Lovro Šturm (19 May 1938 – 2 December 2021) was a
Slovenian jurist
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...
and
politician
A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
. He was a law professor and served as the president and judge of the
Constitutional Court of Slovenia
The Constitutional Court of Slovenia (in Slovenian language, Slovene: ''Ustavno sodišče Republike Slovenije, US RS'') is a special court established by the Constitution of Slovenia, Slovenian Constitution. Since its inception, the Court has be ...
, the Minister of Education and
Minister of Justice of Slovenia.
Biography
Šturm was born in
Ljubljana
{{Infobox settlement
, name = Ljubljana
, official_name =
, settlement_type = Capital city
, image_skyline = {{multiple image
, border = infobox
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, Slovenia (then part of the
Yugoslavia
, common_name = Yugoslavia
, life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation
, p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia
, flag_p ...
). 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 North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...
at
Ljubljana University. He completed his degree in 1961. After completing additional studies in
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...
and
Strasbourg
Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
, he was awarded a diploma by the International Faculty of
Comparative Law
Comparative law is the study of differences and similarities between the law and legal systems of different countries. More specifically, it involves the study of the different legal systems (or "families") in existence around the world, includ ...
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; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...
, and between 1977 and 1988 at the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
.
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 universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
.
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 ru ...
of the
Republic of Slovenia, 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-righ ...
. Between 2004 and 2008, he served as Minister of Justice in the center right government of
Janez Janša. 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 distin ...
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 party, and also ran for Parliament on the party's list in the 2000 elections. He was a member of the Slovenian
liberal conservative civic platform
Rally for the Republic. In November 2011, he became its president, replacing
Gregor Virant who had resigned previously that year.
Šturm was a practicing
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
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, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious ...
. 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 (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...
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