Slovenia
Civil law
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Slovenia is a civil-law country with a Constitution of 1991 and a strong Constitutional Court. Its law has Austrian roots, and a single state legal exam opens the way to every legal career: judge, prosecutor, lawyer or notary.
Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Where the law comes from
- The Constitution of 1991, the highest law
- Codes and statutes, such as the Obligations Code and the Criminal Code
- European Union law, which takes priority in its area
- Decisions of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court
The main courts
- The Supreme Court at the top of the ordinary courts
- The Constitutional Court, which reviews laws and hears constitutional complaints
- Higher courts, district courts and local courts, with separate labour and administrative courts
Becoming a lawyer
A law degree, a traineeship, and the state legal exam, then admission to the Slovenian Bar Association.
What may surprise you
- One state legal exam is the gateway to all the main legal professions.
- Individuals can bring a constitutional complaint after using ordinary remedies.
- Private law follows the Austrian tradition from Habsburg times.
Related systems
How this country is classified
The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Slovenia as: Civil law. It names the systems in order of importance.
The map colours a country by the first-named system, and shows both civil-law and common-law countries as “mixed”. It is a simplification, and real systems are rarely pure.
Other countries in the same family
Sources
Sources last reviewed: October 2026.
TheLawToKnow Tools’s Legal Families Atlas is an educational overview. It simplifies on purpose, and it is not legal advice. For a real legal question about Slovenia, consult a lawyer qualified there. Report a mistake.

