Legal entities wishing to order a qualified digital certificate on a smart card or USB token will have to complete an application that consists of a general order form, a request for the issue of a digital certificate, and an extract from the applicable register. If the Court/Business Register of Slovenia (AJPES) is not your competent registry, please read the instructions on how to acquire your extract. The extract may not be older than 60 days.
ASSOCIATIONS, CLUBS
Confirmation of registration in the Register of Associations obtained from the relevant Administrative Unit or its branch office where the association/club has been registered.
ATTORNEYS-AT-LAW
The Bar Association of Slovenia issues a certificate of entry into the Register of Attorneys upon the request of the attorney concerned.
NOTARIES
The Chamber of Notaries of Slovenia issues a certificate of entry into the Register of Notaries upon request of the notary concerned.
PHYSICIANS
The Medical Chamber of Slovenia issues a certificate of entry into the Register of Physicians upon request of the physician concerned.
DETECTIVES
Confirmation issued by the Detective Chamber of the Republic of Slovenia on entry into the Register of Detectives.
FREELANCE JOURNALISTS
Extract from the Register of Freelance Journalists issued by the Ministry of Culture.
PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS
Extract from the Register of Private Investigators to be issued by the Public Research Agency of the Republic of Slovenia.
BAILIFFS
Certificate issued by the Ministry of Justice on appointment as bailiff.
SELF-EMPLOYED IN CULTURE
Extract from the Register of Self-Employed in Culture to be issued by the Ministry of Culture.
FARMER’S STATUS
As evidence of a farmer’s status, it is sufficient to submit a decision awarding such status, irrespective of the date of the issue of such a decision. If the farmer, i.e. the applicant for a qualified digital certificate, no longer has the decision on the farmer’s status, we will refer him/her to the relevant Administrative Unit to obtain a photocopy of the issued decision. Administrative units do not issue special confirmations of issued decisions since they are not bound by law to keep a record of persons with a farmer’s status; however, they must enable an insight into the issued decision to the person who is the subject of such decision just like in any other administrative procedure. You need to get a certified copy of this decision in order for it to be authentic, the same as with any other official document. From this point of view, it is best that the person concerned arranges the certified copy to be made at the same Administrative Unit where they are requesting insight into the issued decision.
SUPPLEMENTARY ACTIVITIES FOR FARMERS
As evidence on carrying out a supplementary activity on the farm, the applicant for a qualified digital certificate is requested to submit a license for the pursuit of such activities to be issued by the relevant Administrative Unit, or an extract from the Record of Supplementary Activities for Farmers kept by the Ministry of Agriculture. The license for the pursuit of a supplementary activity may be presented in the original or a certificate of the obtained license may be submitted instead to be issued by the relevant Administrative Unit pursuant to the Slovenian ‘General Administrative Procedure Act’.
PRIVATE HEALTHCARE WORKERS
Extract from the Register of Private Healthcare Workers to be issued by the Ministry of Health.
TRADE UNIONS
– Resolution on appointment of a person as a statutory representative of the relevant trade union;
– Submission of the Trade Union’s Articles of Association;
– Certificate from the Record of Trade Unions’ Articles of Association may not be older than 60 days.
In certain cases, minutes of the meeting/session at which the competent body elected the representative at hand will have to be presented.
PARISHES
An updated report of the Governmental Office for Religious Communities and the Ordination on the consecration of the parish priest to be issued by the relevant parish or archdiocese. The parish priest authorized to represent the parish office is also entitled to assign the performance of certain tasks onto a third party. If this is clearly evident from such power of attorney, such a third party may, in this case, request a qualified certificate (upon submission of the Ordination on the consecration of the parish priest by the national chief and their own Power of Attorney.)
EVANGELICAL RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY
The inspector or priest of the religious community requesting a qualified certificate is obliged to submit a certificate evidencing that the operation of the religious community was announced to the Governmental Office for Religious Communities and a certificate on their election as parish priest or inspector of the relevant religious community. A qualified certificate may also be requested by the senior and inspector by submitting an extract from the record of religious communities and proof of appointment to the position of senior or inspector.
ISLAMIC COMMUNITY IN THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA
An extract from the Governmental Office for Religious Communities and a certificate on the appointment as Mufti – head of the Islamic Community in the Republic of Slovenia.
SALESIAN COMMUNITY
In the case of the Salesian community, the inspector is deemed to be the representative of the Community, which means that a certificate of the archdiocese on appointment to that position is sufficient for the purpose of issuing a qualified digital certificate.
JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES – CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY
A certificate issued by the Slovenian Governmental Office for Religious Communities and a certificate/letter of authorization from the Christian Religious Community.
PUBLIC INSTITUTES – PHARMACISTS’ ACTIVITIES
Extract from the Slovenian Business Register “AJPES”, which may not be older than 60 days.
PRIVATE PHARMACISTS
Extract from the Register of Pharmacists to be issued by the Ministry of Health.
REGIONAL CHAMBERS OF CRAFT
Extract from the Register of the Regional Chamber of Craft to be issued by the Chamber of Craft and Small Business of Slovenia.
SOCIAL CHAMBER OF SLOVENIA
A valid decision on the appointment of the President of the Chamber to be adopted at the Chamber’s General Meeting. No other evidence is required from the Chamber as the existence of the Chamber is directly founded on the legislation, i.e. the Social Assistance Act.
MEDICAL CHAMBER OF SLOVENIA
Since the Medical Chamber of Slovenia was founded directly on the basis of the law, i.e. the ‘Health Services Act’ and the ‘Medical Practitioners Act’, there is no need to specifically prove the existence and operation of the Chamber as such. A valid decision on the appointment of the President of the Chamber as adopted by the Chamber’s General Meeting should be enclosed.
SLOVENIAN CHAMBER OF PHARMACIES
The Slovenian Chamber of Pharmacies is a special legal entity whose existence is regulated in the ‘Pharmacy Practice Act’. The said Act gives the entity legal capacity and the status of a legal person; therefore, the applicant does not need to specifically prove the status. However, the powers of representation of the legal person must still be evidenced, which can be done in two ways. Firstly, by obtaining an updated extract from the Slovenian Business Register that is not older than 60 days, or, failing to do that, the powers of representation of the legal person may be proven in another way, i.e. by submitting valid Articles of Association of the Chamber of Pharmacies and the specific act on the individual’s appointment as its representative.
ASSOCIATION OF MOUNTAIN GUIDES OF SLOVENIA
In order to prove the existence and manner of operation, the applicant should submit valid Articles of Association at the time of filing of the request for the issue of a qualified digital certificate. The President of the Association of Mountain Guides of Slovenia shall be deemed to be its representative. His/her powers of representation must be evident from a decision on appointment as issued by the Council of Mountain Guides.
SLOVENIAN STUDENT UNION
The application for a qualified digital certificate should be filed by the Secretary-General of the Slovenian Student Union acting as its representative. To prove the powers of representation, the Secretary-General must enclose his/her decision on appointment to be issued by the competent body – the General Meeting of the Slovenian Student Union.
STUDENT ORGANIZATION OF THE UNIVERSITY
Extract from the register of forms of organization of the Slovenian Student Organization.
ASSOCIATION OF CONDOMINIUM OWNERS
This kind of association may only obtain a qualified digital certificate if they establish a formal community with own legal personality, i.e. an association of condominium owners. The later is founded by entry in the Business Register. To sum up, we need an extract from the Business Register (AJPES) in order to be able to issue a digital certificate.
POLITICAL PARTIES
Extract from the Ministry of the Interior.
PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES
Extract or decision from the Ministry of Education and Sport which makes it clear that the person is part of the private sports sector or included in the list of professional athletes.
AGRARIAN COMMUNITY
Extract from the Administrative Unit where such community is registered, and which makes it clear who the statutory representative of the Community is.
Extract from the business register has to be:
- not older that 60 days
- verified by notary
- verified by apostille
A foreign company is permitted to file the application for a digital certificate without the need for its legal representative to come to Slovenia, identify him/herself and complete the application on the spot. The procedure for the submission of the application can be done remotely but certain additional requirements must be fulfilled.
The legal representative may fill out the application for the issue of a digital certificate in their own country; however, their signature on the application must be verified by a notary (or other equivalent authority), which will also perform the identification of the representative based on their personal identity document. The same procedure applies to Slovenia whenever the application for the issue of a digital certificate is filed with the help of a notary public and not personally at one of the registration services of the Certification Authority.
The only difference in case of an international legal instrument is that the so-called Apostille needs to be obtained apart from the document authentication and/or signature witnessing. The former verifies the notarization and guarantees that the said notary is eligible to perform certifications in the country concerned.
The procedure of international verification of a foreign public document is laid out in the ‘Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents’ and applies to all countries signatory to the Convention. The authority competent for issuing Apostilles is determined in each signatory country, with its name duly published. The Hague Convention also prescribes the layout of the Apostille stamp, which is a special seal that includes the designation of the authority and country, accordingly signed and dated, and must be affixed onto the same document next to its original certification. With few countries that are not signatory to the Hague Convention, the procedure for international verification of a foreign public document is lengthier and slightly more complicated.
In addition to the application for the issue of a digital certificate, the company must also submit documents that show its good standing and powers of representation, along with other information that might be of relevance for doing business in Slovenia. This mostly refers to the Slovenian tax number or VAT ID number provided that the foreign entity is a person liable to pay VAT in Slovenia.
In order for the company to have the status of a legal person, it has to be – just like any Slovenian company – registered with the relevant registry authority in its home country, which goes to prove its existence and operation as well as its status and legal form of incorporation. The documentation varies as to the country and type of company. What concerns the status of companies, most countries have court or business registers, the same as in Slovenia, which indicate basic data about the name, form, operation and representation of the company.
Standard extracts from the Court/Business Registers in most countries likewise exhibit information about company representatives (name and other personal particulars enabling identification), just like in Slovenia. If the powers of representation are not evident from the document presented, we would require other documents to prove the same (e.g. articles/memorandum of association as an underlying document and resolution on appointment of a particular person).
Similar to an international organization, a foreign company does not need to have the documents translated into the official language, which in this case is Slovenian; instead, these documents must be submitted in a language that the Certification Authority understands.
The required documentation also includes a photocopy of the company representative’s personal identity document. Again, types of personal documents and the data they contain vary from country to country. Any problems arising with respect to this might be avoided if the representative arranges the photocopy of their personal document to be certified by a notary, who is obliged to identify the representative for the mere purpose of witnessing his or her signature. For such identification, the notary will require a personal identity document to be presented.
Both Slovenian and foreign business entities are obliged to present up-to-date documents (property dated) that were officially issued or certified (e.g. extract from the Court/Business Register); moreover, foreign public documents must be additionally fitted with an Apostille, as mentioned above. The Apostille stamp is required in each instance of certification witnessed by a foreign notary, which means on each separate authenticated document.
International organizations may also obtain a digital certificate from a Slovenian Certification Authority (CA); however, certain particularities need to be taken into account when issuing the certificate.
eIDAS sets out personal identification of the applicant or future certificate holder to be a precondition for the issue of a digital certificate. Normally, an official identity document with a photograph is verified by the Certification Authority’s registration services. Clearly, the certificate may also be obtained in your absence but in this case the identification requirement will have to be met through the presence of a notary public who will authenticate the signatures on the request and on the general order form.
The statutory representative of the international organization must first fill out the general order form in their country of residence and then witness their signature in the presence of a notary or another equivalent authority (depending on the country), who shall also perform the identification of the representative.
In case of authentication of documents in a foreign country, please make sure that the notary public or equivalent authority is formally competent to authenticate the document – only then will the document be valid in another country. In order for it to be used as an international legal instrument, such document must be subject to additional verification. The ‘Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents’ substantially eases that process for countries signatory to the Convention. The so-called Apostille must be affixed to a document authenticated in another country, which serves to verify the notarization and ensures that it is legally valid in other countries signatory to the said Convention as well. Which authority will provide you with such an Apostille depends on your country; however, information concerning this must always be published in every signatory country.
Prior to the issue of a digital certificate for legal entities, certain other documents must be obtained from them as well, which prove the status and the powers of representation of the legal person, along with other information relevant for making business in Slovenia.
In the case of an international organization, the status of which is defined by law, and which further ratifies its constituent instrument or founding act, the status of such legal entity needs not be proven with any particular document or extract since it is already defined by law.
However, what needs to be presented is the document that bestows such powers of representation on the statutory representative of the organization who is indicated on the request and on the general order form. Such document may come in different forms, in some cases this will be the organization’s constituent instrument or founding act, but more frequently a written resolution of the organization’s competent body vesting such powers onto a particular individual.
The latter is also true in case of replacement or change in the statutory representative of the organization at hand. A photocopy of the ID document of the company representative must also be enclosed to the required documentation. Types of personal identity documents and information that they contain may vary among countries. Any problems arising with respect to this might be avoided if the representative arranges the photocopy of their personal identity document to be certified by a notary, who shall of course be obliged to identify the representative for the mere purpose of witnessing his or her signature.