9. 7. 2018

Constitutional Court annuls Judicial Fees Act in part

For case values of EUR 500,000 or more, the dispute value fee shall be set as if the value is EUR 500,000. The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia (US) built its decision on the basis of the right to judicial protection under the first paragraph of Article 23 of the Constitution (URS) and the right to legal remedy referred to in Article 25 of the URS, which prohibits the legislator from imposing insurmountable cost obstacles for their effective and efficient enforcement. Court fees may discourage persons liable for the fee from filing for a legal remedy or from exercising his/her/its right to judicial protection, which is why such provisions are unconstitutional.

Furthermore, the US also based its decision on the position of the European Court of Human Rights, according to which, the amount of court fees payable may impose a disproportionate restriction on the right to access the courts, and the legislator must therefore take due account of this. The US further explains that the purpose of court fees is so that the parties contribute to covering the operational costs of the courts, which the state must provide for the effective exercise of the right to judicial protection. Court fees must follow the general principle of proportionality i.e. judicial fees must be appropriate, necessary and proportionate in the strict sense.

In the future, plaintiffs in litigation proceedings whose value amounts to, for example, EUR 30 million, will have to pay a court fee of EUR 6,525.00 instead of EUR 201,225.00. This change will likely be given the warmest welcome by parties to commercial disputes, where dispute values are often substantial.
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