THE TIME AFTER THE ELECTION IS A TIME FOR COOPERATION
Swearing-in ceremony for the President of the Republic of Slovenia

Speech by Milan Kucan, President of the Republic of Slovenia, on the occasion of his swearing-in

Ljubljana, National Assembly, 23 December 1992

“Today, when I am taking up my duties together with and practically at the same time as the Slovene parliament, and in the light of Slovenia’s imminent acceptance in the Council of Europe, I find it necessary to stress our commitment to the idea of respect for human dignity and the need for respect and protection of human rights, which we had committed ourselves to pursuing in our statement of goodwill nearly two years ago when we called the plebiscite for independence. We can now with satisfaction conclude that Slovenia has achieved a level of respect for human rights which can bear comparison with that exercised in any member of the Council of Europe. Political pluralism and parliamentary democracy have turned out to be an indispensable but insufficient condition for ensuring effective protection of human rights; this is because the mere existence of these assumptions makes it impossible for any country to avoid abuse and conflict caused by the sensitive relation between the individual (citizen) and the state, and in particular between the individual and the state’s repressive mechanism. The one task which must be given priority by all of us, by all institutions representing authority, and by all representatives elected to exercise this authority, is therefore the formation and consolidation of Slovenia as a state governed by the rule of law. That is, a country in which human life and human action will be protected by the principles of constitutionality and legality rather than by the principles of arbitrariness, and both expedience and opportunism, which most of the time are in absolute conflict with the principles of justice and humanity. The concern for constitutionality and legality, as the basis for respecting and asserting human rights, is therefore our ultimate and fundamental collective goal. This calls for the elimination of the legal disorder to consequently fill up the legal void and create an integral legal system based on the modern foundations of European practical and theoretical legal thought; a legal system which when applied should protect both the individual and society against the authority and its representatives acting of their own volition,” stressed Milan Kucan, addressing the deputies and citizens of the Republic of Slovenia on the occasion of being sworn in as the first president of the independent and sovereign Republic of Slovenia.

Entire text of the speech