SLOVENIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Vesna Cukrov and Veronika Cukrov, Law Firm Cukrov (Odvetniška družba Cukrov o.p., d.o.o.)
sense. The relevant standard is whether enforcement of the foreign award would be manifestly incompat - ible with fundamental principles of the Slovenian legal system, including basic procedural guarantees and essential principles of justice. 13. Miscellaneous 13.1 Class Action or Group Arbitration Slovenian law does not expressly provide for class action arbitration or group arbitration. The Slovenian Arbitration Act is primarily based on the principle of consent, meaning that arbitration may generally only be initiated by and against parties that have agreed to submit their disputes to arbitration. As a result, collective arbitration proceedings involving persons who are not parties to the same arbitration agreement are generally not available under Slovenian law. Multiple parties may participate in the same arbi - tration proceedings where there is a valid arbitration agreement binding all relevant parties and where the applicable procedural rules allow for joinder or con - solidation of proceedings. 13.2 Ethical Codes Lawyers representing parties in arbitration proceed - ings are primarily bound by the Attorneys Act, the Code of Professional Ethics of the Slovenian Bar Association and general principles governing the legal profession, including duties of independence, loyalty to the client, confidentiality, professional integrity and avoidance of conflicts of interest. These standards apply regardless of whether the arbitration is domes - tic or international. Arbitrators are required under the Slovenian Arbitration Act to act independently and impartially, and to dis - close any circumstances that may give rise to justified doubts regarding their independence or impartiality. 13.3 Third-Party Funding Slovenian law does not contain specific legislation regulating third-party funding of arbitration proceed - ings. Unlike some jurisdictions, the Republic of Slo - venia does not have a dedicated statutory framework governing litigation or arbitration funding by third par -
ties. Third-party funding is therefore neither prohib - ited nor expressly permitted, and its admissibility is assessed under the general rules of contract law. In practice, funded claims remain rare, and the principal practical concerns relate to the disclosure of the fund - ing arrangement for the purposes of assessing arbitra - tor conflicts and to the treatment of funding costs in the allocation of costs. However, the broader legal framework continues to evolve at the EU level. The European Parliament has called for the adoption of an EU-wide regulatory frame - work for third-party litigation funding, addressing issues such as transparency, conflicts of interest, capital ade - quacy and the protection of funded parties. Although no binding EU legislation has yet been adopted, future developments at the EU level may influence the regula - tion of third-party funding in Slovenia. The Republic of Slovenia was, however, involved in proceedings before ICSID ( Ascent Resources Plc and Ascent Slovenia Ltd v Republic of Slovenia ), in which the claimant financed the proceedings through external sources, including, inter alia, after-the-event insurance. 13.4 Consolidation In institutional arbitration, consolidation may be avail - able where the relevant arbitration rules provide for such a possibility. In the absence of party agreement or applicable institutional rules, an arbitral tribunal generally cannot unilaterally consolidate separate proceedings, as arbitration is based on the consent of the parties. Similarly, Slovenian courts do not have a general power to order the consolidation of separate arbitral proceedings. 13.5 Binding of Third Parties Under Slovenian law, third parties are generally not bound by an arbitration agreement or an arbitral award unless they have consented to arbitration or have otherwise become legally bound by the arbitra - tion agreement. However, in limited circumstances, third parties may become bound by an arbitration agreement through mechanisms recognised under general principles of civil law, such as universal or singular succession, assignment of contractual rights or obligations, subrogation or transfer of a legal posi - tion together with the arbitration agreement.
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