Ustavnosodna presoja pravice glasovati na referendumu

Maršič, Lina (author), Kaučič, Igor (mentor), Žuber, Bruna (comentor)

Pravica glasovati na referendumu, kot jo opredeljuje tretji odstavek 90. člena Ustave Republike Slovenije (v nadaljevanju: Ustava), je temeljna izhodiščna sestavina neposredne referendumske demokracije, ki predstavlja podlago za uresničevanje človekovih pravic in temeljnih svoboščin v političnem procesu. Tako kot volilna pravica je temeljna ustavna pravica in je po vsebini in načinu izvrševanja tudi najbližja volilni pravici. Uresniči se v referendumskem postopku, kadar je ta razpisan v skladu z ustavno določenimi pogoji (prvi in drugi odstavek 90. člena Ustave). V skladu s 23. členom Ustave mora imeti zagotovljeno sodno varstvo. Ker je ta pravica s 44. členom Ustave varovana tudi kot človekova pravica, zanjo velja četrti odstavek 15. člena Ustave. Ne zadostuje le formalno in teoretično priznavanje človekovih pravic, temveč mora biti v skladu s 15. členom Ustave zagotovljena možnost učinkovitega in dejanskega izvrševanja človekovih pravic. Stališče o pravici glasovati na referendumu kot človekovi pravici ni enotno sprejeto. Kljub temu že iz načela pravne države (2. člen Ustave) izhaja, da mora zakonodajalec urediti pravico jasno in poimensko določljivo. Slednje je nujno za učinkovito uresničevanje pravice do sodnega varstva pravice glasovati na referendumu, ki je namenjeno temu, da se zagotovi poštenost postopka in verodostojnost referendumskih izidov, s tem pa se posledično vzpostavi zaupanje ljudi v pošteno izvedbo referendumov, kar nadalje legitimira referendumsko odločitev. Njeno sodno varstvo se zagotavlja v referendumskem sporu, ki je posebna oblika sodnega varstva, po naravi podobna volilnemu sporu. Ustavno sodišče Republike Slovenije (v nadaljevanju: Ustavno sodišče) nadalje opravlja nadzor nad ustavnostjo predpisov, postopkov in odločitev, povezanih s pravico glasovati na referendumu. Kljub temu da je sodna praksa na tem področju zelo pomanjkljiva, se je ureditev sodnega varstva pravice glasovati na referendumu pokazala za eno večjih slabosti naše ureditve že pri prvem referendumskem sporu. Še več, varstvo pravice glasovati na referendumu ni le pomanjkljivo, temveč tudi nedorečeno, nedosledno ali pa posameznih vprašanj sploh ne ureja. Obstoječi ureditvi sodnega varstva pravice glasovati na referendumu bi moral zakonodajalec nameniti ustrezno in celovito pozornost.

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: človekova pravica, volilna pravica, referendumski spor, ustavnosodni nadzor pravice glasovati, abstraktni nadzor pravice glasovati, konkretni nadzor pravice glasovati, predhodni nadzor pravice glasovati, naknadni nadzor pravice glasovati.
• Work type: Master's thesis/paper
• Organization: PF - Faculty of Law
• Year: 2020
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-116153
• COBISS.SI-ID: 16648707
• Publication date in RUL: 19.05.2020

Secondary language

• Language: English
• Title: Constitutional review of the right to vote in a referendum

Abstract

The right to vote in a referendum, as defined in the third paragraph of Article 90 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia (hereinafter: the Constitution), is the basic starting point of direct referendum democracies, which represents the basis for the exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms in political development. Like the right to vote, it is a fundamental constitutional right and, in substance, also the closest to the right to vote. It is exercised in a referendum procedure, when it is called in accordance with conditions determined by the Constitution (the first and the second paragraph of Article 90 of the Constitution). Pursuant to the Article 23rd of the Constitutions, judicial protection must be provided. Since this right is also protected as a human right by the Article 44 of the Constitution, it is subject to the fourth paragraph of Article 15 of the Constitution. Therefore a formal and theoretical recognition of human rights is not sufficient, but as prescribed in Article 15 of the Constitution, conditions for an efficient and actual implementation of human rights must be secured. The position on the right to vote in a referendum as a human right is not uniformly adopted. Nevertheless, the principle of the rule of law (Article 2 of the Constitution) defines that the legislator must regulate the right clearly and by name. The latter is necessary for the effective exercise of the right to judicial protection of the right to vote in a referendum, which is intended to ensure the fairness of the proceedings and the credibility of the referendum results, which consequently restore people's confidence in the fair conduct of the referenda, which further legitimizes the referendum decision. Its judicial protection is guaranteed in a referendum dispute, which is a special form of judicial protection, similar in nature to an electoral dispute. The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia (hereinafter: the Constitutional Court) further supervises the constitutionality of regulations, procedures and decisions related to the right to vote in a referendum. Despite the lack of case law in this area, the regulation of the judicial protection of the right to vote in a referendum has proven to be one of the major weaknesses of our regulation in the first referendum dispute. Moreover, the protection of the right to vote in a referendum is not only lacking, it is also vague, inconsistent or does not regulate individual issues at all. The existing judicial protection of the right to vote in a referendum should receive due and comprehensive attention from the legislature.

• Keywords: human right, suffrage, referendum dispute, constitutional control of the right to vote in the referendum, abstract control of the right to vote in the referendum, actual control of the right to vote in the referendum.