Heirs of asbestos victims win right to claim compensation in Slovenia

Slovenia has opened its asbestos compensation scheme to the heirs of people who died from asbestos-related disease. The change is contained in the Zakon o spremembi Zakona o odpravljanju posledic dela z azbestom (ZOPDA-C), published in the Uradni list Republike Slovenije št. 1565/2026 of 2 October 2026 under act number 2026-01-2225. It amends Article 5 of the 2007 Asbestos Act and enters into force on the fifteenth day after publication.

The amendment modifies the Zakon o odpravljanju posledic dela z azbestom (Uradni list RS, št. 15/07 – uradno prečiščeno besedilo, 51/09 and 47/25 – odl. US), the framework that compensates people who fell ill after occupational exposure to asbestos. Until now the right to apply belonged to the affected person; the new text transfers that standing to the family when the victim has already died.

What the amendment changes

The new third paragraph of Article 5 provides that, notwithstanding the previous paragraph, the heirs of a deceased person covered by Article 2 of the Act may file a compensation application with the interdepartmental commission and enter the settlement procedure on compensation. The condition is that a verification opinion on disease caused by asbestos exposure had been issued for the deceased person.

The existing third paragraph becomes the fourth, and the existing fifth paragraph becomes the sixth.

Three-month deadline for the commission

The amended fifth paragraph sets a binding timetable: the interdepartmental commission must decide whether the conditions for payment of compensation are met within three months of receiving the complete application — whether filed under the first indent of the first paragraph or under the new third paragraph — together with the verification opinion on asbestos-related disease.

Adoption and promulgation

• Adopted by the Državni zbor Republike Slovenije, signed by its president Zoran Stevanović.
• Act number 500-01/26-16/11, dated Ljubljana, 24 September 2026.
• Legislative references: EPA 41-X and EVA 2025-2611-0044.
• Promulgated by the Ukaz o razglasitvi Zakona o spremembi Zakona o odpravljanju posledic dela z azbestom (ZOPDA-C) št. 003-02-1/2026-198, issued by the President of the Republic, Nataša Pirc Musar, on 2 October 2026.

Entry into force

Article 2, the final provision, states that the Act takes effect on the fifteenth day after publication in the Uradni list Republike Slovenije, placing its application in the second half of October 2026. No transitional regime or retroactive effect is provided for beyond that date.

For the families of workers who died after exposure to asbestos, the amendment removes the previous obstacle of standing and gives them a defined route into the compensation procedure. The three-month decision deadline also gives heirs a foreseeable timetable for a claim that, until now, could only have been pursued by the victim in person.

Source: Uradni list Republike Slovenije, št. 1565/2026, 2 October 2026, section I (official reference: 2026-01-2225).