The Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia, pursuant to the Ordinance on Interim Measures for the Prevention and Control of the Communicable Disease COVID-19 (Odlok o začasnih ukrepih za preprečevanje in obvladovanje okužb z nalezljivo boleznijo COVID-19, Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 174/21) has issued an Order on special measures under Article 83.a of the Courts Act to prevent the recurrence and spread of the communicable disease COVID-19. The Order sets down how the courts are to operate during the period 9 November 2021 to 31 December 2021.
Entrances to court buildings for clients, counsel and other visitors, and a special entrance for judges and court staff, have been introduced (where objectively possible). Entry is subject to the Recovered - Vaccinated – Tested (RVT) condition being met (save for persons under the age of 12). RVT checks will be conducted at all entrances. If the RVT condition is not met, entry will be denied. This may in some cases have adverse procedural consequences for parties to a proceeding. The order also requires that either surgical protective masks or FFP2-type masks be worn.
Hearings, sessions and examinations shall continue to run smoothly, and may be held by video-conference, provided other procedural requirements are met. Clients, representatives and other visitors may enter court buildings only during business hours, by appointment. The RVT condition must be met also in these cases.
The Order also gives a judge the power to temporarily hold all or part of a hearing in camera to prevent the recurrence and spread of COVID-19 infections or to put other suitable measures in place for this purpose.