Sebastijan Valentan holds a doctorate in Canon Law. He is a judge and Vice-President of the Metropolitan Ecclesiastical Tribunal in Maribor and Head of the Institute of Canon Law Studies. He is also Head of the Chair of Canon Law at the Faculty of Theology, University of Ljubljana.
From 2020 to 2022, he served as a member and secretary of the Expert Group for the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Adults at the Slovenian Bishops’ Conference. He also serves as an advocate and legal representative in ecclesiastical penal proceedings.
The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia appointed him in 2020 as Slovenia’s expert to the European Commission’s Open Method of Coordination (OMC) Working Group on Multilingualism and Translation, for a term ending on 31 December 2022.
He was a member of the Council of the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia during its first term (2018–2019) and also serves in its current term (2023–2026).
In 2016, he completed, with distinction, a programme in Rome on reformed matrimonial canon law and judicial practice, for which he received a diploma from the Tribunal of the Roman Rota. From 2014 to 2020, he was a scholarship holder and resident at the Pontifical Institute of Santa Maria dell’Anima in Rome.
He studied theology and philosophy at the Maribor Unit of the Faculty of Theology, University of Ljubljana, where he obtained a university degree in theology. He was ordained a priest in 2010.
At the Faculty of Canon Law of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, where he obtained his licentiate in 2017, he completed his doctorate in 2020, specialising in state ecclesiastical law and international human rights law. His doctoral dissertation was entitled La fede e diritti dei fedeli ai mezzi di comunicazione sociale in Slovenia – la legislazione e le sfide (Faith and the Rights of the Faithful in the Social Communications Media in Slovenia – Legislation and Challenges). His doctoral supervisor was Professor Stefan Mückl, who holds two doctoral degrees.
His academic research focuses on legal relations between the state and the Catholic Church and other religious communities, the protection of human rights, particularly freedom of religion, and canon law.
His scholarly and professional articles have been published in several languages in Slovenian and international legal and theological journals. He has translated several books and regularly translates international legal documents. He frequently presents papers at thematic meetings, conferences and symposia in Slovenia and abroad. He has repeatedly been an invited speaker at the All-Slovenian Gathering of Slovenians from Neighbouring Countries and Around the World, held at the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia.
As a visiting assistant at the Permanent Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations Office and Other International Organizations in Geneva, and as a member of its delegation, he participated, among other activities, in sessions, working groups and informal meetings of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Economic and Social Council (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe). These experiences have further enriched his academic work.
Areas of Teaching
Legal Structure of the Church
Religion and Law
Legal Foundations of Christian Marriage
Ecclesiastical Jurisprudence
Research Areas
Legal relations between the state and the Catholic Church and other religious communities; freedom of religion; state ecclesiastical law; matrimonial law; ecclesiastical jurisprudence; and media law.
Memberships
The Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland, the Canadian Canon Law Society, and the Croatian Canon Law Society (Hrvatsko kanonističko društvo), where he also serves on the Committee for International Cooperation.
The Editorial Board of the academic journal Vrhbosnensia: Journal for Theological and Interreligious Issues.
Slovenian Academy of Legal Sciences
Slovenska matica
Correspondent
EUREL
Ni obvestil.