Elections and referendum

Prerequisits:
No special conditions

Content:
I. General on electoral law
II. Elections and the electoral system
III. Elections of basic state bodies in Slovenia
IV. Local elections
V. Elections to the European Parliament
VI. Referendum

Readings:

Required readings:

• Komentar Ustave Republike Slovenije : 1. natis. Nova Gorica: Nova univerza, Evropska pravna fakulteta, 2019.
• GRAD, Franc, KAUČIČ, Igor, ZAGORC, Saša. Ustavno pravo. 1. izd. Ljubljana: Pravna fakulteta, 2016.
• GRAD F: Parlamentarno pravo, Ljubljana, 2013, GV Založba.
• GRAD F: Volitve in volilni sistem, Ljubljana 2004.

Objectives and competences:

Students will developgeneral competences:

• initiative and independence in decision-making;
• broadening the general legal horizon in the field of elections and referendums, which ensures a broader view, which is extremely important for establishing quality decision-making;
• development and use of legal syllogism and argumentation, general communication skills, presentation of acquired knowledge inside and outside the organization and the international environment;
• ability to use different interpretive methods of interpreting legal texts.

Students will develop specifical competences:

• in-depth knowledge of elections and referendums and their application in practice;
• ability to address specific professional issues using relevant legislation, case law, interpretative arguments and scientific methods and procedures;
• ability to connect knowledge from different fields (interdisciplinarity).

Intended learning outcomes:
After successfully completing the obligations, the student will be able to:

• acquire knowledge in the field of elections and referendums, on the basis of which he will be able to better understand the functioning of legislative branches in the EU countries and in Slovenia,
• evaluate the legal dilemmas of the considered area,
• to acquire skills of oral and written expression on legal issues in the field of the subject.

Learning and teaching methods:
Lectures with active student participation, case studies, individual and group research work, distance learning with ICT and presentations.

Assessment:

• written exam (50%)
• written assignment (50%)

The condition for taking the written exam is a positively assessed written assignment.

Lecturer's references:
Dr. Dušan Štrus received his PhD in 2007 at the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana in the field of constitutional law. In 2011 he published a book entitled The Second Chamber of the Parliament with the presentation of the theory and practice of bicameral parliament. In 2017 he was appointed Secretary of the National Council of the Republic of Slovenia. He published more than twenty monographs as an author or editor, as well as articles in the field of constitutional, parliamentary and electoral law. Some of them have been translated into foreign languages.

References:

• ŠTRUS, Dušan. Drugi dom parlamenta. 1. izd. Ljubljana: Fakulteta za upravo, 2011.
• ŠTRUS, Dušan. Državni svet - že 25 let stičišče interesov družbe = The National Council - interconnecting society for 25 years. Ljubljana: Državni svet Republike Slovenije, 2017.
• ŠTRUS, Dušan. Reshaping the National Council of the Republic of Slovenia. V: ALBERT, Richard (ur.). Constitutional reform of national legislatures : bicameralism under pressure. Cheltenham (UK); Northampton (MA, USA): E. Elgar, cop. 2019. Str. 230-247.