Recipients of awards

Vlasta Nussdorfer human rights ombudsman in the period 2013 – 2019

Ombudsman Vlasta Nussdorfer graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Ljubljana in 1977 and became a Bachelor of Law. She passed her state legal examination in 1980. Since 1978, when she started as a trainee at the District State Prosecutor’s Office in Ljubljana, and until her appointment as Ombudsman, she has worked at the Prosecutor’s Office as Deputy of the Basic State Prosecutor in Ljubljana (1980–1994); District State Prosecutor (1995–2003); Higher State Prosecutor (Head of Juvenile, Family and Sexual Crime Department) at the District State Prosecutor’s Office in Ljubljana (2003–2005); Higher State Prosecutor at the Office of the State Prosecutor General of the Republic of Slovenia (2005–2012) and Supreme State Prosecutor at the same Office since 2012.

In addition to her professional work at the Prosecutor’s Office, she has participated throughout in the formation of new systemic measures, legislation, implementing regulations and in expert evaluation of their effectiveness. She has cooperated with the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport and the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs (preparation of the Family Violence Prevention Act).

She has been also very active as a lecturer. She has lectured on the post-graduate pediatrics course at the Faculty of Medicine in Ljubljana, to students at the Faculties of Law and Criminal Justice and Security in Ljubljana, at seminars organised by the Chamber of the Republic of Slovenia for Private Security, the Nurses and Midwives Association of Slovenia, the Slovenian Intellectual Property Office, the Social Chamber of Slovenia and others, to trainees at the Ljubljana Higher Court, police officers, criminal police officers, in kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, parents, teachers and educators in libraries, houses of culture and at third age universities. She has organised and implemented numerous seminars within the Association of State Prosecutors of Slovenia.

She was one of the initiators of ‘Advocate – a child’s voice’, a project which has been operating in cooperation with non-governmental and governmental organizations within the framework of the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia since 2007. She has worked as a member of the project group and a lecturer at annual training sessions of advocates.

She is active in the education of volunteers in non-governmental organisations (Slovenian Association of Friends of Youth and Slovene Philanthropy). She has been actively cooperating with the Slovenian Institute for Psychotherapy in Ljubljana, social work centres, safe houses, maternity homes and juvenile institutions. She has also been active in the Association of State Prosecutors of Slovenia, acting as its President between 1999 and 2005. In 2003, she initiated the foundation of White Circle of Slovenia (Beli obroč Slovenije), an association for aid to victims of criminal acts. She was the President of the association until her appointment as Ombudsman.

She has initiated the establishment of two charity funds: the Flame of Goodness (Plamen dobrote), a fundraising campaign for voluntary contributions to help victims of violence, abuse and ill-treatment, and Hippocrates (Hipokrat), a fund for collecting donations for the purchase of special medical equipment, orthopaedic devices, for shortening waiting periods for selected medical services in Slovenia and for examinations of blood to help patients who need bone marrow transplants. She is also actively engaged for six years in high-profile project In-dependent.si (Ne-odvisen.si) which raise awareness of young people, parents and teachers across Slovenia of the hazards of addiction of all kinds.

In addition to the regular official commitments she also contributed ​at least 170 hours of volunteering work per month for the vulnerable.

Her bibliography is vast; she has written ten books in the last ten years, the proceeds of the sales going to charity. She has been a columnist at the IUS-INFO legal information portal since 2007, and occasionally writes on legal issues for Pravna praksa magazine.

She was selected as one of the ten most influential lawyers in the Republic of Slovenia between 2006 and 2013 within the IUS-INFO legal information portal.

She was the Ambassador of Volunteering in the Republic of Slovenia during the European Year of Volunteering, and in 2012, she was the Ambassador of Active Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity.

About her, as the author, in one of her books the introductory inscription is presented: »Vlasta Nussdorfer is, for many neglected and abused, which helps them in some way their Angel with a capital letter! Angel of aid, comfort, angel who knows how to wipe a tear or tell a story … Even so with the teachings of life. «

Leta 1977 je po zgolj treh letih in enajstih mesecih študija diplomirala na Pravni fakulteti v Ljubljani ter leta 1980 opravila pravosodni izpit. Bila je okrožna državna tožilka na Okrožnem državnem tožilstvu v Ljubljani. Kasneje je kot višja državna tožilka opravljala delo vodje Oddelka za mladoletniško, družinsko in spolno kriminaliteto na Okrožnem državnem tožilstvu v Ljubljani. Med leti 2005 – 2012 je bila višja državna tožilka na Vrhovnem državnem tožilstvu Republike Slovenije. V letu 2012 je na istem tožilstvu postala vrhovna državna tožilka, zadolžena tudi za nadzor in  izobraževanje državnih tožilcev.

1. februarja 2013 so jo poslanci z 82. glasovi izvolili za varuhinjo človekovih pravic in 23. februarja je nastopila šestletni mandat.

Je tudi predavateljica, publicistka, pisateljica in humanitarka. Kot državna tožilka je v okviru Društva državnih tožilcev Slovenije, ki mu je predsedovala 6 let, leta 2003 dala pobudo za ustanovitev Belega obroča Slovenije, društva za pomoč žrtvam kaznivih dejanj, ki mu je predsedovala do nastopa funkcije varuhinje. Ustanovila je tudi dva sklada, in sicer Plamen dobrote in Hipokrat. Z zbranim denarjem je pomagala vsaj tisoč družinam.

Njena bibliografija je izjemno bogata, v  desetih letih je napisala deset knjig, katerih izkupiček je šel v dobrodelne namene. Od leta 2007 dalje je kolumnistka na pravniškem spletnem portalu IUS-INFO, občasno o pravni tematiki piše tudi za Pravno prakso.

V okviru spletnega portala IUS INFO je bila v letih 2006 – 2019 izbrana med deset najvplivnejših pravnikov v Republiki Sloveniji. V Evropskem letu prostovoljstva je bila ambasadorka prostovoljstva v Republiki Sloveniji, v letu 2012 pa Ambasadorka aktivnega staranja in medgeneracijske solidarnosti. Je tudi ambasadorka branja ter pokroviteljica številnih dogodkov in projektov v Sloveniji. V okviru institucije Varuha se je letno udeležila ali s sodelavci izvedla preko 400 različnih dogodkov, mnogi so bili namenjeni ranljivim skupinam, ki jim posveča vso pozornost.