Projects / Programmes
Legal Regulation And Practice Of The Legislative Referendum In The Republic Of Slovenia
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 5.05.00 |
Social sciences |
Law |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| S148 |
Social sciences |
Constitutional law |
Constitutional law, referendum, direct democracy
Researchers (5)
Organisations (1)
Abstract
The constitutional bases for decision-making in a referendum are Articles 1 and 3 of the Constitution which state that Slovenia is a democratic republic and that in Slovenia power is vested in the people which may exercise it also directly, and Article 44 which gives the citizens the right to participate directly in the management of public affairs. These provisions are concretized by Article 90 of the Constitution regulating legislative referendum, while the Constitution regulates also referendum in the process of amending the Constitution (Article 170) and referendum on the formation of a municipality (Article 139/3).
The Constitution regulates legislative referendum only in principle, whereas the mode of realization and especially the procedure for its realization is regulated by the Referendum and Public Initiative Act. The Constitution does not define forms of legislative referendums since it only states that the National Assembly may call a referendum on any issue which is the subject of regulation by law (Article 90/1). Such general definition allows various possibilities for the application of a referendum in the legislative procedure, from the preliminary referendum in which voters declare themselves in advance on questions regulated by laws, over the referendum in where voters adopt a law by themselves, to the subsequent referendum where voters may confirm, reject or abrogate a law as a whole or only its particular provisions.
More than a decade has passed since the first Referendum and Public Initiative Act was adopted in 1994. In this period of time the referendum practice has shown several deficiencies of the legal regulation of the legislative referendum. Many legal issues have arisen in the practical realization of referenda. The so called preliminary legislative referendum, where the voters decide on issues that are still in the legislative procedure, turned out to be the most problematic. In addition, the Constitutional Court has adopted several decisions which fundamentally altered the original legal regulation of the legislative referendum. Partially unsuitable normative regulation, problems in the practice and some recent constitutional court’s decisions demand thorough reconsideration of the legislative referendum in the Republic of Slovenia.
Significance for science
The research project will have an immense impact on the development of legal sciences, especially on the development of the constitutional law as the most fundamental legal discipline.
Significance for the country
The research will have a considerable influence on the socio-economic development of the Republic of Slovenia. It will affect the operation of the fundamental state organs, especially the operation of the parliament as the legislative body. It will also contribute to a greater efficiency in the legislative decision-making and at the same time stimulate the public awareness on the need to introduce a greater direct participation of the people in the decision-making processes. The research will undoubtedly contribute to the development of democracy in Slovenia.
