Nezdružljivost poslanske funkcije s funkcijama župana in podžupana

Nezdružljivost funkcije na državni in lokalni ravni je določena, da se prepreči opravljanje dvojnega mandata in druge oblike konflikta interesov ter zavaruje samouprava lokalne skupnosti. Obravnavano dvojno oziroma celo trojno funkcionarstvo poslancev samo po sebi ni neustavno in nezakonito, vendar gre pri tem za interesno nezdružljivost vlog, v katerih ti dvojni ali trojni funkcionarji sočasno nastopajo. Nezmožnost državnega zbora, da vprašanje nezdružljivosti funkcije uredi v skladu s temeljnimi načeli v državi (ravnovesje oblasti, avtonomija lokalne samouprave, predstavniška demokracija), nas vodi k prepričanju, da je moč poslanskega lobija zaenkrat še prevelika, medtem ko je politična kultura javnosti prešibka, da bi preprečila še nadaljnje korake zakonodajalca. Pomemben vidik nezdružljivosti funkcije je v tem, da bi se posamezniki morali zavedati, da opravljanje več na volitvah pridobljenih funkcij ni privilegij, temveč zaveza in dolžnost, da jih opravljajo kvalitetno in predano. Paradoks se kaže v tem, da posameznik, ki se tega zaveda, pravil o nezdružljivosti funkcije sploh ne potrebuje. Pričujoči prispevek je prirejen del doktorske disertacije, ki sem jo avtor uspešno zagovarjal februarja 2008.It has been long since acknowledged in the legal theory that the reasons for incompatibility of holding several offices on the state and local level do not give enough ground to fully prevent officials to perform them at the same time. At the local level, officials serve the locally defined interests with an accentuated practical value for a local community, while officials at the state level pursue the social and political demands of greater dimension in accordance with the will of the state electorate. As there are differently set goals on both levels of government one could easily come to the wrong conclusion that the conflict of interest may not occur at all. Such reasoning would be ingenuous as it would be unwise to automatically and a priori deny individuals the right to actively perform official duties at different territorial levels of government. The relationship between the state and local level rests on several basic constitutional principles, such as separation of powers, principle of decentralization which is closely connected to the principle of self-government, and last but not least the principle of representative democracy which emphasizes that representatives are bound to the will of the people. A comparative study indicates that a mandate of members of parliament (MPs), contrary to the theoretical views, is regulated in a way that it allows MPs to serve also as a mayor. Slovenia falls in the same group of countries, despite certain peculiarities. Namely, MPs may not perform offices at local level professionally. The amendment of the Local Self-government Act in 2000 declared that all of the offices at local level shall be performed by non-professionals, except mayors may decide otherwise for themselves. The legal system of the said incompatibility shows signs of serious deficiency that results in non-optimized performance of the representative bodies at the state and local level as well. It clearly puts MPS-mayors in a more favorable position in comparison with their non-MP mayor counterparts. Such situation may escalate to a privileged treatment (more public funds, less state control, etc.) of those entities of the local self-government that have a “personal linkage” in the MP-mayor. Additionally, in the local communities where a MP serves as a directly elected mayor it is doubtful if the legislation guarantees a voter with possibility to call the “double-elect” to account for politically or economically unwise performance of the official’s duties. Particularly important aspect of possible financial conflicts due to the dual mandat in the parliament and as a mayor juts out during the adoption of state budget, especially in the states, Slovenia being one of them, where public expenditures are relatively high. State budget allows, among other matters, expenditures for the proper organization, performance and activities of local communities. Since all local communities cannot have a representative in the parliament, and even less a mayor, it seems that state budget's financial cake is not divided in respect of the equal treatment of all local communities. The position of the vice-mayors differs significantly in comparison with mayors. They completely depend on the trust of a mayor. Their position and competences, particularly the obligatory membership in the local council, indicate that they serve as a link between the local council and the mayor. Since the law does not prohibit vice-mayors to stand as a candidate at parliamentary elections and get elected, they may perform three offices at the same time (so called “triple functionaries”). Notwithstanding the likelihood that the overall output of an individual in the said offices does not reach the optimum, which should per se convince the parliament to introduce the incompatibility, the conflicts of interest between vice-mayor’s office and other offices, as already analyzed in case of mayors, should persuade the parliament to switch the record. It is quite, if not completely, unlikely that the regulation of incompatibility of holding several offices on the state and local level shall be amended in near future. The legislative process of liberalizing the access to both offices at the same time actually goes in the opposite direction of the theory’s one

Kje je meja novinarske presoje dejanj sodnega funkcionarja ?

Evropsko sodišče za človekove pravice je v zadevi Perna določilo standarde, ki veljajo za novinarsko kritično presojanje dejanj sodnega funkcionarja, ki je izrecno in goreče izrazil svoja politična stališča. Sodišče opozarja, da je kritika možna, saj taka dejanja lahko v javnosti spodbudijo dvom o nepristranosti in neodvisnosti sodnih funkcionarjev ter s tem mečejo slabo luč na delovanje sodstva. Vendarle morajo tovrstne kritične sodbe temeljiti na določenih dejstvih, ker mora zaradi posebnega položaja sodne oblasti ta spoštovati načelo pasivnosti, diskretnosti. Kritične sodbe je načeloma treba ocenjevati v kontekstu namena in sporočila članka. Posamezne izjave same po sebi morebiti res ne predstavljajo posega v dobro ime in čast sodnega funkcionarja in so lahko res le simbolične, vendar lahko v kontekstu celotnega članka dobijo kvalificirani obrekovalni pomen. Sodišče je na podlagi teh stališč sprejelo odločitev, da obsodba novinarja pred italijanskimi sodišči ni pomenila kršitve svobode izražanja.In case Perna v. Italy The European Court of Human Rights developed standards for admissibility of journalist’s critical remarks concerning the work of members of the judiciary who were active politically. The Court points out that criticism is admissible since a judicial officer may imperil with such activity the image of impartiality and independence in public eye that justice must show at all times. Nevertheless, critical judgments or allegations should have a factual basis, since the special role of the judiciary (duty of discretion, passivity) prevents the latter from replying. The courts should consider critical assertions with regard to article’s overall content and its very essence. Singled-out assertions perhaps do not infringe the reputation of attacked and may be solely symbolic. However, they may get the defamatory meaning in the context of a whole article. The Court concluded in this regard that the conviction of the journalist did not infringe the freedom of expression, as defined in Article 10 of the ECHR

Dvojna predramitev za slovensko oblast

Avtor je analiziral odločbo Evropskega sodišča za človekove pravice (ESČP) v zadevi Lukenda proti Sloveniji in odločbo Ustavnega sodišča RS o ugotovitvi neustavnosti zakona o upravnem sporu. Obe odločbi prispevata k učinkovitemu odpravljanju kršitev pravice do sojenja v razumnem roku. V analizi, kaj se bo zgodilo v vmesnem času do spremembe zakonodaje, ugotavlja, da ESČP še tekoče zadeve vrne sodnim organom države zaradi neizčrpanja domačih pravnih sredstev pod pogojem, da država zagotovi ustrezne in nediskriminatorne zakonodajne mehanizme in predvsem učinkovito sodno prakso. Avtor kot rešitev ponuja večjo samoiniciativnost sodne oblasti, ki ji po njegovem mnenju ni treba čakati na zakonodajalca, da uredi pravna sredstva. To velja še toliko bolj, ker je ESČP zelo jasno dalo vedeti, da sodna praksa in ukrepi sodne uprave niso učinkoviti.The author analyses the judgment of the ECHR in the case Lukenda v. Slovenia and the decision of Slovenia’s Consititutional Court by which Administrative Dispute Act was declared unconstitutional. Both decisions give a sound basis for the National Assembly in order to pass a legislation which will guarantee effective legal remedies for the violation of the right to a trial within a reasonable time. If appropriate and non-discriminatory legislation is passed, followed by effective administrative and judicial practice, ECHR may declare whole set of pending cases inadmissible for a failure to exhaust domestic legal remedies. Author strongly upholds the idea that the judiciary may on its own initiative start to resolve cases of such violations, nevertheless the legislation is not passed by that time. Namely, the ECHR quite directly explained that the jurisprudence and administrative practices are not efficient in practice

Subsidiary Protection in the European and International Asylum Systems – Upgrading or Undermining the System? (Subsidiarna zaščita v evropskem in mednarodnem azilnem sistemu – nadgradnja ali spodkopavanje sistema?)

EU asylum law has without doubt a significant impact on international asylum law. The article focuses on the question if and how the subsidiary protection, the invention of the EU asylum law, should be extended to the international legal level. The EU has already been criticized for trying to replace the international refugee protection regime with the Qualification Directive rather than complementing it. Noting that the subsidiary protection is a subject of controversy within the EU itself regarding its interpretation and differences in use among the Member States, the criticism carries even more weight. The first part of the article presents the development and codification of complementary protection in the EU. The second part deals with the issue of discrimination among persons with refugee status and subsidiary protection. In the third part, current impact of the institute on the international asylum system is examined, while the last section gives a stance on the rationality and suitability of the application of subsidiary protection to the international level

Študentska moot court tekmovanja v službi modernega izobraževalnega procesa

Študij prava je zaradi zakoreninjenih predstav in razvojno pogojenih omejitev pogosto neupravičeno označen kot študij pomnjenja in predavanj ex cathedra. Kljub temu pa je preboj sokratične metode v izobraževalni proces vse bolj očiten. V prispevku se ukvarjamo z moot court študentskimi tekmovanji, v okviru katerih študenti tekmujejo v simuliranem postopku pred sodiščem. Poudarek je na tekmovanjih s področja prava človekovih pravic. Primerjava poučevanja prava pri nas in v tujini kaže, da ex cathedra metoda poučevanja mora imeti svoje mesto, a je tekom študija smiselno vedno bolj vključevati tudi metode, ki vzpodbujajo pravu imanentno dialektiko. Predvsem na fakultetah s področja common law tradicije se sokratična metoda uporablja intenzivneje, pri čemer tudi nekatere kontinentalne pravne fakultete moot court tekmovanja štejejo kot obvezen del študijskega programa. Študij prava lahko zasleduje zelo različne cilje, a je kljub temu mogoče ugotoviti, da želi oblikovati pravnika, ki bi ga krasilo analitično-sintetično razmišljanje, ki naj bi mu ob poznavanju pravne dogmatike in veljavne pravne ureditve pomagalo pri reševanju problemov, s katerimi se sooča v praksi. Tradicionalni pristopi ta cilj dosegajo le delno, prav moot court tekmovanja pa dopolnjujejo številne njihove pomanjkljivosti. Študenta namreč privedejo do poglobljenega doktrinarnega znanja, ki ga mora ustrezno uporabiti na konkretnem primeru, nato pa svoja stališča jasno in argumentirano pisno in ustno prestaviti. Tudi z vidika pomnjenja je ta metoda zelo učinkovita. Vključitev tekmovanj v formaliziran študijski proces tako z vidika študentov, kot mentorjev in fakultet, prinaša pozitivne in negativne vidike. Ne glede na to pa je določena mera formalizacije s strani fakultete nujna, saj le ta zagotavlja dolgoročen uspeh pri uporabi te metode poučevanja. Načini vključevanja tovrstnih tekmovanj v učne načrte so zelo raznoliki. V prispevku zavzemamo stališče, da bi bilo zaradi številnih pozitivnih učinkov ta tekmovanja smiselno še v večji meri vključiti v študijske programe fakultet