The World is in a Constant Flux – Knowledge is Being Shaped Unceasingly
When we established the Commission for the Continuous Training of Attorneys within the Steering Committee of the Bar Association of Slovenia (OZS) in June 2012, we conceived the continuous and mandatory training and education of attorneys as a far-reaching goal, but the realisation of which was taken very seriously. We strived to form a high-quality training, to make it compulsory and continuous.
We had a vision to further refine and improve the already established traditional Spring Attorney’s School in Portorož and add other, smaller-scale educational and training events in the form of lectures, schools, academies and various workshops throughout the year. Every year, we offer more training events with a brushed up quality by top domestic and foreign lecturers, also among attorneys.
In 2013, we introduced regional training events, which take place within three regional attorneys’ centres:
– Ljubljana: for the Ljubljana, Krško-Posavina, Dolenjska and Gorenjska regional sections;
– Styria: for the Celje, Maribor, Ptuj, Pomurje and Slovenj Gradec regional sections;
– Primorska: for the Koper and Novo Gorica regional sections.
The presidents of the aforementioned regional sections also assist and participate in the education processes of regional training centres. Some training events were available to all members of the Bar and took place in Ljubljana, and some were organised through the already mentioned regional training centres.
In 2015, the former Institute for Mediation and Arbitration of the Bar Association of Slovenia was renamed and transformed into the Bar Academy and the Institute for Alternative Dispute Resolution of the Bar Association of Slovenia (hereinafter: Bar Academy) since it is time to leap from the commission for the continuous training of attorneys into the attorneys’ academy. At the beginning of 2017, also under the auspices of the Bar Academy, a Mediation Centre was formed and a list of mediators was set up. Initially, the newly established centre was headed by attorney-at-law Maša Kociper, from 2019 until 2023 by attorney-at-law Janez Starman and now the centre has been led by attorney-at-law Iris Pensa.
The Council of the Bar Academy is composed of the most competent and prominent attorneys, namely Bojana Potočan (President), Aleksander Cmok, Vida Mayr, PhD, Ljuba Zupančič Čokert, Andrej Razdrih, and an external member Blanka Javorac Završek, senior judge and director of the Centre for Judicial Training.
Members of the Professional Council of the Bar Academy are Maša Kociper (President), Martina Žaucer Hrovatin and Zoran Stankič Rupnik.
With great pleasure and dedication, I accepted the honour of leading the Bar Academy.
In the last few years, our professional training events have become recognisable and highly visited, of high quality and diversity. Such events are also aimed at the youngest members of the Bar, the trainee lawyers (e.g. a preparation for the state law examination).
Only such a training system, which is of high quality and diversity, tailor-made to meet the attorneys’ needs and geared to the up-to-date monitoring of legislation and case law, can present the foundation for the institutionalisation of professional training, which will soon become mandatory. This is already the case in most EU Member States and is promoted by the EU’s umbrella organisation, the Council of European Bar Associations (CCBE).
Alenka Košorok Humar
Director of the Bar Academy