Court proceedings procedure

There are no appeals against decisions issued in the international protection procedure. The remedy available to the applicant is an administrative dispute. It is a judicial review of an issued administrative act, which is triggered by the filing of a lawsuit against the Ministry of the Interior. In the ensuing court proceedings, the applicant for international protection acts as the plaintiff and the Ministry of the Interior as the defendant. The suit is decided by the Administrative Court of the Republic of Slovenia based in Ljubljana.

Free refugee counsellors are available to applicants in accordance with the International Protection Act to bring a lawsuit and represent them in court. These are law graduates appointed to the position of refugee counsellors by the Ministry of Justice on the basis of a public tender. Before starting work, they must have completed an international security training and exam.

Typical examples of decisions against which an applicant may file an administrative dispute are:

• the refusal decision was issued in the ordinary course of action (deadline for filing an action is 15 days),
• the refusal decision was issued in an accelerated procedure (the deadline for filing an action is 8 days),
• decision on restriction of movement (deadline for filing a lawsuit of 3 days),
• Dublin decision (8 days deadline) and
• Safe Third Party Decision (8 days deadline).

A lawsuit against a decision of refusal suspends the execution of the contested act, but in all other cases the action does not suspend execution. In such cases, the applicant may prevent enforcement (especially removal from the country) by requesting, together with the action, a stay in the enforcement of the contested act.

As a rule, the Administrative Court decides on the basis of written documentation and does not call a hearing in the case. The exception to this is the restriction of procedures in which an oral hearing of the applicant is required by law.

If the Administrative Court upholds the action, it annuls the decision or decision. In this case, a further procedure or action is required. For further decision-making, the court does not decide independently, but returns the case to the MIA for re-adjudication.

The applicant and the Ministry of the Interior may appeal the judgment of the Administrative Court to the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia within 15 days. The appeal interrupts the execution of the judgment until the decision of the Supreme Court. Also, free refugee counsellors are available for applicants to file their appeals and represent them before the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court upholds or dismisses the appeal. Also, the Supreme Court not only takes the decision itself, but returns the case to the first instance court or the Ministry of the Interior for reconsideration.

Appeal to the Supreme Court is the highest ordinary legal remedy available to applicants, so the international protection procedure is finally finalized by exhaustion.

A constitutional appeal may be lodged with the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia against a judgment of the Supreme Court within 15 days. The constitutional complaint alleges a violation of a specific human right or fundamental freedom in the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia.

The filing of a constitutional complaint does not in itself delay the execution of the impugned decision, but the Constitutional Court may order the suspension of the execution if the execution could cause difficultly reparable adverse consequences. By issuing a decision of the Constitutional Court, all legal remedies available in the Republic of Slovenia have been exhausted.