The Slovenian police authority falls under the purview of the Slovenian Ministry of Interior and is responsible for national, regional and local level police forces. The Slovenian police authority is composed of the General Police Directorate and the various police directorates and police stations, all of which report to the Director General of the Police.

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The Slovenian police authority falls under the purview of the Slovenian Ministry of Interior and is responsible for national, regional and local level police forces. The Slovenian police authority is composed of the General Police Directorate and the various police directorates and police stations, all of which report to the Director General of the Police.

The mission of the Slovenian police is, among other things, to protect life, prevent criminal offences, maintain public order, control traffic and protect national borders.  In the performance of their duties, police officers are required to protect human rights and respect the principles of legality, proportionality, humane treatment and professionalism.

The Constitution, the Law on Police, the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code are the main laws regulating the police in Slovenia. Police officers also have to act in accordance with the Slovenian Code of Police Ethics.

The Criminal Procedure Code and the Police Act contain rules governing police powers of investigation. Article 240 of the Criminal Procedure Code states that a witness’s identity shall be kept confidential when revealing the witness’s identity would endanger the life of the witness or the witness’s close family. Moreover, Article 49 of the Police Act empowers the police to use surveillance, undercover work, undercover cooperation, altered documentation and identification insignias in cases when there is reason to believe that a person has committed a crime or is committing, organizing or planning to commit a crime and when other means to reveal or prevent the crime are not possible.

Articles 30-53 of the Police Act regulate police powers to search, arrest and use force. In performing their duties, police officers are required to respect human rights and basic freedoms and act in accordance with the law and the provisions in the Code of Police Ethics (Police Act, Article 30). The police are allowed to detain an individual for up to 24 hours when that individual has disrupted or threatened public order (Police Act, Article 43).  Police are permitted to use firearms when there is no other way to protect human life or to prevent an arrested individual from escaping, when it is necessary to safeguard an individual or object under police protection or as a means of self defence when a police officer’s life is in jeopardy (Police Act, Article 52).

The Slovenian Code of Police Ethics regulates police ethics and is based on the principles of constitutionality, legality, responsibility, humanity, professionalism and independence. The Code requires that police officers carry out their duties in a lawful, just, humane, and considerate way (Code of Police Ethics, Article 1).  Furthermore, police officers are required to perform their duties without discrimination on the basis of nationality, race, sex, language, religious or political affiliation, financial status, birth, education or social position (Article 7), and to prevent all forms of violence, inhuman treatment and unlawful humiliation (Article 3).

Analysis provided by Maria Bideke, International lawyer and Director of Law Association Justice International.

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