WEBVTT

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Hello. The Minister of Justice
Andreja Katič

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will present today's decisions.
Go ahead.

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The Government passed the Decree
on strained security situation

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because of personnel
and space shortages in prisons

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and decided on the measures.
It will be published

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in the Official Gazette.
Both criteria defined by law

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have been surpassed.
There are 1,826 imprisoned people

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and 525 judicial
police officers.

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Prisons are
more than 140% full

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and measures
should be taken at 120%

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and there are 3.5 prisoners
per judicial police officer.

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The law defines
three possible measures.

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We passed two of them recommended
by the Prison Administration.

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Other employees will be
judicial police officers

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if they already
did this in the past.

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The other measure is
the suspension of prison sentence.

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Prisons are making
lists of candidates

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that were working as police officers
in the past. If they agree to it,

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they can take this job again,
with full power.

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There are more groups:
public employees

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that are working
in the Prison Administration,

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employees that were
judicial police officers in the past

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and are working elsewhere now
and retired employees.

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The suspension
of prison sentence

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already exists
in the current legislation.

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The Enforcement of Criminal
Sanctions Act defines

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seven conditions

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under which the sentence
can be suspended.

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Medical treatment,
taking care of a child,

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death in the family, seasonal work
and helping the family.

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With this Decree,
we just added another reason,

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a strained situation
because of overcrowding.

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The other conditions
for the suspension

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stay the same.

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The sentence can be suspended

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if there are
no safety concerns.

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When assessing this,
all circumstances are considered,

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under which the suspension
could be misused,

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prisoner's personality,
their safety assessment,

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the risk of avoiding
returning to prison,

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a part of the sentence already
served, the type of criminal act,

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the reaction of the environment
where it happened,

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especially of the victims,
and possible other open procedures.

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The suspension does not count
as a served sentence.

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Prisoners have to return
to prison

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and serve the rest of the sentence.
The suspension lasts

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as long as the reason for it,
in this case,

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it lasts as long as the Decree,
which means three months

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and it can be prolonged
for three months.

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As I said,
the measures can last

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as long as the situation
will be strained

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because of personnel
and space shortages.

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If it will last longer, the
Government can prolong the measures

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for three months if recommended by
the Administration and our Ministry.

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The Prison Administration
will follow the situation

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and propose further measures
to the Government.

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I want to say

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the suspension of prison sentence
is not something new.

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If we look at the statistics,

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there were
22 suspensions in 2022.

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In 2023,
there were 24 suspensions.

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During Covid,
there were 200 suspensions.

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The suspension
has never been misused.

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During pandemic,
the suspension

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proofed to be an effective measure
against overcrowding

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which meant
better security in prisons

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and a better resocialization.

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And the second point.
-I want to stress

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the Government approved
the basis for the Act

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on protecting persons
who engage in public participation.

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It is connected with the Directive
on protecting persons

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who engage in public participation
from manifestly unfounded

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or abusive court proceedings.

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I am talking
about strategic lawsuits

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against public participation.

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We have to adopt this
until 7th May, 2026.

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The basis we approved today

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is addressing this area
broader than the Directive.

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The Act will not only be used
in international cases,

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but here as well.

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During public discussion

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and coordination with experts,
we will see if these measures

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can be used in criminal procedures
regarding criminal offences

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against honour and reputation.
The Directive

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is only talking
about civil lawsuits,

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but these unfounded lawsuits

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can be transferred
to criminal cases as well.

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We are already preparing
the Act on protecting persons

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who engage in public participation.
We will follow the Directive

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and protect claimants,
natural persons

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and legal entities
in private law

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that engage
in public participation.

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We will provide bail,
the fastest trial possible

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and help during the process.
If judicial process is misused,

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we would protect
them even further.

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Such claims could be
rejected as fast as possible

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after the assessment is made, and
the trial costs will be paid back.

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I am inviting you to participate
in writing the Act. Thank you.

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Thank you.
It is time for questions.

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Lea Majcen, STA.
Do you have an assessment ...

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You said prisons
are 140% full.

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How much will these measures
help lowering these percentages?

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Today, the placement
of prisoners or persons under guard

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in the Prison Administration
is made

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by contacting the wardens
of the individual prisons

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to see if they have
a bed available.

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In terms of what we expect
in the coming period,

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we currently have
up to 30 people registered

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who could qualify for a suspension
of their prison sentence.

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Now the legal basis is in place,
we need to start the procedure,

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check all the security concerns

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and, on that basis
and with their consent,

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adopt this measure for three months,
and then we will see.

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But given the current situation,
every bed is important.

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How is this security assessment
affected by the fact

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that a convict might be a flight
risk or even a foreign national?

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We know that there are a lot of
migrant smugglers in our prisons.

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Could this situation escalate?

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We have to distinguish
between prisoners and detainees.

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Most foreigners are detainees,

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but we're also seeing an increase
in the number of prisoners

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due to Article 308 of the Penal Code
which pertains to your question.

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Those who don't
meet the conditions

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or are subject
to any security concerns

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cannot get
their sentence suspended.

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Because foreigners are usually

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also subject to expulsion
from the country,

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a suspended sentence
is not an option for them.

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A suspended sentence can be
considered for those prisoners

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who are not subject to
any security concerns,

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who are permanent residents
of Slovenia,

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and we know they will come back
in three months' time

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to serve their sentence
to the end.

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I have to say that even the prisoners
are not looking forward to this,

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because they would like to serve
their entire prison sentence

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as soon as possible,
to return to a normal life.

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This is a temporary measure,

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but how long do you think
this is going to last?

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Could this end
in the foreseeable future,

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or what are some
systemic measures?

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We cannot just keep repeating
this measure indefinitely.

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As far as the spatial situation
is concerned,

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I hope that this time next year
we will move the prisoners

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from the Ljubljana Povšetova prison
to the new Dobrunje prison,

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where there are
larger capacities.

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I hope that both the wage reform
and today's measures

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will bring in
new judicial police officers.

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As a minister I'm also counting
on the European Union

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to take appropriate measures
in terms of regulating migration,

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and that the number
of illegal migrations

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will be reduced so that there
will be less pressure on Europe.

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But we also need to look
at our Penal Code,

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whether certain penalties are
too high in comparison with others

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or whether they also
deviate substantially

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from what is dictated to us
by the European directive.

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Another question. We can read
about the conviction of a prisoner

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who sexually assaulted a cleaner
while serving a prison sentence.

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Do you think that such cases
are attributable

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to a lack of supervision,
a lack of staff in prisons?

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I've seen this case in the media,
but I don't know the details,

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so it's difficult for me
to comment on them.

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I have no knowledge of this
happening during my mandate.

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Do you think there are sufficient
measures for the safety of the staff?

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I'm in close contact with all the
wardens of the individual prisons,

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I visit them regularly,

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and as part of this I also talk
to the judicial police officers

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and all the other professionals,
the mentors

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who work in the prison system.

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Not once has it
come to my attention

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that their security
has been poorly taken care of.

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But it's true,
and we need to be aware

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that we have had
incidents in the past

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where prisoners have attacked
judicial police officers,

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that they are prisoners
and that this can happen repeatedly.

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Thank you,
and now we move to the web

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for a question
by Vitomir Petrović, Planet TV.

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Can you hear me?
-Yes.

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Hello.

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Not only prisons, courts are also
dealing with space constraints.

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While we're still waiting for the
resolution of the Litijska building,

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let's look back a bit.

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One of the examples is the court
building at Cafova in Maribor.

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Back in 2017,
your predecessor Mr. Klemenčič,

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and then in 2018, you wanted
to buy half of this building.

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You had an official appraisal,

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commissioned
by the Ministry of Justice,

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that the market value of this part
of the building is four million.

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Yet both of you signed off

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on buying the building
for six million euros,

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so for two million more.
How is that possible?

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The story of the premises
of the Maribor court is longer.

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Minister Šturm during
the time of Janša's government,

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if I remember correctly,

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first bought a building

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half of which was found
to have been exchanged

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for the current
Maribor court building.

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The other half was bought
from the Kovina Projekt company

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by DSU, Management
and Consultancy Company,

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also during the time
of Janša's government,

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which entered into a contract
with the Ministry of Justice.

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When we looked at the calculations,
the rent was very, very high.

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And if my predecessor,
Minister Klemenčič, and myself

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had not decided to buy it ... We
entered into negotiations with DSU.

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The first valuation was 14 million
for the whole building.

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We would have paid
a much higher rent

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than what we have spent
to buy these premises.

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Anything else? I think you got
all the answers by e-mail already.

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Yes.

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The initial value
for the first building in 2006,

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and the new courthouse
was just being built,

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was 13 million.

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You claim the state budget
paid 12.3 million.

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But it's not taken into account
that in the meantime,

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you have paid an additional
5.5 million just for the rent alone.

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So in fact the state
paid out almost 18 million euros,

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and still the two million euros

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are well over
the first estimate of 13 million,

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which is the actual value
of this building.

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Again, if the Ministry of Justice

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wouldn't have also bought
the other part of the building,

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the rent by the end of 2028
would be significantly higher

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than the purchase price.

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We bought the building from DSU,
a state-owned company,

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we were not able
to negotiate a lower price.

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That was the value,

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but again, we were driven
purely by cost-effectiveness,

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we wanted to remediate

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a relatively harmful deal made
by one of the former ministers.

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Thank you, this concludes
today's press conference. Goodbye.