On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the European Social Charter, Barbara Kresal, Associate Professor of Labour Law and Social Security, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and member of the European Committee of Social Rights, makes an overview of the role played by the European Social Charter to strengthen social rights in Slovenia. She underlines that Slovenia ranks among the European countries in which the Charter is cited and applied in court decisions at all levels, in the judgments of labour and social courts, the Higher Labour and Social Court, the Supreme Court and also in the decisions of the Constitutional Court.

Despite these positive developments, Barbara Kresal points out that social rights are under constant strain including in Slovenia and that they must be “constantly justified, strengthened and protected, otherwise these hard-earned achievements of civilisation can be quickly lost”. And they should not, because these rights are "essential and indispensable for people in their daily lives, for each individual throughout their life; rights that give substance to the concept of human dignity”.

  Paper by Barbara Kresal EN | SI