In my master's thesis, I focused on reserching the duty of production (edicijska dolžnost), also known as the duty to submit evidence. The term originates from law and is used within civil litigation, specifically in the evidentiary phase.
The process of proving facts by means of documents is referred to as the production procedure (edicijski postopek). It represents a specific part of the evidentiary procedure concerning the submission of particular documents to which a party has reffered during the proceedings. If the statutory conditions are met, the court issues a special order requiring, at the request of the entitled partry, the obligated party to produce a document in their possession. Failure to comply results in sanctions.
The first part of the thesis presents the concept of evidence, as well as documents and electronic documents, which are closely related to the topic. The second part focuses on the legal basis of the duty of production, including whom it applies to, the course of the production procedure and the sanctions for failure to produce documents. In the third part, I examine the relationship between the duty of production and the protection of personal data, the protection of the public interest in maintaining confidentiality and trade secret protection. Finally, I compare the German and Slovenian legal framework, highlighting similarities and differences, given that both systems derive from the continental legal tradition.
The aim of the thesis is to examine three key questions. First, whether the duty of production interferes with the right to privacy and the protection of personal data and whether such interference requires statutory limitations. Second if effective and proportionate sanctions for non-compliance increase the willingness of parties to produce documents. Finally if the Slovenian regulation of the duty of production under Civil Pocedure Act is, in comparison to the German system, too narrowly defined and insufficiently developed.
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