Author
| Name in English | Number of staff | Ministry responsible | Is there any political interference possible by the responsible Minister with the decision making in individual cases by the determining authority? |
| Migration directorate | 60 | Ministry of the Interior | No |
Source: Migration directorate, April 2025.
The determining authority is the International Protection Procedures Division, which is part of the Migration directorate of the Ministry of the Interior. It is a specialised and centralised authority responsible for examining applications for international protection and competent to take decisions at first instance.
Out of 60 employees at the Migration directorate, 33 work in the International Protection Procedures division,12 of which make decisions on asylum applications. This means that the caseworker conducting the interview is not necessarily responsible for deciding on the asylum application. The separation of tasks between an interviewer and a decision-maker was introduced in June 2016 with the aim of speeding up and improving the efficiency of the asylum procedure. The lodging of the application is short and requires that the applicant states their reasons for asylum in few sentences. After an application for international protection is lodged, a “first interview on the merits” is conducted, during which the applicant provides detailed grounds for applying for asylum. The case is then referred to a “decision maker”, who can either issue a decision on the asylum application or decide to conduct a second interview on the merits. There is no official communication between the first interviewer and the decision-maker.
Regarding quality assurance, the Migration directorate has established a mechanism whereby each decision has to be authorised by a responsible official of the International Protection Procedures Division before it is issued. A review is thus conducted on the case files, the documentation, country of origin information (COI) and the decision made in the individual case. The authorised official can approve the decision, change it or give additional instructions regarding the procedure.[1] Each decision is then (after International protection procedures division responsible official revises it) additionally supervised by the head of the International Protection Procedures sector, who provides additional quality control of the decisions. Each decision is supervised by two persons.[2]
In the absence of a specific unit responsible for applications from vulnerable persons, staff of the International Protection Procedures Division of the Migration directorate receive specific training from the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA, the Agency) on three modules: interviewing vulnerable groups, interviewing children, gender identity and sexual orientation. [3]
In December 2022, the EUAA signed its first operational plan with Slovenia, to help enhance the capacity of the Slovenian authorities with regard to asylum quality and procedures, identification of vulnerable persons and first-line reception conditions. The operational plan initially covered the period from December 2022 until 30 June 2023[4] and was subsequently extended until 30 June 2024.[5] The operational plan concluded on 30 June 2024.[6]
From January to 30 June 2024, the EUAA deployed 19 experts to Slovenia,[7] 12 of which were external experts. This included 4 roving team members, 4 junior social workers, 3 intermediate Dublin regulation experts and 3 junior reception experts.[8]
From January to 30 June 2024, the EUAA delivered 29 training sessions to a total of 793 local staff members.[9]
[1] Information provided by the Migration directorate, March 2023.
[2] Information provided by the Ministry of Interior in the context of their Right of reply, July 2025.
[3] ECRE, Asylum authorities: an overview of internal structures and available resources, October 2019, available here, 45.
[4] EUAA, Operational Plan 2022 agreed by the European Union Agency for Asylum and the Republic of Slovenia, December 2022, available here.
[5] EUAA, Operational Plan 2022-2024 agreed by the European Union Agency for Asylum and the Republic of Slovenia, June 2023, available here.
[6] Information provided by the EUAA, 14 March 2025.
[7] In the course of 2024, 1 person was deployed in Slovenia under two different profiles. EUAA personnel numbers do not include deployed interpreters by the EUAA in support of asylum and reception activities.
[8] Information provided by the EUAA, 14 March 2025.
[9] Information provided by the EUAA, 14 March 2025.