Opinion of the European Central Bank of 20 June 2007 at the request of the Slovenian Ministry of Justice on a draft law amending the Law on payment transactions (CON/2007/18)
Date: 2007-06-20
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Slovenia, disclosure of information, judicial proceedings, national law, payment system

EN 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 20 June 2007  

at the request of the Slovenian Ministry of Justice  

on a draft law amending the Law on payment transactions  

(CON/2007/18) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On  1  June  2007  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB)  received  a  request  from  the  Slovenian  Ministry  of 

Justice for an opinion on a draft law amending the Law on payment transactions (hereinafter the ‘draft 

law’). 

The  ECB’s  competence  to  deliver  an  opinion  is  based  on  Article  105(4)  of  the  Treaty  establishing  the 

European Community and the fifth indent of Article 2(1) of Council Decision 98/415/EC of 29 June 1998 

on  the  consultation  of  the  European  Central  Bank  by  national  authorities  regarding  draft  legislative 
provisions1,  as  the  draft  law  relates  to  payment  and  settlement  systems.  In  accordance  with  the  first 

sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Central Bank, the Governing Council 

has adopted this opinion. 

1. 

Purpose of the draft law  

The  draft  law  amends  Article  29  of  the  Law  on  payment  transactions  concerning  access  to  data  in  the 

register  of  transaction  accounts.  The  main  aim  of  the  proposed  amendments  is  to  eliminate  an 

administrative barrier. In addition, it is intended to accelerate enforcement proceedings and cut costs by 

facilitating direct court access to data in the register of transaction accounts. First, by amending Article 

29(3),  the  draft  law  provides  that,  during  judicial  proceedings,  the  courts  may  access  the  register  of 

transaction accounts by the name, surname and address of the holder of transaction account, but without 

having to state the tax number. The waiver of the tax number related information for courts is expected to 

spare  additional  queries  to  courts  and  accelerate  enforcement  proceedings.  Second,  the  proposed 

amendment to Article 29(5) provides that the courts, as opposed to other State authorities and holders of 

public office with which Banka Slovenije may conclude a contract on direct electronic access to data in 

the  register  of  transaction  accounts,  will  be  entitled  to  directly  access  data  in  the  register.  Both 

amendments should accelerate enforcement proceedings and alleviate the courts’ workload.  

1  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
2. 

General observations  

The  ECB  welcomes  the  draft  law,  which  is  expected  to  reinforce  and  accelerate  court  enforcement 

proceedings by facilitating access to data on natural persons in the register of transaction accounts. The 

ECB  also  expects  that  these  amendments  will  not  affect  the  protection  of  personal  data  for  natural 

transaction account holders. Therefore, the ECB has no objections to the text of the draft law. 

This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website. 

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 20 June 2007. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

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