Yes, Slovenian jurisdiction permits gathering evidence in aid of foreign litigation. The Republic of Slovenia is a party to the Convention of 18 March 1970 on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters (“Hague Evidence Convention”). In addition, the Republic of Slovenia is an EU member state, thus relevant EU law also applies with respect to the gathering of evidence in aid of foreign litigation (please see below).

As already mentioned previously in our response to "Does your jurisdiction permit gathering evidence in aid of foreign litigation?", the Republic of Slovenia acceded to the Hague Evidence Convention on September 18, 2000. The Hague Evidence Convention entered into force in relation to the Republic of Slovenia on November 17, 2000.

As the Republic of Slovenia is an EU member state the Council Regulation (EC) No 1206/2001 of 28 May 2001 on cooperation between the courts of the Member States in the Taking of Evidence in Civil or Commercial Matters (“Regulation No. 1206/2001”) is also applicable in respect to obtaining evidence in aid of foreign litigation.

Given that gathering evidence in aid of foreign litigation is regulated on international and EU level, our answers below are structured in a way that, where appropriate, describe both regimes.

In addition, the Republic of Slovenia has succeeded several bilateral treaties relating to gathering evidence in aid of foreign litigation in civil and commercial matters, which were concluded by the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia with:

• the Republic of Austria;
• the Kingdom of Belgium;
• the Republic of France;
• the Republic of Croatia;
• the Republic of Italy;
• the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (applicability extended to Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Borneo, Sri Lanka, Honduras, Fiji, Falkland Islands, Gambia, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Canada, Kenya, Malta, Mauritius, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Uganda, Tonga, Somalia, Seychelles);
• the Republic of Cyprus;
• the Czech Republic;
• the Slovak Republic;
• the Republic of Hungary and
• the Republic of Poland.

Moreover, the Republic of Slovenia has concluded or succeeded several bilateral treaties relating to gathering evidence in aid of foreign litigation in civil and commercial matters with non-EU Member States, namely:

• the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria;
• the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina;
• the Republic of Iraq;
• the Republic of Macedonia;
• the Mongolian People's Republic;
• the Russian Federation;
• the Republic of Serbia and
• the Republic of Turkey.

If the requesting state is not a member of the EU, is not party to the Hague Evidence Convention or has not concluded a bilateral treaty with the Republic of Slovenia, the gathering of evidence in aid of foreign litigation is governed by the Slovenian Civil Procedure Act (in Slovene: Zakon o pravdnem postopku; Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 73/07 – Official Consolidated Text, as amended; “ZPP”).

According to Art. 175 to 178 of the ZPP the Slovenian courts grant legal aid in foreign litigation cases provided for in international treaties and where there is reciprocity in legal aid. If there are any doubts about reciprocity, the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Slovenia provides clarifications.

The courts shall refuse legal aid if the request is for an act contrary to the legal order of the Republic of Slovenia. In such case, the competent court shall ex officio send the case to the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia for a final decision.

Courts shall grant legal aid in the manner provided for by domestic law. An act requested by a foreign court may be performed in the manner desired by the foreign court, provided that such procedure is not contrary to the legal order of the Republic of Slovenia.

Unless otherwise provided by an international treaty a request for legal assistance by a foreign court must be sent through diplomatic channels and has to be in the Slovene language or accompanied by a certified translation into the Slovene language.

The Hague Evidence Convention: Requests for gathering evidence are not subject to approval by a court or administrative body.

The designated central authority for the Republic of Slovenia is the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Slovenia.

Regulation No. 1206/2001: Requests for gathering evidence are in general not subject to approval by a court or administrative body, however, a requesting court must obtain approval of the central body for the direct taking of evidence in another member state.

The designated central body for the Republic of Slovenia is the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Slovenia.

Slovenian ZPP regulates in detail five means of evidence: inspection, documentary evidence, witness examination, expert witnesses and testimony of a party. However, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia has already taken the position that all means of evidence are admissible under the ZPP, provided that they do not contradict the legal order and the basic principles of Slovenian civil procedure, thus in general any type of information can be sought. The State of origin may therefore provide questions that are to be answered by the witness and specify the documents that should be provided.

Regarding depositions and other pre-trial means of discovery, it should be mentioned that the Republic of Slovenia has not declared any reservations in relation to Art. 23 of the Hague Evidence Convention. Depositions may be carried out before a diplomatic officer, consular agent or a commissioner. In the event of an unwilling witness, a deposition may also be executed by way of a letter of request.

In general, the burden of showing whether any privileges apply is on the person who should produce evidence. However, in any case of doubt, the Slovenian Court must contact the central authority of the state of origin, which will explain the meaning of the asserted privilege. 

No, in general, there does not need to be any showing that the information sought is allowable in the foreign jurisdiction.

As already mentioned in our response to "What types of information can be sought?  Requests for Documents?  Written questions? Depositions?", depositions would in general be allowed in the Republic of Slovenia. As the Art. 114.a of the ZPP provides that examination of the parties, witnesses and expert witnesses may be conducted remotely (by videoconference), the deposition, should the court allow it, may also be conducted remotely.

The Hague Evidence Convention: Yes, there are two European instruments of this nature:

• Council Regulation (EC) No 2271/96 of 22 November 1996 protecting against the effects of the extra-territorial application of legislation adopted by a third country, and actions based thereon or resulting therefrom (please see Art. 5(1)), and
• Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (please see Art. 25(1)).

Regulation No. 1206/2001: Not applicable.

Yes. Citizens of the Republic of Slovenia may voluntarily give evidence in a foreign proceeding. 

No, as according to the applicable Slovenian legislation, namely Art. 31 of the Slovenian Arbitration Act (in Slovene: Zakon o arbitraži; Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, no. 45/08; “ZArbit”), the arbitral tribunal has the possibility to request the state court to assist in taking of evidence, we consider that the arbitral tribunal could also request the taking of evidence abroad, thus our answer would not differ materially if the foreign proceeding is an arbitration.