Jurij Toplak
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f1/Jurij_Toplak_Harvard_2017.jpg/350px-Jurij_Toplak_Harvard_2017.jpg)
Jurij Toplak (born 1977) is a constitutional scholar, university administrator,
Education
Toplak received an
Professional career
He was a member of the National Election Commission of Slovenia from 2000 until 2012. Since 2006, he has been a board member, and he is a vice-chair of
![Toplak and Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani in New York in 2022.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/Vjosa_Osmani-Sadriu_Fordham_7.jpg/350px-Vjosa_Osmani-Sadriu_Fordham_7.jpg)
As a consultant to governments or international organisations
In 2022, with David Schultz, Toplak co-edited the Routledge Handbook of Election Law.[31] He is considered "one of the world's leading election law experts."[32][33][34]
Notable cases
Jure Toplak led numerous successful
Based on the constitutional appeal he wrote for a group of paraplegics, the Constitutional Court ruled in 2010 that “as many as possible” polling stations need to be wheelchair accessible.[39] Next year he wrote another appeal for three wheelchair users, and in 2014 the Constitutional Court annulled part of the election law and ruled that all polling stations must be accessible for persons with disabilities.[40][41]
In 2015, when the Constitutional Court was deciding whether the parliamentary seat of a parliamentarian due to his conviction was constitutional or not, the court copied arguments from Toplak's
When the Constitutional Court invalidated election districts legislation in 2018, Toplak is mentioned or cited 17 times in the court's decision and judges' opinions.[44] In 2019, the Constitutional Court invalidated the local music quota law based on the appeal written by Toplak.[45]
In 2017, Jurij Toplak wrote a challenge to the referendum results for a voter and activist
In October 2021, the European Court of Human Rights issued its judgment Toplak and Mrak against Slovenia.[54][55] The case concerned accessibility of polling places and voting. Jurij Toplak wrote the appeal for Franc Toplak, his uncle, and other voters with disabilities,[56] and the Court ruled that Slovenia had violated his uncle's and other applicants' human rights.[57] Toplak wrote a class action for the Slovenian Disability Rights Association, which asked for a review and reform of the polling places accessibility, and for a 54 million Euros of compensation for the past discrimination of persons with disabilities.[56]
Toplak is a staunch defender of free speech and transparent government. In 2014, after two years of litigation for access to information, he obtained statistical data on schools and published it,[58][59] which triggered a heated public debate.[60][61]
Toplak had long publicly opposed punishing of Internet users who discussed election candidates during the electoral silence.[62] In 2011, he wrote two successful appeals for such Facebook users.[63] After the 2014 elections, he wrote an appeal to the Supreme Court for a voter, who was fined 100 euros for publishing a comment on Facebook on a day before elections. In September 2016, the Supreme Court dismissed the fine and ruled that comments and discussions are not within a definition of illegal propaganda.[64]
In March 2021, Toplak disclosed in the Daily Express that the European Court of Human Rights had stopped sharing its files with the public.[65] “After allowing access to its single-judge decisions for decades and after sending applications out for several months, the Court’s termination of access in March 2021 due to the pandemic seems unjustified. The pandemic has not worsened in March 2021," he said.[65] Just few hours after the Daily Express published the article, the Court changed its practice and sent documents to those who requested them.[66][67]
Toplak wrote an appeal for an activist Vili Kovačič who was convicted for calling the judge “a pig” in the courtroom after the judge convicted Milko Novič to 25 years for murder.[36] In a re-trial, Novič was found not guilty, and based on the appeal written by Toplak, the Supreme Court in 2022 dropped the fine imposed on Kovačič. They argued that freedom of expression protects those who call “a pig” an unfair and abusive judge who wrongly convicts a person of murder without evidence, and claimed that “pig” is a common description of abusive rulers, including in George Orwell’s Animal Farm.[68]
Soon after the 2022 national elections, the National Election Commission of Slovenia published names of the elected parliament members. Two weeks later, it announced that six seats have been wrongly assigned due to a "computer defect." The National Election Commission's president explained that it was impossible to calculate all 88 seats correctly, because a manual calculation would take "months of work for hundreds of people."[69][70] The next day, Toplak on YouTube published a video in which he with a simple calculator and a pen calculated all 88 seats correctly in less than three hours.[71][72]
European Academy of Sciences and Arts
Together with the
In 2020, Toplak organized and moderated the first round-the-globe and round-the-clock online conference, which soon became common during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, he took over the chairmanship of the organization of the It's About People conference. Since then, the event featured speakers economist Jeffrey Sachs, the European Commission vice-presidents and commissioners Maroš Šefčovič, Mariya Gabriel and Dubravka Šuica, Oxford Law School dean Mindy Chen-Wishart, Baroness Ruth Deech, András Sajó, Dimitry Kochenov, Klaus Mainzer, and Felix Unger.[77][78][79][80][81][82]
Personal life
His father is a law professor, diplomat, and university rector
References
- ^ "Faculty of Law Maribor - Jurij Toplak". www.pf.um.si. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "Jurij Toplak". en.almamater.si. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
- ^ "Class Schedules - Course Details". web.v2.go.lawnet.fordham.edu. Retrieved 2019-12-29.
- ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-09-09.
- ^ "Letter: Court rulings on elections bolster trust in democracy". Financial Times. 2022-08-17. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
- ^ Toplak, Jurij. "Key problem with remote vote: It cannot ensure a secret ballot" (PDF).
- ^ May 11, Jurij; Toplak. "Push for mail-in vote gaining steam, and scrutiny - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
- ^ "The Semenya court case analyzed by professor Toplak". en.almamater.si. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
- ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-01-12.
- ^ Toplak, Jurij. "Members Database". European Academy of Sciences and Arts. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
- ^ Maribor, IZUM-Institut informacijskih znanosti. "Protection of equal voting right principle by redistricting process rules : LL.M. long thesis :: COBISS+". plus.si.cobiss.net (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2022-02-05.
- ISBN 9781315601182.
- ^ "Board Members (2017) – RC20 – Political Finance and Political Corruption". rc20.ipsa.org. 13 March 2013. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
- ^ "STA: Začeli so se Dnevi slovenskih pravnikov 2000". www.sta.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2018-06-09.
- ^ "Raziskava o diskriminaciji: V Ljubljani in Mariboru slepemu niso odgovorili". Dnevnik. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
- ISSN 1581-5374.
- ISSN 0165-4896.
- ^ "Pippa Norris on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2018-07-15.
- S2CID 153325225.
- ^ "V tujini priznane in prezrte slovenske pravne avtoritete". Spletni časopis (in Slovenian). 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2018-07-15.
- ^ "Decision of the Appointment of Members of the Ombudsman's Human Rights Council" (PDF).
- ^ "Komisija za enake možnosti na področju znanosti | GOV.SI". Portal GOV.SI (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2020-01-26.
- ^ EU EOM (2016-01-25), NTV – Jurij Toplak, EU Election Observation Mission, interviewed on the role of money in politics, retrieved 2018-06-09
- ^ "The Report on the Implementation of the Law on Financing of Political Activities by the Slovenian Expert Jurij Toplak – Агенција за борбу против корупције". www.acas.rs. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
- ^ Minic, Zlatko. "Useful recommendations for the improvement of legislation on party financing". www.transparentnost.org.rs. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
- ^ "Magnus Ohman :: News 2014". www.magnusohman.net. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
- osce.org. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
- ^ "Predsednik Republike Slovenije | Javna predstavitev kandidata za člana Stalnega arbitražnega sodišča s sedežem v Haagu prof. dr. Jurija Toplaka". www2.gov.si. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
- OCLC 1288194909.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link - ^ "Election law a growing area – and good for democracy, say experts". Legal Futures. August 18, 2022.
- ^ "Short Thought For The Week: Because You're Worth It". The Legal Diary. August 19, 2022.
- ^ "How Kenya Election Petition Will Strengthen Future Polls". Capital FM News. August 21, 2022.
- ^ Potič, Zoran (10 September 2022). "#intervju Jurij Toplak, pravnik: Vsak državljan lahko izpodbija izid glasovanja zaradi nepravilnosti". Dnevnik. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
- ^ a b "Lahko sodnici rečemo prasica? Vrhovno sodišče je odločilo". www.zurnal24.si. Retrieved 2022-04-22.
- ^ "Sodišče pritrdilo Radiu City". maribor24.si (in Slovenian). 2019-11-06. Retrieved 2022-04-22.
- ^ "Nova zaušnica Strasbourga slovenskemu sodstvu, tokrat v primeru Koroški dečki |" (in Slovenian). 2022-02-08. Retrieved 2022-04-22.
- ^ "Decision U-I-25/10" (PDF). Constitutional Court of Slovenia. 11 September 2010.
- ^ "Decision U-I-156/11". Constitutional Court of Slovenia. 10 April 2014.
- ^ politika, Peter Jančič, notranja. "Država mora invalidom zagotoviti dostop do volišč" (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2018-06-09.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Ustavno sodišče ponovilo argumente in mnenje, ki ga je dr. Toplak glede neustavnega odvzema Janševega mandata podal za Politikis.si | Politikis". www.politikis.si (in Slovenian). 12 June 2015. Retrieved 2018-06-13.
- ^ ""Dvojna" kandidatka: Vrhovno sodišče pritrdilo Čušu in Toplaku". Časnik Večer d.o.o. (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2018-06-13.
- ^ "Constitutional Court of Slovenia decision U-I-32/15". odlocitve.us-rs.si. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
- ^ "J. Toplak: Ne gremo na kolena. Če bo politika še enkrat poskusila s kvotami slovenske glasbe, bo za 300 mio tožb". Finance.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2019-11-19.
- ^ "Slovenian court orders a new referendum on railway". Reuters. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
- ^ "Slovenia's Prime Minister resigns over court ruling on referendum". The Telegraph. 15 March 2018.
- ^ "Transcript of the resignation and of '24ur zvečer' on POP TV". Media Clipping Map. 14 March 2018.
- ^ "Toplak pravnik leta, Jenullu in Racetu nagrada za življenjsko delo ..." vecer.com (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2023-05-28.
- ^ "To so najvplivnejši slovenski pravniki" (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2018-11-27.
- ^ "Znanih 10 najvplivnejših pravnikov leta 2019". Dnevnik. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
- ^ "10 najvplivnejsih pravnikov". IUS-INFO (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2021-08-30.
- ^ "Kdo so bili letos najvplivnejši pravniki in pravnice?". RTVSLO.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2022-02-05.
- ^ "HUDOC - European Court of Human Rights". hudoc.echr.coe.int. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
- ^ "ECHR ruling 'has Europe-wide implications' on disability". www.lawsociety.ie. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
- ^ a b "STA: Disabled take Slovenia to Human Rights Court over polling stations accessibility". english.sta.si. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
- ^ Norton, Hannah (2021-11-12). "EU court ruling fails to remove obstacles for voters with disabilities". www.euractiv.com. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
- ^ "Lestvica šol: Srednje šole – Alma Mater Europaea". www.almamater.si. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
- ^ "Lestvica šol: Osnovne šole – Alma Mater Europaea". www.almamater.si. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
- ^ "Ministrstvo: Za lestvico šol najbolje, da utone v pozabo" (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2018-06-09.
- ^ Delo.si, Marko Crnkovič. "Uši socialnega snobizma in politične korektnosti" (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2018-06-09.
- ^ "Je Facebook všečkanje (Like) kršenje volilnega molka?". Marko Pigac – spletna domačija. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
- ^ "Precedenčna sodba za svobodo izražanja". Dnevnik. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
- ^ "Supreme Court on Election Blackouts: Every Comment is Not Propaganda". RTVSLO. 26 September 2016.
- ^ a b Santolo, Alessandra Scotto di (2021-03-24). "'Extreme and illegal' European court accused of concealing documents in brazen cover-up". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-09-14.
- ^ "Velika zmaga Jurija Toplaka: sodišče v Strasbourgu priznalo napako". siol.net (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2021-09-14.
- ^ "Evropsko sodišče je po opozorilih pravnika Toplaka ponovno odprlo sodne spise". RTVSLO.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2021-09-14.
- ^ "Vili Kovačič sodnico pogledal v oči in ji rekel "prasica", kazni ne bo plačal". siol.net (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2022-04-23.
- ^ "DVK je napačno določila šest poslanskih mandatov".
- ^ "Računalniška napaka na DVK: narobe izračunali šest poslanskih mandatov". 7 May 2022.
- ^ "VIDEO: Profesorju uspelo to, za kar bi volilna komisija potrebovala mesece".
- ^ "V treh urah naredil to, za kar DVK potrebuje "nekaj sto ljudi in nekaj mesecev" #video".
- ^ "A year of global "round-the-clock" conferences".
- ^ "Freedom of Speech". iacl-aidc.org. Retrieved 2022-06-21.
- ^ W3bStudio (2020-07-10). "Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard Professors at the Alma Mater Europaea Symposium". Slovenia Times. Retrieved 2022-06-21.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Tuji strokovnjaki: Sporočilo o novinarkah prostitutkah in Kučanu zvodniku ni kaznivo #video". siol.net (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2022-06-21.
- ^ "Famed economist Jeffrey Sachs rails against Bitcoin: Highly polluting and 'almost like counterfeiting' – Fortune". Retrieved 2022-06-21.
- ^ Chan, Justin. "Respected Economist Jeffrey Sachs Says Bitcoin Offers 'Nothing of Social Value'". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2022-06-21.
- ^ "Dekanja z Oxforda: Kitajci so dokaj rasistični, menijo, da belopolti ne delajo dovolj #video". siol.net (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2022-06-21.
- ^ W3bStudio (2022-03-14). "The Alma Mater's 'It's About People' conference has started". Slovenia Times. Retrieved 2022-06-21.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "V središču mednarodne znanstvene konference Alme Mater letos etični izzivi digitalne transformacije". RTVSLO.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2022-06-21.
- ^ ""Pandemija je razgalila tudi pomanjkljivosti digitalnega učnega procesa"". RTVSLO.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 2022-06-21.
- ^ "Partizanski koledar našega okoliša, 28. del: Nove aretacije avgusta 1941". Tednik. 14 Aug 1964.
- ^ "Za klicem "Smrt fažizmu - svoboda narodu!" v Slovenskih goricah pred 30 leti: Ustanovitev OF". Tednik. 23 July 1971.
- ^ Šuligoj, Ljubica (2001). "Leto 1941 na Ptuju: The Year 1941 in Ptuj". Kronika.
- ^ Glušič, Dominik (26 Sep 1974). "Spomini na ptujske zapore". Tednik.
- ^ "Zgodovina občine Juršinci". www.jursinci.si. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
- ^ "ILIRIJA - Geneanet". gw.geneanet.org. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
- ^ "Family Tree".
- ^ "Razboj za tkanje Siga - video dailymotion". Dailymotion. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
- ^ Bračič, Vladimir (1983). "Nastanek in razvoj visokega šolstva v Mariboru". Kronika, časopis za slovensko krajevno zgodovino: 247.
- ^ Stanonik, Marija (1973). Slovensko pesništvo upora: Slovensko narodnoosvobodilno pesništvo 1941-1945 na Gorenjskem. Ljubljana: Filozofska fakulteta.
- ^ Tribunale militare di guerra, fasc. 542-2321.
- ^ Bravničar, Dušan, ed. (1960). Prispevki za zgodovino delavskega gibanja (PDF). Ljubljana: Inštitut za zgodovino delavskega gibanja. p. 243.