Parliament Appoints Matej Papler as Supreme Court Justice of Slovenia

The National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia (Državni zbor) has appointed Matej Papler to the judicial post of Supreme Court justice at the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia, the country’s highest judicial instance. The appointment was made by decision at the Assembly’s session of 29 September 2026 and published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia (Uradni list Republike Slovenije) No. 1548/2026 of 2 October 2026, Section I.

The instrument is titled Sklep o imenovanju na sodniško mesto vrhovnega sodnika na Vrhovnem sodišču Republike Slovenije (Decision on the appointment to the judicial post of Supreme Court justice at the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia). It carries the file number Št. 700-05/26-19/7, was issued in Ljubljana on 29 September 2026, and is signed by the President of the National Assembly, Zoran Stevanović.

Legal basis of the appointment

The decision rests on two authorities cited in its preamble:

• The third paragraph of Article 21 of the Zakon o sodniški službi (Judicial Service Act), published in Uradni list RS No. 94/07 – consolidated text, with subsequent amendments (91/09, 33/11, 46/13, 63/13, 69/13 – corr., 95/14 – ZUPPJS15, 17/15, 23/17 – ZSSve, 36/19 – ZDT-1C, 34/23 – Constitutional Court decision, 76/23, 57/25 – ZF and 100/25 – ZSod).
• Article 112 of the Poslovnik državnega zbora (Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly), published in Uradni list RS No. 92/07 – consolidated text, as amended (105/10, 80/13, 38/17, 46/20, 105/21 – Constitutional Court decision, 111/21, 58/23 and 35/24).

Operative text and official record

The operative provision is a single sentence: Matej PAPLER is appointed to the judicial post of Supreme Court justice at the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia. The published record identifies the act as follows:

• Title: Sklep o imenovanju na sodniško mesto vrhovnega sodnika na Vrhovnem sodišču Republike Slovenije
• File number: Št. 700-05/26-19/7
• Place and date of adoption: Ljubljana, 29 September 2026
• National Assembly act reference: EPA 185-X
• Electronic record identifier: EDA 2026-5022924000-0082
• Signatory: Zoran Stevanović, President of the National Assembly

Publication in the Official Gazette

The decision appears in the electronic edition of the Official Gazette, year XXXVI, issue 1548/2026, dated 2 October 2026, Section I, page 1 of 1. The gazette is published by the Služba Vlade Republike Slovenije za zakonodajo (Government Legislation Service) and carries ISSN 1580-3074.

For readers, the appointment places a new justice on the bench of the Supreme Court, the body that decides at the highest level in the Slovenian judicial system and shapes uniform case law. The decision is a personnel act of the National Assembly, taken under the Judicial Service Act and the Assembly’s own rules of procedure, and it takes effect through publication in the Official Gazette.

Source: Uradni list Republike Slovenije, No. 1548/2026, 2 October 2026, Section I, p. 1 (official reference: Št. 700-05/26-19/7, EPA 185-X).