Guidebook However, many NHRIs can receive complaints about procedural rights especially when they are relating to the investigative phase, e.g. police proceedings and the pre-trial phase. Some interesting examples in this sense come from the practice of the Slovenian Ombudsman. Slovenia The NHRI of Slovenia stated that so far they received only a few individual complaints, namely 2-3 cases per year concerning free legal aid. For example, in 2017 it received a complaint about an individual who needed a lawyer during the summer holiday. In this case, the police did not manage to find a lawyer, since the one potential lawyer was on holiday and, hence, unreachable. In such a case, the NHRI recommended to the bar association to prepare a list of lawyers available during the holidays.386 Slovenia In 2017 the Slovenian NHRI processed a petition put forward by three foreign nationals detained by the police. They claimed that during their deprivation of liberty they were not given the possibility to notify their family members of their arrest and detention. Police documents showed that the foreign nationals were informed of the rights of a detained person, including the right to notify family members, however, while they did not request family members or other people be notified, they did not confirm this with their signature. The Ministry of Interior explained that this was not specifically anticipated in the existing forms. The CPT also perceived problems in this area during its 2017 visit to Slovenia. At the end of the visit, the delegation suggested that the Slovenian authorities include the information as to whether the detainee availed themselves of their rights or waived them in a document to be signed by the detainee. The communication by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia that the form in which police officers record information on the (non) enforcement of rights of detainees will be updated with the possibility of adding the detainee’s signature is encouraging.”387 96 COMPLAINTS HANDLING AND PARTICIPATION IN COURT PROCEEDINGS Even beyond police proceedings and the pre-trial phase, many NHRIs laws also provide for exceptions and some NHRIs can receive individual complaints even when a case is simultaneously pending before a court in certain specific cases, such as ‘excessively long proceedings’ (e.g. Austria, Slovenia and Croatia)388 but also ‘evident abuse of authority’ (e.g. Slovenia),389 ‘in cases of manifest abuse of power’ (e.g. Croatia).390 These exceptions are normally justified because they are considered to fall within the notion of ‘administration of justice’, and therefore are considered as ‘admissible’ interferences to the judiciary (see above, Chapter 2.3). Given their specific mandate to protect and promote human rights, NHRIs should consider interpreting these exceptions in a broad manner. In any event, the fact that an individual complaint is inadmissible should never prevent the NHRI from investigating the more general human rights issues arising from the case. As recommended by Amnesty International, “[t]he fact that a complaint has been charged and a criminal prosecution is under way should not be a pretext for stopping NHRIs from acting on a complaint, or taking any other action within their mandate to address human rights concerns. Where prosecutions are pending, the NHRI should not consider the substance of the criminal charge, but should be able to look at ancillary matters relating to human rights of the accused person, for example, allegations that he or she has been tortured while in custody.”391 Some national laws explicitly regulate this situation. Spain Art 17 (2) El Defensor Del Pueblo, Organic Law “The Ombudsman shall not investigate individually any complaints that are pending judicial decision, and he shall suspend any investigation already commenced if a claim or appeal is lodged by the person concerned before the ordinary courts or the Constitutional Court. However, this shall not prevent the investigation of general problems raise in the complaints submitted. In all cases, he shall ensure that the Administration, in due time and manner, resolves the requests and appeals that have been submitted to it.”392 97