The second option provided to the Ombudsman by the ZUstS (paragraph two of Article 50) is to file a constitutional complaint due to the violation of human rights or fundamental freedoms of a person or legal entity by an act of a state authority, local community authority or holder of public authority. The Ombudsman may file a constitutional complaint only with the consent of the person affected and under the conditions stipulated by the ZUstS. A constitutional complaint may be filed after all ordinary and extraordinary legal remedies have been exhausted within 60 days of the issue of the final document. The Ombudsman rarely uses this option, since it does not wish to act as an additional legal remedy when all possibilities of appeals have been exhausted. More frequently, we submit our opinion to the Constitutional Court from the aspect of the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the role of an amicus curiae, which is facilitated by Article 25 of the ZVarCP (the Ombudsman may submit its opinion to any authority from the viewpoint of human rights and fundamental freedoms in a case under consideration, regardless of the type or level of procedure before these authorities). With the consent of the person affected, we submitted one constitutional complaint in 2015 (complaint no. 6.0-30/2015; the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia registered it under no. Up 563/15). The constitutional complaint was submitted on 13 July 2015; the Constitutional Court has not yet decided on it. 3 INFORMATION ABOUT THE OMBUDSMAN’S WORK Since the position was established, the Ombudsman has filed a total of 27 requests for a review of constitutionality and three constitutional complaints. The Constitutional Court has not yet decided in four cases, which also include the oldest request for a review of constitutionality of Articles 15, 32 and 37 of the Act Amending the Banking Act – ZBan-1 (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, [Uradni list RS], No. 96/13), no. U-I-295/13, which was filed on 16 December 2013. The Constitutional Court decided on two constitutional complaints, and has not yet made a decision on the constitutional complaint filed on 31 July 2015. 3.1.5 The Ombudsman’s work is also determined by other acts The Ombudsman’s competences are also defined in the following acts: the Integrity and Prevention of Corruption Act, Patient Rights Act, Defence Act, Consumer Protection Act, Environmental Protection Act, Personal Data Protection Act, Criminal Procedure Act, State Prosecutor Act, Courts Act, Judicial Service Act, Equal Opportunities for Women and Men Act, Police Tasks and Powers Act, Attorneys Act, Enforcement of Penal Sentences Act, Administrative Fees Act, Classified Information Act, Infertility Treatment and Procedures of Biomedically-Assisted Procreation Act, Civil Servants Act, Public Sector Salary System Act, Passports of the Citizens of the Republic of Slovenia Act, and the Rules on Service in the Slovene Army. Summaries of all the sections of these acts that refer to the Ombudsman’s work were presented in a publication issued by the Ombudsman in December 2013 on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Human Rights Ombudsman Act (ZVarCP). The publication is available from the Ombudsman’s website: www.varuh-rs.si. 3.1.6 O  peration of the Ombudsman as the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) The tasks of the NPM have been carried out by the Ombudsman since 2008. When carrying out the tasks and exercising the powers of the NPM, the Ombudsman visits all places of deprivation of liberty in the Republic of Slovenia, and thereby monitors the treatment of persons deprived of liberty on the basis of an act by the authorities. The purpose of the execution of these tasks is to enhance the protection of persons with limited freedom of movement against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In the role of the NPM, the Ombudsman provides recommendations to the competent authorities to improve the conditions and treatment of people, and eliminate inappropriate treatment. At the end of 2014, we decided to organise the Ombudsman’s work in the role of the NPM in 2015 as an organisational unit which will not discuss individual complaints, but only make visits to premises where individuals whose freedom of movement has been limited are held on the basis of an act by the authorities. The unit is led by Deputy Ombudsman Ivan Šelih. In addition to him, the unit also includes three other officials: a graduate in criminal justice and security who is a specialist in criminal investigation responsible for visiting prisons, police stations, aliens and asylum centres; law M.A. responsible for visiting social care institutions and psychiatric hospitals; and a professor of defectology 170 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA FOR 2015 for behavioural and personality disorders and institutional education science responsible for visiting juvenile institutions and partly for visiting social care institutions. Both of the Ombudsman’s activities (preventive, including NPM duties, and reactive, including the examination of individual complaints) were thus completely separated. Such separation is also stipulated explicitly in Point 32 of the Guidelines on national preventive mechanisms, SPT, adopted in Geneva in November 2010 (available at http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ HRBodies/ OPCAT/Pages/NationalPreventiveMechanisms.aspx), which determines that “where the body designated as the NPM performs other functions in addition to those under the Optional Protocol, its NPM functions should be located within a separate unit or department with its own staff and budget”. The Ombudsman issues annual reports on the execution of tasks of the NPM. The 2015 report will be the eighth since the passage of this Act. It will be printed as a separate publication, but it nevertheless represents part of the Annual Report of the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia for 2015 and will also be published on the Ombudsman’s website. 3.1.7 Advocate – A Child’s Voice Project Since 2007, the Ombudsman has been carrying out a pilot project Advocate – A Child’s Voice Project, which was designed in 2006, and was supposed to be carried out in 2007 and 2008. Due to the inefficient response of the state and failure of the family code at the referendum, the implementation of the project was extended from 2014 to the end of 2015 in accordance with a recommendation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia of 8 May 2013 and Decision of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia no. 07003-1/2014/4 of 12 June 2014. Thus the project was also implemented by the Ombudsman in 2015. The partner in the project is the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, which provides financial support. In 2015, the Ministry provided EUR 15,000 for the smooth implementation of the project. These funds were allocated for the fixed-term employment of one worker on the project. Most funds for the implementation of the project have been provided by the Ombudsman throughout. A partner institution in the implementation of the project is the Faculty of Social Work of the University of Ljubljana. More on the Advocate – A Child’s Voice Project can be found in the sub-chapter Advocate – A Child’s Voice Project of the chapter on children’s rights. 3.2 THE METHODS OF THE OMBUDSMAN’S WORK 3.2.1 Accessibility of the institution By resolving complaints, we help eliminate concrete violations and prevent potential future violations. These frequently overlap, so it is essential that the Ombudsman be accessible to all who wish to contact it. Various solutions regarding the method of the Ombudsman’s work follow this principle. Therefore, a complaint may be submitted during working hours, and complainants may speak to an employee who communicates information referring to the Ombudsman’s work. The Ombudsman, deputies and advisers hold discussions on the basis of a preliminary appointment. In other cases, expert workers are available to complainants. During meetings outside the head office, the Ombudsman speaks to complainants and receives new complaints. Soon after the institution opened, we introduced a toll-free telephone number (080 15 30), where callers receive clarifications, advice and information on complaints filed. Complaints may also be filed by e-mail (to info@varuh-rs.si) or on the Ombudsman’s website (www.varuh-rs.si). The Ombudsman operates in Slovenian; however, the Ombudsman’s Rules of Procedure also determine that those not skilled in Slovenian may also submit complaints in their own language. The Ombudsman is also available at numerous other occasions: during meetings with civil society, ministers and representatives of various institutions; at expert conferences, round tables, press conferences; in communication ANNUAL REPORT OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA FOR 2015 171 3 INFORMATION ABOUT THE OMBUDSMAN’S WORK At the time of writing this report, the Constitutional Court had not yet decided on any of the requests.