The legislative powers of the police to stop individuals
There are two main laws, adopted in 2013, regulating the Slovenian national police: Police Tasks and Powers Act; and Organisation and Work of the Police Act. Police stops are regulated by Article 40 of the Police Tasks and Powers Act and are referred to as one of the police powers: establishing identity). Below is the translation of the Article 40:
Police officers may establish the identity of a person who:
- must be produced or detained;
- enters an area, place, premises, building or their environs where free movement is prohibited or restricted or stays there;
- is in an area, place or building where measures are being undertaken for searching or tracing the perpetrator of a criminal or minor offence or objects and traces relevant for a criminal or minor offence procedure;
- by his behaviour, actions and loitering at a particular location or at a particular time gives reason to suspect that he will commit, is committing or has committed a criminal or minor offence;
- is similar in appearance to a person sought;
- by his behaviour, actions and loitering at a particular location or at a particular time gives reason to suspect that he is a child or a minor fleeing from home or an educational and social care institution, rehabilitation centre or health institution or that he is lost;
- is clearly helpless and establishing his identity is necessary in order to provide assistance;
- could provide data useful for the performance of police tasks.
Police officers may carry out a procedure to establish the identity of a person and communicate his data upon the justified request of officials and public authorisation holders if this is indispensable to the exercise of powers by these officials or the provision of their safety.
Police officers may also carry out a procedure to establish the identity of a person upon the justified request of another person who is able to demonstrate that he has suffered material or non-material damage or physical injury, who suspects that a criminal or minor offence has been committed, and in similar cases, and communicate data thus established to a person entitled who is able to demonstrate a legal interest in exercising his rights before judicial or state bodies.
The obligation to register stops
The police are obliged to register identity checks in a national database. No statistical data is produced from these records.
Legislation procedures which protect citizens from police offences
Complaints against the police are resolved according to the rules on the resolution of complaints against the work of police officers (based on the Police Tasks and Powers Act). An appeal may be filed by anyone who considers that their human rights or fundamental freedoms have been violated. The complaint may be filed orally or in writing within 45 days to the Sector for Complaints against the Police (part of the Ministry of the Interior – Directorate for Police and other security tasks). The conciliation procedure begins in order to resolve the complaint. The first step in this procedure is the interview between the complainant and the head of the police unit – the superior of the police officer against whom the complaint is filed. The interview must enable the complainant to present the facts regarding the complaint and to present evidence. In the case that the conciliation procedure is unsuccessful, the proceeding continues to the Senate, whereby the decision of the Senate is final. The facts and evidence and additional complement to the event report are further examined in the Senate. In the Senate, both the complainant and the police officer have the opportunity to clarify the facts. The Senate is a three-member panel composed of a minister’s authorized representative (appointed by a minister’s decision) and two representatives of the public. A representative of the public shall be appointed by the Minister of the Interior on the proposal of local communities or civil society organizations, professional public and non-governmental organizations.
