Slovenian Parliament Appoints Matej Papler as Supreme Court Justice

Slovenia’s Državni zbor (National Assembly) has appointed Matej Papler to the judicial post of vrhovni sodnik at the Vrhovno sodišče Republike Slovenije. The appointment is contained in the decision Sklep o imenovanju na sodniško mesto vrhovnega sodnika na Vrhovnem sodišču Republike Slovenije, adopted at the chamber’s session of 29 September 2026 and published in Uradni list Republike Slovenije No. 1548/2026 of 2 October 2026.

The decision rests on the third paragraph of Article 21 of the Zakon o sodniški službi (ZSS, Judicial Service Act) and on Article 112 of the Poslovnik državnega zbora (Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly). It was signed in Ljubljana on 29 September 2026 by the speaker of the National Assembly, Zoran Stevanović, and carries the file number Št. 700-05/26-19/7, together with the parliamentary references EPA 185-X and EDA 2026-5022924000-0082.

The operative text consists of a single appointment: “Imenuje se: Matej PAPLER na sodniško mesto vrhovnega sodnika na Vrhovnem sodišču Republike Slovenije.” The act occupies one page of the gazette, whose publisher is the Služba Vlade Republike Slovenije za zakonodajo (Government Legislation Service), Mestni trg 4, Ljubljana; the edition is electronic and free of charge, ISSN 1580-3074, volume XXXVI.

The decision and its legal basis

The appointment was made under the specific provision of the Zakon o sodniški službi that governs the filling of judicial posts at the Vrhovno sodišče Republike Slovenije, combined with the standing procedural rule of the Poslovnik državnega zbora on the adoption of personnel decisions by the chamber. The act is dated 29 September 2026, the day of the parliamentary session, and was published in the official gazette four days later, on 2 October 2026.

The gazette edition in which the appointment appears is issued by the Služba Vlade Republike Slovenije za zakonodajo and is distributed exclusively in electronic form at no cost, under ISSN 1580-3074.

Appointment and election: two judicial moves in the same edition

The same edition of the official gazette records a second judicial personnel decision, taken under a different legal basis:

• Matej Papler — appointed (imenovan) to the post of vrhovni sodnik at the Vrhovno sodišče Republike Slovenije, under Article 21(3) of the Zakon o sodniški službi; Uradni list RS No. 1548/2026, EPA 185-X, EDA 2026-5022924000-0082, Št. 700-05/26-19/7.
• Jana Železnik — elected (izvoljena) to the judicial function of višja sodnica at the Upravno sodišče Republike Slovenije, under Article 130 of the Ustava Republike Slovenije and Article 19(1) of the Zakon o sodniški službi; Uradni list RS No. 1549/2026, EPA 229-X, EDA 2026-5022924000-0083, Št. 700-05/26-21/8.

Other personnel decisions in the same edition

• Kristijan Zakšek was appointed a member of the expert council of the Agencija za zavarovalni nadzor for a six-year term (Uradni list RS No. 1547/2026, Št. 460-01/26-5/7).
• Peter Papež was dismissed as a member of the expert council of the Agencija za zavarovalni nadzor (Uradni list RS No. 1550/2026, Št. 460-01/26-3/6).
• The Državni zbor established that the resignation of mag. Tomaž Perše constituted grounds for the early termination of his mandate as a member of the Fiskalni svet, under the Zakon o fiskalnem pravilu (Uradni list RS No. 1546/2026).

Wider judicial staffing context

The same edition also publishes the Zakon o specializiranih organih za obravnavo korupcijskih kaznivih dejanj in organiziranega kriminala (ZSOKOK) (Uradni list RS No. 1568/2026), which amends the Zakon o sodiščih and the Zakon o sodnikih. That law requires the Vrhovno sodišče to advertise vacant judicial posts at the Specializirano kazensko sodišče Republike Slovenije within 30 days of the adoption of the relevant staffing act, and sets 1 January 2028 as the outer limit for the assignment period of judges currently serving in specialized departments.

The appointment of Matej Papler adds a member to the bench of the Vrhovno sodišče Republike Slovenije at a moment when the same official gazette reshapes the staffing rules for Slovenia’s specialized judiciary. For readers, the practical effect is a completed personnel decision at the top of the court system, published with its full parliamentary and gazette references and therefore verifiable in the official record.

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).