Image – Shutterstock: Ljubljana Castle, Slovenia
The Supreme Court of Slovenia has upheld the result of a November 2025 assisted suicide referendum, in which 53% of voters voted against the introduction of assisted suicide, with 47% in favour. This followed the Slovenian parliament passing an assisted suicide law in July 2025. However, a civil society initiative, supported by the Catholic Church and the conservative parliamentary opposition, soon gathered more than 46,000 signatures, well above the 40,000 required, to trigger a second vote, the result of which was of course the now decisive referendum vote last year.
This was recently challenged, however, with applicants arguing that the referendum result should be annulled because doctors’ organisations and religious groups (in this case, the Catholic Church) allegedly ran an unfair campaign, spreading misleading information. The Court rejected that claim, since the perceived truthfulness or otherwise of campaign statements is not subject to judicial review in referendum disputes; even misleading statements alone are not grounds to annul a vote. The Court held that the applicants failed to prove that any perceived irregularities actually influenced the result.
Speaking exclusively to SPUC, Aleš Primc, of the Slovenian Voice for Children and Families, commented:
“The Supreme Court’s confirmation of the referendum’s victory brings great joy and relief to patients, people with disabilities, and pensioneers. With this court decision, following the referendum victory, Slovenians are finally protected from the harm, abuse, and pressure that this dangerous, horrific, and unjust law would have imposed. Today is a day of great joy. Thanks be to God.”
This result follows closely on the heels of the Scottish Parliament’s decision on 17th March to reject Liam McArthur’s Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, by 69 votes to 57. This result followed months of tireless campaigning from SPUC’s supporters and allies in Scotland, who answered the call to contact their MSPs en masse.
SPUC Comment
Commenting on the decisive Supreme Court ruling, SPUC’s Executive Director, Michael Robinson, said: “It cannot be overstated how significant this decision by the Supreme Court of Slovenia to uphold the will of the Slovenian people is. It is one thing for the referendum on assisted suicide to have gone in favour of the pro-life lobby, but for the highest court in the land to acknowledge this and to throw out the case of the opposition, constitutes a rare occurrence in Western nations.”
Mr Robinson concluded: “We saw last week, with the defeat of Liam McArthur’s assisted suicide Bill, what real pro-life grassroots activism looks like, and this latest development from Slovenia is yet further proof that the proponents of the culture of death do not always get their way.”
SPUC’s Partnership Developer, Nuno Soares, is based in Slovenia and has been collaborating with those leading the fight.
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