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The International Law Department monitors and examines the development of international law and its institutions, the codification of international law, the system and development of international universal and regional organisations, and the legal aspects of integration into and operation within such organisations.

It collects and processes materials, prepares legal opinions, produces analyses, reports, strategies, plans and information for the Ministry and other state authorities, and monitors, directs and conducts procedures for Slovenia's entry into international contractual relations and joining international and regional organisations and cross-border initiatives.

It coordinates and conducts Slovenia's activities in the area of international criminal justice. It conducts and coordinates the activities of two inter-ministerial working groups, namely the National Commission on International Humanitarian Law and the Permanent Coordination Group for Restrictive Measures.

It records, registers and monitors all phases of the procedure for the conclusion of treaties and other international documents. In this context, it assesses, from a legal point of view, the proposals of the line ministries regarding the conclusion of treaties and legally non-binding instruments, provides professional assistance in formulating the content or text of such documents and issues opinions on and gives consent to initiatives put forward by authorities responsible for the content and conclusion of treaties and legally non-binding instruments. It is responsible for organising, heading and participating in the expert group for the verification of the Slovenian texts of international instruments to be published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia.

It draws up proposals for acts (laws and decrees) on the ratification of treaties or accession thereto and carries out activities for their enforcement in accordance with international law (notification, the exchange of notes, and the deposition of instruments of ratification or accession). As part of the procedures for the ratification of treaties, it plans, in cooperation with the line ministries, the legislative work programme of the Ministry and monitors its implementation.

It collects and keeps documentation relating to the conclusion of treaties and legally non-binding instruments and keeps the originals of signed treaties and legally non-binding instruments. It manages a specialised library for international law, which operates as a separate sub-unit of the Ministry's library.