National framework
During trial, psychosocial and/or intellectual disabilities are only considered when an
assessment needs to be made whether the person is fit to stand trial or is criminally
responsible (assessment of the mental capacity when the crime was committed).
When it comes to deprivation of liberty for persons who cannot be held criminally
responsible, there are many issues regarding the implementation of the security measure
of compulsory psychiatric treatment and confinement in a medical institution.
Currently, there is only one institution where this measure is implemented -Forensic
Psychiatry Unit of the University Clinical Centre Maribor (Enota za forenzično psihiatrijo
UKC Maribor) The forensic psychiatric unit is a hospital by nature, and as such can provide
only limited therapeutic activities. It therefore often is not an appropriate facility once the
person's mental health has stabilised, as the unit has no capacities for further therapeutic
and rehabilitation treatment.
There is also an absence of solutions for the treatment and follow-up of forensic patients
after the expiry of the decision. There are reports of cases of persons who remain in the
forensic psychiatry unit even after the expiry of the maximum of five years, which is a
clear violation of the law.
Due to the lack of assessment mechanisms, criminally responsible defendants with
psychosocial and/or intellectual disabilities may not be identified as such. But there are
also no procedural accommodations for defendants with psychosocial and/or intellectual
disabilities that have been considered as fit to stand trial and criminally responsible.
This can also be attributed to the fact that neither the European Commission
Recommendation of 27 November 2013 on procedural safeguards for vulnerable persons
suspected or accused in criminal proceedings nor the UN Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) have had no impact on the Slovenian criminal justice
system.
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