Articles for author: Samo Bardutzky

Slovenian Constitutional Hardball

There is a lot of speculation whether Slovenia might be the third EU Member State to join Hungary and Poland in their specific view of the rule of law. Does the current Slovenian government present a threat to constitutional democracy? Lacking a convincing majority in the Parliament and facing other veto points, the Slovenian government uses tactics of constitutional hardball in order to disrupt the existing norms of the constitutional order.  

Slovenia: Second Wave of Challenges to Constitutionalism

Slovenia had a very different experience in the first and the second wave of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. In the first wave, the number of infections and deaths per capita has been comparatively low and Slovenia was even identified as a “corona success story”. The second wave, however, has propelled Slovenia into the highest ranks of mortality per capita globally with the total of 162 deaths per 100,000 people from the beginning of the pandemic until 25 January 2021. The Government introduced stringent measures in Autumn 2020, including the complete ban on assembly and sale of non-essential items, the closure of educational institutions, a strict 9 pm - 6 am curfew, and the prohibition of movement across municipal borders.