Lovro Šturm (19 May 1938 – 2 December 2021) was a
Slovenian
Slovene or Slovenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe
* Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia
* Slovenes
The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Sloven ...
jurist
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...
and
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
. He was a law professor and served as the president and judge of the
Constitutional Court of Slovenia
The Constitutional Court of Slovenia (in Slovene: ''Ustavno sodišče Republike Slovenije, US RS'') is a special court established by the Slovenian Constitution. Since its inception, the Court has been located in the city of Ljubljana.
Jurisdic ...
, the Minister of Education and
Minister of Justice of Slovenia.
Biography
Šturm was born in
Ljubljana
Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center.
During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...
, Slovenia (then part of the
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
). After completing grammar school in Ljubljana, he enrolled at the
Faculty of Law
A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...
at
Ljubljana University. He completed his degree in 1961. After completing additional studies in
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...
and
Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
, he was awarded a diploma by the International Faculty of
Comparative Law
Comparative law is the study of differences and similarities between the law (legal systems) of different countries. More specifically, it involves the study of the different legal "systems" (or "families") in existence in the world, including the ...
in 1963.
He headed the Public Administration Institute of the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana. Šturm was the President of the Council of the Public Administration Institute. Between 1976 and 1976, he worked as a legal advisor of the
OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...
, and between 1977 and 1988 at the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
.
He was the author of twelve books and two hundred publications and was an expert in the field of administrative–legal sciences. His work has been part of twenty-two group research projects. His scientific contributions examine the operation of administration, constitutional and judiciary protection of
human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
.
During the first
democratic elections in Slovenia in 1990, he was a member of the National Electoral Commission. Later that year he was elected a member of the
Constitutional Court
A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...
of the
Republic of Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...
, serving as its president between 1997 and 1998. In 2000, he was appointed Minister of Education in the short-lived conservative government of
Andrej Bajuk
Andrej Bajuk, also known in Spanish as Andrés Bajuk (18 October 1943 – 16 August 2011) was a Slovene politician and economist. He served briefly as Prime Minister of Slovenia in the year 2000, and was Minister of Finance in the centre-right g ...
. Between 2004 and 2008, he served as Minister of Justice in the center right government of
Janez Janša
Ivan Janša (; born 17 September 1958), baptized and best known as Janez Janša (), is a Slovenian politician who served three times as a prime minister of Slovenia, a position he had held from 2004 to 2008, from 2012 to 2013, and from 2020 to 2 ...
. During this period, he initiated several reforms of the judicial system, including a simplification of the judiciary administrative procedures, a radical reduction of
notary
A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems.
A notary, while a legal professional, is disti ...
fees, and a reform aimed at shortening the legal procedures in the courts. He also formed and headed a bilateral commission for the restitution of Jewish property confiscated during the Nazi occupation of Slovenia and never returned to the owners by the Yugoslav Communist regime.
Šturm was not a member of any political party, but he was considered close to the
New Slovenia
New Slovenia – Christian Democrats ( sl, Nova Slovenija – Krščanski demokrati, NSi) is a Christian-democratic, conservative political party in Slovenia. Since 2018, it is led by Matej Tonin. The party was formed on 4 August 2000 following ...
party, and also ran for Parliament on the party's list in the 2000 elections. He was a member of the Slovenian
liberal conservative
Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by li ...
civic platform
Rally for the Republic
The Rally for the Republic (french: Rassemblement pour la République ; RPR ), was a Gaullist and conservative political party in France. Originating from the Union of Democrats for the Republic (UDR), it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 a ...
. In November 2011, he became its president, replacing
Gregor Virant
Gregor Virant (born 4 December 1969) is a Slovenian politician and public servant. Between 2004 and 2008, he served as Minister of Public Administration in Janez Janša's first government, between 2011–2013 he was Speaker of the National Assemb ...
who had resigned previously that year.
Šturm was a practicing
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
and a member of the
Sovereign Military Order of Malta
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...
. He died in 2021.
In 1965, he authored the book/manual "How to play Go " (Slovenian: "Kako se igra Go").
See also
*
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
References
Notes
Lovro Sturm – Minister of Justice (The Council Presidency/The Slovenian Government)
External links
Interview of Slovenia's former Justice Minister Dr Lovro Sturm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sturm, Lovro
Constitutional court judges
Education ministers of Slovenia
Justice ministers of Slovenia
Lawyers from Ljubljana
University of Ljubljana alumni
Politicians from Ljubljana
Slovenian Roman Catholics
20th-century Slovenian judges
1938 births
2021 deaths