The Government adopts the text of the proposal to initiate the procedure for amending Articles 160, 161 and 162 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia

At today's session, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the text of the proposal to initiate the procedure for amending Articles 160, 161 and 162 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia with the draft of the Constitutional Act Amending Articles 160, 161 and 162 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia and forwarded it to the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia for consideration.

The proposed constitutional amendments concern the regulation of the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia. The most important change is the amendment to Article 162 of the Constitution, which gives the Constitutional Court's freedom to choose which constitutional complaints and petitions for the review of the constitutionality it will accept for consideration. It strengthens the precedential role of the Constitutional Court at the systemic level. In addition to the free choice of cases, two criteria have been added to direct this choice towards cases raising important constitutional issues, depending on the seriousness of the consequences of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms for the petitioner or complainant respectively. The proposed provision on the decisive influence of a constitutional minority also has an impact on the free choice of cases. In a system of positive selection of cases, the time taken to decide on the (non-)acceptance of cases will be shorter. As a result of the reduction in the Constitutional Court's workload, decisions on important cases can be taken more quickly and within a reasonable period of time. This will strengthen the role of the Constitutional Court in the system of protection of constitutionality and human rights and fundamental freedoms. The proposed approach emphasises the role of the ordinary courts in the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in individual cases, as they are already bound by both the law and the Constitution in their decision-making.

The constitutional act sets a deadline of one year for the adoption of the necessary amendments to the Constitutional Court Act and the Administrative Dispute Act.

Source: Ministry of Justice

Government provides an additional EUR 2.8 million – this time for the organisation and implementation of the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) 2023 in Maribor

Given the importance of the event, the Government has decided to provide the missing EUR 2.5 million from the state budget for the EYOF to co-finance the organisation and implementation of the event and over EUR 325 thousand to co-finance equipment. Together with the funds to co-finance investments in public sports facilities for the EYOF, the State will thus allocate almost EUR 9 million for the implementation of this international sporting event.

The Government has taken note of the activities carried out so far for the organisation of the major international sporting event EYOF 2023 in Maribor. It will provide the missing funds from the state budget for the implementation and organisation of the event.

The Government has so far allocated just over EUR 6 million to the EYOF 2023 Maribor, based on the Government's Decision of January 2021 to provide funding for co-financing sports infrastructure in accordance with the budgetary framework. These funds have been earmarked for co-financing investments in public sports facilities for the EYOF 2023 Maribor. To this end, the Ministry responsible for sport has already co-financed the renovation of the Tabor Sports Hall in 2022. In addition, as part of the Annual Sports Programme 2023, the Ministry of Economy, Tourism and Sport has allocated EUR 3 million to co-finance the renovation of the Poljane Athletics Stadium (construction of a warm-up track and ancillary facility), with the City of Maribor as the investor, as a direct confirmation of the investment.

However, in March 2023, the City of Maribor also submitted a request to secure the missing funds for the organisation and implementation of the event itself. According to the organiser, the funds will be used for the organisation of sports competitions, the accommodation for young athletes and members of the national teams, emergency medical assistance and anti-doping testing.

The organiser emphasises that the EYOF is an important international reference for Slovenia in organising and co-organising competitions at the highest level. Up to 3,600 participants from 48 countries, 800 officials and technical delegates and 800 volunteers are expected to take part in the festival. In addition, the project brings other benefits to the city of Maribor, the region and Slovenia as a whole, as the renewed sports infrastructure will be an important legacy of this project for the further development of sports and sporting events in the city and the region, and will provide young athletes with the right conditions for the development of their sporting careers. Support for the organisation of the EYOF 2023 Maribor was also requested by the Olympic Committee of Slovenia - Sport Societies Association.

Source: Ministry of the Economy, Tourism and Sport