies of the state and local authorities, as well as of the parties involved in the delivery of public services and those with public authorizations relating to the environment.31

The environment is defined as a part of nature which is or may be influenced by human activity.32 There are no provisions defining what environmental information covers in detail.

Conditions for Obtaining the Information

Bodies of the state and local authorities, parties involved in the delivery of public services, and those with public authorizations related to the environment, are obliged to provide environmental information to the public.

All private bodies that perform public services are obliged to provide environmental information to the public.

Any party whose business operations cause in any way or in any form an environmental strain, must provide public access to the information concerning such environmental strain through the competent local authority's agency or, in the case of urban municipalities, through a competent institute.33

Environmental information requested by the public must be provided in the prescribed manner, not later than one month after the request.34

Individuals and their organizations are entitled to receive environmental information, although there are no particular rules concerning the form in which environmental information may be requested/provided.

Environmental information requested by the public must be provided at a price which may not exceed the material costs of provided information.35 There are no other detailed rules indicating what these costs include.

According to available resources, in two cases at the end of 1997 in which environmental information was requested by individuals, and answered by the public authorities, no charge at all was made for the provision of such information.

Refusal to Provide Information

There are no particular rules concerning the possibility of refusal of requested information or the possibility of a public interest test to be made within the procedure when environmental information is requested. Neither exemptions are specifically listed for the purpose of such a procedure. Business secrets are regulated by the Law on Business Entities.36 According to this statute business secrets are to be data which a business entity defines as such by a written decree, provided that such data has not been declared as public (i.e. accessible to the public) by the law or that such data does not represent a breach of the law or good business practices. Since the EPA provides that data concerning an environmental strain caused by business operations of any person are to be public,37 such information can not be declared a business secret.

Informal Guidelines for Agencies and the Public

As of the end of 1997, no general guidelines have been issued to public authorities on how to provide information/environmental information.

At the same time, no general guidelines have been issued to the public on how to request information/environmental information.

Specific Institutions/Officials to Provide Information

Within governmental bodies there is usually a designated department, or at least an official, responsible for public relations. At the end of 1997, according to official sources, such bodies do not have a particular official designated for the provision of environmental information.

If an Authority Does Not Possess the Information

There are no particular procedural rules concerning a situation in which public authorities do not possess the environmental information requested by the public, although detailed analysis of Article 14.3 of the EPA shows that local public authorities are obliged to get such information from persons who cause an environmental strain through their business operations, in cases where such information is requested.

Information Held in Public Registers

Whether or not information held in public registers is available to the public free of charge depends on what kind of register is concerned. For example, information held in public registers which relates to real estate may be obtained free of charge if a party does not require a copy of the document being obtained.

Costs of Obtaining Information

If, as in the example above, a copy is required, the party concerned will be charged a small fee and the cost of administrative stamps. Public authorities in Slovenia usually have adequate facilities for obtaining copies of information.

Active Provision of Information

Obligation to Disseminate Information Actively

Every year an annual national environmental report38 is to be prepared by the ministry, adopted by the parliament and published in a manner accessible to the general public. The report should be a complex and comprehensive document containing inter alia data related to the state of and changes to the environment (including public health, environmental damage and performed rehabilitation programs), necessary and priority tasks and measures in the field of environmental protection, as well as environmental research and the introduction of new technologies and products, and the significant international events in the field of environmental protection. The report must also contain data on financial transactions in the field of environmental protection in the country, and on activities of state/local agencies and providers of public services. The report is to contain data concerning the implementation of the National Environmental Protection Program and its working plans (after they have been adopted in the future).

The first official proposal of the report was presented to parliament in 1996; at the end of 1997 it had still not been adopted.

Concerning the active dissemination of environmental information, the EPA foresees that information related to the following are to be regularly provided to the public and local authorities through mass media or by other means39:

Such monitoring and active dissemination of such information is the responsibility of the state, in particular of ministers responsible for the environment, public health, agriculture and forestry, natural heritage, and civil defense and rescue. The regulations needed for the implementation of such monitoring, including those which prescribe a manner of regular provision of information to the public, were not adopted as of the end of 1997, except in cases of emergency when ecological, industrial or other accidents occur.

In accordance with the Statute on Protection in Cases of Natural and Other Accidents40, active spreading of information and warnings to the population concerned by such accidents are in the competence of the Ministry for Civil Defense and Rescue.

Methods of Dissemination

The monitoring of air quality, precipitation, surface waters and of underground water is the responsibility of the Hydrometeorological Institute, an agency of the MoE.41 Results of water and air quality monitoring are published yearly in the form of a brochure.42 Additionally, data on air quality monitoring is published monthly in the agency's bulletin, and some data on the air quality in cities is available through various means (e.g. the concentration of SO2 in the air in Ljubljana is reported daily in weather reports on the weather information telephone service).

In 1997, some environmental NGOs put forward an initiative that pollutant release and transfer registers (PRTR) should be introduced in Slovenia. Some lobbying activities took place, and a roundtable was held on the issue.43

Electronic Means of Dissemination

There are no particular laws which request public authorities to make environmental information accessible to the public electronically. However, there are several Web sites run by public authorities which provide basic information about environmental bodies, and, in some cases, a certain amount of information concerning legislation related to their work.

The MoE's Web site provides a database on current environmental legislation, which contains registers and, to a certain extent, texts of environmental legislation adopted on the basis of the EPA (from 1993). The MoE's Web site also provides a timetable of legislative development for the current year.

Nongovernmental Centers

At present, there are two nongovernmental information centers in Slovenia which cover the field of environmental protection within their activity: RIDMC (Ljubljana) and PIC (Ljubljana). An environmental organization, Labeco-Ecosvet (Ljubljana), provides a database on environmental legislation on the Internet.

RIDMC is an information center for NGOs. It provides information related to the activities of environmental NGOs, including:

The Legal & Information Center (PIC) for NGOs provides free legal aid twice a week in the field of environmental protection. Within this activity PIC is involved in the provision of environmental information to citizens and NGOs related to environmental legislation as well. PIC builds up a reference law library which is accessible to NGOs and citizens.

The database run by the environmental NGO Labeco-Ecosvet on the Internet includes the following:

Labeco-Ecosvet also builds up a reference library which contains environmental legislation and literature (e.g. books, newsletters, various printed materials) concerning environmental law and different fields of environmental protection. This library is open to environmental NGOs and citizens interested in environmental protection.

Mechanisms to Ensure Flow of Information from the Private Sector to the Public Authorities or Public

In accordance with Articles 70 and 71 of the EPA and implementing regulations concerning the operational monitoring of discharges released by individual polluters into the air, water and soil, individual polluters are obliged to perform such monitoring and to report the results periodically to competent ministries (MoE, Ministry for Agriculture, Forests and Nourishment, etc.)

Public Participation

Legislation on Public Participation

The constitution foresees the general right of public participation in public affairs. This participation is subject to additional determination by the law. It can be performed either directly or through elected representatives.44

Direct forms of public participation are i) the right of referendum, and ii) the right of initiative. Both of these rights can be executed on national and local levels.

Public Control of Decisionmaking (Direct Democracy)

Referenda

In accordance with the constitution, a petition of at least 40,000 voters is required to call for a mandatory binding referendum on any issue which is the subject of regulation by statute.45 All citizens who are eligible to vote shall have the right to vote in a referendum. The proposal put to a referendum shall be adopted if the simple majority of voters voting at the referendum are in favor. The National Assembly shall be bound by the results of such referendum.

This subject is covered in greater detail by the Law on Referendum and Public Initiative (1994 ). This statute provides that the initiative to present a request for a referendum can be given to any voter, political party or other association of citizens.46

In practice, from the year of Slovenian independence in 1991 to the end of 1997, there was one public attempt to collect a sufficient number of signatures for a mandatory binding referendum on environmental issues, but it was unsuccessful. The referendum was aimed at the closure of the nuclear plant Krsko, which happened in 1995.

The Law on Referendum and Public Initiative (1994) also foresees the possibility of the advisory referendum being initiated by the National Assembly. Such an advisory referendum may be related to any question under the competence of the National Assembly, and it may be held at the national or regional/local level. The result of such a referendum is not binding for parliament.

Right to Initiative

In accordance with the constitution, a petition of at least 5,000 voters shall initiate the consideration of legislation in parliament (the National Assembly).47 Proposal of a new law put in place by the citizens' right of initiative must include elements required for a law proposal by the Standing Orders of the National Assembly (1993): a title, an introduction, a text of articles, and an explanation. The introduction includes an estimation of the status quo, reasons for the adoption of the proposed law, goals and principles of the proposed law, an estimation of financial burden to the national budget, and other eventual consequences which would be provoked by the adoption of the proposed law. 48

Direct Democracy at the Local Level

The basic principles for a local self-government are laid down in Articles 138 through 144 of the constitution. The subject is covered in greater detail by the Local Self-Government Act (1994) - hereafter referred to as LSA. The legal regulation of the local self-government and the legal framework for public participation in decisionmaking processes on a local level are important, considering the fact that the execution of certain tasks from the sphere of environmental protection lies within the jurisdiction of local communities. The right of public participation in public affairs is to a large extent directly executed on a local level.

The LSA determines that citizens of local self-governing communities (individuals with permanent residency within the boundaries of local self-governing communities) decide on the affairs of the local self-government through a council, which is elected freely and confidentially on the basis of direct, equal and general voting rights.

Direct forms of decisionmaking by the citizens in these local self-governing communities on matters of local self-government can take place through a local assembly (an assembly of residents), a referendum or a public initiative. 49

The LSA deals in great detail with the organization and decisionmaking of the municipality, as a basic form of local community. It defines public participation in the municipality as:

  1. Right of assembly of municipal residents - local level
    The assembly of members of residents may be convened for the entire municipality or for an individual area, and shall be called by the mayor on his own initiative, on the initiative of the municipal council or on the demand of five per cent of the electorate of the municipality or its part, that must be defined in the municipal statute.50

  2. Right of referendum - local level
    A municipal council may call a referendum on one of its acts or other decisions, on its own initiative, but it must call a referendum if at least ten per cent of the electorate in the municipality requests it. All the voters in the municipality have the right to vote. A decision is to be adopted if the majority of voters are in favor.51 The manner of casting votes at a referendum is to be defined in greater detail by the statute of the municipality and in conjunction with the Law on Referendum and Public Initiative (1994).

The LSA also foresees the possibility of an advisory referendum which the municipal council calls, upon the will of the community residents, on individual questions from the municipal jurisdiction which are of special importance. An advisory referendum does not bind municipal bodies. It can be called for the whole municipality or its part. According to the LSA, it may be possible that the advisory referendum may be called at the request of a certain number of voters in the municipality.52

A public initiative on the local self-government level allows residents of the community to request the issuance or the invalidation of a general act or other decision from the jurisdiction of the Municipal Council or other municipal bodies, on the basis of the request of at least five per cent of the voters in the municipality. The official body, to which the matter is addressed through a public initiative is obliged to give a decision within a time limit determined by a statute of the municipality, which may not be longer than three months.53

Public Shares Power to Decide

The EPA provides that prior cooperation of the state, local authorities, providers of public services and holders of public authorizations in the domain of environmental protection, citizens, professional and other nongovernmental organizations, business, and polluters, is to be ensured in any institutionalized approach to environmental protection.54 These general law provisions are of vague character and had not been defined by implementing legislation at the end of 1997.

Account of Public Comments

Individuals and NGOs hold the right to have their comments taken seriously into account within the decisionmaking procedure, both in the EIA process and in the process of adoption of land-use planning, and their implementing documents.

Adequate Notification of the Public

Individuals and NGOs are adequately notified regarding the decisionmaking procedure in the EIA process and in the process of adoption of land-use planning, and their implementing documents.

Within the process of policymaking there are no legal requirements that individuals or NGOs be adequately notified. However, as mentioned earlier, representatives of the MoE and of several environmental NGOs have negotiated the preparation of a guideline on internal procedure regarding public participation of the preparation of drafts of law, of implementing regulations and/or strategic and planning documents being prepared by the MoE. Individuals' and NGOs' rights to be adequately and timely notified within such processes have also been discussed.55 If adopted, such a guideline seems not to be enforceable.

Decisionmaking is Transparent

Possibility to Influence Decisionmaking

The laws regulating the work of the parliamentary committees foresee the possibility of the engagement of experts, organizations or institutions (other than state or local government agencies and their officials) when such bodies deal with particular issues in session(s), but such cooperation is not obligatory.56

However, when such cooperation does occur, the participants can give their suggestions, but cannot participate in decisionmaking, i.e. they have no right to vote. According to available sources, such cooperation occasionally occurs in practice.

Mechanisms to Influence Decisionmaking - Lobby Mechanisms

At the end of 1997, there is no lobby mechanism provided by NGOs. The activities of lobbyists are informal and not regulated by any law or regulation.

Capacity Building

According to available sources, the government provides no specific training on public participation for governmental officials. Neither is there any governmental funding (distributed annually) which specifically focuses on public participation projects and public participation training.

Access to Justice

General Rights and Sources of Law

The Slovenian constitution does not provide the right to go to court or file an appeal inside of agencies and governmental bodies, on issues concerning denial of access to environmental information and failure to allow public participation in environmental issues.

Administrative Standing

A party in the general administrative procedure may be a person who instituted the proceeding at his/her own request, a person against whom a proceeding has been filed, and any person who has the right to participate in such proceedings in order to protect their own rights and legal benefits.57 In administrative procedures, any natural or legal person can be a party, if the party can show a proper legal interest.

The legal interest is always provided in the material law, which defines rightful claimants, and which usually provides for the determination of this right in an administrative procedure. For example, the EPA states who can be a party in the case of EIA procedure (for which the rules of the general administrative procedure apply).58

In administrative procedures, a party can also be a group of people who do not have the status of a legal person (such as inhabitants of a commune, etc.), if they can become holders of the rights and obligations which are the subject of the process.59

In accordance with the provisions of the General administrative procedure,60 in cases where a particular finding procedure is not necessary, a competent administrative body comes to a decision in not more than one month. In cases where a particular finding procedure is necessary, the term is two months.

TABLE 1: Administrative Standing
  In the administrative decisionmaking process In the administrative appeal of administrative decisionmaking process
Individuals
  every person - -
  interested/affected x x
NGOs
  everyone - -
  interested/affected x x

Standing in Actions Against Government Agencies

The Law on Administrative Dispute,61 which regulates a procedure of judicial review of final administrative decisions, provides that individuals and their organizations, as well as neighborhoods or informal groups of people, may bring an action before the administrative court when their rights or legal benefits are breached by a final individual administrative legal act or decision.62

According to the Law on Administrative Dispute, the supreme court is competent for an appeal against the decision made by the administrative court, in the procedure of judicial review of a final administrative decision.

In proceedings for the conformity of constitutionality and legality of the regulations and general acts to enforce public authorization, initiative can be given by anybody as long as a regulation or a general act to enforce public authorizations, which the initiator proposes, directly encroaches upon his/her rights, legal interests or legal position.63 The proceeding starts if and when the court adopts the initiative by a decree.

One of the proposers of the requirement for evaluating the constitutionality and legality of the regulations and general acts for enforcement of public authorizations, is the ombudsman. The proceeding starts at the filing of the motion.

In Slovenian environmental legislation there are no particular provisions providing remedies in cases where public officials fail to enforce laws.

When public officials do not perform their tasks at work, they are usually held responsible in accordance with internal rules concerning discipline in the workplace.

The EPA provides that a fine of not less than SIT 10,000 (USD 57) is to be imposed on the responsible person in the MoE, its body or organization, or any other state body or department of local authorities for committing any listed offense, but regarding the nature of these listed offenses, they may be applied to public officials only where governmental bodies are in the position of polluter or similar.64 For example, one such offense is the failure to ensure public access to information concerning an environmental strain that they may cause themselves.65

TABLE 2: Legal Standing Against Government
  Special administrative court Civil court Criminal court Arbitration court or special economic courts Constitutional court
Individuals
  every person - - - - -
  interested/affected x x - - x
NGOs
  everyone - - - - -
  interested/affected x x - - x

Standing in Actions Against Polluters

In order to exercise the constitutional right to a healthy and clean environment, individual citizens, their associations, unions and organizations may file a suit with the civil court, demanding the suspension of an "environmental action" (activity/project), if such an action presents or will present an immediate threat to the environment, a critical environmental strain66 or damage, or a direct danger to the life and health of the people. The prohibition of the commencement of such an action may be demanded if the likelihood of the above-mentioned effects can be demonstrated with reasonable certainty.67 The court may impose suspension or prohibition of the commencement of the action only if it is not possible to prevent such effects by other means.68

TABLE 3: Legal Standing Against Polluters
  Special administrative court Civil court Criminal court Arbitration court or special economic courts Constitutional court
Individuals
  every person - x69 - - -
  interested/affected - - - - -
NGOs
  everyone - x70 - - -
  interested/affected - - - - -

Remedies and Enforcement

Injunctive Relief

According to the Law on Administrative Disputes, the administrative court deciding on the first level or the supreme court deciding upon an appeal, may issue a judgment which substantially decides upon the matter in question. Therefore, in theory, the issuance of a permanent injunctive relief is possible. In practice, it is to be expected that in most cases the court will reverse (i.e. dismiss the administrative act containing the administrative decision in question) and demand for further proceedings in the issue, before the competent administrative body decides upon the issue within the general administrative procedure.

An interim injunctive relief may be demanded before the administrative court in cases where the following conditions are cumulatively given: i) the execution of the administrative act/decision in question will inflict irreversible damage on the plaintiff, ii) the interim injunctive relief is not against public interest, and iii) the other party will not suffer from significant (i.e. irreversible) damage.71

An interim or permanent injunctive relief may be demanded before civil courts. The former is possible where an "environmental action" (activity/project) presents or will present an immediate threat to the environment, a critical environmental strain72 or damage, or a direct danger to the life and health of the people. The latter is possible where such an "action" may be demand if the likelihood of the above-mentioned effects can be demonstrated with reasonable certainty.73 The court may impose injunctive relief if it is not possible to prevent the above-stated effects of the action by other means.

Enforcement of Judgements

According to available sources, public interest environmental cases coming before the courts rarely conform to any pattern.

Court Expenses/Litigation Expenses

Litigation costs are quite high in Slovenia. There exists both an attorney and court tariff system, which estimates litigation costs regarding the value of the subject matter in dispute. The general rule of civil procedure, which applies to administrative disputes as well, is that the loser in litigation covers all litigation costs. In certain circumstances such costs are shared between parties in litigation. Waiver or acquittal of litigation costs is possible only in cases where a party in litigation has a very low income and is therefore not able to pay the costs (i.e. in such a way as not to threaten his/her survival and the welfare of his/her family). There is no possibility for any waiver or acquittal of litigation costs for citizens/NGOs in public interest litigation.

Legal Assistance

Public Interest Environmental Lawyers

At the end of 1997 only one NGO provided free legal advisory services in the field of environmental protection - the Legal & Information Center for NGOs (PIC). PIC employs one full-time lawyer. Other lawyers are employed on a contract basis. Students of law are also involved in PIC's work. PIC provides free legal aid twice a week in the field of environmental protection. It is building up a reference law library which is accessible to NGOs and citizens.

Commercial Lawyers

According to current information, there are no commercial lawyers working specifically on public interest environmental cases.

Ombudsman

With regard to the annual Ombudsman Report of 1996, 3.1 % of all complaints were in the environmental field. Of these, 70.5 % were acted upon by the ombudsman.

1. Published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 33/91-I.
2. The constitution, Art. 72 (1).
3. The constitution, Art. 73. In accordance with the Law on Natural and Cultural Heritage, Art. 17, the "natural significances" means protected natural areas, such as parks and reserves, natural monuments, designed natural monuments and endangered plant and animal species [the Official Gazette of the Socialistic Republic of Slovenia, No. 1/81].
4. The constitution, Art. 72 (2).
5. The constitution, Art. 5 (1). In accordance with the Environmental Protection Act, Art. 5 (3)"natural treasure" are rare, precious or more valuable components of nature which are essential for the satisfaction of man's material and spiritual needs and interests [the Official Gazette, No. 32/93].
6. The constitution, Art. 72 (3).
7. The constitution, Art. 67 (1).
8. The right to healthy environment is placed in the chapter of "economic and social relations." As the most of rights covered by this chapter, it is to be additionally regulated by law. In 1993, Slovenia adopted a new legal framework for environmental protection - the Environmental Protection Act (the EPA) [the Official Gazette, No. 32/93].
9. See Art 15 (1) of the constitution.
10. The constitutional court, Decree No. U-I-30/95-26, 1/15-1996. The constitutional court granted a certiorari for evaluation of constitutionality and legality of a development plan of small business/manufacturing zone in the hinterland of the lake Bled, petitioned by the non-governmental organization "Drustvo ekologov Slovenije" and 25 individuals. The court recognized legal interest [required for this kind of petition by the Law on the constitutional court, Art.24(2); the Official Gazette, no. 15/94] to individuals on the basis of the constitutional right for healthy environment in which to live. The court held that "any individual persons have the interest to prevent actions damaging the environment, and that this [interest] is not limited only to the environment close to the place where they live or only for prevention of a minimal damage, but it [this interest] is for sure wider. " In the same case the court recognized legal interest to the NGO on the basis of the Environmental Protection Act, Art. 4 (3), which provides that inter alia professional and other NGOs for environmental protection are to ensure the protection of the environment. The court held that the NGO "Drustvo ekologov Slovenije" is the subject ensuring the environmental protection under above stated provision because it is defined in its intern constitutive act as a professional association, whose members are involved in an expert work in the field of research of ecosystems and their protection, as well as in a pedagogical work and activities on the popularization of these issues.
11. The constitution, Art. 8. In practice international treaties are ratified by the Parliament in the form of statute which is than proclaimed by the President and published in the State Official Gazette.
12. The decree on management of substances causing depletion of ozone layer was issued by the Ministry of the Environment and Regional Planning (MoE) in cooperation with other competent ministries in 1997 [the Official Gazette, No. 80/97].
13. In 1997 there were established two working bodies of the national Government: the Slovenian Committee for Questions Related to Climate Change and the Slovenian Council for Sustainable Development [the Government's Decision on the Establishment of the Slovenian Council for Sustainable Development and the Government's Decision on the Establishment of the Slovenian Committee for Questions Related to Climate Change, both published in the Official Gazette of the RS, No. 59/97].
The Slovenian Committee for Questions Related to Climate Change has a role of a professional body of the government. It consists of its president - the Minister of the Environment and Regional Planning, a deputy - a high officer from the MoE, and 14 members - 10 high officers and representatives of different ministries, 1 representative of the Slovenian Academy of Science and Arts, 1 representative of the national institution for business and 2 representative of environmental non-governmental/non-for-profit organizations. When dealing with particular issues, the committee may set up special working groups and involve in their work external experts, as well. The task of the committee is cooperative work on the implementation of the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The Slovenian Council for Sustainable Development, as advisory body of the government, consists of its president - the prime minister, a deputy - the minister of the environment and regional planning, and 20 members - 10 ministers or their representatives and 10 representatives of different national institutions from the fields of science, education, business and civil society (including 3 representatives of environmental non-governmental/non-for-profit organizations). Its basic tasks are the adoption of directives and recommendations for sustainable development on national level, cooperation within the process of the preparation of the National Environmental Protection Program, and monitoring of reconciliation of different strategic development documents with the principles of the sustainable development.
14. The Decree on export, import and transit of wastes was issued by the MoE in the year 1996 [the Official Gazette, No. 39/96 and 1/97].
15. The leading environmental nongovernmental organizations taking place in this negotiations have been Gaja - Society for Sustainable Development, Umanotera - Slovenian Foundation for Sustainable Development, SEG - Slovenian Ecological Movement, PIC - Legal and Information Center for NGOs and Labeco - Center for Ecological Researches.
16. The constitution, Art. 140 (1). Exercise of local government powers and functions within local communities is regulated in detail by the Local Self-government Act [the Official Gazette, No. 72/93, 6/94, 45/94, 57/94, 14/95, 20/95, 63/95, 73/95, 9/96, 39/96, 44/96, 26/97, 70/97].
17. The Local Self-government Act, Art. 36 and 64.
18. The Local Self-government Act, Art. 66.
19. The EPA, Art. 2, 26, 27 (4), 28 (3), 65 (3). The State has subsidiary responsibility for providing the local public services mentioned above [the EPA, Art. 26 (3)]. The Local Self-Government Act, Art. 21, generally provides that the municipality is inter alia responsible for the protection of air, soil, and water resources, for the protection against noise, for collection and disposal of solid waste.
20. The Local Self-Government Act, Art. 22.
21. The EPA, Art. 27 (3).
22. The constitution, Art. 154.
23. Published in the Official Gazette, No. 57/96.
24. The constitution, Art.39(2).
25. Legal interest required by the constitution for persons who want to obtain information of a public nature is in the case of environmental information determined by the 1993 Environmental Protection Act. Such interest is given to the general public [the EPA, Art. 14 (1)].
26. There are several laws/regulations which define different types of secrets, such as the 1990 Law on Protection of Personal Data, the 1993 Rulebook on Secret Data and on Protection of Secret and Personal Data (state and official secrets), the Decree on Protection Measures in the Field of National Defense (state, official, and military secrets), the Law on Business Entities (business secret), the 1994 Criminal Code (criminal offenses against reveal of business, state, official, and military secrets, criminal offense against the secrecy of the procedures before the courts, the administrative bodies, and parliamentary inquiries).
27. Published in the Official Gazette, No.18/94.
28. Art. 14 of the EPA provides: "(1)The information concerning environmental conditions and changes, the procedures and activities of bodies of the State and the Local Authorities, of the party involved in the delivery of public services, and those with public authorizations relating to the environment shall be open to the public. (2)The parties of the preceding paragraph shall inform the public and provide information to interested individuals and organizations in the prescribed manner not later than one month of the request for such information and at a price which may not exceed the material costs of providing the information. (3) Any party whose business operations should in any way or form strain the environment shall provide public access to the information concerning such environmental strain as they may cause in the manner specified in the preceding paragraph through the competent department of local authorities referred to in paragraph 3 of Article 92 hereof."
29. The EPA, Art. 14 (2).
30. The EPA, Art.14 (3). Definition of "environmental strain" is given in the EPA, Art. 5(6): "Environmental strain, regardless of whether the strain itself or its consequences are involved, is any activity or any effect of such activity which exclusively or in concert with others has caused or is causing environmental pollution, the depreciation of the environment, risk or damage to the environment, and the use or exploitation of natural resources."
31. The EPA, Art. 14 (1).
32. The EPA, Art. 5 (1).
33. The EPA, Art. 14 (3).
34. The EPA, Art. 14 (2).
35. The EPA, Art. 14 (1) and (2).
36. Published in the Official Gazette, No. 30/93, 29/94 and 82/94.
37. The EPA, Art. 14 (3).
38. The EPA, Article 75-76.
39. The EPA, Art. 67- 69.
40. Published in the Official Gazette, No. 64/94.
41. The EPA, Art. 94.
42. Such brochures are published with certain delay, e.g. air quality data for the year 1996, and water quality data for the year 1995, were published in November of 1997.
43. The leading environmental nongovernmental organizations in such activities have been Umanotera - Slovenian Foundation for Sustainable Development and Gaja - Society for Sustainable Development.
44. The constitution, Art. 44, provides that "each citizen shall be entitled, subject to statute, to participate, either directly or through his elected representatives, in public affairs".
45. The constitution, Art. 90.
46. The Law on Referendum and Public Initiative, Art. 13(2) [the Official Gazette of the RS, No. 15/94].
47. The constitution, Art. 88. The Law on Referendum and Public Initiative, Art. 58.
48. The Standing Orders of the National Assembly, Art. 175.
49. The LSA, Art. 11 [the Official Gazette, No. 72/93, 6/94, 45/94, 57/94, 14/95, 20/95, 63/95, 73/95, 9/96, 39/96, 44/96, 26/97.].
50. The LSA, Art. 45.
51. The LSA, Art. 46.
52. The LSA, Art. 47.
53. The LSA, Art. 48.
54. The EPA, Art. 4 and 7 (1).
55. So far, the draft of such guideline foresees obligation for the MoE to disseminate information on planned drafting process/documents by the MoE bulletin and by the Internet.
56. The Standing Order of the National Assembly (Parliament), Art. 157 [the Official Gazette, No. 40/93, 80/94, 3/95, 28/96, 26/97]. The Standing Order of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, Art. 6, 32, 36 and 81 [the Official Gazette, No. 13/93].
57. Published in the Official Gazette of the FLRJ, No. 52/56, the Official Gazette of the SFRJ, No. 10/65, 18/65, 4/77, 11/78, 32/78, 9/86, 16/86, 47/86, 83/89, the Official Gazette, No. 17/91-I and 55/92, Art. 49.
58. See Chapter: Public participation in the EIA process, supra.
59. The law on general administrative procedure, Art. 50 (2).
60. The law on general administrative procedure.
61. Published in the Official Gazette, No. 50/97 and 65/97.
62. The Law on administrative dispute, Art. 1. and 18.
63. The Law on the Constitutional Court [the Official Gazette, No. 15/94].
64. The EPA, Art. 100 (3).
65. The EPA, Art. 100 (1)(2).
66. The EPA, Art. 5 (6.5.).
67. The EPA,Art. 15 (2).
68. The EPA, Art.15 (3).
69. In case that the suspension of an "action into the environment" is demand, such an "action" must present an immediate threat to the environment, a critical environmental strain or damage, or a direct danger to the life and health of the people. When a polluter exceeds prescribed emission/emission standards, but above-mentioned effects are not given, a citizen suit (suit brought by individuals or NGOs) is not possible.
70. See previous fn.
71. The law on administrative dispute, Art. 30(2) and 69.
72. The EPA, Art. 5 (6.5.).
73. The EPA,Art. 15 (2).

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