In the exercise of social security rights, certain expert bodies play an important role. They are competent to conduct a professional (most frequently medical) examination of the insured person and to consequently adopt an expert opinion, which later serves as a basis for the competent body's decision on whether to grant the application and confer on the insured person a certain social security right, to which they are entitled to under the social insurance. Several concerns have been expressed both in legal theory and practice with regard to the adequacy of the current regime of status and competence of such expert bodies, which has led to the attempts to introduce a single expert body that would be competent to issue expert opinions in all procedures regarding the exercise of social secuity rights in the Republic of Slovenia. Introduction of such body would provide for a greater respect for the principle of the equality of arms, while coordinated cooperation could lead to a faster identification of the point in which the medical treatment of the insured person is completed, which would reduce the number of long-term sick leaves. Enforcement of such body would also speed up the decision-making process.
The thesis analyses the current regime of status, appointment and working methods of expert bodies and further highlights the current issues, which are occurring in practice. On this basis, improvements are proposed, the implementation of which could be carried out with the introduction of a single expert body. Finally, an outline scheme of such body is illustrated.
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