January 24, 2018
The Ministry of Justice (Ministrstvo za pravosodje) is considering opening the Slovenian penal system to private investors. This is evident from the Ministry's recent call for bids to carry out a preliminary procedure and legally test the public-private partnership in building one and renovating another of Slovenian prisons.
Slovenia has already been punished at the European Court of Human Rights due to overcrowding and poor living conditions in its prisons, and is hence addressing the issue by solving two of its most pressing issues. The first is related to the male prison currently located at Povšetova street in Ljubljana, which is planned to be closed and the prisoners moved to Dobrunje, although this facility is yet to be built. The second is related to the female prison in Ig, which is in need of renovation and enlargement.
It seems that in order to address a lack of funding, the Ministry is now looking into the possibility of developing both projects to cooperation with private investors.
