There are rumours in Slovenia that the current president of UEFA and the Slovenian Bar Association are in breach of the Slovenian law on two issues.

The Slovenian rumour mill is chattering about the unusual circumstances by which Aleksander Čeferin, President of the European Football Association UEFA, still has a co-ownership stake in the Čeferin, Pogačnik, Novak, Koščak and partners Law Firm. In fact, he is the largest owner there with a 39 percent stake and his brother Rok Čeferin with a 19.5 percent stake.

As is known, Rok Čeferin is a constitutional judge and currently the president of the Constitutional Court. According to Article 37 of the Law on the Bar, only lawyers who practice law in a law firm can be partners in a law firm.

I have known Aleksander Čeferin as both my friend and as one of my lawyers for many years. His support for me and his role as part of my defence, with his expertise and knowledge of the law in my case against the State of Slovenia, was undeniably top-class. It helped ensure that the decision in the court in London was based on fact rather than innuendo.

I now willingly and proudly advocate for him.

Indeed, Aleksander Čeferin does remain a co-owner of the Čeferin Law Firm. He was also routinely suspended from the register of lawyers in 2016, when he took over the leadership of the European Football Association (UEFA).

Neither Rok nor Aleksander Čeferin have been practicing law for a long time. Aleksander Čeferin has been the head of UEFA since 2016, while Rok Čeferin has been a Constitutional Judge since 2019. Diligent readers will note the brothers are very much listed at the firm as founders, together with their father. They are not part of the management team and not listed among the available lawyers. So, are the founders actually partners? It would seem not. Are either currently practicing as lawyers? It would seem not.

When I was with one of my sources from Sky News, otherwise she is TV presenter and commentator, and not even to mention also my significant other, at her third tea break with croissant, and it wasn't even 11am yet, she asked me out of the blue "how is my comrade Aleksander Čeferin".

In the "Čeferin" case, as she sees it, there is quite a lot of things wrong.

The President of the Slovenian Bar Association, Janez Starman was asked for comment. He cited Article 22 of the Law Act, which regulates this very situation:

“If a lawyer is elected or appointed to a state position that requires professional performance, the practice of the legal profession is suspended during the period of holding this position. If a lawyer is sent or participates in an international mission to perform tasks in the economic, defence, cultural, scientific, informational and other areas within the scope of the competence of such a mission and this is not incompatible with the reputation of the legal profession or when he works for an international organization of which the Republic of Slovenia is a member, his legal profession is suspended while performing these tasks.

According to Starman, it follows from the law that the suspension of the legal profession is expressly foreseen and regulated by law, "which, given the fact that the aforementioned are entered in the register of lawyers, leads to the conclusion that there are no reservations regarding the preservation and exercise of rights in the law firm, and there should not be any."

Make no mistake: Everyone in Slovenia should be proud, as I am, that the president of the European Football Association (UEFA) is compatriot Slovenian, from a tiny country with just over 2.3m inhabitants.

You all should give him a break and shut up!

End of story.