On the migrant crisis, the decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia, vaccination and other issues at the press conference At a press conference on 29 October 2015 at the Ombudsman’s premises, Human Rights Ombudsman Vlasta Nussdorfer, Deputies Jernej Rovšek and Tone Dolčič, and the Ombudsman’s adviser Miha Horvat spoke about the Ombudsman’s activities regarding the migration crisis, and presented the Ombudsman’s opinion on the decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia on the admissibility of a referendum and the position on the compulsory vaccination of medical staff at Ljubljana University Medical Centre. The public was also informed about the findings of the official supervision relating to the death of a 92-year old patient at the Unit for Forensic Psychiatry of Maribor University Medical Centre, which was discussed at a press conference in July. 3 INFORMATION ABOUT THE OMBUDSMAN’S WORK 3.4 INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION Farewell to American Ambassador Joseph A. Mussomeli On 16 January 2015, Human Rights Ombudsman Vlasta Nussdorfer and Deputy Jernej Rovšek attended a farewell meeting for the American Ambassador, His Excellency Joseph A. Mussomeli, at the premises of the American Embassy. Joint European initiative (platform) against hate crimes Between 9 and 11 February 2015, Deputy Tone Dolčič attended a conference in Leeds, in the UK, accompanied with workshops entitled “Access to Justice for Children with Mental Disabilities”. The 25th anniversary of the CPT Deputy Ivan Šelih and Ombudsman’s adviser mag. Jure Markič attended a conference on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the CPT – European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment entitled “The CPT at 25: taking stock and moving forward”, which was held at the Palace of Europe in Strasbourg, France, between 1 and 3 March 2015. Exchange of experience with a New Zealand judge On 3 March 2015, Human Rights Ombudsman Vlasta Nussdorfer and Deputy Tone Dolčič received Claire Ryan, District Court Judge from Auckland in New Zealand, who presented her work on juvenile delinquency and as a world-renowned international judge at debating tournaments. She was particularly interested in the Ombudsman’s work in the field of children’s rights and inquired about the Advocate – A Child’s Voice Project. The Ombudsman receives the new Ambassador of the United States of America On 18 March 2015, Human Rights Ombudsman Vlasta Nussdorfer and Deputy Jernej Rovšek received the new Ambassador of the United States of America, His Excellency Brent Robert Hartley. Meeting of Ombudsmen in the Czech Republic Between 25 and 27 March 2015, Human Rights Ombudsman Vlasta Nussdorfer and Deputies mag. Kornelija Marzel and Jernej Rovšek attended an international conference on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Public Defender of Rights of the Czech Republic in Brno, where they spoke to colleagues from other countries about the work of their institutions, public relations in such institutions and the impact of ombudsmen on the adoption of legislation. Joint European initiative (platform) against hate crimes Deputy Jernej Rovšek attended a meeting in Riga, Latvia, between 30 and 31 March 2015, where hate crimes and hate speech were discussed (CoE-FRA-ENNHRI-Equinet Platform on Hate crime. A meeting between FRA, the Council of Europe, Equality Bodies, National Human Rights Institutions and Ombudsperson institutions). Projects and good practices for preventing or reducing criminal offences conducted due to hostile inclinations and hate speech were presented, and the following topics were discussed: racist, xenophobic, anti-Semitic and anti-Islamic speech; raising awareness of victims of such hostile acts; joint activities of competent bodies at the European level; collecting and exchanging information; promoting complaint channels and data exchange between non-governmental and governmental bodies. Reception of the Honorary Consul of Jordan On 1 April 2015, Human Rights Ombudsman Vlasta Nussdorfer and General Secretary mag. Bojana Kvas received Samir Amarin, Honorary Consul General of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, at the Ombudsman’s head office. Transfer of experience of the Slovenian NPM Deputy Ivan Šelih presented the methodology of implementing tasks of the Montenegrin National Preventive Mechanism (prepared by Ivan Šelih) between 7 and 8 April 2015 in Podgorica, Montenegro. The seminar took place within the framework of the ‘Support for the Ombudsperson’s Office and the Constitutional Court of Montenegro in applying European human rights standards’ (SOCCER), co-organised by the Council of Europe. On human rights protection with representatives from Azerbaijan On 21 April 2015, Deputies Jernej Rovšek and Ivan Šelih, and Liana Kalčina, the Ombudsman’s Adviser on International Relations, Publishing, Analysis and Surveys, received the representatives of the Azerbaijan Institute for Democracy and Human Rights (AIDHR). This non-governmental organisation was established in 2014 with the objective of ensuring observance of human rights, democracy and freedom and the preparation of various projects for the empowerment of citizens. The head of the delegation, Dr. Ahmad Shahidov, presented the functioning of the Institute and the implementation of human rights in Azerbaijan. Guests were interested in the experience of the Slovenian Human Rights Ombudsman, and the work and cooperation methods of the Ombudsman with state and local authorities. Reception by the Ambassador of Ireland On the occasion of St. Patrick Day, the Irish national holiday on 17 March 2015, Human Rights Ombudsman Vlasta Nussdorfer attended a reception hosted by the Irish Ambassador, His Excellency Pat Kelly. Meeting of ombudsmen in Poland Between 26 and 28 April 2015, Human Rights Ombudsman Vlasta Nussdorfer and Deputy Jernej Rovšek attended the 10th national seminar of the European Ombudsman Institute in Warsaw, Poland, where they presented the activities of the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia. The hosts of the seminar were Polish Human Rights Defender Prof. Irena Lipowicz and European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly. The seminar was entitled ‘Ombudsmen against Discrimination’ and enabled an exchange of experience and ideas of national ombudsmen from 30 European countries. It focused on topics such as the rights of persons with disabilities, 198 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA FOR 2015 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA FOR 2015 199 3 INFORMATION ABOUT THE OMBUDSMAN’S WORK Suzi Kvas, Vice-President of the Slovenian Network of Organisations Working with the Homeless, spoke about problems found by NGOs. She emphasised that one of the problems of homeless families was that they could not be accommodated together due to the lack of suitable residential units, and so families were frequently separated. There was a need for some 800 residential units, and municipalities do not have a uniform method for obtaining apartments, said the speakers.