Slovenia hasn’t seen many sweeping reforms lately, but a standout change, the amended Act on General Administrative Procedure, pushes hard on digitization and faster state processes, trimming deadlines and reshaping regulatory work, according to Fatur Menard Partner Lovro Jurgec, who also mentions a draft easing the Attorneys Act’s strict promotional limits and a fresh Pension Act overhaul.
"Over the past few months, there haven’t been many major legislative changes, but among those that did occur, the new Act on General Administrative Procedure certainly stands out, Jurgec begins. "It’s expected to have a considerable impact on public and administrative law, as well as on regulatory areas such as competition and financial regulation. "The main goal of the amendment is to support the ongoing digitalization of administrative procedures. A number of provisions have been introduced to make these processes faster and more efficient, for example, certain procedural deadlines have been reduced from 15 to 7 days," Jurgec explains. The broader aim is to streamline Slovenia’s administrative framework, which has "long been criticized for being overly slow and bureaucratic."
Additionally, Jurgec reports that one of the key proposals currently in the pipeline is the Amendment to the Attorneys Act, which regulates the legal profession. Slovenia’s rules on law firm marketing are among the strictest in Europe, effectively prohibiting almost all forms of promotion or public communication. The European Commission has issued a warning to Slovenian lawmakers about this, urging alignment with EU standards," he says. As a result, a new draft amendment is being prepared that would allow limited, carefully regulated promotional activities for law firms. "While modest in scope, this would be a very welcome change. It remains to be seen what form the final text will take once Parliament votes on it, but even small steps toward liberalization would mark real progress," Jurgec outlines. Another important element of the draft act concerns individuals providing legal services without being qualified lawyers. "This will now be more strictly regulated to ensure the integrity of the profession," Jurgec notes.
Furthermore, Jurgec reports that a major Pension Act reform was recently enacted. "While it doesn’t directly affect the work of legal professionals, it’s highly relevant for the financial sector. The reform relaxes investment restrictions for pension funds, particularly regarding allocations to alternative investment funds. These changes are expected to have a long-term effect on Slovenia’s investment environment and capital markets," Jurgec posits.
Finally, assessing the overall market activity, Jurgec reports that "M&A remains strong, particularly in private equity. The first generation of Slovenian PE funds, established around 2017 and 2018, is now beginning to exit their investments and close their initial funds." While it’s still early to assess their overall performance, Jurgec says that "a number of new funds have been launched in the past year. There’s clearly a lot of dry powder available, and we expect private equity activity to further intensify in the near future."
