5.  The applicant was born in 1968 and lives in Martjanci. 6.  At around 10 p.m. on 2 October 2006 the police, having been called, intervened at the home of the applicant’s half-sister P., who had been behaving in a violent and threatening manner towards their mother. The applicant arrived at the scene after the police officers. During the police intervention, P. managed to escape together with her 8-year-old daughter. The applicant and the officers searched for P. In the meantime, she returned alone and refused to disclose her daughter’s whereabouts. The applicant got upset and, according to the police statement, grabbed P.’s neck with one hand and slapped her with the other hand, in the presence of the police officers. He then calmed down and was informed by the officers of the minor offence he had committed. In accordance with the summary procedure under the Minor Offences Act (hereinafter the “MOA”) he was fined 150,000 Slovenian tolars (approximately 625 euros (EUR)) for the offence of violent and aggressive behaviour. In his application to the Court the applicant maintained that he had assisted the officers and had been unjustifiably implicated in the situation. 7.  Four days later, the applicant received written notice of the payment order issued by the police, which stated that he had committed a minor offence under section 6(4) of the Protection of Public Order Act and included a statement of facts which read as follows (in its entirety):
“The mentioned [person] was present at the incident involving his half-sister P. at home. Her conduct, insults and aggressive behaviour had upset him and for that reason he grabbed P.’s neck and slapped her across the face. After that act, he calmed down.” 8.  On 13 October 2006 the applicant lodged a request for judicial review. He alleged that his sister had been under the influence of alcohol and drugs, and had threatened and offended their mother and other people present, including the police officers. He also explained that P. had taken her child away in the car and had returned without her, refusing for a while to say where she had left her. The applicant and the officers had tried to convince her to disclose the child’s whereabouts but P. had threatened the applicant and spat at him. After being provoked by her, the applicant, fearing for the child, had approached her and gently held her neck but had not slapped her. She had then revealed the whereabouts of the child and one of the officers had gone with her to pick him up. The applicant alleged that he had committed no offence and that he had not slapped P. In accordance with section 63 of the MOA the police forwarded the request for judicial review to the Murska Sobota Local Court. 9.  On 26 May 2008 the Murska Sobota Local Court gave a judgment in which, relying on section 65(1) of the MOA, it rejected the applicant’s request for judicial review as unsubstantiated and upheld the payment order. The applicant was ordered to pay EUR 62 for the costs of the proceedings. 10.  As explained in the judgment, the court based its decision on the payment order and the statement of facts concerning the event, which the police submitted to the court at the same time as the request for judicial review. The court found as follows:
“the conduct of the defendant towards his sister which was observed by the police officers personally and directly .... was unjustified regardless of her mental and physical state, which therefore leads the court to conclude that this [request for judicial review] is only an attempt at avoiding payment of the fine, since the court has no doubts as to the officers’ findings.” 11. On 23 June 2008 the applicant then lodged a constitutional appeal alleging that his constitutional rights had been violated. He complained, inter alia, of a violation of the right to a fair trial and presumption of innocence, alleged that the judge had decided only on the basis of the police file, that there had been no public hearing, that he had not had enough time to prepare his request for judicial review and that no appeal lay against the first-instance court’s judgment. 12.  Relying on section 55b(1)(3), read together with section 55a(2)(4) of the Constitutional Court Act, the Constitutional Court dismissed the appeal on 25 August 2008. The decision was served on the applicant on 30 August 2008.