Slovenia will refund thousands of Slovenians’ COVID violation fines and clear their police records, several reports noted.
The country’s Ministry of Justice previously proposed the “draft Act on the regulation of certain issues related to offences committed during the period of the COVID-19 measures,” according to a government statement. “The aim is to ensure that fines, costs of proceedings, enforcement proceedings and deprivation of property benefits are paid as automatically as possible and with the least possible burden on the beneficiaries,” according to the statement.
The country’s National Assembly passed the new bill Sept. 20, The Slovenia Times reported. It renders unconstitutional the COVID-era legislation that enabled the launch of more than 62,000 infraction proceedings and the issuance of fines cumulatively worth €5.7 million (about $6.3 million) from March 2020 to May 2022. Some of the violators had paid about 30% of the sum before the current Prime Minister Robert Golob assumed office June 2022 promising to annul the COVID-era legislation.
The new legislation will come into effect this week, the BBC reported.
Slovenia Covid: Thousands to get lockdown fine refunds https://t.co/alznz7kHuc
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) November 27, 2023
Former Prime Minister Janez Janša’s right-wing government imposed tight restrictions on freedom of movement and assembly during the COVID era, the BBC noted. One member of his government reportedly said the new move “spits in the face of all those health workers who fought tirelessly for the lives of our fellow citizens.” Others argued that the COVID measures were taken to protect lives and were coordinated by the European Union and World Health Organization, per The Slovenian Times. (RELATED: Bureaucrats Who Shut Down Schools During COVID Finally Admit It Was A Disaster)
However, Slovenia’s Minister of Justice Dominika Švarc Pipan argued that the new legislation would restore trust in the rule of law and prevent overwhelming legal costs, The Slovenian Times reported.
“I am confident that by adopting the law, the state will in some way take moral responsibility and redress the injustices that were committed against citizens through the abuse of criminal law and unconstitutional and excessive encroachment on human rights,” Pipan said, per The Slovenian Times.