Public international law

International law is a system of generally recognised binding legal rules and principles laying down the rights and obligations of entities governed by international law in their mutual relations. These legal rules and principles draw on customary law, treaties, general international principles, and international case law.

Public international law regulates international relations between entities governed by international law in many areas. Slovenia devotes particular attention to its codification and development, also through participation in the UN International Law Commission (ILC). Dr Ernest Petrič has been a member of the Commission from 2006 to 2021 and chaired it for one year.

Slovenia advocates strict compliance with international law and a strengthened international legal system as the best guarantees of international peace and security. It is committed to respecting and consolidating the rule of law at the national and international levels, including peaceful settlement of disputes and abiding by the decisions of international courts and tribunals. Slovenia will continue to improve the knowledge and experience gained through dispute settlement under international law, including international arbitration tribunals and other judicial bodies.

Slovenia supports efforts to bring the perpetrators of the gravest crimes to justice, the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its universality. It also seeks to ensure strict compliance with international humanitarian law.

The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs is the coordinator for international law within state administration, also in procedures for the adoption of international instruments and the arrangement of treaty relations.

International humanitarian law

International humanitarian law (IHL) is a system of rules and principles of international treaty and customary law governing the conduct of individuals with a view to minimising human suffering and damage to facilities and the environment in times of armed conflict.

It is necessary to distinguish between IHL, which governs the conduct of parties to an armed conflict (jus in bello), and public international law, as set out in the Charter of the United Nations, which regulates whether a state may lawfully resort to armed force against another state (jus ad bellum). The Charter prohibits such use of force, with two exceptions: in the case of self-defence against an armed attack, and when the use of armed force is authorised by the United Nations Security Council. By contrast, IHL does not determine whether the commencement of an armed conflict was lawful or not, but seeks to regulate the conduct of parties to an armed conflict once it has begun.

In practice, the fundamental principles of IHL are, in particular:

1. The principle of distinction, which stipulates that attacks are only permissible against military targets, which means that a distinction between civilian and military targets is necessary (i.e. a distinction between civilians and combatants, and a distinction between civilian and military objects);
2. The principle of proportionality, which states that it is prohibited to launch an attack which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated, is prohibited.;
3. The principle of non-discrimination, which states that all wounded and sick must be respected, protected and assisted without discrimination of any kind.

Respecting IHL, even in peacetime, requires the adoption of a number of concrete measures at the national level to establish a legal framework that requires and enables national authorities, armed forces and other bearers of weapons to understand and respect the rules and principles of IHL, to take appropriate practical measures, and to adequately prevent and punish violations of IHL.

Effective implementation requires coordination between different government departments, the military and civil society. To this end, the Government established in 1999 the Inter-ministerial Commission for International Humanitarian Law, which was tasked with preparing, coordinating, and managing activities relating to the international obligations implementation. Such obligations arise from treaty law (e.g. the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005 and other international instruments associated with international humanitarian law) or the rules of customary international humanitarian law. When the Commission ceased to operate, its tasks were carried on by the Permanent Coordination Group for International Humanitarian Law (PCG for IHL), which has met at least twice per year since its inception in March 2014. The PCG for IHL is composed of representatives of several ministries, the Slovenian Red Cross, academia and other professional institutions and organisations.

The PCG for IHL's main duties include intensified cooperation with the international humanitarian law committees of other countries and awareness-raising of its importance in Slovenia, promoting the ratification of IHL treaties and editing Slovenian translations of IHL treaties.

In 2015, the PCG for IHL established a Subgroup to address issues related to the implementation of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, chaired by a representative of the Ministry of Culture.

Slovenia actively participates in the International Conferences of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, the supreme deliberative body of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. At the last 33rd International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Slovenia, together with other States Parties to the Geneva Conventions, adopted several resolutions and made a number of pledges on the implementation and enforcement of international humanitarian law at national level.

International criminal law

A number of activities are underway to ensure effective prosecution of the gravest crimes and develop an international criminal justice system.

Slovenia persistently strives to highlight the importance of an independent and effective International Criminal Court established on the basis of the Rome statute, which entered into force on 1 July 2002. It actively participates in the adoption of procedural and substantive regulations for the Court’s smooth operation, both in terms of its nature as an international organization and as a judicial body. Among other things, Slovenia has been a member of the Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute for two consecutive terms, from the 13th to the 19th session of the Assembly, and was re-elected in December 2023 for a new three-year term.  Through our work, we seek to actively contribute to the visibility and strengthening of the role of the Court and reinforcing Slovenia’s position as an active member of the international community. Additionally, since the establishment of the court, Slovenia and its representatives have also undertaken various other functions within the Assembly, and occasionally, Slovenia serves as a coordinator within its geographical group in relation to the court in The Hague.

Some 124 countries are States Parties to the Rome Statute and Slovenia is a staunch supporter of its universal application and of removing obstacles to court jurisdiction for the gravest of crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and aggression. The Slovenian delegation played a prominent role in the first Review Conference of the Rome Statute in June 2010 in Kampala, Uganda, which amended the definitions of war crimes and the crime of aggression. Slovenia also helped bring the countries’ different views closer together and, by putting forward concrete proposals, effected changes that have had a major impact on the practical operation of the International Criminal Court.

Slovenia was also successful in nominating a Slovenian candidate to the International Criminal Court. At the 22nd session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute, Beti Hohler was elected as the first Slovenian and the youngest in the history of the Court to serve as a judge of the International Criminal Court. She was sworn in for her nine-year term on 8 March 2024.

In fighting impunity for the most serious international crimes, Slovenia was one of the leading supporters of the adoption of the Ljubljana-The Hague Convention on International Cooperation in the Investigation and Prosecution of Genocide, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes and Other International Crimes on 26 May 2023 at the Diplomatic Conference in Ljubljana. This was the result of more than ten years of work under the "MLA initiative". The Ljubljana-The Hague Convention is the first major international treaty in the field of international criminal law since the Rome Statute that enables States to cooperate effectively internationally in the investigation and prosecution of international crimes, by filling legal gaps in the field of international legal assistance and extradition. Given the primary responsibility of States for the prosecution of perpetrators, the Convention strengthens the effectiveness of national judicial systems and thus contributes to the complementary role of the International Criminal Court and to strengthening the global fight against impunity.

Law of the sea

Slovenia succeeded to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and participates in the work of the Conference of the Parties. The Conference advances the implementation of the Convention, often referred to as the constitution for the oceans, and the progress in managing the world's seas and oceans.

UNCLOS also provided the basis for the setting up of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), which has jurisdiction in disputes between States Parties, and for the International Seabed Authority (ISA), which governs seabed and subsoil exploitation in areas beyond national jurisdiction.

On 19 June 2023, after a lengthy process of multilateral negotiations, the Agreement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) was adopted at the UN. Slovenia took part in the negotiations and, together with the EU and its Member States, advocated for the most ambitious solution possible. This is a major achievement, as the agreement represents an important contribution to achieving the goals of halting biodiversity loss and protecting the oceans.