Border Control and Migration in Slovenia
Border Protection in the Case of Persons Crossing National Borders Illegally
Abstract
Protecting and controlling national borders are particularly important for preventing and combating irregular migration. Adequate police organisation, training, and exercise of appropriate statutory powers and measures are crucial in this context. This article discusses the role of the Slovenian Police in curbing irregular migration from three perspectives: (1) national normative regulations for border control; (2) the procedural regulation of the exercise of powers and measures by the police in controlling state borders; and (3) the compliance of the legal regulation of powers and measures with the provisions on the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms laid down in the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia and international conventions. We found that the national normative and procedural regulations governing the exercise of police power and measures for controlling state borders are consistent with the uniform regime in the Schengen Borders Code. In contrast, in assessing their compliance with constitutional and international standards that guarantee and protect human rights, we questioned the appropriateness of the normative regulations that allow the police to invasively search the body and belongings of persons, in addition to frisking them and their belongings, without a court order, in the context of border controls, where the standard of proof is low. Furthermore, we draw attention to the lack of clarity in the internal instructions and procedural provisions of the police, which allow the return of persons to foreign security authorities, disregarding safeguards protecting persons seeking international protection. Moreover, the article focuses on the entry of the Republic of Croatia into the Schengen Area, which resulted in the Republic of Slovenia losing its external Schengen border. The new situation dictates the need for changes in the organisation, staffing, and tactics of the Slovenian Police.
References
Ručman, A. B., Šulc, A. (2019) ‘Medijsko (so)ustvarjanje begunske in varnostne krize in njen odsev na državni in lokalni ravni’, Revija za kriminalistiko in kriminologijo, 70(1), pp. 5–20.
Celar, B. (2021) Slovenija in njene meje v treh zgodovinskih obdobjih: 1914-1920, 1941-1975,1991-2021. Ljubljana: Zveza policijskih veteranskih društev Sever.
Flander, B., Tičar, B. (2019) ‘The Right to Security - An Outline of the Legal Regulation at the State and Local Levels in Slovenia’, Revija za kriminalistiko in kriminologijo, 70(5), pp. 422–424.
Klemenčič, G., Kečanović, B., Žaberl, M. (2002) Vaše pravice v policijskih postopkih. Ljubljana: Založba Pasadena.
Medica, K. (2007) ‘Sodobne migracije in dileme varnosti’, Socialno delo, 46(4), pp. 125–133 [Online]. Available at: https://www.dlib.si/stream/URN:NBN:SI:DOC-1MADSF00/8e8880c7-150e-4abd-894d-dd4acb12ab0a/PDF (Accessed: 20 June 2023).
Ministry of Interior, Police (2023) Letno poročilo o delu policije 2022 [Online]. Available at: https://www.policija.si/images/stories/Statistika/LetnaPorocila/PDF/LetnoPorocilo2022.pdf (Accessed: 17 June 2023).
Mozetič, P. (2009) ‘Nezakonite migracije in spreminjanje pojmovanja zasebnosti v družbi kontrole’, Revija za kriminalistiko in kriminologijo, 60(1), pp. 3–15.
Žaberl, M. (2006) Temelji policijskih pooblastil. 1st edn. Ljubljana: Fakulteta za varnostne vede.
Policija (2023) Nedovoljene migracije v obdobju od 1. januarja do 31. maja 2023 [Online]. Available at: https://www.policija.si/images/stories/Statistika/MejnaProblematika/IlegalneMigracije/2023/Maj2023.pdf (Accessed: 26 July 2023).
Žaberl, M., Nunič, M., Bobnar, T., Ferenc, R., Hudrič, G., Senčar, A. (2015) Zakon o nalogah in pooblastilih policije s komentarjem. Ljubljana: GV Založba.
Handbook on European law relating to asylum, borders and immigration, 3rd edn. (2020) European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights [Online]. Available at: https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2020/handbook-european-law-relating-asylum-borders-and-immigration-edition-2020 (Accessed: 24 September 2023).
National Report on the Situation of human rights of migrants at the borders, July 2021 (2021) Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia, ENNHRI. [Online]. Available at: https://ennhri.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Slovenian-National-Report.pdf (Accessed: 17 July 2023).
Copyright (c) 2024 Central European Academic Publishing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
