The thesis discusses the right to take evidence in administrative proceeding and administrative dispute, which is an integral part of the right to be heard, contained in Article 22 of the Constitution of the RS, which ensures a fair trial. It is recognized as a fundamental human right and enjoys protection within the framework of legal acts of the highest rank, such as the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia and the European Convention on Human Rights. In
procedural laws, its legal ground derives from fundamental principles, and its implementation is enabled by various types of evidence. The right to take evidence gives each party in legal proceedings the opportunity to state reasons and propose evidence, to make statements about the opposing party’s allegations and on the results of the evidence, as well as the right to be present at the taking of evidence. However, the right is not absolute, as the relevant regulations do not guarantee that every party’s evidentiary motion will be carried out. It can be rejected for certain constitutionally permissible formal or substantive reasons. The evidentiary proposal must be timely, necessary, relevant, suitable and substantiated. If it does not meet the above stated conditions, the authority is not obliged to carry it out. This implies that the decision-maker cannot refuse to take the proposed evidence in advance as he or she must be directly
acquainted with it – in court proceedings at a mandatory oral main hearing. The guarantees of a fair trial are therefore met, if the authority, in order to know the truth, hears and impartially weighs both sides of the medal. In any case, it either carries out the proposed evidence or clearly and exhaustively argues its rejection in the reasoning of the decision. Only in such manner will the demands for “equality of arms” and adversarial proceedings be met.
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