What we do
Resolved investigation proceedings
Discrimination investigation is carried out in line with the administrative procedure based on complaints received by the equality body (the Advocate) from parties (pursuant to Article 33 of PADA) and in proceedings instituted ex officio (Article 34 of PADA).
The Advocate of the Principle of Equality received a complaint against the publisher of the television medium because the host of the talk show Faktor spoke of the differences between races, such as different intelligence quotients, the laziness of the African people, etc. The Advocate recognized race and ethnic background as the personal circumstances based on which individuals are afforded protection from discrimination. The words spoken match the statutory description of incitement to discrimination.
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The Advocate of the Principle of Equality received a motion lodged by a third party based on which he considered possible discrimination regarding the transportation services. A group of funeral attendants needed transport from the Žale Cemetery to the city center. They arranged themselves two taxies to pick them up. The taxies arrived separately. The first driver approached the group of 8-10 people and after a conversation with a potential customer slowly drove away. The second driver observed the situation and then decided to approach the group. As he drove up to them he realized they had a darker skin complexion. He told the dispatcher over the radion that these are migrants and he was not going to give them a ride. The Advocated found that both of the taxi drivers violated the prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic background.
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The Advocate of Principle of Equality received a complaint regarding a media release titled Presežki 5 published in a printed magazine Demokracija. The Advocate assessed that the case is relevant for the protection against discrimination based on personal circumstances of race or ethnic backgrounds and religion or belief so the proceedings against the publisher of the printed medium were initiated ex officio. The Advocate found by analyzing the text that the author was justifying ideas of the supremacy or superiority of people according to their race, ethnic background, and religious belief. Such writings violate article 10 of the Protection Against Discrimination Act (incitement towards discrimination). The Advocate also analyzed the text in terms of freedom of speech and concluded it to be an abuse of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The director and executive editor of the weekly periodical Demokracija said that the article is a periodical »satirical piece« and he likened the circumstances of the media article to the journalistic stylistic form »glosa«. The Advocate assessed that justifying the idea of supremacy or superiority of one group over another constitutes discrimination regardless of the genre written in. With the help of a media expert and author of numerous journal publications, the Advocate concluded that the piece Presežki 5 is neither satire nor »glosa« as it does not meet the criteria of this genre.
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The Advocate received an anonymous discrimination complaint to address discrimination occurring in a private company. The company’s criteria for the employee’s entitlement to payment for the company’s business performance was specified in such a way that the percentage of the business performance bonus is reduced according to a predetermined scale in cases of absence due to all health reasons, maternity leave, paternity leave and unpaid leave. The company pursued the objective of reducing the absence of employees from work, which can be a completely legitimate objective, but the Advocate assessed that the means to achieve this objective were not appropriate and necessary. As a result, the Advocate found discrimination on the grounds of parenthood, gender and health status.
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Assessing the discriminatory character of regulations
The provisions of Article 38 of the Protection against Discrimination Act (PADA) grants the Advocate the power to file requests for the review of the constitutionality and legality of regulations before the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia. If found that any law or other regulation is discriminatory, the Advocate may inform thereof the procedure proposer for the assessment of constitutionality and legality or initiate the procedure for the review
of the constitutionality or legality of a regulation or general act issued for the exercise of public authority.
The Advocate implements the provision by first assessing whether a regulation is discriminatory before deciding on the initiation of the proceeding for the assessment of constitutionality or legality. This is an internal procedure at the Advocate, which is not conducted in the manner of discrimination investigation under the administrative procedure, as the administrative procedure is not intended for the investigation of discrimination existing at the level of regulations.
The Advocate of Principle of Equality received an open letter from the Slovenian Hospitality and Tourism Industry Union complaining that the employees who had not yet been vaccinated for a variety of reasons are presumably discriminated against in various areas. Based on this the Advocate carried out an assessment of the discriminatory character of the Ordinance Temporarily Prohibiting the Offering and Sale Goods and Services to Consumer in the Republic of Slovenia and the Decree on the Implementation of Screening Programs for the Early Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Virus Infection.
The Advocate assessed that vaccination is not similar to sex, age, race, or any other personal circumstance according to its definition as either inherent or acquired personal characteristics, features, conditions, or statuses, which, as a rule, are either permanently and inalienably linked to a particular individual and their personality, in particular, their identity; or cannot easily be changed by the individual. The decision of whether or not to get vaccinated is a personal choice so the Advocate cannot broadly consider it as other personal circumstance. Possible exceptions could be persons who are unable to get vaccinated or are even prohibited from doing so for medical reasons and persons who refuse to get vaccinated on religious grounds or the grounds of a conviction. Such conviction cannot be equated to an opinion on a specific issue, but rather that this refers to a held worldview equivalent to a religion.
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Special reports
In accordance with Article 22 of the Protection against Discrimination Act, the Advocate of the Principle of Equality shall report to the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia about their work and findings on the existence of discrimination involving specific groups of people with certain personal grounds in the framework of special reports.
The purpose of this Special Report is to draw attention to the State’s obligations regarding the exercise of the right to equal treatment and equal opportunities in all areas of social life for persons with disabilities. These provisions are stipulated in detail by the aforementioned Act and by the Convention.
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The purpose of this Special Report is to increase the degree of availability of public inter-urban bus transport for persons with sensory disabilities, draw attention to the importance of formulating, adopting and consistent implementation of regulations that prevent discriminatory treatment of persons with disabilities and to accelerate the implementation of measures enabling them to exercise their right to ensured accessibility of public road transport.
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Persons with disabilities must be provided with equal opportunities when accessing goods and services in different areas of their social life, for example in education, in health and social care, in work and employment, in art, and in culture. Pursuant to the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities Act (the EOPDA), public facilities must be adapted to persons with disabilities no later than 11 December 2025.
As part of the preparation of this Special Report, an enquiry (an online survey) collected information on the assessment of representatives of public authorities and institutions, for which the State and local communities are directly responsible, regarding the accessibility of public facilities. This Special Report:
- presents an indicative assessment of the state of inaccessibility of certain types of public facilities;
- describes the key obstacles in ensuring the accessibility of public facilities, as evidenced by the assessments of the respondents to the enquiry;
- contains recommendations for the competent authorities in order to improve the accessibility of public facilities for persons with disabilities and thus improve their position regarding their access to goods and services which are available to the public.
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The purpose of this Special Report is to draw attention to the importance of designing, adopting and consistent implementation of regulations that prevent discriminatory treatment of people with disabilities and to accelerate the implementation of measures enabling them to exercise their right to equal accessibility of public road transport.
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The purpose of this Special Report is to raise awareness on the importance of formulating, adopting and consistent implementation of regulations preventing any chance of discriminatory treatment of students with disabilities, specifically those with reduced mobility, and to facilitate the implementation of measures for the exercise of their equal right in access to education (and other rights).
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The purpose of the Special Report is to present how procedures for medical gender identity confirmation and legal gender recognition are currently regulated in Slovenia, as well as the practice of the competent authorities.
The Report serves to draw the attention of the legislator and the public to the importance of respecting human rights and equal rights of persons born with such physical characteristics that – according to established medical and/or societal norms – their sex cannot be defined as female or male.
With this Special Report, the Advocate would like to draw public attention to the situation of persons who are deaf in the process of their inclusion in education, including when seeking the highest attainable levels of education. Equal treatment and equal opportunities of deaf in the realisation of their full potential in the field of education and thus their integration into social life is explored in detail. In accordance with Article 2 of the PADA, education is explicitly listed among areas of social life where discrimination (of groups) of persons with a particular personal ground is prohibited.
Handbooks
The Advocate of the Principle of Equality is a specialized state body established to ensure assistance and advisory to victims of discrimination. Where necessary, the equality body investigates discrimination either in regulations or in individual cases. Special attention is paid to education and awareness-raising activities. One of the areas where discrimination is reported most frequently is in the field of employment and work. For that reason, this handbook for employees and job seekers is also a part of our activities to promote equal treatment.
It is intended for all job seekers, job candidates and employees in the public and private sectors, as well as educational institutions and non-governmental organizations faced with issues related to discrimination in this area.