SLOVENIA - national legislation

II. INSTRUMENTS OF HERITAGE PROTECTION

In Slovenia, the protection of cultural heritage is included as a specific category in the Slovenian Constitution. According to the Cultural Heritage Protection Act (2008), the full conservation of heritage is implemented through territorial planning, respecting the importance of heritage and incorporating it into sustainable development supervised by the authorities.

At national level the government is in charge of passing laws for the conservation of heritage and for restoration funds. In collaboration with other ministries and municipalities, the Ministry of Culture is in charge of implementing cultural policy, guaranteeing the protection of heritage. This Ministry is made up of the Cultural Heritage Directorate and its two bodies, the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia and the Culture and Media Inspectorate.

The Cultural Heritage Directorate is in charge of drafting the regulations and executing the policy for the protection of immovable, movable and intangible heritage at national level. Its experts are in charge of maintaining heritage databases; following up on national projects; managing and supervising jointly funded interventions in monuments and national areas; coordinating and promoting the protection of heritage through territorial planning; and guaranteeing international cooperation while increasingly raising awareness. Within this Directorate, the Culture and Media Inspectorate supervises the application of legal dispositions and specific regulations relating to heritage, archives and libraries.

The Institute for the Protection of the Cultural Heritage of Slovenia also has competences in the field of heritage. This national public institute set up by the government and made up of interdisciplinary experts is in charge of administration tasks linked to the conservation of immovable, movable and intangible heritage. It oversees the identification, assessment and documentation of heritage; drawing up proposals for heritage registers and the designation of monuments; drawing up and following up conservation plans and restoration projects; archaeological research; educational and promotional activities. The Institute is composed of the Cultural Heritage Service, with 7 branches, the Conservation Centre (consisting of the Restoration Centre, the Centre of Preventive Archaeology and the Institute of Research) and the Development and Information Science Service.

As the country is not divided into regions the only competences are national or local. At local level, municipalities function like basic self-government units whose functions include passing municipal planning laws, designating monuments of local importance, and funding restoration projects.

 LEGAL FRAMEWORK

 RATIFIED INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

  • The Granada Convention: ratified 1993, embodied in the 1999 Cultural Heritage Protection Act.
  • The Valletta Convention: ratified 1999, embodied in the 2008 Cultural Heritage Protection Act.
  • The European Landscape Convention: ratified 2003, partially embodied in the 2008 Cultural Heritage Protection Act.
  • The Faro Convention: ratified 2008, partially embodied in the 2008 Cultural Heritage Protection Act.

Information regarding legislation is based on Council of Europe's data: https://www.coe.int/en/web/herein-system/slovenia


Last modified: Monday, 23 October 2023, 4:21 PM