Ljubljana, 1 January (STA) - The Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman in Slovenia is celebrating today 20 years since its establishment, in which it has taken huge steps from the humble beginnings to an institution which is recognised as the protector of human rights and whose opinion ought to be respected by politics.

Ivan Bizjak, who officially took over at the office on 1 January 1995 as Slovenia's first human rights ombudsman, looked back at the beginning of the institution in a statement for the STA, noting that he started "almost virtually from nothing".

According to him, the office faced tough challenges: establishing an institution, selecting candidates for deputies and other employees and finding suitable premises. The key challenge was making sure that the new institution is truly independent.

There was a risk of the institution becoming a toothless tiger, said Bizjak, who is convinced that the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman has become an institution trusted by the people and respected by politicians, which is "quite an achievement".

The institution also quickly gained international reputation, and contacts at the international level enabled the first human rights ombudsman in Slovenia to transfer good practices from well-functioning institutions to the fledgeling office.

Bizjak is happy that the concept has not disintegrated into several ombudsmen covering individual fields. "There were many such initiatives, and such a development would strongly relativize the role of the institution and undermine its importance and role."

Bizjak handed over the office in 2001 to Matjaž Hanžek, whose six-year term focused on solving the issue of the erased, thousands of ex-Yugoslav nationals who were deleted from Slovenia's permanent residence registry in 1992, and the Roma issues.

According to Hanžek, his term was marked by "settling of the relations between the majority population and various minorities", including the Roma, ex-Yugoslav nationals living in Slovenia and the Muslim community.

He told the STA that the conflicts between the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman and the state at the time were pronounced because "politics frequently instigated them, while hiding from the public other problems equally important for the country's development".

Hanžek pointed to non-payment of social security contributions for workers, which became a serious problem already in 2004. The ombudsman was warning about catastrophic consequences, but the government "shrugged" and presented the plans to build a mosque in Ljubljana as the main problem, he added.

The term of the third Human Rights Ombudsman Zdenka Čebašek Travnik between 2007 and 2013 was marked by the economic crisis and the resulting increase in poverty. She told the STA that the problem was identified by the office already in 2007, but the warnings were ignored by politics.

Čebašek Travnik noted that the national preventive mechanism under the UN Convention against Torture was established during her term, with the Slovenian model becoming an example for a number of other European countries.

Another important project in the 2007-2013 term, according to her, was the Children's Advocate project, which "developed a special model for providing help to children who find themselves in various legal proceedings".

Čebašek Travnik also pointed to the role of NGOs, which always had a wide open door at the ombudsman's office. The office and NGOs together detected irregularities in the work of state bodies and gave proposals for improvements, she said, adding that the most had been done in environmental protection.

Incumbent Ombudsman Vlasta Nussdorfer, who took over in February 2013, claims that the numbers show that the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman is a well recognised and successful institution whose recommendations should be respected and implemented.

The office receives around 12,000 calls and at least 4,000 written initiatives every year, she told the STA, adding that the institution is also becoming increasingly active when it comes to cooperation with NGOs and drafting legislation.

The office will carefully monitor which recommendations are being implemented and which not, instead of focusing only on writing new and repeating old recommendations, according to her.

With each annual report, which is submitted to parliament for debate, the human rights ombudsman puts a mirror in front of the state and its bodies, in which they have to take a look and react. Respecting and implementing the recommendations shows the state's attitude to individuals, associations and NGOs, Nussdorfer believes.

The main issues the office keeps pointing to in the annual reports are poor performance of inspection services, violations of labour legislation, the living conditions of the Roma community, overcrowded prisons and increasing poverty.

Ljubljana, 1 January (STA) - January 2015 marks 20 years since the first Slovenian ombudsman took over. Since then, the ombudsmen have drawn the attention of politics to a number of issues, most notably the erased, the Roma and lengthy court proceedings. They have also managed to have some controversial provisions annulled by the top court.

4 October 1988: The council for the protection of human rights and basic freedoms is set up as a predecessor of the ombudsman's office, operating until 1990 under the wing of the socialist SZDL outfit. Its chair is acclaimed law expert Ljubo Bavcon of the Ljubljana Faculty of Law.

24 April 1990: A law on the council for the protection of human rights and basic freedoms takes effect, making the council an independent institution no longer under the SZDL wing and giving it the power to access all information of state institutions.

14 January 1994: A law on the human rights ombudsman takes effect, setting down the groundwork for its introduction and defining its powers. The law says the ombudsman is appointed by parliament upon proposal of the president of Slovenia with a two-thirds majority for a six-year term, with the option of another reappointment.

1 January 1995: Ex-Interior Minister Ivan Bizjak (1993-1994) takes over as the first Slovenian ombudsman. His term is marked with efforts to give the new institution due profile in the public. Pundits say that while he did a good job, he was defensive in his attitude towards the authorities.

21 February 2001: Sociologist Matjaž Hanžek takes over as ombudsman, selected only after two calls for applications fail through. Hanžek's turbulent term is marked by efforts to undo the wrongs suffered by the erased residents and the problems concerning a Roma family. Pundits agree he has proved one of the most powerful and influential human rights advocates in the country.

22 February 2007: Psychiatrist Zdenka Čebašek Travnik takes over as the third ombudsman in Slovenia. Setting children's rights as one of her priorities, Čebašek Travnik sets up an advocate of children's rights within her office. As opposed to her predecessor's, Čebašek Travnik's public ways of addressing issues is much more subdued in tone.

23 February 2013: State prosecutor Vlasta Nussdorfer, an outspoken advocate of victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse, takes over as the new ombudsman. In selecting the candidate, President Borut Pahor invites incumbent PM Miro Cerar, at the time teacher at the Ljubljana Faculty of Law, to take the office, which the jurist rejects.

14 March 2013: In a procedure requested by the human right ombudsman, the Constitutional Court declares unconstitutional the provisions of the 2012 fiscal consolidation act reducing pensions for more than 26,000 retirees who get their pensions, partially or in whole, directly from the national budget.

14 November 2013: The Constitutional Court finds two articles of the same act unconstitutional in the part relating to women public servants who were forced to retire earlier and under different old-age pension requirements than their male colleagues. The review was also initiated by the human right ombudsman.

18 December 2013: In a procedure requested by the human right ombudsman, the Constitutional Court declares unconstitutional a part of the international protection act, arguing that Slovenia can deport or extradite an asylum seeker to a third country without examining the content of the asylum application only if it is convinced that the third country is safe.

21 March 2014: Upon initiative from the human right ombudsman, the Constitutional Court declares unconstitutional the provisions of the archives law which allowed the archiving of medical documents containing personal data about the treatment of patients.

The National Assembly for Wales are considering the case for extending own-initiative powers for the Welsh Ombudsman Office. As part of their research, they require evidence of where own-initiative powers have been used well. The Public Services Ombudsman for Wales urgently requires examples of where own-initiative powers have been used, in what type of public service, and the impact of the own-initiative...

Ms Rosa Kornfeld-Matte, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, visited the Austrian Ombudsman Board (AOB) to inform herself about the general situation of older persons in Austria. In the long-term, society continues to age and the group of those who are older than 80 years of age will represent the fastest growing segment of the Austrian population. Adopting a positive attitude towards ageing, without hiding or blandishing the more difficult and troublesome aspects of it, is therefore of utmost importance to the AOB.

Complaints received and preventive monitoring of specialized institutions have shown that a self-determined and autonomous life in old age can very quickly be jeopardized if age-appropriate conditions and coping mechanisms do not exist. Whenever the media, politicians or the economy tackle the topic of old age, they tend to focus on sustainable financing for nursing care only, i.e. if and how we will be able to afford it in the near future. Safeguarding and ensuring top-quality nursing care on a long-term and extensive basis is a task that the Federal Government and the Laender can only solve in close cooperation. Maintaining a person’s dignity throughout old age and in spite of a growing need for help, is a challenge all sectors of society must face.

What we need is the development of a more supportive social environment, a fully barrier free infrastructure and the fact that health treatment offers must be accessible without discrimination in order to maintain or improve the physical and psychological resources of older persons. It is equally important to integrate gerontological and geriatric know-how in medical training, to focus on drug safety and the avoidance of polypharmacy and to broaden the access to hospice and palliative care.

The Independent Expert also showed great interest in the prevention of violence and the Austrian system of legal guardianship, which does not comply with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The numerous complaints which are brought to the attention of the AOB in this field clearly show how much people suffer from the fact that there lives are entirely under someone else's control. This is a sever violence of a person’s fundamental rights, which very often affects older people. The only way to solve this, is to introduce a new process of some kind of supported decision-making. Efforts along these lines are currently underway in Austria.

In conclusion, Ms Kornfeld-Matte firmly stressed that the main emphasis should be on ensuring that older persons can lead a self-determined and autonomous life as long as possible. In view of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (2002), it was also discussed which measures are implemented in Austria to support such “active ageing” and also which initiatives address older persons with a migration background.

The mandate of the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons was established in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 24/20 in September 2013. Ms Rosa Kornfeld-Matte was appointed as the first Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons by the Human Rights Council in May 2014. Holding this mandate, Ms Kornfeld-Matte seeks to enhance common understanding of the fact that older persons enjoy all human rights and to promote the implementation of measures which foster and protect the rights of this specific group.